Watch Wolf

will Faolan find the Pit?” Finbar demanded.
    “How do you know she will not lead Faolan into it and leave him there?”
    There was a gasp. But before anyone could think or stop what happened next, it was as if a silver comet streaked through the
gadderheal.
Faolan leaped upon the red wolf and rolled her, her ruff firmly clamped in his jaws. He then held her down with both paws. “You know nothing! Edme is my dearest friend, and only a treacherous wolf would accuse her of such deceit.” The other wolves were mute with shock.
    “Off! Off! Faolan, now!” the Fengo ordered.
    Faolan released his grip and backed away.
    “Faolan! Banja! Listen to me,” the Fengo commanded.
    “Make her take it back,” Faolan gasped.
    “Don’t act like a puppy who just lost at a game of
biliboo.”
The Fengo wheeled around and then snapped at Banja. “Banja, you of all wolves should know better. What has gotten into you? Where is your dignity? You are a wolf of the Watch!” He was breathing heavily, as if this kind of outburst and the reprimand it demanded taxed him.
    “Banja has had it out for Edme from the start,” Faolan yowled.
    “Stop whining!” The Fengo paused as if to catch his breath. “Now, both of you listen to me! The war is not in this
gadderheal!”
Finbar tossed his head toward the entrance. “It’s out there. I will not tolerate such behavior. You go and make paw right — this instant!”
    Paw right was the traditional gesture of making amends, setting disagreements aside, and reconciling with one’s adversary. Each wolf was required to take three steps toward his or her opponent, then lift a paw and touch the other’s paw lightly.
    The two wolves approached each other as was prescribed. But when Faolan lifted his splayed paw, Banja made no move at all. Her eyes clamped onto the pad with the spiraling marks. She seemed transfixed and began to tremble.
    “Banja!” the Fengo said sharply.
    “I can’t touch it, honorable Fengo.”
    “You can or you shall be
dalach’d.”
    The wolf swallowed and finally lifted her paw and fleetingly touched Faolan’s, then turned and stumbled away.
    Faolan and Edme left immediately. Arthur flew overhead. He seemed like a different owl from the one Faolan had snatched out of the sky, mewling and frightened. It was as if he had grown up overnight, even acquired a slight measure of dignity. He took his job seriously, although he would not need to fly cover until they entered MacHeath territory. At the moment, Arthur was flying a quarter league ahead. But they saw him carve a turn and head back toward them as he sailed over a high ridge.
    “He’s flying fast!” Faolan observed. “What do you think he’s found? Certainly not MacHeaths yet.”
    “No, not yet,” Edme replied.
    Arthur landed. “Bears, hundreds of them! You’ll see them when you get to the top of the ridge.”
    “Oh, Great Ursus!” Faolan whispered at they scrambled up the shale slope. It was as if a dark ocean wererolling in from the west. He had no idea that there were so many bears in the Beyond. “They’re marching on the Ring!”
    “Let me find out,” Arthur said. The Spotted Owl spread his wings and lifted into flight.
    This is my chance,
Arthur thought.
I’m tired of being bullied. Made fun of because of my wing tip.
Had he been born a wolf rather than an owl, he would have been flung from the nest. But Faolan and Edme had returned stronger, braver than ever. He wasn’t sure if he had it in him to be really brave. Courage was a strange thing. For some, it came easy. But could there really be courage without fear? Was it courage that had made him take the dare to dive for the ember? Or was it something else — a poor imitation?
    What had he hoped to gain? Respect? Glory? Not really. Just to be liked, accepted. How pitiful was that? Halfway through the prank, he began to realize how stupid it was. He had seen Faolan looking at him while he was cratering, and had begun to wonder if he could gather up his nerve to tell the wolves of the Watch about the cubnapping he’d witnessed. He’d been just about to flydown to Faolan’s cairn, when suddenly that wolf was on him. He’d never seen a wolf jump so quicky or so high.
    And what would he gain from his latest adventure? He wasn’t sure, but he was certain that a war between the wolves and the bears would crack Faolan’s gizzard. Of course, Arthur knew that Faolan didn’t have a gizzard…. Marrow! That was it. The wolves were always