Word Count :: 400+
She took the linen sacks up, tying quick knots to stop the kernels escaping and then beckoned for Liam to follow her to the tree. It came to her then just how fortunate they were, with these large grounds fenced in so neatly that not even wandering animals could find it very easy to invade their space. And the hotel was just a microcosm compared to the expanse of packland they possessed. With their techniques of storing and drying and cooking as well as their numbers and their natural-born hunting capabilities - which Caspa denied herself, assured there were enough legitimate hunters in the vicinity - she saw no problems with living through the winter months. Especially for wolves, with such superior cold tolerance to she. Samira even prospered in the winter, when the were-dogs huddled around their stoves in hide tents, and there was always a stew bubbling, extracting every ounce of nutrition from even the oldest of the meat stores. Then there was any canine's ability to fast for long periods, then gorging when a kill was made. She did not fear the winter, but faced it with the same serenity she always showed. "The ice and snow is the real danger," she commented, "to sleep in the snow is death, and the ice can make the strongest warriors lose their footing." She twinkled an eye at Liam as if she meant him and her, although he was barely grown - strong and capable, yes but still so young - and she would never be more than a scarecrow compared to someone like Noss. She still thought darkly of that man - he had underestimated her so blatantly, and refused to acknowledge her in any way as a fighter, but where was he when the going got tough? Sometimes the hierarchy and function of this pack was beyond her understanding. "Look out for the prickly shells: if the squirrels have been kind, there will be nuts inside." Last year she had been at her home and the chestnut trees for half a mile around the encampment had been left alone by the pesky creatures, probably put off by the canine smell. If the hotel walls were too thick, the well-marked pathways should do the job here. She stepped carefully around the tree, brushing aside the thick carpet of leaves here and there to search for the shiny brown nuts inside their spiked green nests.
Image courtesy of ®DS @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!
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