CHAPTER NINE

The People

One day, the little wolf went for a walk in the forest. When he walked near the stream, he saw something very strange. Five strange animals were sitting in front of him. He had never seen anything like them before. The animals watched him. The little wolf was afraid of the animals, but he did not feel that they were dangerous. They did not attack him. Actually, they did not move at all.

The five animals were actually people. The little wolf knew that these animals were different from all other animals. He knew that these animals often controlled other animals. If he (were) an adult wolf, he would have known about people. Therefore, he would have quickly run away from the people. However, he was just a little wolf, so he stayed and looked at the people. Although he was afraid, he watched them for several moments.

The men were Indians. One of the men stood up and walked to the little wolf. He showed his teeth to the man, hoping to frighten the man. The man laughed and said, "Look! His fangs are white!"

The other men laughed. They told the man to take the little wolf. When the man tried to pick up the wolf, the wolf became very angry. The little wolf bit the man's hand. The man was angry. He hit the little wolf so hard that the wolfs body fell to the ground. He stopped biting the man's hand. He then started to cry. The man hit the little wolf again. The wolf cried and cried.

The other men laughed. Then the man who had hit the wolf also laughed. Suddenly, the wolf and the men heard a sound from inside the forest. The wolf knew that his mother was coming to rescue him. He stopped crying. He knew his mother would scare the men. She might even hurt them. He knew his mother was fierce and brave.

When she found the little wolf with the men, she was very angry. She showed the men her sharp fangs. As she stood over the little wolf, a deep, terrible sound came from inside her throat.

Suddenly, one of the men shouted, "Kiche!" Then, the she-wolf suddenly stopped growling and relaxed her body.

The man again shouted, "Kiche!"

Then the little wolf saw something that he did not expect. The she-wolf laid down on the ground and began wagging her tail. (If a tail wags, it means that it quickly moves back and forth. It describes what dog's tails do when dogs are happy.) The little wolf did not understand. He was shocked. The people could even control his mother.

The man who had spoken walked to the she-wolf. Kiche then allowed the man to touch her. Then, the other men came to her. They also touched her. They were very happy and excited.

The men talked about Kiche. One of them said, "She has a baby wolf. This is not strange. Although his mother was a dog, his father was a wolf."

Another Indian said, "She ran away a year ago. At that time, we had no food. The dogs also had no food. She went to find food."

"She found some wolves and lived with them, and now she has a baby wolf," said a third Indian, pointing to the little wolf.

The third Indian then touched the little wolf. The wolf was angry and showed his teeth. Then the man hit the wolf. Then the wolf obeyed. He kept his mouth shut when the man touched him again. The man's hand moved back and forth on the little wolf's back.

A man named Gray Beaver began to talk. He was looking at the little wolf and said, "His mother is definitely Kiche. His father, however, was a wolf. Therefore, he is one-fourth dog and three-fourths wolf. His fangs are very white, so his name will be White Fang. He will be my dog. Kiche was my brother's dog, but my brother is dead now. Therefore, Kiche and White Fang are my dogs."

White Fang watched the men talk. They made a lot of strange sounds with their mouths. White Fang then went to his mother and sat next to her. One of the men tried to play with White Fang. Kiche was anxious watching them. White Fang knew that the men did not want to hurt him, so he let the man touch him. Besides, it felt very nice. The man then stopped touching White Fang, and got up and left. White Fang was a little sad. White Fang was learning not to be afraid of the men.

After a while, White Fang heard more strange sounds. The sounds were getting closer and closer. He then realized that they were more people sounds. A few minutes later, many more Indians arrived. They were going to prepare their camp. All together, there were about forty Indians. There were men, women, and children. They were carrying many things for their camp. They also had many dogs with them. The dogs carried things on their backs. The Indians often moved to different camps. Each time the Indians moved to a new camp, the dogs would help the Indians carry their things.

