I dedicate this chapter to SEViolet for being a dedicated and extremely helpful reader!

If you like this book you should check out hers it's called The Savage. It's awesome!

The next morning Kyla put off checking the snares because she had an idea she wanted to get started on right away. When the idea struck her a few days ago she’d gone out into the woods and found a couple saplings. Then using her knife she’d cut into the bark and peeled it upwards until it came free of the tree. This resulted in long thick strips of bark that she was able to peel apart into smaller strips, braid it, and dry to make rope. Now she wanted to use it to help her make a couple fishing baskets. The snares did really well giving them meat most days but they weren’t going to be enough on their own to help them last the winter.

She walked down to the river so she could soak her rope in the creek while she looked for sticks that were the right size in length and width. She wanted her rope to get a little wet so it would be a little more flexible and easier to work with. It was also just easier to find sticks away from camp than near it where they’d been burning them. By next year they would probably have to use the ax in her bag to cut their wood for winter.

Kyla sat down near the water and started putting her basket together. First she made several loops with some of the green twigs she’d just broken off a tree so they’d be flexible enough to use. To tie the end pieces of the loop together she got a stick, put it against one of the loops where the ends met, and used her rope to tie both pieces to the stick. She tied it by going on top of the loop around the stick and under the loop on the other side. She did it again and again, alternating which side was under and which was over until she thought it was secure and knotted it off. Then she did the same thing to make another smaller loop further down the stick and repeated the process of tying it to the loop until she had four loops that would be used to make a cone shaped trap. 

There were two parts to the fish trap. The main part the basket, which was the cone and would be closed in with sticks tied close together so the fish couldn’t swim between them and the smaller part that was the actual trapping piece.This piece was also shaped kind of like a cone only it had a hole in both sides instead of one, this would go inside the hole of larger cone. The fish would swim into the small whole in the trapping piece and get stuck because they couldn’t find their way back out. This way all they had to do was put the trap in the water and hopefully it would fill up with fish. Then they could go pick the basket up, remove the trap, and pour the fish out.

Kyla was so involved with what she was doing she didn’t hear Lily and Josiah until they were right beside her. “Whatcha doin?” Lily asked, peeking over her shoulder.

“Making a fishing basket to help us stock up for winter,” Kyla responded looking up at them. “How do you feel today?”

“I’m okay for right now,” she answered. “Have you already checked the snares today? I feel like walking a bit unless you want some help?”

“No I’ve got it and they do need to be checked, is Josiah gonna go with you?” Kyla asked, as she tied one piece of makeshift rope to another and continued working on her basket.

“I wanna help with the fish trap! Can I stay with Kyla?” he asked, looking at his mom pleadingly.

“Sure, if you want to. I can check them by myself, it won’t take me long anyway,” Lily answered with a shrug.

“Okay, well have fun,” Kyla said, an intense look of focus on her face as she tied a knot.

Kyla had just finished her fish trap and was letting Josia lower it into the water when she spotted Lily coming through the woods. As she got closer she noticed her face was a bit pale and wondered if maybe she needed to eat.

"The snares were empty then?" Kyla asked, noticing Lily’s hands were empty.

"No, not exactly. But you’re not going to believe what is in one of them," she responded warily.

"Well, what is it?" Kyla asked, scrunching up her eyebrows.

"Come on, I'll have to show you." Lily said, turning around to lead the way.

Lily hurried forward and Kyla, having developed a slight waddle from her condition, followed along at a somewhat slower pace. She was getting a bit tired and woozy from not having eaten much today apart from a few raw muscles and some cattail roots when Lily started to slow down. Finally they reached the snare, Lily stepped aside and Kyla looked down at the trap in surprise. She almost couldn't believe her eyes. It was a wolf pup, if it had been standing it would’ve only been about knee high. It was a mixture of white and all different shades of gray and was starting to get a thick winter coat. It was lying on its side with its eyes closed, it had obviously been there awhile because it’s leg was bleeding from the constant tugging it had done trying to get free. 

