Movement and coming from the ground beneath her paws. Moonwolf had felt this before. Wolf paws were so much more sensitive then those of the humans and the humans were not helped by the fact that they all wore some sort of protection on their paws.

This part of earth where she and the human lived was subject to this earth shaking every now and again. All she could do was wait it out in her den. This den of hers had survived this type of shaking before and would do so again.

In his Stockton Law Office Jarrod Barkley was putting the final notes into his latest case file. Another successful outcome. The file was neatly put into its proper place. A quick check of the office and his desk. Nothing desperately needed his attention. Lunch with his mother and sisters sounded like a good idea.

Ten minutes later he had collected Jingo from the livery stable on was on his way out of Stockton heading toward the Barkley ranch.

The sound of an approaching horse caused Nick Barkley to look up from the fence posthole he had been digging. Ten or so yards away his younger brother Heath was pushing dirt into the hole securing the post in place.

“Hey Heath” Nick called “Hold up lunch is here”

From where he was working Heath noted the arrival of his twin and the lunch basket she was carrying.

“About time too” Heath replied laying down his shovel “I could just about eat a horse.”

“Not one of ours I hope”

“I don’t now Nick, a little steak a la Coco wouldn’t be to bad.”

“Yeah over my dead body” Nick laughed as he tossed Heath the shirt he’d abandoned earlier in the day.

“If that’s your choice then get ready”

“If you two are quite finished” Heatherleah Barkley interrupted the tomfoolery between her older brother and her twin. “Lunch is here and you won’t find a horse steak sandwich anywhere in here.”

“So what will we find?” Nick asked.

“Some chicken, salad, fruit and some of Mothers chocolate cake.”

“Let’s eat” Heath sat beside his twin

“Both of you go and wash your hands this second” Heather ordered, “I won’t have this food spoiled by the smell of wood and dirt. Now go”

While her two brothers went to the nearby pond to wash Heather set out the cloth, plates and food.

She had just put the last of the plates down and was just reaching for the food hamper when the bushes near to her rustled and the silver/white wolf appeared again.

“It’s you again” Heather breathed a sigh of relief. “I never did get to thank-you for the last time.”

As before the she-wolf just laid by the bushes with her head on her front paws and watched. Not once did she make a move toward the chicken that was on offer.

Returning from the pond the last thing both Nick and Heath expected to see was a wolf near their sister. They both looked at each other. Was Heather so blind that she didn’t see the creature or was she so frozen in fear that she couldn’t move?

Both of the boys drew their guns and advanced toward their sister and the danger that they perceived she was in.

Nick took aim and let off a shot.

Thankfully both Heather and the she-wolf sensed the danger and moved. The bullet passed by harmlessly and lodged in a branch.

“NICK WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” A very angry Heather turned on her older brother. Her eyes deep green with anger.

“TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE” Nick yelled back

“TRY THAT AGAIN AND YOU’LL HAVE TO SHOT ME TO GET TO HER UNDERSTAND?”

“WHY? IT’S ONLY A WOLF MOST LIKELY AFTER OUR STOCK. BETTER KILL IT NOW AND SAVE OUR HERD”

“NICK SHE WON’T HURT ME NOR THE HERD. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD SHE’S HERE TO WARN US OF SOME DANGER NOT HARM US.” Her eyes flashed green the colour of anger. “ REMEMBER WHAT JARROD TOLD YOU AFTER RACE DAY?” Her temper still running hot.

Listening to the exchange between Firefur and her pack mate a pack name for this second loud beta male began to form.

Within the structure of the wolf pack were the growlharders, the beta males who growled and howled their displeasure at certain events and happenings.

This darkhaired beta human male was typical of the growlharders, the loud, and tough, never give in or up attitude that they possessed and a temper to boot. The one difference was this beta male had a soft, caring and gentle side. She’d seen it come out with the injured Softpaw a little while ago. Growlshard a subtle change to reflect Growlshard’s gentle, softer, hidden side

Nick took a moment to recall what Jarrod had said. Yes now he remembered. He had asked Jarrod how it was the he and Heather had turned up at just the right moment. Jarrod had answered that he and Heather had been warned. Some about a silver/white she-wolf and an old Indian legend. The legend went that the wolf would warn of danger to any of the holders of the land.

“And you’re telling me that this is the wolf?” He pointed to the canine who had resumed her previous position head on paws.

“Believe it or not yes it’s her.” Heather turned her attention to the she-wolf “And she want’s to tell us something” She approached the wolf, just close enough that they could make eye contact “Mother?”

The wolf didn’t move.

“Jarrod? Audra?”

