Xavier and the Wolf (Legends of Pinewood 1)

8. You are thrown into the river

"Xavier, Xavier! Look!" Bobby came running at me with a wide gap-toothed grin on his face and a huge pinecone clutched in his small hands. "This has to be the biggest pinecone in all the forest right? Right?"

I chuckled and kneeled, admiring the pinecone Bobby had found as he handed it to me. "Absolutely," I told him as I gave it back. "This is the biggest one I've seen all day."

Satisfied with my response, Bobby ran on to show his mother his newly found treasure. I watched him go with a smile lingering on my lips.

It was a lovely day to go looking for crafting materials with first graders in the woods. The weather was great; the sky was blue and cloudless and a pleasant breeze brushed through my hair.

"Ah, to be young again and get excited over the size of a pinecone," I joked to Leona, who was standing next to me. She was one of the parents who was also helping out with the excursion.

Leona laughed jovially. Her brown eyes crinkled. "Right. I'm happy we can still entertain them this way. Soon, they'll be demanding smartphones and computers instead of thinking a simple leaf or pinecone to craft with is enough."

"Hey, you can still like both," I protested. "Yes, I have a ps5, but I'm also happy to help kids glue pinecones together into a wreath, or glitter them up, or whatever we're going to do with them when we head back to school."

"Aw, aren't you precious?" Leona barked out another laugh and patted my shoulder. "And bless your patience. The only way I'm going to help these kids craft after is if I'm mildly medicated, and these kids didn't get fed any sugar."

I grinned. "I do understand what you mean. I'll just be drinking coffee to keep up with the kids. That's enough for me."

"Yeah... about that." Leona scooted a little closer to me so she was in whispering range. "Between you and me, I think Peter and Helga are going to make themselves scarce soon and won't help with the crafting part of the day. So, go on, take a break now you can and enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit because they're going to dump their work on you."

I glanced at Peter and Helga up ahead. They were helping some kids pick pinecones and leaves and tucking them into their bag. I knew Leona was probably right—these two had a tendency to not stick around when it became sticky with glue in the classroom. Crafts weren't for everyone.

I stretched out and yawned. "Alright, I will take a break. I'll get some lemonade and an extra cookie. I think we deserved that."

I'd certainly been worried enough to deserve it. We had left from Pinewood school around twelve and had lunch on the cliff overlooking the woods and the river down below before starting our search for crafting materials. It was three now, and all the time we'd spent between the trees I'd been on edge and scanning the area for gigantic wolves lurking in the bushes. Leona was right: I could really use a break.

Rolling my shoulders to lose some of the tension, I walked back to the spot on the cliffs where we'd had lunch and left all our bags. We had several jugs of lemonade, a pile of cookies, and way too many sandwiches leftover. Whenever parents were asked to volunteer and help prepare lunch, they always seemed to take it as some sort of challenge and prepared enough to feed an entire army. Of course, by now all the food and drinks were neatly packed to not attract any wildlife.

I crouched next to the bag that held all the cookies and zipped it open. With a chocolate chip cookie in hand, I walked to the edge of the cliff to enjoy the view. The river rushed through the valley below, its rough water frothing and crashing against the rocks. Trees stretched out into the horizon. Only parts of the sheer cliffs were not overgrown with bushes and trees.

The sight of Pinewood's forest always brought a smile to my face. I wondered why Iris and many others were so eager to get away from this place and live in the smog. At the very least, I was sure they were going to end up missing the view once they arrived in the big city.

Nibbling on a cookie, I listened to kids laughing as they jumped into leaf piles, and the river roaring below. For the first time that day, I dared to relax, and I was punished for it immediately. 

Something rustled in the bushes. 

A shudder went down my spine and my eyes shot to the direction where I heard the sound. The first thought that flashed through my mind was wolf. With my unfortunate wild animal meeting fresh in mind, that was, of course, my first conclusion. But it was broad daylight and the chance I'd run into a wolf twice in one week was really slim.

I breathed in and out deeply. It wasn't a wolf. That would be really coincidental. It could just as well be a deer or a kid wanting to prank me. It wouldn't be the first time (not even the first time today) one of the more cheeky first-graders tried to scare one of the adults by jumping them.

After hesitating for a moment, I approached the bushes where I heard rustling. It was a little bit further down down the slope so I had to descend a few steps. The terrain was still even enough to walk on and surrounded by fencing for the most part. The bushes, however, were dangerously close to the edge of a sheer cliff. It became quite steep quite fast, so if there was a child playing a prank, I would have to get them out of there.

"Hello?" I called out. "If that's you Bobby, you know you need to stay behind the fence and not play that near the edge! Come out, it's too steep!"

There was no response. I sighed and went a bit closer. "I'm serious, Bobby. You can't play here." 

Squinting, I tried to look behind the leaves. 

And that was when I saw it. Two amber eyes stared back at me from the shadows. A jolt went through my body as all my muscles flexed. It was a wolf, but a significantly smaller one than the one I'd seen on the road. That animal wouldn't have fit in these bushes.

I thought about calling for help, but quickly rejected that idea. Usually yelling and waving scared animals off, but I was awfully close to the beast now. If I yelled, that could trigger it to attack—something I definitely wanted to avoid with the children around too. 

With my pulse beating in my ears and my eyes firmly trained on the bushes, I started shuffling backwards. What the hell was a wolf even doing here in the bushes in broad daylight? It almost seemed like there was a pack tracking people now, which was even more concerning than wolves coming near town to be fed. 

Suddenly, the wolf let out a soft whine and took a small step forward. I jolted. Startled by the sound and movement I took a larger step back than I'd intended, and the ground gave way under my foot. With a gasp I tried to regain my balance, but there were no roots or trees I could grab as the ground started sliding below me. I clawed at mud and air and then I was falling.

The cliffs were steep. Branches and leaves whipped into my face while I tumbled down the slope, but I couldn't get a grip on anything to stop my fall. The world spun and all I could do was hold my head to try and protect it from falling rocks and whipping branches. I'd lost all sense of direction until icy water engulfed me. The freezing cold instantly seeped into my bones as the strong currents swept me along.

I was too disoriented to tell up from down for a moment, but then I caught a glimpse of murky sunlight and fought my way up to it. Gasping for air and coughing from the river water I'd swallowed, I broke through to the surface. With all my strength, I tried to swim to the shore, but the currents were far too strong; I needed all my energy just trying to keep my head above the water.

It was a battle I would lose, sooner or later. The rushing river was relentless and tireless while my muscles grew tired and went stiff in the icy water. I couldn't keep forcing myself to the surface with thrashing arms and legs forever.

"Help!" I called out in my panic, involuntarily swallowing another gulp of river water.

Nobody would come. Nobody was down here and I'd be extremely lucky if someone had even seen me fall. There was movement on the shore. A gigantic wolf was running next to the river.

I didn't get the opportunity to take a closer look at it. I'd reached the rocks. My body crashed into the hard stone which knocked the wind out of lungs. A sudden sharp pain shot through my head, and the last thing I saw before I drifted out of consciousness was the large splash of the wolf jumping into the water.