The White Wolf Read Online Free PDF

have heard Josh scream, Abbi,” Ruth Rose said.
    Suddenly Abbi backed her wheelchair away from the table. She wheeled herself to the fireplace and came back with a book in her lap.
    With the others watching her, she flipped some pages, then started reading:
    A large part of a wolf’s diet is rodents, mostly mice. Adult wolves often vomit up partially digested mice as food for their young.
    Abbi closed the book. “I think those baby wolves were in that boat,” she declared. “The mother wolf probably caught the mouse for her babies, and one of them was eating it when they got thrown in the cage.”
    “So the mouse
was
a clue!” Josh said.
    “It’s almost like connecting dots to make a picture,” Dink said. “First Abbi saw two people steal the puppies. Then we saw human footprints near the wolves’ den. Ruth Rose found a trail down to the beach and blueberry stains on the dock. And Josh found a dead mouse in the boat.”
    “And we heard the whimpering noises on the tape,” Abbi added.
    “Okay, I have to admit that I see a picture forming,” Wallis said. “But what we believe isn’t necessarily the truth.”
    “Right,” Walker said. “There are a couple more dots to connect. Like how do we prove that whimpering on the tape came from the baby wolves?”
    “I have an idea,” Josh said quietly.

“Tell us, Josh,” Wallis said.
    “I was thinking about the mother wolf,” Josh said. “She would know if those were her babies whimpering on the tape.”
    Everyone stared at Josh.
    “I don’t get it,” Dink said.
    “I do!” Ruth Rose cried. “We let the mother wolf listen to the tape, right, Josh?”
    Josh nodded. “Yeah, we can take the tape recorder to her den and play it. If the mother wolf is there, she should do something when she hears her babies crying.”
    “If those really are her babies on the tape,” Wallis reminded them.
    “There’s only one way to find out,” Walker said. “Come on, kids!”
    Dink, Josh, Ruth Rose, and Walker left the cabin and hiked into the woods.
    Ruth Rose carried Abbi’s tape recorder and a copy of the tape in her backpack. Walker had slung his camera around his neck.
    “I sure hope this works,” Dink said as they trekked through the trees.
    “Me too,” Walker said. “Abbi will be heartbroken if we don’t get those wolf pups back with their mother.”
    They stopped talking when they saw the tall dead tree. Dink, Josh, and Walker found a place to stay out of sight.
    Ruth Rose set the tape recorder on the ground about fifty feet from the lair. She pressed PLAY , then ran to where the others waited.
    Seconds later, they heard the taped whimpering noises. All four watchers had their fingers crossed.
    Suddenly a white blur shot out of the rock cave. The mother wolf hurled herself at the tape recorder. Lying on her stomach, she made her own whimpering sounds. She put her nose next to the tape recorder, as if trying to smell her babies.

    Walker was recording it all on his digital camera.
    After a moment, the whimpering noises stopped, and the kids’ conversation came from the tape.
    The mother wolf leaped to her feet, and her ears went straight up. She barked at the tape recorder as if it were alive.
    Walker motioned that they should leave, and the four backed away. When they were on the trail toward home, they stopped and high-fived each other.
    “Did you see her?” Josh asked. “If that isn’t proof, I don’t know what is!”
    “And Walker got it all on camera!” Ruth Rose said.
    “I sure hope Abbi was watching,” Dink said. “Will she be mad that we left her tape recorder up there?”
    Walker laughed. “She’ll forgive us,” he said. “Between your tape and these pictures, I’m pretty sure the game wardenwill agree to take a boat ride out to talk to the Dacks.”
    Abbi and Wallis were waiting on the deck when the kids and Walker emerged from the woods.
    “We saw it all!” Abbi cried. “I told you those were wolf whimpers!”
    Walker grinned.