Timber Fall

1
The end of the snowstorm blew through the trees and over the log cabin, creating a whistling noise that seemed to call to the dead. It was mid-February, and this was the last major storm of winter.

A man came out of the cabin, axe and shotgun in tow, to chop firewood and hunt game. He was aware, however, of his young son's gaze on him as he walked away. He didn't allow his son to come hunting with him yet, for he was only seven.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
2
The wolf watched the two-legged creature with hunger. She had not eaten for two weeks, and her last cub had died the day before. The creature was nearly in front of her now, so she carefully edged her paw forward, waiting for the right moment. He slowed to a stop in front of her, finally. She braced her back legs, forcing her weight to her front paws, and leaped at her proposed kill.

He was ready for the attack. Five years out in the woods had trained him for many things, but mostly for awareness. He brought his arm around hard, contacting the wolf right in the chest. She fell hard, knocked out.

At first David was about to shoot the wolf, but before he could, she looked up at him with fear and such intent, he could't kill her. He hauled her up onto his shoulders and carried her back to the cabin.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
3
The young boy watched as his father eased the white wolf to the ground, then opened the door to speak with him.

"William, I want you to stay inside. She's alive and I think if she had any strength at all she'd kill and eat us both."

The boy nodded, and waited as his father tied a rope to her neck and layed some rabbit meat out for her.


She opened her eyes slowly, the smell of raw meat close by. The smell seemed to give her strength, so she jumped to the rabbit meat quickly. She almost forgot to sniff it to make sure there was nothing strange on it. She knew the hunters in these parts would leave baited meat for unwaring animals to lure into their trap. That was how she'd lost her pack.

Satisfied the meat was clean, she gobbled it up quickly and quietly. As soon as she was done, she tried to walk away but something tugged at her neck. She whirrled around, and tried to bite at her suggestive captor, a rope. After she realized she wasn't going anywhere, however, she plopped down in exhaustion and slept.


When she opened her eyes again, she smelled raw meat again, but fresh. She sniffed it, then ate it slowly. She could smell the hunter close by, knowing he was watching her.

After she finished, she looked at the man and growled. She then barked, but it did not startle the man or frighten him at all.

He calmly sat there looking at the white wolf, letting her get used to him and his smell. When she finally sat down, annoyed with him, he said, "Well, it's nice to meet you, too. I'm David Harris. What's your name?"

The sudden familiar sound of a voice got her excited. She jumped at him, then barked softly, trying to tell him something. But instead he took that with offense she proposed, because he said, "Well, suit yourself. When you're ready to talk I'll be inside."

She sat down and watched him go in. After he was inside with the door locked, she realized she didn't want to be alone. She walked to the door, which was just out out of reach, and howled softly to try and get the man's attention. But, he didn't come out. So, after a while, she layed down with her head on her paws and watched as the silent world went by.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
4
After he took his coat off, David heard the wolf howl. But he ignored it, and proceeded to take off his boots.

"Father, why didn't you kill the wolf?" William sked.

"Maybe it's time we had a guard dog, don't you think?" He replied.

William nodded, and thought about his mother. She had died when he was three by a bear attack, and even though his father had killed the bear, it didn't seem to satisfy the man. He would cry late into the night when he thought Will was asleep.

He knew the guard dog would be protection for him, yet he doubted his father would ever let him go out hunting when he did turn eight. So really the wolf would be there for 'his own good' as his father put it later on that night.

"It's better we have protection when we go out than go by ourselves." David said.

Will knew his father meant good by him, but he nodded anyway.


The wolf's ears perked up when she heard the door open that night. But the smell this time was a mixture of the man and someone else. The shadow that stood in front of her was shorter, and less hairier than the man.

"Hi." It whispered, "I'm Will. I brought you some more meat. I hope you're hungry."

He tossed the food to her, but after she sniffed it, she ignored it and sat down to watch what the boy would do.

"Oh, well. I'll leave it out here for you later, ok?"

She answered with a low woof. He crouched down low, and slowly reached his hand out for her to sniff. For the briefest second she saw her cub again, playing with his siblings in the snow. She pointed her nose forward, but the sound of a breaking twig in the forest caught her attention.

Her ear turned, then her whole head. She sniffed the air and smelled trouble. She barked toward the sound, which frightened the boy, and barked louder to try and scare off the creature, whatever it was.

By this time David had woken up and grabbed his gun. When he saw his son outside, this made him furious. He grabbed the back of the boy's coat, pulled him inside, and shut the door behind him. Once outside, he saw what direction the wolf was barking at, and fired a warning shot into the air. This frightened her, so she ran to the side of the house to try and hide from him.

When David was satisfied nothing was there, he turned around and saw her cowering by the cabin.

"It's alright, girl. That was just to scare off whatever it was you were barking at. Not you."

His deep, rugged voice seemed to calm her some, but not enough to bring her out.

After he went inside, he saw his son in the same position as the wolf, only Will was frightened of his punishment, not being shot at.

"Two pathetic creatures, and one small cabin." He muttered to himself.

"Will, I've told not to go outside at night. Not only did you go out, but you went out there with that wolf there, too. She isn't tame, you know. If she were hungry, she would have eaten you whole, do you know that, son?"

"Yes, sir." He replied. "Are- are you going to punish me, father?"

David thought about this before answering.

"No. Let us hope there was a lesson in this somewhere that you learned, ok? Now get to bed before I change my mind. And, let us be grateful she warned us of any residing danger that may have been out there tonight."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
5
The next morning, David decided to spend more time with the wolf, hoping she would eventually trust him. He knew taming a wild animal would be no easy task, yet he decided he had enough patience to teach her.

