WOLVES DON'T TALK

Chapter 10. THE WOLF SHOWS UP

The red rabbit almost purred as she snuggled up next to her huge beautiful white love. His shiny fur glowed. His soft pink nose looked just like velvet. His oversized eyes, the color of dark sapphires, gazed calmly upon the world and upon me in perfect contentment.

Sylvilagus giganticus, I thought, giving the huge creature a scientific name and thinking about how thrilled my dad would have been to see a rabbit the size of a very large horse. He looked like the most wonderful stuffed toy ever created in the history of the world.

I reacted to him just like any sensible kid confronted with such a perfect creature would. I headed straight for him, determined to caress his soft self. Once I had him in my grasp, I patted his fur and wrapped my arms around one of his front legs and buried my face in his silky warmth. The rabbit accepted my enthusiasm by lowering his head and caressing the top of mine with its chin.

Its red companion glared at me with a smug look on her face as if to confirm the wonderfulness of her love and how stupid I'd been in the forest when I'd questioned her devotion.

"Yes," I said, responding to the look and clinging to my new-found treasure.

Then I half sobbed, overcome with happiness at being near the beautiful white rabbit. I felt so warm and safe cuddled up next to him – until a familiar voice cut into my reverie.

"Little girl," the wretched old Canis lupus barked at me in a most annoying tone.

I clutched the shiny white rabbit tightly, hoping to bury myself in his softness.

"Little girl," the voice repeated louder, demanding my attention.

"ALL RIGHT!" I screamed as I released my grasp on my prize, spun around in the direction of the noise and found myself surrounded by a bunch of the oddest misfits probably ever produced on the planet.

And they were all glaring at me. A huge brown rabbit, one about the size of a big dog, batted a solitary shiny black eye located in the middle of its forehead in my direction. A single floppy ear anchored right over its eye swung back and forth like a girl's ponytail. Another oversized one with muddy-colored fur glared at me with two faces and four eyes. A fox broke through the crowd and marched confidently over and sniffed me up and down. It had long, sharp teeth that flashed at me from beneath tufts of rusty red and shiny white fur coating the tip of its nose, making it look like it had a bushy handlebar mustache. A herd of squirrels mixed throughout the throng paid me no attention at all. They didn't have any eyes.

I swallowed hard and rubbed my own, doubting their ability to focus as I surveyed the company. I simply could not be seeing that oddball collection of creatures.

"Little girl," the wolf snarled once more; its impatience clearly growing.

I stopped rubbing my poor eyes and spun around a few times, trying to locate the wolf in the mob.

"He's over here," Pythia said, pointing at a large crate made up of a bunch of sagging wood boards and some rusty wire mesh. She stood next to the crate at the edge of the crowd, patting a fat snake on its head. I'm not going to describe the snake. I hate snakes.

I pressed my way through the masses, avoiding contact with any one of them as much as possible as I moved.

"Step it up," the wolf snarled at me again.

"You step it up," I snarled back just as I cleared the mob.

"Very funny," the wolf replied.

Then I spotted it stomping angrily back and forth inside the wire crate. It ceased its march and pressed its nose snuggly up against the rusty mesh when I came near and glared at me with the most disgusted look in its orange eyes. I grinned in response to its glare.