8 WINTER SHADOW through snow as high as my knees on the way to school The snows had begun to fall every night and I knew that soon our lessons would finish until the following spring and we children would be free to spend our days on our sleds on the small slopes next to the village school Everyone knew about the wolves
9 THE DISCOVERY in the forest but nobody was afraid of them Years of experience told the villagers that respect and distance allowed us to live our lives and the wolves theirs So we did not fear them as other people might We had even seen wolf pups before and watched them play always from a safe distance until they were called away by their mothers At night we could hear the plaintive calls of wolves among the mountains behind the village but to us it was part of the music of the valley Yet that day as I kicked through the fresh powdery snow I still felt a little dart of fear when I noticed a small gray bundle lying under a tree half covered in snow
10 CHAPTER TWO MARIA'S DECISION THE WISDOM OF THE villagers told me to walk clear of it A baby wolf is never far from its mother and should she return the mother would not wait to hear my excuses I watched carefully The wolf pup did not move The forest whispered soft drops of snow to the ground I was close enough to see one fall and
MARIA'S DECISION cling to the gray fur Walking slowly backward I continued on to school but kept watching to see if the pup would move Then I lost sight of it as I rounded a bend in the path Suddenly I realized I would be late and ran the rest of the way arriving just as the teacher was closing the door Maria Be quick girl The day dragged more so than any other Those last long afternoons before the winter break with the classroom almost in darkness were hard enough for me But on that afternoon I watched the large clock above the teacher's desk more closely than ever urging its reluctant hands around When the bell sounded at the end of the day we children usually tumbled outside to play games in the 11