"Why didn’t it chew itself free? Is it…," Kyla stammered

"Dead? No, just weak I think," Lily said sadly.

Kyla nodded then knelt beside it and stroked its fur surprised by how soft it was. She could feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest as she ran her hands over him. “Where is your mama little one?” she whispered as she pulled back his upper lip to expose tiny little milk teeth just starting to poke through the surface of his gums.
"I’m not sure he’s even old enough to be out of the den yet honestly. He may have just been curious and wandered off on his own,” Lily stated sadly.

“Yeah, maybe,” Kyla said, glancing around for tracks.

What do we do?" Asked Lily.

"Hard to say but It's pack is probably long gone, if it was ever here" she replied.

Kyla took her finger and tried to loosen up the snare to free the pups hind leg. The puppy opened its eyes and growled at her. Then it yanked its leg from her grasp and tried to stand, only to feel the snare tighten back up from his struggles. It plopped back down weakly and a pitiful whine escaped it’s lips.

"I’m guessing this pup is about six or seven weeks old. I don’t think a pack would have left it. So I agree with your wandered off theory," Kyla said.

"So is it weaned?"

"Don't know for sure. Maybe, but it should be able to eat meat if we ground it up real fine. I guess we take it back with us, I hope the leg isn't dislocated where he's been tugging so hard."

“Here, maybe you can blindfold it with this and it won’t be as scared,” Lily said, offering her a shirt.

“Maybe,” Kyla said, accepting it. It took her a couple of minutes to get it secured over it’s face because it wanted nothing to do with it, but finally she got it.

“Why do you carry around an extra shirt?” Kyla asked, trying once again to loosen the snare.

“I use it for gathering, to hold stuff,” Lily responded with a nonchalant shrug.

“Oh I bet that’s helpf-, there it’s off,” Kyla said, pulling the pup into her arms and struggling to get to her feet.

“Umm what are you doing? You can’t carry it, it’s too heavy for you in your condition.”

“What? No, he’s not that heavy.”

“He? how do you know it’s uh… nevermind, just give him here,” Lily said stepping forward to take him.

“Fine if you insist,” she said, handing him over.

“I do,” Lily smiled and turned towards home.

Kyla looked over at Liam who’d been watching it all curiously. “So bossy,” she said laughing.

He smiled and shrugged, “That’s my mom.”

When they got home it was time to get dinner going. The pup had fallen back asleep while they walked back so Lily laid him just inside the entrance to their den and went off to the river for clams. Kyla checked the pup over carefully for injuries. The only physical one seemed to be the gross sore he’d created from pulling at the snare so long. But for him to be sleeping as much and as hard as he had been he must be very weak. Who knew when the last time he’d eaten was.

Josiah stood close by watching in wonder. “Do you want to pet him? He’s really soft.”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, it should be fine. He’s sleeping and weak, and if he wakes up his teeth are tiny so I think it’s okay. I’m gonna go get him a piece of dried meat and soaked it in some water to soften it up for the pup to suck on. Lily came back from the creek and started supped then she came over with a soaking wet cloth and used it to dribble water into his mouth. 

Kyla came over with the meat he was sitting up looking slightly confused and alarmed, but when she held the meat out to him he snatched it. He quickly realised it was too tough to eat so he put it between his front paws and began gnawing on it.

“There was a fish in the trap already,” Lily said, smiling at Kyla and Josiah.

“Thats awesome,” Kyla responded, smiling back.

“If you have no objections I was thinking of cooking it for him because of how soft fish gets when you cook it,” she said gesturing to the pup.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Kyla responded with a shrug. “I’m kinda tired of fish, I’d prefer the clam chowder and jerky.”

After dinner they banked the fire and settled down for the night. They left the puppy in the den with them so no harm would come to him and he wouldn’t wonder off. It was also starting to get a bit chilly at night so the extra warmth was welcome. He curled up between their feet and the door and chewed on his hunk of dried meat until he fell asleep. 

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