Wolf Camp (Bear Naked 2)

Chapter 10, part 3

"Now what do we do?" Brianna asked as the others took off.

"For starters, Erica and Jonathan, do a patrol," Connor said. "I want to know if there are any other wolves nearby." The two stripped, transformed, and disappeared in less than a minute. Connor turned to Amanda. "We don't dare try to go back now, we could get lost in the dark-"

"Or crash one of the canoes," Amanda added.

"And if we leave at first light tomorrow, it will be this time tomorrow evening before we are back here. The rest will be more than a day ahead of us."

"If anyone is even there," Tanner said. "If the adults don't know what they did, they won't be waiting. How long will it take us to hike back to civilization?"

"One of us can go in wolf form tonight," Connor said, "find where the adult pack is and tell them what happened. They can meet us there."

Anger flowed through Amanda. Even if they did that, they would still be dead last, with almost no chance of catching up. It was so unfair.

"No, we go on," she said.

"What?" Connor said.

"Screw the supplies," she said. "We go on."

"We don't have any food," Brianna said. "We don't have tents or supplies. We can't even start a fire."

Amanda pulled the fire starter out of her fanny pack and held it up. "Yes, we can," she said.

"Your dream!" Brianna squealed. She ran over and hugged Amanda.

Amanda smiled. "And there's food everywhere," Amanda went on. "That is lambs-quarter," she pointed at a plant, "that's edible. There are cattails, blackberries should be in season. We can scrounge. Worst-case scenario, we go without. We won't starve in a few days."

"Might even lose some weight," Brianna said. "I've been wanting to drop a few pounds."

Erica and Jonathan were back moments later. Everyone felt the same fierce determination that Amanda did, and they all agreed. "We push on," Erica said with a savage look.

"We will hunt in wolf form if we have to," Tanner said.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Jonathan said. "But I agree with pushing on. I think I saw some wild strawberries on patrol. I'll go back and get some."

Erica and Tanner gathered firewood, while Amanda showed Brianna and Connor a few of the wild herbs she knew. Jonathan came back with a small handful of strawberries, which he shared around.

Their resolve was tested as evening gave away to night. Amanda got a fire going, but it was cold without sleeping bags or tents. A supper composed of a handful of edible leaves and a few berries was hardly enough after a day's hard work. They huddled closely together for warmth and slept only fitfully.