Book 2 7. THE WOLFPACK Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

the wolf pack

all in one day paul and mr edwards built

the stable for pet and patty

they even put the roof on working so

late that ma had to keep supper waiting

for them there was no stable door

but in the moonlight paul drove two

stout posts

well into the ground one on either side

of the doorway

he put pat and patty inside the stable

and then he laid small split logs one

above another across the door space

the posts held them and they made a

solid wall

now said paul let those wolves howl

i’ll sleep tonight in the morning

when he lifted the split logs from

behind the posts

laura was amazed beside pet

stood a long-legged long-eared wobbly

little coat

when laura ran toward it gentle pet laid

back her ears and snapped her teeth at

laura

keep back laura paul said sharply

he said to pet now pit

you know we won’t hurt your little colt

pat answered him with a soft winnie she

would let paws stroke her cult

but she would not let laura or mary come

near it

when they even peeked at it through the

cracks in the stable wall

pet rolled the whites of her eyes at

them and showed them her

teeth they had never seen a cult with

ears so long paw said it was a little

mule

but lara said it looked like a

jackrabbit so they named the little cult

bunny when pat was on the picket line

with bunny frisking around her and

wondering at the big world

laura must watch baby carrie carefully

if anyone but paw came near bunny pet

squealed with rage and dashed to bite

that little girl

early that sunday afternoon paul wrote

paddy a way across the prairie to see

what he should see

there was plenty of meat in the house so

he did not take his gun

he rode away through the tall grass

along the rim of the creek bluffs

flew up before him and circled and sank

into the grasses

paul was looking down into the creek

bottoms as he rode

perhaps he was watching deer browsing

there

then patty broke into a gallop and

swiftly she

and paul grew smaller soon there was

only waving grass where they had been

late that afternoon paul had not come

home

mastered the coals of the fire and laid

chips on them

and began to get supper mary was in the

house minding the baby

and laura asked ma what’s the matter

with jack

jack was walking up and down looking

worried

he wrinkled his nose at the wind and

then

hair rose up on his neck and lay down

and then rose up again pet’s hooves

suddenly thudded she ran around the

circle of her picket rope and stood

still

quickering a low wicker bunny came close

to her

what’s the matter jack ma asked

he looked up at her but he couldn’t say

anything

ma gazed around the whole circle of

earth and sky

she could not see anything unusual

likely it isn’t anything laura she said

she raked coals around the coffee pot

and the spider

and onto the top of the bake oven the

prairie hen sizzled in the spider

and the corn cakes began to smell good

but all the time mark kept glancing at

the prairie all around

jack walked about restlessly and pet did

not graze

she faced the northwest where paw had

gone

and kept her cult close beside her

all at once paddy came running across

the prairie

she was stretched out running with all

her might and paul was leaning almost

flat on her neck

she ran right past the stable before pau

could stop her

he stopped her so hard that she almost

sat down

she was trembling all over and her black

coat was streaked with sweat

and foam paw swung off her and he was

breathing hard too

what is the matter charles ma asked him

paul was looking toward the creek so ma

and laura looked at it too

but they could see only the space above

the bottom lands with a few tree tops in

it

and the distant tops of the earthen

bluffs under the high prairies grasses

what is it ma asked again why did you

ride patty like that

paul breathed a long breath i was afraid

the wolves would beat me here

but i see everything’s all right wolves

she cried what wolves

everything’s all right caroline said paw

let a fella get his breath

when he had got some breath he said i

didn’t ride patty like that

it was all i could do to hold her at all

fifty wolves caroline the biggest wolves

i ever saw

i wouldn’t go through such a thing again

not for a mint of money

a shadow came over the prairie just then

because the sun had gone down and paul

said i’ll tell you about it later

we’ll eat supper in the house said ma no

need of that he told her jack will give

us warning and plenty of time

he brought pet and her colt from the

picket line

he didn’t take them and patty to drink

from the creek as he usually did

he gave them the water in ma’s wash tub

which was standing full ready for the

washing next morning

he rubbed down paddy’s sweaty sides and

legs and put her in the barn with

pet and bunny supper was ready

the campfire made a circle of light in

the dark

laura and mary stayed close to the fire

and kept baby carry with them

they could feel the dark all around them

and they kept looking behind them at the

place where the dark mixed with the edge

of the firelight

shadows moved there as if they were

alive

jack said on his hunches beside laura

the edges of his ears were lifted

listening to the dark

now and then he walked a little way into

it

he walked all around the campfire and

came back to sit beside laura

