Free Ice by Elissa Lewallen Page A

then, speechless in my worry. Justin was a hard worker and would work regardless of what the doctor said. He then patted my shoulder and looked into my eyes. “No need for you to worry about me. I’m tough.”
    My lips twitched into a grin for a split second, and I realized he was right. He was tough. The burn probably wouldn’t slow him down for a second.
    He smiled then, probably happy to see me finally listening to him, and then I suddenly remembered something. “How’s the fire? Is it under control now?”
    We walked toward the couch and sat down. I couldn’t help but notice he was sitting exactly where Kavick had. Big John joined us by sitting in the middle where he usually did.
    “I wasn’t helping long enough to see…” he said, glancing at his hand with that grim expression again. He then looked back up at me and said, “The police think it’s arson. They don’t have a clue as to who could’ve done it, though. Everyone’s been so excited about that factory goin’ in; nobody’s opposed it, or complained about it….”
     
    The arson attack on the factory was all over the local news the next day. The fire was out by morning and it hadn’t spread to the lumber yard. However, the factory was positioned close to the forest so there was concern about the wildlife that might have been affected by the blaze.
    I ate cereal on the couch beside Big John as I watched the morning news anchor report on it . “Here is an amateur video sent to us that was caught last night shortly after the fire began.”
    The anchor disappeared and the TV screen was filled with a lower quality image, like someone had recorded it with their camera phone from inside their car. It was dark and there was a red glare from a street light ahead. I could see the orange glow of the fire nearby, and then suddenly two wolves darted out of the darkness and across the street. They ran so fast they could only be seen for a couple of seconds.
    The clip repeated over and over again as the anchor spoke about the fire. Each time the clip replayed, I noticed little details I hadn’t before. For instance, I had first thought I was seeing two black wolves, but now I could see some white fur on one. More and more, the black and white wolf looked like a Husky. The news anchor kept referring to the image as “Two wolves running to safety”. The Husky-like one certainly did appear like a wolf, much like the way Kavick looked when he had changed into an animal to prove he wasn’t lying to me.
    I suddenly remembered what he told me last night and realized why he looked so wolfish: it wasn’t just because he was a Husky, his father was a black wolf. And then I remembered his brother was one, too.
    I nearly dropped my spoon into my bowl of milk. I scooted closer to the TV, sitting on the very edge of the couch. Was I looking at Kavick and his brother, or was it just a coincidence? Were these really just two wild wolves looking for shelter from the fire? It was blurry and hard tell if I was just imagining details that weren’t really there, or if one of them really was a big Husky and the anchor just hadn’t noticed the brief second of footage that had a bit of white blur on the second dog.
    Suddenly, Justin walked by the couch on his way out, telling me goodbye, startling me a bit. I told him bye and to be careful at work. I was still worried about his hand and how he would manage working with it. He still acted like it wasn’t a big deal and that nothing would change. He had told me last night that he was still going to do all the things he usually did, the only difference was that his hand was going to be bandaged up for a while.
    During all my worrying, I realized just how much I cared about Uncle Justin and I couldn’t imagine moving back to California without him. Moving back felt like such a strange thing to do. Justin really did feel like family now, but I still missed California. It had been my home for so long, how could anywhere else