The first thing he did was sit near her everyday for a few weeks, until she was totally familiar with him and his son. After that, he let her sniff his fingers, hands, and clothes. When she was comfortable with this, he very gently touched the side of her snout, moving his hand slowly to the side of her head, and eventually to her neck.

He decided to name her White Lake, after the large body of water nearby that seemed so clear as to be white.

It was spring now, the flowers blooming, the birds singing, and the last of the ice melting.

David decided now was as good enough a time as ever to let White Lake off her rope. As soon as he went outside, White Lake jumped up to greet him.

"Arroof." She said, wagging her fluffy white tail.

"Well White, I'm gonna take the rope off, and whether or not you stay is entirely up to you."

She cocked her head to the side, as if saying, "I was wondering how long it would take you."

He bent to untie the rope, when he heard a shuffling noise behind him.

"Father, must we let her go?"

"Will, if you think about it, she's making the decision, not us. If she wishes to go, then that's up to her. Though it was nice of her protecting us." David replied as he untied the rope.

As soon as White was free, she jumped up, licked Will's face, then ran around the cabin a couple of times. When she came back, she sat down in front of David, looking longingly over at the lake.

When he saw this, he decided to take White and Will down there.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
6
The cabin was on the side of Timber Fall Mountain, where Timber River emptied into White Lake, creating Timber Falls. About fifteen years before, the area belonged to a logging company, who tore down a large piece of the forest on the other side. This forced the majority of the wildlife to this side of the mountain for safety.

Then, a young girl, whose father came to the town for work, forced the company to stop by creating rumors amongst the men to make them argue, and "fixing" some of the horse-drawn machinery by loosening ropes and cogs. However, when she was caught, her bravery seemed to encourage the other women and girls as well, and the others started to say that -they- had done it too. When their husbands heard this, they packed up their families and moved away.

The sudden loss in workers forced the company to shut down. Except for two families, the town was barrren.

The whole thing took about five years to complete, but Sarah was satisfied. She was sixteen now, and her father was just about to move back to Denver to get her married off.

However, she had other plans. The other family that was there was an old couple and there two sons, Robert and David. Robert was twenty-seven, and his brother nineteen.

When they were about to leave, Sarah, with her manipulative ways, convinced David to run away with her. (The reason I say 'manipulative' is because she made it seem like it was his idea.) However, she did love him, and the preacher married them the night they were on their way to the other side of the mountain.

They went to the other side where they established their own family. About four years after that, when William was two, she died when a bear attacked her in the woods.

This tore David apart. He went after the bear, but found no comfort in the revenge after he killed the beast.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
7
When they reached the lake, the first thing William did was kick off his boots. Upon reaching the shore, he pulled off his remaining clothes and slid into cold, clear water. It felt so good after the sweaty trek down. The hot sun beat down on his back, so he plunged himself further into the water.

"Not so fast, Will. You'll get a headache from the sudden cold."

"Glesrr." Came the reply.

White padded up to the water, then took a long, satisfying drink. She had panted the whole way down, slowing a few times to catch her breath. It had been a long time since she had had any excercise, and this was enthralling.

After her drink, she padded over to David where he was shaving for the first time since late September. The reason for not shaving for the entire winter was simple; it kept his face warm. Now that it was spring and getting warmer by the day, he no longer needed his beard.

When he was finished, he glanced at White, and noticed she was backing away from him slowly. She growled low, keeping distance between her and him.

"What is it, White? What's wrong?" He asked her. Then he realized- she hadn't seen him before without his beard. He glanced at his small mirror and saw how rediculous he looked. Half his face was tawny brown, while the rest was a light pink. It looked like he had his jaw replaced with someone else's. When he saw this, he laughed, feeling the comfort of it fill his lungs.

White Lake stopped growling when she heard him laugh, and sat on her haunches. She turned her head up at him as if saying, "Please don't scare me like that again."

David smiled down at her, then shed his clothes to bathe in the cold water.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
8

William swam to the small island in the middle of the lake to do some exploring. He was sure his father would not approve of this, but he had the intention of going back soon. He walked around for a while, watching the birds and listening to the water. Soon, he layed down on the sand in the warm sun.

Will felt something poke at his shoulders. He jumped up, aware of someone, or something, behind him. He whirled around, and what he saw nearly knocked him back to the ground.

The indian stood there, unmoving, unflinching. His brown hair was devided into two braids, his buckskin shirt reaching his knees. He was about Will's age and height, but looked very different. He had dark, tanned skin, with two red streaks across his forehead and left cheek.

Will started backing away, but the indian boy motioned for him to be quiet. Slowly, the boy reached accross his side to his dagger. He pulled it out very slowly and held it in his left hand, raising it above his head.

Will's eyes went wide, scared, but he didn't move out of fright. The boy with the dagger spun around hard, letting the knife fly through the air. It landed on a rabbit, not two feet away.

When Will saw this, he fainted.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
9
David went down to the water and called his son's name. White Lake came up next to him, with concern in her eyes.

"He's been gone to long, White. We have to go look for him." He jumped into the water and swam in the direction of the island to find Will.

The wolf could swim, but stayed behind anyway. However, she didn't like to be left alone, so barked at him not to leave.

"It's alright. I'll be back soon." David called. Despite what he said, the dog paced the shore, waiting for him to return.

When David reached the other side, he found small trace of someone being there. Small footprints in the mud, and then- his heart stopped. There was blood on the ground. It wasn't very much, but a small amount of blood didn't mean that the wound wasn't great.

He desperately searched the ground for clues. Anything to help find his son. David walked a little on, trying his best to follow the footprints. They led to a tree, where a rope ladder went up to the top.

"Will?" He called. "Will, are you up there?"

A rustling sound was heard as a head appeared from up there. "Father? Is that you?"