Chapter 22I pressed our weapons on the woman and lifted the man into my arms. I managed to stagger to the porch, but my legs, weak from slogging through snow without the aid of rackets, gave out as I reached the steps. She helped me drag him over the threshold as the wolves raced into the yard and bounded up onto the porch. At her scream, I banged the door shut with my shoulder, catching the snout of the big male in the jamb. The beast yelped in pain and retreated into the yard.
I dumped the injured man into a chair and lit the stove, which heated the cabin faster than the fireplace. After his wife changed out of her soaked garments in the bathing room, we stripped the man naked. I held him upright so she could dry his snow-drenched legs. Then I carried his wiry, shivering frame to the be
