CHAPTER TWELVE

Finding Gray Beaver

It was now fall, and the Indians were preparing to move their camp to a different place. The Indians were very busy packing all of their houses, clothes, and other things for the move. White Fang watched everything happening and was very curious. Finally, when the Indians were putting all of their things on boats to take them down the river, White Fang understood that they were moving to a different place.

When the boats started to leave the camp, White Fang decided that he was going to stay. He was going to use this opportunity to be free from the Indians and their dogs. He did not want to go with them. Therefore, he ran into the forest and stayed in the forest for a long time. He heard Gray Beaver calling his name, but he did not leave the forest. Soon, other people were looking for White Fang, including Gray Beaver's son and wife. White Fang heard all of them calling his name, but he did not come out of the forest.

Hours passed by. Soon it was night. White Fang did not hear any more people calling his name. He came out of the woods and looked at the place where the camp used to be. Suddenly, he felt very sad and lonely. Because he did not go with Gray Beaver, he had made a mistake. He sat down on the ground and thought about how lonely he was. Then he became afraid. He did not feel safe anymore. The dark shadows of the trees were very scary. He was also very cold. When he lived with Gray Beaver, he would sleep next to the house, and it would make his body warm. Now, the ground was very cold. He often had to move his feet because it was too cold for them to be in a place too long. At last, White Fang was hungry. He remembered the pieces of meat that Gray Beaver used to give to him, and he was very sad.

White Fang was not really a wild wolf. He had lived with the people too long. Now, he depended on them. Also, when he lived with the humans, life was interesting and exciting. There was always something to see or hear. Now, there was nothing to see or hear. Also, it was dark and scary. Then, he saw something dark moving very slowly towards him. White Fang became very afraid and cried. After a few moments, he realized that it was just a shadow of a tree. Then, the tree above him made a loud noise. He again became very afraid and started to run away. He ran to the center of the camp and stopped. He looked around the camp and thought about the Indians. He walked to the place where Gray Beaver's house used to be and stood for a few minutes. He thought about Gray Beaver and Kiche. He began to cry. He cried for Kiche and Gray Beaver, because he missed them both very much. In fact, he would have been happy even if the Indians were throwing rocks at him. He cried and cried.

When morning came, White Fang was even more lonely. He could see the camp clearly. He could clearly see that no one was there with him. Everywhere he looked, he could clearly see that he was alone. Finally, he decided to go and find Gray Beaver and the other Indians. He started to run. He ran next to the river all day. He did not even rest once. Even though he was very tired, he ran. The river then passed through the mountains, so he climbed many mountains. Then, when other rivers joined the river that he was following, he would cross the rivers. Because it was cold, the water in the rivers was turning into ice. Therefore, he would cross the river on the ice. A few times, however, the ice broke and he fell in the river. When he got out of the river, he did not stop. He ran as his fur turned into ice. The whole time that he ran, he looked for signs of the people.

White Fang kept running. He ran all night looking for Gray Beaver. By the middle of the second day, he had been running for thirty hours, and had not stopped once. His body was very tired and painful, but he kept going. He had not eaten any food in 40 hours. He was hungry and weak. His feet were bleeding and painful. To make things worse, it began to snow. Because of the snow, he could not see very clearly. Still, he kept going.

Although White Fang did not know it, he was very close to Gray Beaver. Gray Beaver was camping next to the river. He had just killed a large moose, and was now preparing the meat and moose skin for the winter. Night had come, and there was now more and more snow. At this time, White Fang was very tired. He was losing hope of finding Gray Beaver. The snow was so thick that White Fang could hardly see. Suddenly, White Fang saw the new tracks of a person. He smelled the tracks and immediately knew Gray Beaver was close by. With a cry of happiness and excitement, he quickly followed the tracks to Gray Beaver's camp. He saw Gray Beaver and his wife sitting by the fire eating meat.

White Fang expected that Gray Beaver would heat him for running away from the camp. His body was very low to the ground and he walked slowly into the camp with his head down. He just wanted to be next to the fire with Gray Beaver, so he was willing to let Gray Beaver beat him. As soon as Gray Beaver saw White Fang walk into the camp, he stopped eating. White Fang was slowly and painfully walking to him. His body shook with fear as he waited for the beating. Gray Beaver moved his hand up, but it did not hit White Fang. Instead, he took a piece of meat with the hand and gave it to White Fang to eat. Gray Beaver then gave him even more meat, and made sure that the other dogs did not bother him while he ate. After that, White Fang lay by the fire. He was very happy to be with Gray Beaver again.

(end of section)