the hair lay flat on his thick neck and

he did not growl

his teeth showed a little but that was

because he was a bulldog

laura and mary ate their corn cakes and

the prairie hens drumsticks

and they listened to paul while he told

ma

about the wolves

he had found some more neighbors

settlers were coming in

and settling along both sides of the

creek

less than three miles away in a hollow

on the high prairie

a man and his wife were building a house

their name was scott and paul said they

were nice

folks six miles beyond them

two bachelors were living in one house

they had taken two

farms and built the house on the line

between them

one man’s bunk was against one wall of

the house

and the other man spunk was against the

other wall

so each man slept on his own farm

although they were in the same house

and the house was only eight feet wide

they cooked and ate together in the

middle of the house

paul had not said anything about the

wolves yet

laura wished he would but she knew that

she must not interrupt when paul was

talking

he said that these bachelors did not

know that anyone else was in the country

they had seen nobody but indians so they

were glad to see paw

and he stayed there longer than he had

meant to

then he rode on and from a little rise

in the prairie

he saw a white speck down in the creek

bottoms

he thought it was a covered wagon and it

was

when he came to it he found a man and

his wife and five children

they had come from iowa and they had

camped in the bottoms because

one of their horses was sick the horse

was better now

but the bad night air so near the creek

had given them fever and egg you

the man and his wife and the three

oldest children were too sick to stand

up

the little boy and girl no bigger than

mary and laura

were taking care of them so paul did

what he could for them

and then he wrote back to tell the

bachelors about them

one of them rode right away to fetch

that family up on the high prairie

where they would soon get well in the

good air

one thing had led to another until paul

was starting home later than he had

meant

he took a shortcut across the prairie

and as he was loping along on paddy

suddenly out of a little draw came a

pack of wolves

they were all around paul in a moment

it was a big pack paw said all

of fifty wolves and the biggest wolves i

ever saw in my life

must be what they call buffalo wolves

their leader is a big gray brute that

stands three feet at the shoulder of an

inch i’ll tell you my hair stood

straight on

end and you didn’t have your gun

said ma i thought of that but my gun

would have been no use if i’d had it

you can’t fight 50 wolves with one gun

and paddy couldn’t outrun them

what did you do ma asked nothing

said paw patty tried to run

i never wanted anything worse than i

wanted to get away from there

but i knew if paddy even started those

wolves would be on us in a minute

pulling us down

so i held paddy to a walk goodness

charles moss said under her breath

yes i wouldn’t go through such a thing

again for any money

caroline i never saw such wolves one big

fella trotted along

right by my stirrup i could have kicked

him in the ribs

they didn’t pay any attention to me at

all they must have just made a kill and

eaten all they could

i tell you caroline those wolves just

closed in around paddy and me

and trotted along with us in broad

daylight

for all the world like a pack of dogs

going along with a horse

they were all around us trotting along

and jumping and playing and snapping at

each other

just like dogs goodness

charles ma said again laura’s heart was

thumping fast and her mouth and her

eyes were wide open staring at paw

patty was shaking all over and fighting

the bit

said paw sweat ran off her she was so

scared

i was sweating too but i held her down

to a walk

and we went walking along among those

wolves

they came right along with us a quarter

of a mile or more

that big fella trotted by my stirrup as

if he was there to stay

then we came to the head of a draw

running down into the creek bottoms

the big gray leader went down in it and

all the rest of the pack trotted down

into it behind him

as soon as the last one was in the draw

i let paddy go

she headed straight for home across the

prairie and she couldn’t run faster if

i’d been cutting into her with a rawhide

whip

i was scared the whole way i thought the

wolves might be coming this way and they

might

be making better time than i was i was

glad you had the gun caroline

and glad the house is built i know you

could keep the wolves out of the house

with the gun

but pat and the colt were outside you

need not have worried charles mars said

i guess i would manage to save our

horses

i was not fully reasonable at the time

said paul

i know you would save the horses

caroline those wolves wouldn’t bother

you anyway

if they had been hungry i wouldn’t be

here to

little pictures have big ears ma said

she meant that he must not frighten mary

and laura

well all’s well that ends well paul

replied

and those wolves are miles from here by

now

what made them act like that laura asked

him

i don’t know laura he said

i guess they had just eaten all they

could hold and they were on their way to

the creek to get a drink

or perhaps they were out playing on the

prairie and

not paying any attention to anything but

