Samantha brought up her father at their next conversation. “He will be looking for me,” she said. “He will leave no stone unturned in his efforts to find me.”
Little Bad Wolf looked at her paws.
“OK, I know you don’t like him but it will be different. He will rescue us and then you will see.”
“I thi-ink you may be wro-ong,” said Little Bad Wolf in a very quiet but deliberate voice.
“I know it will be hard for him to find us but he is looking for us now. I know it.”
“I thi-ink he kno-ows where you are,” said Little Bad Wolf.
“What! Come again! What do you mean?” asked Samantha.
“He was he-ere earl-y this mor-ning and I hear-d him,” said Little Bad Wolf. She felt that if Samantha had not been tied up she may have hit her at that point. She even shouted, “You’re wrong!” Luckily the men had gone off somewhere and no-one heard them.
“I’m sorr-y but he was he-ere and he wants to get mon-ey from your mum.”
“That’s crazy! He can just ask her. I know his business is losing money but this is crazy.”
They stopped arguing when Little Bad Wolf said she heard the men coming back. For the rest of the morning they sat there not talking. As the morning stretched on, Samantha was more and more mulling over the most shocking thing she had ever heard. Her father was behind the kidnapping.
Little Bad Wolf on the other hand was not one for thinking things over at great length or brooding all morning. Her thoughts were about how they could get out of here. The problem she had is that she had no idea how to escape. Actually, that is not quite true. She did have ideas and they could be partially successful. The problem was that from the entrance to the cave it would be very easy for the men to see them and shoot them. In the best scenario which Little Bad Wolf could think up only one of them would escape and she knew the men would shoot her without even thinking about it. She was a wolf after all. If they shot Samantha they would have to shoot her also and tell everyone they were trying to protect Samantha.
With these problems the two captives just sat in the cave for the whole morning until the men came with food. This time the men brought food for Little Bad Wolf as well as Samantha. They were very wary with how they fed her. After they had given Samantha her food, they untied the rope which tied Little Bad Wolf’s collar to her paws. One of the men was pointing his gun at Little Bad Wolf when the other kicked the plate which contained the food over to where she was. Little Bad Wolf would usually have been more suspicious of food from these men but she had not eaten much for a day and a half. She just gulped down the food and pushed the plate back when asked. They then tied her collar to her paws again. This time tying it much tighter than before.
It was only after they had gone that Little Bad Wolf noticed the man had also kicked a small stone near her when he was pushing the plate to her. It looked like a sharp stone which could come in useful. However it was too far away for her to get at it. Samantha had not spoken to her since earlier that morning.
Samantha gave a small smile, “Have you a plan?”
“I do not yet but I ha-ave to lo-ok at the sto-ne first,” said Little Bad Wolf.
She started trying to move nearer to the stone. Twice she was able to touch it with her foot. The first time this moved the stone closer but the second she could not control it. It moved, but further away from them. Both of them looked at this stone which could possibly help them but was now beyond reach.
The man called Martin came into the cave just then.
“Excuse me,” said Samantha.
The man stared at her, “Would you ever shut up. I’m busy.”
He looked anything but busy as he sat down for a rest at the other side of the cave.
“I am sorry to disturb you,” said Samantha. “This wolf you have stuck me beside smells. Could you move me away from this animal.”
“Great,” said the man. “So you don’t like the wolf?”
“Of course I don’t,” said Samantha.
The man went outside and came back in with Cedric. “Tell him what you just told me,” he said.
“I told you that I would like to be moved,” said Samantha.
“I don’t mean that,” said Martin. “I mean what you said about the Wolf.”
“She smells,” said Samantha.
“He’s not asking about that either,” said Cedric. “What do you think of this wolf?”
“I detest her,” said Samantha, “and I want to move away from her.”
“It looks like I won the bet,” said Martin grinning at Cedric. “Pay up!”
Cedric was muttering something about thinking the wolf was trying to help her escape. He took some money from his pocket and passed it to Martin.
The two men looked at them as though settling their bet was the end of the matter.
“Well,” said Samantha.
“Well what?” asked Martin.
“Are you not going to move me away from this wolf,” asked Samantha.
“I suppose I will have to have to do it,” said Cedric looking at Martin. “You’re still sore about losing the money.” He then looked at Samantha and said, “We can’t move you far.”
