Page 26 of The Spirit of the Wolf

“Scrawnier yet,” he said. “What is required is something like dried grass or moss, which we have here in plenty. Watch.” Pushing aside the buffalo robe, he pulled up some brown grass, taking it in his hand and pinching it until it resembled dried flakes. These he placed on top of a small, flat stone.

She watched his hands yet again at work, and swallowing hard, she recalled their feel on her skin when he had helped to button her dress.

But he was continuing to speak, and she gave him her attention easily enough. “Now rub the stones together, over this grass.”

She took up the flintstone and pyrite to do as he said, rubbing the two together.

Several tiny sparks fell down to the flakes. At the same time, Grey Coyote bent low and blew on those hot specks, adding more grass, until the whole mixture of grass and moss began to flame. To this he assembled tiny bits of dry wood.

“Do you see how it is done?” He gestured toward the fire and looked up at Marietta. “First one must feed the fire with dry grass, then blow on the sparks until they ignite, then add chips of wood. It does require some patience, but not much.”

A tiny flare shot up from the mixture.

“Now we need a place for our fire, for we will require it to be somewhat bigger than this small stone. Perhaps we can pull back the buffalo robe and make a bigger fire here at the entrance, since there is a smoke hole here.”

She nodded.

“Watch.” He sat up, pushed away the buffalo robe and set the stone and the gentle blaze on the ground. “Now we gradually add more wood. It must be dry wood, for if it is green, it will send up smoke and alert our enemies that we are here.”

Again, she nodded.

He glanced up at her, his gaze soft. “Do you think you could keep the fire alive while I find more wood which is dry?”

“I think so.”

“Hau, hau.” After crawling out of their refuge, he was gone but a few moments. When he returned, he carried boughs and offshoots, and only two or three larger pieces of wood.

“But the wood you’ve brought will burn through quickly.”

“Then we will keep feeding it. What we need is a small fire, nothing large. A fire can be seen at great distances on the prairie. The trick is to make the blaze small, and one that is smokeless, almost impossible to detect.”

“I see,” she said, and they both fell silent, watching the fire. Occasionally one or the other of them would feed pieces of wood to burn.

After a short time he asked, “Are you hungry?”

“I am.”

“Then come, the fire is good. It will keep. I have brought us fresh meat.”

“Fresh meat?”

“Two rabbits. Follow me, for I left their carcasses outside our shelter. You can help me skin and clean them, and we will have a good meal.”

Marietta noisily sucked in her breath, causing Grey Coyote to arch a brow. “Did I speak in a wrong way? Is something wrong?”

“No, no. It’s only that I have never skinned and cleaned a rabbit before.”

He nodded. “Do not worry. They are gutted much like a deer or a buffalo.”

“No, you do not understand. I have never skinned or gutted anything in my life. I was a lady’s maid, and this...this kind of duty was never required of me.”

This seemed to surprise him, and he frowned at her. But he said not a word of censure. Instead, he crawled out of their sanctum, and without standing up, held out a hand to her and motioned her to come after.

Leaving their tiny lodge, she came down on her hands and knees beside him, where he knelt next to the rabbits.

Grey Coyote didn’t immediately set to skinning the game. Rather, he placed his hand on the still bodies of the rabbits. Then with head bent, he said, “Thank you for giving your life to us, my brothers. Your sacrifice will mean our survival. Thank you, Creator, for this food.”

It was a simple prayer, but only when it was uttered did Grey Coyote pick up the game, and coming up onto his feet, he set off toward the stream.