The Phoenix Stone: Chapter 6

When Isabel came to, she looked around. She was not in the cold woods anymore. She was in what looked like a cave. It seemed wolf-free, at first. Then Isabel saw the wolf pups. There were five of them. Four of the pups were sleek and black, and the last one was gray. When the pups realized Isabel was awake, they came bounding over. One of the black pups came forward. “You’re finally awake. We’ve waited, like, forever! I’m Kasey. This is Eugean, Claire, Mason, Neil, and the little gray pup is Tracey.” He remarked and pointed to each pup in turn. “The adults are out hunting and they wouldn’t let us come along because we’re too small.” Isabel stared wide-eyed. “You’re wolves. Wolves don’t talk,” she told the small wolves. “I mean, you shouldn’t talk. Not where I’m from.” The wolves looked at eachother. “I didn’t know that! I thought all wolves talked!” Claire squeaked. And all the wolf pups started tackling one another. The noise brought Elsa over who was in another part of the cave. Seeing Isabel awake, Elsa ran over and sat down. Isabel looked at her little friend. “I sure hope you don’t start talking.” Elsa sneezed in response. Maverick crawled out of the coat pocket in which he was hidden. He had on a fuzzy hat that fit perfectly on his little head. “Oh yeah. He made that out of one of the deer Mum brought home.” Eugean scoffed. Kasey pounced on him. “Don’t be so cross, Eugean!” At that moment, seven or so adult wolves walked in. They fed the puppies and then they walked deeper into the cave and lay down. Isabel moved further away from the wolves. “I should be going now.” One of the bigger wolves looked strangely at Isabel. This wolf was white. “So, human girl, what is your name?” “Isabel,” Isabel managed to say. “King Elis is my adopted father.” When she said this, all the wolves’ ears perked up. An energetic wolf jumped up, ran around the cave, and howled. The white wolf looked at this wolf and howled. “Sit down for a minute, Storm.” the wolf scoffed then sat down. “I’d better introduce us if you’ll be staying,” the white wolf said. “I’m Echo, the wild one is Strom, the quiet one is Midnight, the short one is Willow.* The one mangling the flower is Breeze.” Isabel could hear Breeze saying, “He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me…” Heather continued. “Over there is Duke and Apollo. I'm sure you’ve already met the pups.” Isabel was starting to feel fine with the idea of living with the wolves when a finch flew into the cave. She boldly stepped up to the wolves. Storm wagged her tail then said, “Hi, CoraLeigh! I was just about to murder you, but then I saw who you were.” “Storm, I’m going to tell horror stories about you to my kids.” CoraLeigh snickered. Another finch few in that looked almost identical to CoraLeigh. “Sorry for interrupting'' the finch panted and Echo laughed. “Don’t be sorry, Evie. What’s up?” “Well…” CoraLeigh started. “A few things. King Elis would like to know the whereabouts of his daughter Isabel.” All the wolves looked at Isabel and said, “She’s here.” Evie finished what CoraLeigh started, “Also, the beavers send word that the bears are back.” The wolves gathered in a group to discuss what to do. When they finished, Echo told the finches, “Tell the king that Isabel is safe. We will deal with the bears ourselves. And with that, the finches were off. Before Evie left, she looked out of the cave. “Did I ever tell you I was afraid of heights?” Isabel asked, “Is there any way I could get home?” The wolves looked at eachother. “Well…” Midnight said. “Mabey,” Echo thought. “If you want to die,” Willow and Storm said in unison. Breeze pipped in. “The danger is on the ground. That is where the rogue Rejigs live. The birds can fly there, but it’s hard to walk on foot there.” Isabel was puzzled. “How did I get here then?” Duke sighed. “We assume you were brought by magic, but you had no wand with you.” Isabel’s eyes went round and she responded, “I have this stone necklace.” Storm jumped up. “That might be the last chunk missing from that eagles old wand.” “Peterson’s old wand you mean,” Midnight sighed. All the wolves seemed excited. “We must hold a town meeting before we decide what to do,” Apollo mentioned, but Isabel cut him off. “What old wand? And why do I have a chunk of it?” Duke looked around and then mumbled, “We don’t know what it does or where it came from. I can’t answer your question. I doubt Peterson can either.” “Oh.” Isabel went to all the animal meetings to come, and the years flew by. Isabel never found a way home. Maverick grew to an enormous size and Elsa was big enough to ride. Isabel stayed with the pack and learned to hunt. The pups grew into hunting pack members. Isabel and Elsa flew over the land looking for a way back to the castle. The wolves sent weekly messages to the king and queen by bird, until the Rejigs took over the skies as well as the ground. Now there was a full barrier between Isabel and home. Isabel had to be content with living with the animals. She learned the names of all the animals and knew where they lived. Isabel soon became a lovely young adult. CoraLeigh and Evie came back from time to time with messages, but they mostly stayed hidden in the trees. The wolves howled to the castle to let the king know where they were. But the king was not the one receiving the messages.