their play

like little girls do sometimes perhaps

they saw that i didn’t have my gun and i

couldn’t do them any harm

or perhaps they’d never seen a man

before and didn’t know that men can do

them any harm

so they didn’t think about me at all

pat and patty were restlessly walking

around and around inside the barn

jack walked around the campfire when he

stood still to smell the air and listen

the hair lifted on his neck

bedtime for little girls ma said

cheerfully

not even baby carrie was sleepy yet but

ma took them all into the house

she told mary and laura to go to bed and

she put

baby carrie’s little nightgown on and

laid her in the big bed

then she went outdoors to do the dishes

laura wanted parma in the house they

seemed so far away outside

mary and laura were good and lay still

but carrie set up

and played by herself in the dark in the

dark

paw’s arm came from behind the quilt in

the doorway

and quietly took away his gun

out by the campfire the tin plates

rattled

then a knife scraped the spider ma and

paul were talking together

and laura smelled tobacco smoke

the house was safe but it did not feel

safe because pau’s gun was not over the

door

and there was no door it was only the

quilt

after a long time ma lifted the quilt

baby carrie was asleep then

mom park came in very quietly and very

quietly went to bed

jack lay across the doorway but his chin

was not on his paws

his head was up listening

ma breathed softly bob wreathed heavily

and mary was asleep too but laura

strained her eyes in the dark to watch

jack

she could not tell whether the hair was

standing up on his neck

suddenly she was sitting straight up in

bed

she had been asleep the dark was gone

moonlight streamed through the window

hole and streaks of moonlight came

through every crack in that wall

paw stood black in the moonlight at the

window

he had his gun right in laura’s ear

a wolf howled she scringed away from the

wall

the wolf was on the other side of it

laura was too scared to make a sound

the cold was not in her backbone only it

was all through her

mary pulled the quilt over her head jack

growled and showed his teeth at the

quilt in the doorway be still jack

paul said terrible howls curled

all around inside the house and laura

rose out of bed

she wanted to go to paul but she knew

better than to bother him now

he turned his head and saw her standing

in her nightgown

want to see them laura he asked softly

laura couldn’t say anything but she

nodded and patted across the ground to

him

he stood his gun against the wall and

lifted her up to the window hole

there in the moonlight set half a circle

of wolves

they sat on their haunches and looked at

laura in the window and she looked at

them

she had never seen such big wolves

the biggest one was taller than laura he

was taller even than mary

he sat in the middle exactly opposite

laura

everything about him was big his pointed

ears and his pointed mouth with the

tongue hanging out

and his strong shoulders and legs and

his two paws

side by side and his tail curled around

the squatting hunch

his coat was shaggy gray and his eyes

were glittering green

lara clutched her toes into a crack of

the wall

and she folded her arms on the window

slab and she looked

and looked at that wolf but she did not

put her head through the empty window

space into the outdoors where all those

wolves sat so near her

shifting their paws and licking their

chops

paw stood firm against her back and kept

his arm tight around her middle

he’s awful big laura whispered

yes and see how his coat shines

paul whispered into her hair the

moonlight made little glitters in the

edges of the shaggy fur

all around the big wolf

they are in a ring clear around the

house

paul whispered laura pattered beside him

to the other window

he leaned his gun against that wall and

lifted her up again

there sure enough was the other half of

the circle of wolves

all their eyes glittered green in the

shadow of the house

laura could hear their breathing when

they saw paw and laura looking out

the middle of the circle moved back a

little way

pat and patty were squealing and running

inside the barn

their hooves pounded the ground and

crashed against the walls

after a moment paul went back to the

other window and laura went too

they were just in time to see the big

wolf lift his nose till it pointed

straight

at the sky his mouth opened

and a long howl rose toward the moon

then all around the house the circle of

wolves

pointed their noses toward the sky and

answered him

their howl shuddered through the house

and filled the moonlight and quavered

away across

the vast silence of the prairie

now go back to bed little half-pint paw

said

go to sleep jack and i will take care of

you all

so laura went back to bed but for a long

time she did not sleep

she lay and listened to the breathing of

the wolves on the other side of the log

wall

she heard the scratch of their claws on

the ground and the snuffling of a nose

at a crack

she heard the big grey leader howl again

and all the others answering him but

paul was walking quietly from one window

hole to the other

and jack did not stop pacing up and down

before the quilt that hung in the

doorway

the wolves might howl but they could not

get in

while paul and jack were there so at

last

laura fell asleep