As before the wolf’s ears pricked up and she raised her head.

This left both Nick and Heath speechless.

The she-wolf took one last look at Heather, rose to her feet and left.

Nick started to follow.

Moonwolfs senses came alert; danger, to herself and her unborn cubs, and very near. Turning she saw that Growlshard had taken a few steps closer to her. On instinct she growled, a deep-throated growl at him.

“NICK DON’T” Heather warned “She’s delivered her message now leave her be. WHATS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU? HUNTING DOWN A DEFENCLESS WOLF OR SAVING YOUR BROTHER AND SISTER?”

“ AND YOU'RE CONVINCED THAT WAS A WARNING?”

“ Nick it happened the exact same way when she warned us about you and Heath.”

“Nick for what it’s worth I believe that it was a warning.” Heath interjected supporting his twin. “Anyway we just can’t ignore it. Suppose Jarrod and Audra are in danger?”

“All right, but if Jarrod and Audra are safe and sound I’m going wolf hunting.”

“Over my dead body.”

Brother and Sister glared at each other.

Audra was enjoying her ride into town .A clear, warmish but not to hot day. The air was cool and refreshing. Golden Girl was travelling well giving her not one bit of trouble.

Before seeing Jarrod, she wanted to drop in at the bank and make sure everything was right for the hand over of the money to the orphanage. The picnic race meeting was a huge success. Just over one thousand dollars was raised. With any luck it might become an annual event.

Stopping briefly to admire the view, Audra surprised to see a rider approaching. Jarrod!

“Honey” Jarrod said as he stopped Jingo along side Golden Girl “What’re you doing here?” Seeing his blond sister was the last thing he’d expected.

“On my way to town actually.” Audra gave Jingo a small pat on the neck “I wanted to see Mr Collins at the bank about the cheque for the orphanage then I was going to see if I could talk you into buying me lunch”

“Sorry Audra lunch is out” Jarrod smiled as he watched Audra’s face drop. “I was just on my home to eat it with you, Mother and Heather”

“Heather’s out giving lunch to Nick and Heath. So it would be only you, Mother and I.”

“And just what have those two done today to deserve a hand delivered lunch?”

“Fence mending.”

“What else?” Was the only comment Jarrod had to offer. “Come on lets head home, eat and then I’ll personally escort you to the bank and Mr Collins.”

Brother and Sister were just about to remount their respective horses when the ground beneath them shook, rumbled and then gave way.

“Audra was on her way to town.” Was Heathers response to the question Nick had asked regarding the whereabouts of their younger sister. “Something about the bank and lunch with Jarrod.”

“And she left?” Nick never got to finish the question as the ground around the party shook and rumbled.

The three horses Coco, Charger and Silverfire Lady reacted in fear. An earthquake was not something they experienced every day.

“Earthquake.” Nick called.

Heath and Nick quickly dismounted their horses. Nick hastily made for Heathers trap and lifted his sister out of it. Heath gathered the horses together and everybody made for the safety of open ground.

“Is everybody alright?” Nick quickly looked at his younger twin brother and sister.

“Fine thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Was that what your friend the wolf was trying to tell us about?” Nick queried as his eye caught sight of the silver/white she-wolf nearby

“I’m not sure” Heather replied, “ It’s just a warning of danger nothing specific. And just that it involves Jarrod and Audra.”

“Well according to you Audra’s somewhere on the road to Stockton and Jarrod’s in his office.”

“How about we split up? Heath suggested. The thought of Victoria alone in the house with all this going on prayed on his mind. “Somebody should go home and make sure Mother’s alright. The others can go and look for Jarrod and Audra”

Nick and Heather nodded in agreement. Heather and Silverfire Lady headed back to the house, while Nick and Heath continued along the road to Stockton.

Audra landed with a thump on something soft. It was Jarrod. Trying to raise her left wrist gave way and there was a sharp stabbing pain. She rotated it experimentally. It didn’t appear to be broken. It felt more like a bad sprain. Memory started to come back to her.

The rumbling sound, the ground shaking, the earth beneath her feet giving way. An earthquake.

“Jarrod?” She called anxiously “Jarrod are you alright?”

There was no answer.

Quickly she turned her head and looked to where her brother’s head lay.

It was a mess. Jarrod had a large gash above the left eye that was bleeding profusely. His left arm was at an odd angle hinting of a broken arm. It was a similar story with the left leg.

She put her hand on Jarrods chest and was rewarded with the feeling of pressure as the air flowed in and out of Jarrods lungs. He was still breathing. She let out a gentle sob of relief.

