‘Oh my God! Is that a wolf?’
Next, Erin screamed. And the grip of acrylic nails through gloves her sister had been forced to put on pressed into Orla’s shoulders. She saw what Erin was talking about. It was furry, grey and white, with four legs, and it was running towards them at speed, barking. Did wolves bark? Why didn’t she know the answer to that? She did. She’d spent time with wolves in Russia. They were largely misunderstood animals who weren’t usually aggressive to humans. Where possible, they would avoid human interaction, not sprint towards them with what she could now see was a fierce look in its eyes.
‘We are very near to Wolf,’ Delphine shouted over the engine noise.
‘I know!’ Erin screamed. ‘I can see it! And it’s getting closer! I want to get off!’
Erin’s last words had Orla panicking. Although their ride wasn’t going anywhere close to street-race speeds, Erin jumping from it to the snow wasn’t wise. And her brain was firing off all kinds of flight versus fight scenarios in this moment.
‘You can see Wolf?’ Delphine shouted again. ‘Your eyes must be very good!’
‘It’s right there!’ Erin screamed, leaning back into Orla. ‘Looking savage!’
Delphine laughed and the engine of the tractor idled, quietening and slowing, the wolf bearing down on them.
‘Orla! It’s going to come and bite me! I don’t want blood loss and I definitely don’t want a scar!’
‘You think the dog is Wolf?’ Delphine said, the tractor stopping completely.
‘It looks like one! An angry one! Orla!’
‘Delphine, could you please reassure us that we aren’t about to be attacked?’ Orla said as calmly as possible.
‘Attacked?’ Delphine asked, getting off the vehicle. ‘I do not understand this English word.’
The animal sped the final few metres and then it leapt into the air and landed on Orla’s lap. Erin let out a scream that echoed down the valley and Orla just froze, a weighty four-legged beast mounted on her. She looked into its eyes and it looked into hers while it panted, tongue lolling, and, as her heart hammered against her chest, she wondered which one of them was going to make their next move. Apparently, it was neither of them. A loud piercing whistle hit the air and the wolf/dog sat stiller than she was, mouth closed up, breath now inaudible. A second whistle, this time in a different tone and rhythm, and the dog leapt off, down to the snowy ground where it sat, paws elevated like it was begging.
‘Aww, Hunter, you want some treats? I have biscuits in my pocket.’
Orla watched as Delphine pulled off her gloves and dipped a hand into the pocket of her coat.
Another whistle blasted and this one was so severe, Erin rocked on the tractor and toppled off into the snow.
‘Are you OK?’ Orla asked, quickly getting off and going to her sister.
‘No! I’m in the snow! And now everything is wet!’
‘Here, Hunter, but do not look obvious,’ Delphine carried on. Orla watched Delphine scatter the biscuits on the ground, but her actions seemed to be earning more whistling and it was so sharp Orla wanted to reach for her ears.
‘Make it stop!’ Erin groaned, wiping snow from her jacket.
Delphine shouted in French, gesticulating to ahead a little. It was then that Orla saw a dark figure standing out against the bright white mountain backdrop. Tall, wide, slightly ominous? She watched the figure move his arm and then there was another whistle blast. This one set the dog off and it jumped up, turned tail and began sprinting back across the snow.
‘That is Wolf,’ Delphine said.
‘I thought you said it was a dog!’ Erin exclaimed, teeth chattering.
‘Not the dog,’ Delphine said. ‘The man!Là-bas! There!’
Orla looked again at the figure. This was the person she was going to be interviewing. He looked formidable even from this distance and there was an instant disturbance in Orla’s gut that her ill preparation was going to come back and bite her harder than any dog might…
‘Is that how he has learned to communicate? With the whistle?’
‘Comment cela? What do you mean?’
‘The man. He does not speak? That was what I was told,’ Orla attempted to clarify.
‘Oh… well… yes… he is a man of very few words but… loud whistles, they can speak too, no?’ Delphine said.
