Chapter Eighteen
Nosy's mate was perhaps the hardest of all to bring into the village. It would take a terrible tragedy to make him one of the herd.
2 Nosy had disappeared for several days, and when she returned, a young male was following her. He came right up to the gate, but there he balked and would not enter.
3 No matter how much Nosy coaxed, or the other dogs encouraged him, he would not cross the threshold.
4 Nameless Fox even tried to entice him in with food, but to no avail. He would let you get close, but then turn away and rush off.
5 He quickly earned the name of Bashful. This went on for many weeks, then one day Nosy was chasing a pig with her rider, Gray Crow. The pig was determined to escape, leading them this way and that until finally they were on the narrow trail running by the dam pond.
6 Here the pig made a tragic mistake. In panic it spun around and tried to run between Nosy's legs. It only succeeded in getting its neck broken, and tripping Nosy.
7 She flew headlong into the trees. Her rider flew off, struck a tree breaking his arm, and sailed on into the water.
8 Nosy struggled desperately to her feet and looked at him, but she was helpless. Her left forepaw was shattered, and her right foreleg broken. Her face bled terribly.
9 Suddenly Bashful appeared out of the brush and rushed over to her. She whimpered to him, and looked to the struggling man in the water.
10 The male did not hesitate. He backed up, and with one great bound, cleared the brush, and hit the water with a terrible splash. Great strokes carried him to the man in moments, his jaws closed around him, and he tilted him up to keep his head out of the water.
11 He made his way to shore, but was faced with a sheer bank. Finally he found a deer trail, and backing into it, struggled up. Finally he deposited the waterlogged but alive man proudly, beside Nosy, and nuzzled her, but she barely whimpered.
12 He backed off and looked at her, then turned toward the village and sped off. When he arrived at the gate, he began to howl and the top of his voice and beat the ground with his forepaws. The other dogs came running. So did everyone else in the village.
13 "What is it?" asked the gatekeeper, "What's wrong with him?"
14 "I don't know," answered Nameless Fox, "but by The Lords, I'm going to find out!"
15 They saddled the dogs and sped after Bashful. When they arrived at the scene of the accident, Nameless Fox leapt off Big Fellow and ran to Gray Crow. "See to her," he whispered, "she's hurt far worse than I am."
16 Nameless Fox went around Nosy's head, and what he saw sickened him. There was a terrible gash from just below her upper lip running by her eye and through her ear.
17 Her paw was a mess, and bones protruded from her broken leg. There was also a wound in her side, but it didn't seem to be bleeding much, so he left it alone. He took off his tunic and began to tear it into strips.
18 "Give me your tunics!" he shouted to the other men. They obeyed without hesitation. Using one tunic as a bandage, he bound it to her face and stopped the bleeding. The other men were working on Gray Crow's arm. When they had done what they could they came over.
19 "What are we going to do?" one of the men wept, "We can't get an ox cart up here. How are we going to get her back to the village?"
20 "First of all," Nameless Fox ordered, "you two take the pups. The Healer and Brother Bear are in the village to the west. Take them the dogs and let them ride them back. As soon as I can, I'll send someone for you with mounts."
21 "Don't worry about it," the man cried, "we'll walk back." They leapt on their dogs and were gone.
22 "You!" he told the other men, "Go to the village. Take Lady and Big Fellow. Put them in their hauling harnesses. We need four of the big poles they use to make the cart tongues out of, all the rope you can find, and two of the heavy straw mats we use for packing and every able bodied man that can come. Go!"
23 The man nodded and sped off. Nameless Fox shouted after him, "Don't forget a litter for Gray Crow!"
24 The man waved and disappeared. Nameless Fox hurried to a shed by the dam, found some boards and hurried back to Nosy. Then he suddenly realized that it was going to take two men to apply the splints.
25 As if in answer to his silent prayer, he heard footsteps coming across the dam, and in a moment Swift Fox appeared on the trail. He froze for a moment, dropped the rabbits he was carrying and rushed over. "What happened?" he asked.
26 "I'm not sure," Nameless Fox told him. "She fell terribly. You must hold her legs whiel I bind them."
27 The two men worked swiftly and Nosy's only protests were whimpers as they straightened the injured limbs and bound them to the boards. Now, all they could do was wait. But they didn't have to wait long.
28 Soon they heard much shouting from the direction of the village and men began to appear on the trail carrying the various things Nameless Fox had asked for.
29 Two men arrived with the litter, put Gray Crow on it, and headed back to the village.
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