The ranger took a deep breath, then said, “At least for a little while. Some of the people in town are…” he searched for the word, “crazy for guns. They are going to be shooting first and asking questions later. They’ll be looking for wolves, which is enough of a concern right there, but I know they’ll end up shooting at anything that moves and that’s what scares me most. Somebody is going to get hurt and I don’t want it to be any of you.”

Noble wanted to tell the ranger they could run in the forests far from town, but how could he question the man when he had their safety foremost in his mind?

“But we have to run,” said Harlan. “It’s who we are. It’s in our blood.”

“I know that,” said the ranger. “And I’m sorry, but it’s too dangerous for you—for anybody—to be out in the forest right now.”

“Then what will we do in the meantime?” asked Tora.

“You’ll just have to find something else.”

The ranger’s voice was loud and firm, and Noble knew that the matter was closed.

But Argus, who had been listening carefully with great interest, finally spoke up. “It’s funny you should say that.”

“Say what?”

“That we will have to find something else to do.”

“It’ll be only for a little while,” the ranger said. “Until we get this mess straightened out.”

“Well, today at school they put up a notice about the school’s cross-country running team.”

“And?” said the ranger, turning onto the last road that led to their home.

“Well…,” and here, Argus’s voice began to falter, “I was wondering, if we’re not allowed to run through the forest, maybe you’d let us run, you know, for the school.”

The ranger said nothing.

Noble looked into the car’s rearview mirror and saw the expression on the ranger’s face. He seemed caught off guard by Argus’s question.

“We’d be running on the track behind the school and on the streets in town,” Argus said.

“Then why do they call it cross-country?”

Argus didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know.”

“He would be running with other boys,” Phyllis said.

“And girls,” Tora chimed in.

“And you did tell them to find something else to do,” Phyllis added.

The ranger sighed. “I just don’t want them to make anyone look bad.”

“I won’t,” said Argus.

“All right, okay. You can join the cross-country running team if you want,” said the ranger, “but if you change form, or use any of your abilities to your advantage, it will be over.”

Argus began bouncing up and down in his seat, as if he were grooving to some song on the radio. “Thank you,” he said.

Noble whispered in Argus’s ear, “What about your math marks?”