Although he only moved Samantha a metre away, it was perfect placing. The stone which Little Bad Wolf had been trying to get was between her feet. She had to wait another ten minutes before the two men went outside again. When they had done this she whispered to Little Bad Wolf, “Are they near?” She told them they were just outside the cave but a few minutes later was able to report that they had walked away a few hundred yards. Samantha’s hands were tied behind her back and her legs were tied just above her knees. She moved her feet in a way where she could pick up the stone and then swivel around so that she could place the stone very close to Little Bad Wolf.
Chapter 27 Escape
It took Little Bad Wolf at least two hours to cut through the rope tying Samantha’s arms together. Twice she had to stop cutting and pretend to be lying there as one of the kidnappers came in to check them. Thanks to Little Bad Wolf’s excellent hearing she knew when the kidnappers were coming back into the cave and when she could talk with Samantha. After Samantha’s hands were freed she untied Little Bad Wolf’s paws and her own legs but they arranged the rope so it appeared that they were still tied.
Little Bad Wolf had told Samantha of her plan and Samantha had agreed completely. She just said “Thank you” and “Good luck” realising that Little Bad Wolf’s role in the escape would be more difficult than hers.
They rested through the night but neither slept. When it was almost dawn, Little Bad Wolf knew the kidnappers would be at their least alert.
The two escapees went to the front of the cave. They saw the men in front of them. One was looking towards the river and the other was sleeping. Samantha silently tiptoed to a path to the left of the cave. She then sat still and whispered “OK”. Little Bad Wolf then ran down a path to the right of the cave. When she was sure the men could still see her, she started making a lot of noise and shouted “Qu-ick, Sam, Qu-ick.”
Martin pushed Cedric awake. Cedric’s first reaction was to push Martin back.
“They’ve escaped!”
“Who has what?” shouted Cedric.
Little Bad Wolf waited just long enough to allow their confusion to settle and then made some more noise and again shouted, “Sam, Qu-ick! Qu-ick!”
She had expected the men to immediately run after her but they did not do that until after they had tried to shoot at Little Bad Wolf. The bullet sped very close to Little Bad Wolf’s ear knocking a twig from the tree she was running by. This bullet would probably have hit Samantha if she had been with Little Bad Wolf.
She ran down the hill and the men came after her. Little Bad Wolf was surprised at how quickly they were catching up on her. She had thought out the escape plans in some detail. The problem which she now faced was that she could be caught before Samantha had time to get away
. There was a need for quick thinking. Little Bad Wolf ran further to the right towards the river. She used a path which deer had made but would be difficult for men to follow her.
“Can you see them?” She heard one of the men shout from the point she had turned into the deer path. They were too close to her. If they saw her now and fired they would probably kill her. The only thing Little Bad Wolf could do was sneak further down the path and hope they did not hear her.
The plan was beginning to work. Little Bad Wolf was getting further away from the men who were still making noise and looking to see what direction the escapees had headed. It was then Little Bad Wolf came across a pheasant which started making a great noise and jumping about in the air. Little Bad Wolf started running away as fast as she could. The men shot in her direction and hit the pheasant who had been still jumping up and down. The pheasant now lay on the ground, dead.
Little Bad Wolf did not need confirmation that the men had seen her and were chasing her. They were loud, very loud. They were also very close. Little Bad Wolf knew now that the men had chosen the cave because of their skills in the wild. She was managing to get ahead of them but as she did that she was in greater risk. She could only move at her fastest by making herself very visible and she could not do that.
The river was normally used by animals to get away from other animals who would not be able to track or chase them as fast through the river. In the case of the men the river would not slow them in any way. Little Bad Wolf came close to the river wondering whether she had made a mistake in changing the path she had intended using. There would be a space of about 200 metres where there would be no cover. Little Bad Wolf knew she had to run through this as fast as she could.
She ran. She heard the men behind her. Silence. Then, a shot. Little Bad Wolf felt a pain in her back leg. She had no idea what had happened. All she knew was she had to keep going. When she got to the forest she was able to go through the trees. She kept close enough to the path so that the men would follow her.
She sensed a difference in the men’s approach. They had seen that she had been hit and probably seen that she was bleeding. Little Bad Wolf kept onwards towards the town.
The two men kept running after her. They did not notice that they were running into a group of people who had been searching for Samantha. Without noticing these people they ran into the middle of them. Mr Silliman was the leader of this search party. He looked both frightened and angry but seemed to quickly regain his composure.
“Have you seen the wolf?” he shouted at the men.
