Free Summer of the Wolves by Polly Carlson-Voiles

completely and he would look at Ian and like Ian better by the time she came back. That was stupid, she knew, especially since Ian had said the pup wouldn’t see very well. But she remembered what she’d learned about how important those first days were, the days when a pup bonded with his pack.
    On the other side of the sand spit, Nika followed the trail up a rocky hill. The air was spring cool, the sun hidden in a dishwater sky. As she entered the tall trees, the forest surrounded her like an army. A few days ago the smells of damp earth and pine needles in the sun had been new to her. Today she felt like she knew this place. Low branches touched her face. A jungle-sounding bird squawked, drumming rhythms far off in the trees. The hushed buzz of tiny leaf life enlivened her senses, and she was alert to every sound.
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    In a little more than fifteen minutes of walking, she saw green roofs through the trees. She hoped Randall hadn’t been too sad without her. The six months after Mom had died, before they were finally sent to Meg’s, had been a time of endless waiting. For people to pick them up to give them rides. For social workers. For adults to make decisions. During that time Randall would never go to sleep unless she sat beside his bed. At school, too, she had stood up for him. Now she could hardly wait to tell him about the pup.
    The boys’ bunkhouse shook with shouts and pounding. It sounded like a whole troop of boys, not just four. She knocked, and Randall exploded out of the door. Two small boys streaked around him.
    â€œNeeks!” he shouted. “There was a bear last night, trying to get the bird food! Thomas’s dad said it’ll probably come back. Tonight we’re going to watch with our flashlights!”
    Nika hugged Randall’s skinny body. “Really, Randall?” Her little brother seemed so sure of himself, so caught up in his new life with these strangers.
    He pulled away. “You don’t believe me? Just ask Thomas!” Then he ran back into the bunkhouse, letting the wooden screen door smack shut behind him. Nika followed him in.
    Standing on one side of the room were three sets of bunk beds, and on the other a couple of old stuffed chairs faced a shiny green metal wood stove. Boy stuff littered the floor: clothes, flashlights and shoes, comics, pop cans, and not-so-clean plates. A smell of wet socks hung in the air. There was a whole city of action figures and cards and some colorful books in the center of the floor. Over by the door was a heap of wet swimsuits, towels, socks, and life jackets. Fishing poles leaned against the wall by the door. Randall heaven.
    â€œOkay, Thomas, what about this bear?” Nika asked of the oldest boy, who was on one of the top bunks reading.
    Thomas looked at her with certainty in his steady gaze. She wondered if he was in her grade. He seemed comfortable in his role of being the oldest.
    â€œYeah, there was,” he said, then returned to his book as if it were no big deal. “Once in a while one comes around . . .” He cut another glance at Nika, perhaps wondering whether she would react in some shrieking-girl way.
    â€œSee!” Randall said, practically shouting.
    â€œSo Randall, besides that, how are you?” she asked, pulling out the Twins cap he’d left in Pearl’s loft and handing it to him.
    â€œGreat! Wow, my hat!” Randall took the hat from her and put it on his bunk. He was not exactly in a talkative mood. Nika settled into the chair. Randall kept looking at Nika as if he didn’t quite know what to do with her in his new world.
    After a while the two younger boys ran back into the cabin and started sorting out their stuff. “Mom says clean up before we go,” one of them said. In a flurry they jammed game pieces onto shelves next to the wood stove.
    Then they grabbed their suits and towels and raced back out, shouting, “Lunch is ready, and then we can