Page 73 of God’s Country

I was glad Ollie had gone into the tent and it was Stan confronting our visitor. Ollie would have made a huge mess of things. Stan, although clearly shaken, was far more prudent.

“Should I yell at it or something?” Stan said. “Scare it away?”

“Just be with it,” I said.

The wolf turned his muzzle toward the tent where Ollie slept and lifted his nose as if taking in the scent given off by that foul man. Then he raised his head and gave one long howl.

“Huh?” Ollie said from inside the tent. “What the hell?”

The wolf turned and, in an instant, had vanished.

“Nothing,” Stan told him. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

For a long while, Stan watched the darkness that had swallowed the wolf as if he was afraid the magnificent animal might return. Or maybe he was hoping.

“Has that ever happened to you before?” he finally asked.

I nodded. “Like I told you, wolves are my brothers and sisters.”

“That’s…” He paused searching for the right word, I thought. I figured he’d call it malarky, but at last he said, “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“Things happen in these woods that can change a person forever.”

“Ma’iingan.” He seemed to look at me in a new light. “You’re Indian?”

“My grandmother was full-blood Iron Lake Anishinaabe.”

“The other Indian… Cordell,” he said, finally using the man’s name. “Are you related?”

“On the rez, almost everyone has some kind of family relationship, cousins of one kind or another. But Cordell and I are just friends from way back.”

“You were willing to risk your life to save him. I don’t know a single person who’d do that for me.” He looked toward the tent. “Except my brother. He’s a lot of things I don’t like, but he’s always done his best to protect me.”

“Got you into some pretty hot water here,” I pointed out.

“We were just supposed to get hold of what was due us.”

“Without regard to who gets hurt along the way.”

“No one was supposed to get hurt.”

“Does that include Crispin?”

“It was his choice to clam up. And I told my brother to go easy on him. But he’s like a steamroller once he gets his mind set on something.”

“Like the two women?”

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen, I promise.”

I figured he meant it, but I’d seen the steamroller that Ollie could be, and I didn’t hold out much hope for Stan keeping that promise.

“Hey,” I said. “Look at the sky.”

Above the lake, the northern lights had begun to dance, rippling sheets of red and blue and green shot through with streaks of white. The brilliant display was mirrored on the still surface of the lake, and it was as if both heaven and earth were part of a cosmic celebration.

“My god,” Stan said. “I’ve never seen them before.”

“But you live in Canada.”