This was the first time that White Fang had seen dogs. He knew that dogs were like him, but also different from him. When the dogs saw White Fang and Kiche, they were not afraid. White Fang suddenly became fierce and wanted to attack the dogs. He ran to them. He tried to attack them. The dogs were angry and attacked White Fang. Then, there was a big fight between the dogs and White Fang. He could feel some of their teeth biting into him and he tried to bite them. Then he heard the loud and angry voices of the people. The men stopped the fight.

In a few seconds, White Fang was away from the other dogs. The men were throwing stones at the dogs to keep them away from White Fang. They were protecting White Fang. He was very happy and surprised to see the men helping him.

The men then tied a rope to Kiche's neck. They did not allow her to walk freely. White Fang did not like the people controlling his mother. As the Indians walked, a child took Kiche's rope and held it as he walked. Kiche followed the child and White Fang followed Kiche. White Fang was worried about walking with the people. He did not know where they were going.

The people and dogs walked to the stream. Then, they walked next to the stream for a long time. They walked for a very long time. When they stopped walking, they were at a place that White Fang had never been. The Indians began to prepare their camp. White Fang watched everything. He also watched the dogs. He could not believe how the dogs obeyed the people.

White Fang watched the people prepare their houses. The houses were very large, round tents. They looked like huge upside-down ice cream cones. At first he was a little afraid of the houses. He watched the people entering and leaving them. He also watched the dogs trying to enter them. The people would not let the dogs enter the houses. White Fang walked to the side of one of the Indian houses. He touched the cloth of the house with his nose. It had a strange smell. He bit the cloth and gently pulled it with his mouth. He pulled harder and harder. The whole house moved with his pulls. Finally, a person inside the house shouted at him. Then, White Fang ran to his mother. He was not afraid of the Indian houses anymore.

The Indians tied Kiche's rope to a large stick. The stick was in the ground so that she could not walk away. White Fang soon became bored. He wanted to walk in the camp and look at the people. However, because of the stick, Kiche could not walk with White Fang. Therefore, White Fang walked alone. After he left Kiche, he soon met a young dog that was a little older and larger than him. This dog's name was Lip-Lip.

White Fang wanted to make friends with Lip-Lip, but Lip-Lip was very mean to White Fang. Lip-Lip was also very mean to other dogs. He liked to fight. Lip-Lip showed his teeth to White Fang. Then, Lip-Lip attacked White Fang's shoulder. It was very painful. White Fang became very angry and attacked Lip-Lip.

Lip-Lip knew how to fight, so he bit White Fang many times. It was very painful. White Fang was afraid, so he ran away from Lip-Lip. He ran to Kiche. He sat by her for a long time. After a while, White Fang became bored again. He forgot about Lip-Lip and went for another walk in the camp. He saw Gray Beaver. He walked to Gray Beaver and watched him for a long time. Gray Beaver was doing something strange with sticks and grass. Gray Beaver saw White Fang and gently talked to him.

It was exciting to watch. Women and children were helping Gray Beaver. They were bringing him many sticks. Gray Beaver was rubbing the sticks together very quickly. Then, White Fang saw something strange coming from the sticks. It was the same color as the sun. This was the first time White Fang saw smoke and fire, but he did not understand what smoke and fire were. He walked to the fire. He wanted to know more about it.

The fire attracted White Fang. He touched the fire with his nose and tongue. After a second, he knew he had made a mistake. He screamed in pain. It was the most pain he had felt in his life. He ran to Kiche. He was crying and screaming.

White Fang did not know what to do. Both his nose and his tongue were in great pain. He tried to lick his nose with his tongue, but it made the pain worse. He cried and cried. As he cried, the men laughed at him. He understood why they laughed at him. He felt stupid, ashamed, and embarrassed. He wanted to hide or run away. Kiche was the only one who was not laughing at him.

Night came, and White Fang lay by his mother. His nose and tongue hurt. He missed the cave. He did not like being with the people. He was not free any longer. He felt very nervous and uncomfortable about staying with the people. But as he watched the people, he knew that they were strong and smart animals. They could even make fire out of sticks as grass. They were like gods.

(end of section)