But how to keep Jarrod alive? And was there any possibility of going for help?

As far as her mother, brothers and sister were concerned they all thought that she and Jarrod were safely in town. Nobody had known that they had met on the road and were on their way home. She and Jarrod would not be missed for several hours yet.

Looking up Audra finally realized just how far both she and Jarrod had actually fallen. Looking down did no good either. They were stuck on some sort of ledge about a quarter of the way down a large cliff. Going down was not an option as there was the possibility that she might not be able to get back up. Going up was, as far as she could see, also out of the question, as there seemed to be no visible hand or foot holds.

All she could do was removed her jacket and drape it over her brother in the vain hope of keeping him warm.

“Help.” She called in as loud a voice as she could manage “Somebody please help.”

Audra was about to call out again when a face looked over the edge of the cliff. Her cries for help had been answered or so she thought. The face belonged not to either of her brothers nor was it the face of her sister. It was a canine face. Silver with white markings.

Wolf!

This was all she needed. A helpless Jarrod, her with a sprained wrist and what appeared to be a wolf, possibly hungry lurking above.

“A Silver/white wolf.” Jarrod’s words came back to her. “The legendary Moonwolf.”

Jarrod had been describing how he and Heather had been there to warn Nick and Heath after the events of the Picnic Race Day.

“Please” She whispered to herself more then anybody else. “Please be that wolf.”

Howlswisely was in trouble. Both he and the second young female of the human pack were trapped below her. Howlswisely on the other hand looked in a bad way. He wasn’t moving, her sensitive ears could barely hear him breathing and two of his limbs seemed to be crocked angles.

The young female was putting on an extremely brave face trying to be strong and helpful to her injured pack mate. Not many human females would’ve been so brave in this situation.

Strength and courage. Qualities her foremothers had heard the paler skinned humans speak of when referring to the big sky ball that shone during the day. Then there was the fact that her headfur shone like it as well.

Sunfur.

The sight of Jingo and Golden Girl galloping toward them riderless caused both Nick and Heath to panic. A riderless horse was about the worst sight anybody in the west could wish to see.

“I take it all back” Nick muttered, along with a few less polite and more colourful words.

“Following the tracks shouldn’t be too hard” Heath observed. Then lowered his voice and added, “ I just hope we’re in time.”

As hard as it was for Heath, it was ten times worse for Nick. He and Jarrod had been playmates as children. Although their life paths went separate ways the bond formed in those youthful days was still as strong as ever. Jarrod had been the rock of the family when Tom Barkley had died. He was still the one everybody turned to for a shoulder to talk things out on and of course to cry on.

Then there was Audra, the baby of the family. Even thought he was only six when Audra had been born Nick had sworn to protect her and to watch over her. His blonde sister.

“Enough of those thoughts” Nick mentally chastised himself “We will find them and we will be together again.”

Neither Nick nor Heath knew whether to be relieved or more concerned when they finally located the spot where Audra and Jarrod had gone over.

“JARROD, AUDRA?” Nick called as he tried to glance at the rocky outcrop below him. “CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

On the directly below where Nick was standing Audra heard his call and responded.

“NICK, HEATH is that you? Can you hear me?”

Up above Heath heard the cry, as Nick was about to bellow out another call.

“Nick hush for a second, I think I heard something.”

The faint call came again.

“Nick she’s down here.”

Carefully, not wanting to disturb the ground any further, Nick and Heath walked toward the edge.

Never is her short life had Audra Barkley been so relieved to see anybody as she was when she looked up and saw the faces of her two brothers peering over the edge at her.

“Honey are you alright?” Nick called. Fearful that his brother and sister had sustained major injuries

“I think so” Was the cautious reply “I think I’ve sprained my wrist. Jarrod’s badly hurt. I fell on him”

“How badly?” Heath asked with concern

“Broken arm and leg” Audra called back “ And some kind of head injury there’s a cut above his left eye I can’t stop the bleeding.”

“Okay we’re here now, just hang on a little longer.” Nick encouraged. He turned to Heath “One of us is going to have to go back to the ranch and get help. There’s no way that just you and I can lift him out of there.”

“I agree. Look Nick I’ll be as quick as I can” Heath mounted Charger “Here” He held out his canteen “Send this down to Audra, see if it’ll help.”

The brothers locked eyes for a second. Heath turned Chargers head toward the ranch and sped away.

“Nick, Heath what’s going on up there?” Audra’s voice had almost a fretful quality about it.

“Honey I’m still here.” Nick reassured his sister. “Heath’s gone back to the ranch to get help.” He looked at Heaths canteen in his hands. “Audra I’m going to send down a canteen of water. See if you can stop the cut bleeding with it.”

