In the morning when Caleb awoke, the wolf lay curled up next to his bedroll. As soon as the boy stirred, the wolf stood up, trotted off into the brush at the edge of the woods, and disappeared.

Red and the Raven were already packing up their saddlebags, ignoring the wolf. They broke camp, saddled the horses as fast as they could, and started to ride west across the valley. After an hour the sun arose and the woods started to look different; the undergrowth and the ground had been cleared of deadwood.

They came to a large clearing, planted with a vegetable garden, behind which stood a small cabin with a giant of a woman at the doorway. The Raven rode right up to the cabin, dismounted, and gave the large woman a warm hug.

"It's about time you arrived; I've listened to you clump across the valley for the last hour," she scolded while still smiling, "and you're late."

"We had a little diversion," the man replied, pointing at the boy. "He had a bit of trouble. So we took our time getting here."

The woman beckoned to the boy who dismounted and walked over to her. Her weathered face smiled at him and with a hoarse voice, she said, "You're new to horses, Caleb. It'll get better, the soreness I mean. You will get used to them soon enough. Be good to them, one is going to save your life." She laughed, and then bent over to give the boy a tight bear hug. "Hello, my name is Maud."

How did she know my name?

Maud turned to give Red a bear hug, and she looked to be just as crushed as the boy had been.

"What can we do for you Maud?" asked the Raven, while un-strapping the largest load on the packhorse.

Her eyes twinkled, "Well, since you're volunteering, I could use some roof repairs. I've made some tea and cookies for you."

The Raven puffed up his chest and said, "Well, we had better get to work." The man told Red to set up the ladder while he fetched the tools, shingles, and nails from the shed behind the cabin. He ordered the boy to help Maud with the supplies.

Caleb helped the woman finish unloading her supplies from the packhorse. They carried the bundles into the one-room cottage and placed them on the bed, and then invited the boy to go for a walk with her to fetch wood for the stove.

She said, "You haven't been to this school before, have you?"

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The boy still didn't know what to think about this large woman and said, "No, Ma'am."

She said, "They're the nicest bunch of people you'll ever meet; always helping out."

Caleb stopped and looked up at her, "You've been to this school?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "Nah, they just come by here every once and a while, bringing me my supplies, just like the Raven's done here. Let's talk about you."

"Me, why me?" asked the surprised boy.

"You have a big future in front of you. Grab it all. Take everything they give you and make it work for you. The Raven is a great guy. Listen to him. They don't come any better."

"Who is he?" Caleb asked somewhat miffed that he still didn't know anything about the man.

"He is a teacher," she paused, and then said, "and he once saved my life."

"Oh," said the boy as he looked at the man working on the roof.

Maud continued, "As I said, you are destined for great things. You will save lives; if you make it through your youth alive."

Caleb's head jerked up, his eyes opened wide, and he gulped, "How's that?"

"You just are. You aren't out of trouble yet. I feel it in my bones. Trouble will come at you from the strangest places and try to hurt you bad. You have to learn to trust your gut; it will help you make the right decisions. Also, watch out for Red; protect her, she needs your help. But, enough of that, things are looking up for you, and you've already made one good friend."

He looked over at the cabin, "Who? Red?"

She responded by pointing up to the top of a low hill. He followed her finger and saw the wolf sitting there, looking down at them.

All of a sudden Caleb felt a desperate urge to talk. "Ma'am, can I tell you a secret?"

She spits in her palm and offered it to the boy. He stared at it a moment, then he realized what he had to do. He spits in his palm and grabbed her hand. As they shook she said, "I would give you my very life to keep your secret."

Caleb described his encounter with the wolf and the trap, his dreams, and its reappearance in the morning.

"The wolf saves your life."

The boy's eyes opened up wide, "Ma'am?"

"He will save your life."

"I dreamed it; how did you know?"

She ignored his question. "First you have to save his life."

The boy tried to make sense of what she had said. It didn't sound quite right. "But, I did."

She said, "Not yet." Then as if nothing had been said, she responded, "Let's get this wood back to the cabin."

They gathered the dried firewood from a pile into the canvas carriers she had brought, and they returned to the cabin in silence.

When they returned to the cabin, the Raven and Red had finished repairing the roof, putting the ladder and tools away, and were inside the cabin unpacking supplies, which included seeds, sugar, and tea. With everything put away, they all sat down for some tea and large fresh hot cookies.

While Red whispered to Caleb a story about hunting rabbits, the Raven brought the woman up on the latest news of the world. When he got to the part about the troubles in the Amazon, the woman took in a deep breath, "The world needs young knights. People free to fight evil. You have two in your charge right now, see well to their education."

The boy and girl stopped what they were talking about and looked at the woman with questioning eyes.

The Raven promised, "I'll give them all that I have."