Young Writers Society

Sorry about the spacing of this but I'm not quite sure how to fix it.

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Regan lay on the mossy ground watching the grey clouds pass over her. She lay in the same position that she had been for hours.

A rough crashing came from the tree line to her left just as a huge wolf pounced out onto her, she rolled over onto her side and the wolf fell to the ground where she had been lying.

“Wolf! Where is Ma,” Regan said cocking her head to one side and lifting her left hand.

The wolf gave a quiet yelp and looked behind him at the tree line, there stood Doe, the beautiful white she wolf and her cubs. Doe never went anywhere without Ma and her cubs never went anywhere without Doe.

“Ma?” Regan stood and walked slowly to the edge of the tree line, “Ma?” she asked again looking for any sign of her.

“MA!” Regan called louder and more urgently.

Wolf yipped for her to be quiet but Regan was panicking now, she had never gone more than a day without Ma, she could find food well enough for herself but never enough and what she did get was usually just berries and nuts she found.

Regan yelled at the top of her voice but to no avail, Ma wasn’t there and it was unlikely she ever would be again.

Find food. The first thing that came to Regan’s mind, it was what Ma had always told her to do if she didn’t come back. Regan never thought she would have to follow her mother’s orders.

She made her way slowly into the woods, as the darkness closed around her she shivered; she had never been into the woods without mother before. At least she had Wolf and Doe and the cubs.

The small group made their way further into the woods in search of food. Regan saw many deer and rabbits were still plentiful but she had no means to catch them, that had been Ma’s job.

It took nearly two days for Regan to find the white food cloth her mother always carried; it still held much of the food although the pack had clearly been found by several other creatures.

Regan opened the pack and removed the crushed food, a old flat bread sat at the bottom of the pack. Regan ate the flat bread, too hungry to notice how stale it was. Next she removed a leather pocket full of roots which she ate.

Still hungry she reached into the pack once more when Wolf growled.

Regan looked up at a boy, roughly her own age standing in the clearing beside a stream that Regan hadn’t noticed.

“Hungry?” he asked. Regan didn’t answer but studied the boys bow slung loosely over his shoulder, on the other side of the river a young deer lay dead, two arrow wounds in its chest.

“You shouldn’t eat that, it’s been there for days,” he said, tempting her to reply.

“Where is my Ma?” Regan finally asked.

“Who?”

“My Ma, she went to look for food and she never came back,” Regan said with growing confidence.

“Your Ma got short hair?” he boy asked.

“Yeah and green eyes and… and three fingers on her left hand and…” Regan stopped, she cold see where is was leading, “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

“Sorry,” he boy paused then continued, “we found her, under that tree, it was a bear that killed her”

Regan hung her head.

“You can come back to my camp if you want, we can give you some food and a place to sleep,” the boy offered, “I’m Ruck.”

Regan could tell that he was only offering out of pity for her but she needed the food and a place to sleep in safety would be nice.

“Ok,” she said finally, “I’m Regan”

The camp was huge, tents surrounded a blazing fire in the middle. People worked around the fire making furs for the coming winter and making spears for the fishermen down by the river.

Regan stood and watched a sheer aw as the piles of fish were strung u for smoking and the deer Ruck had caught was taken off to be skinned by on of the people around the fire.

“Come with me, I need to introduce you to my father, and be nice cause he’s the chief,” Ruck said pulling Regan by the arm away from the bustling fireplace.

“Father,” Ruck called into one of the many tents around the campground.

“Ruck? You caught something good?” a booming voice replied fro the dark depths of the tent.

“Not caught so much as found,” Ruck called back.

From the darkness of the tent a looming figure appeared. Regan pulled back away from the entrance.

“What you found then?” the man asked.

“A girl,” Ruck replied.

Regan looked at the dust ground around her feet; she noticed how red the earth was here.

“Hmmm, she speak?” the man asked

“Yeah,” Ruck replied looking at Regan, “Say something at least Regan,” he said under his breath.

Regan looked up at the hulking man above her, “H-hello?” she said feebly.

“So she does speak!” the man said again.

The man stepped a bit closer to her, from the tree line Wolf appeared ready to attack. The man looked at him and reached for the bow around his shoulder.

“NO,” Regan yelled and ran to Wolf, “He’s safe, he’s with me,” she said pleading with the man.

He gave her a sideways glance before slinging the bow back over his shoulder.

Regan saw that Doe and the cubs were behind her now too.

“A merry little bunch you bought back today then Ruck,” the man said, “You actually have time to catch anything?”

“I got a deer,” Ruck replied s if Regan had disappeared.

The two went inside the tent, Regan followed with Wolf, Doe and the cubs. It was so dark in the tent Regan tripped over a chair which in turn fell loudly to the ground.

“Oh yes you’ll be wanting a place to sleep and some food I imagine” the man said.

“Yes please Mister… Sir” Regan replied picking up the chair.

“Ruck if you go and show Regan your tent and you’ll sleep outside, just a temporary arrangement and then if you get some food.”

“Ruck looked quite annoyed at being forced out of his tent by the girl he had saved from the woods.

“If it’s ok I would rather sleep outside, Mister Chief,” Regan asked.

“Well if that’s what you want” the chief replied.

“Thanks,” Ruck said quietly as they left the tent to find some food.