“Thanks Nick.”

Audra reached out for the canteen with relief. Quickly she doused her handkerchief and gently held it next to the cut above Jarrod’s eye. It felt good to actually be doing something. Jarrod had been unconscious since they landed on the ledge. The stillness was worrying her. If only he’d stir, give some hint that maybe he might wake up soon.

Nicks voice broke into her thoughts

“How’re you doing down there?”

“No change.”

For Nick the waiting was the worst part. He desperately wanted to be down there with his older brother and baby sister. Problem was that he didn’t have anything in his saddlebags that would be of any use in this kind of situation.

“Any of sign of help coming?” Audra called to him.

For the hundredth time Nick looked down the track that led back to the Barkley property. It was all quite and nothing moved. Then something caught his eye. Far off in the distance there was a small plume of dust. He looked again. Yes it was getting closer and closer.

“AUDRA. THEY’RE COMING. HELP IS ALMOST HERE.”

Below Audra smiled a smile of relief.

“Jarrod” She whispered to her brother “Helps on the way. Help is almost here.”

At those words Jarrod began to stir.

“Stay still.” Audra ordered

“What..?” Jarrod questioned weakly.

“There was an earthquake” Audra began to fill him in “You and I were standing on the edge of a cliff, we went over and landed here. Now don’t move you’ve broken your left arm and leg.”

“Head…” Jarrod moaned in pain. “Can’t breath too good.”

“You’ve got a nasty gash above your left eye” Audra continued. A note of concern in her voice. Jarrod mentioning his inability to breath properly probably meant some sort of rib injury as well. “Nick’s up above us. Heath’s gone back to the ranch for help.”

“What …you?”

“Only my wrist, sprained. Now just lay still and rest.” Jarrod going along with Audra’s wishes went back to sleep.

Above of the cliff edge Nick watched the plume of dust grow larger and larger. It turned out to be a small procession from the ranch. First came Heath still on Charger, followed by Victoria Barkley driving the family wagon accompanied by two of the sturdier ranch hands and bringing up the rear came Heather and Silverfire Lady with them came all the first aide equipment.

Victoria hurried to side of the cliff and stood by Nick.

“Mother don’t get to close we don’t know how safe it is” Nick warned

“Nick I’ll be careful. But what’s happening down there? How badly are they hurt?” Victoria was concerned more for her son and daughter then for her own safety.

“Jarrod copped the worst of it. From what Audra’s told me his left arm and leg are broken, there a nasty gash above his left eye and she’s just told me there’s the chance of a rib injury as well.” Nick filled his mother in.

“Any ideas on how we can get them outta there?” Heath queried

“Just one and even that’s gonna be a bit risky” Nick replied. “ We get Audra out first. We’ll send down a rope, get her to loop it over her shoulders and pull her out. Jarrod is gonna be another matter. I was thinking about a flat board with holes at each end. We tie Jarrod to it and lift him out that way, it’ll be painful for him but I can’t see any other option.”

“You mean something like this?” Heath as one of the ranch hands lifted a board from the back of the wagon.

Nick just smiled. He and Heath were so in tune it was scary.

“Just like that” He confirmed.

Getting Audra up off the ledge was easy. Thankfully her injured wrist didn’t hamper her that much. Gratefully she threw her arms around both of her brothers, her sister and her mother.

Jarrod, as Nick predicted, was another matter.

Nick and Heath lowered themselves down to his side and for the first time saw the full extent of his injuries.

They were binding the head wound when Jarrod woke again and cried out in pain.

Nick gripped Jarrod by his good shoulder “Jarrod, Jarrod it’s alright we’re here. Heath and I are here. We’re getting ready to move you outta here. I know it’s painful but we’ve got to. Just hang on a little longer brother.”

“Nick, Heath how’d find us…quick?”

“Luck older brother, luck and let’s say a guide.” Heath replied gripping Jarrods good hand.

“Wolf?”

Nick nodded.

They were loading Jarrod into the wagon for the journey home when Heather nudged Nick and nodded to a small grove of trees beyond the wagon. Standing there half hidden was the silver/white she-wolf.

“You were right.” Nick admitted, “I’m sorry for what I said”

“We both said things in haste. I too am sorry for what I said to you”

Brother and sister embraced.

Growlshard and Firefur were together again. A good thing too. The human pack would’ve been incomplete if those two hadn’t gotten together. Something about those two and Softpaw. She didn’t understand yet.

The wolf watched them for a little longer then disappeared into the trees. Part two of her job was complete.