Cedric had no idea why he was asking this in front of these people but Martin figured what he was doing and replied, “I think we got her. We have been chasing her for the last hour and she was running in this direction. Cedric here took a shot a while ago and I think he winged her. My guess is she can’t be far.”
“You heard that everyone?” said Mr Silliman not shouting this time but still speaking loudly. “The wolf which attacked my daughter is somewhere close. Let’s find her and bring her to justice.”
With that the search party starting looking in all directions for Little Bad Wolf. She was hiding very close to them. The pain in her leg had got a lot worse. She was not moving. She was trying not to even breathe in case they heard her.
Then they found her. “Over here!” shouted a woman. She had a gun and she pointed it at Little Bad Wolf. The entire search party and Martin and Cedric then stood around her in a circle. Four of them had shotguns and they were all pointed at Little Bad Wolf.
“What shall we do?” asked one of them. The question was directed at Mr Silliman.
He kicked Little Bad Wolf in the same leg which was already wounded. “I think we all know what we should do,” he said.
“Should we not wait for the police?” asked another of search party.
“Are you joking,” replied Mr Silliman. “We don’t want her to get the same justice as her father got.” He had made quote marks with his fingers when saying the word ‘justice’. With that he borrowed Cedric’s gun and raised it to his shoulder.
“Not so fast,” said a voice behind them. They all look around to see three police officers and Samantha.
Samantha noticed the glare her father gave Martin and Cedric when he saw her.
The search party was very surprised to see that the police were not treating them like heroes for capturing the wolf but were actually aiming their guns at them. Two hours later when they had been released from the police station they were told that Little Bad Wolf was in fact the hero and it was Mr Silliman, Martin and Cedric who had kidnapped Samantha.
Chapter 28 The Return of the Big Bad Wolf
Mrs Silliman had invited Little Bad Wolf, Matt and Louise to join them for the afternoon a week or so after the escape. Little Bad Wolf’s injury was still noticeable but the bullet had grazed her and she was getting better.
“You seem to be recovering well,” said Mrs Silliman to Little Bad Wolf.
“I thi-ink I am,” she replied. “You have also had a ha-ard ti-ime.”
“It is not easy to discover that the man I had been married to for fifteen years would do something like this to my daughter and to me. I guess there were signs all along that he was less than honest and selfish and greedy. I wanted the best and I ignored all this and look where it got me.”
“I don’t thi-ink any-one could have se-en what he was plan-ing,” said Little Bad Wolf.
“That’s very kind of you,” said Mrs Silliman. “Given the way he treated you, I thought you may have been suspicious.”
“No. I bel-ieved him,” said Little Bad Wolf. “I tho-ught he want-ed me kick-ed out of scho-ol be-cause it was the be-est thing for his daugh-ter.”
They both laughed at this. The others looked at them wondering why they were laughing. When they asked them they couldn’t explain.
Samantha joined them and Mrs Silliman asked Little Bad Wolf, “I have one question for you why on earth did you ever want to go to school. They treated you awfully.”
Little Bad Wolf told Samantha and her mother about her parents. It was a story of two crazy wolves who loved music and particularly rock and roll and even more particularly liked Elvis Presley.
When she finished listening to this tale Mrs Silliman said, “I like Elvis Presley too. I also think I may be able to help you. Come to our house tomorrow afternoon.”
The following afternoon Little Bad Wolf learnt that Mrs Silliman had contacted her lawyer who even now was going to court to have Big Bad Wolf released.
Things started happening very quickly. The aunts and Little Bad Wolf were told he would be released on Saturday. A big welcome party was planned with wolves, people and at least two corgi dogs. It was planned as a surprise. Everybody would be in the field near the forest and ready to have the party on Saturday afternoon before Big Bad Wolf got home and they would surprise him. However, Big Bad Wolf was released on Friday and turned up in very good form wanting to help organise the party.
“This is good,” he said. “Who has picked the music for this party? I think I will want to decide on the music myself.”
This is how Little Bad Wolf and her father had their first ever row. He wanted just Elvis. Eventually conceding that one or two Johnny Cash songs might not be so bad. She wanted Ryan Adams. Her father told her his name was Bryan and he would not allow him played at his welcome home party. She said it was Ryan and he sang a song called ‘Wonderwall’. Her father said that was OASIS. Little Bad Wolf then told her father he was very old fashioned and they should play a song called ‘Wagon wheel’ by Old Crow Medicine show and a Gillian Welch song called ‘Elvis Presley Blues’. Her father thought that sounded like a good idea.
They had a great welcome party with great music and great friends.
The end.
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