Pax

A female fox comes upon Pax’s trail and says, “This is my territory, I hunt here” (35). “Instinct told him also that the way she held her ears and tail erect meant she expected his submission” (35). Pax refers to her as “The Vixen.” The Vixen tells Pax he smells of humans. He informs her the scent belongs to his boy, Peter, and he asks if she’s seen him. She says she hasn’t.

The Vixen’s younger brother, Runt, rushes into the fray—desperate to play: “The company of these two young foxes drew him, whether he was welcomed or not” (40). Pax and Runt play together. Pax learns the Vixen’s name is Bristle and that is Bristle brave and fiercely protective of her younger brother. Bristle shows Runt more about humans via a psychic memory that Pax also picks up on: a pair of foxes and a steel trap. The image is mysterious, and Pax doesn’t understand it, just that it is significant to Bristle.

Peter wakes up in the middle of the school’s baseball practice and watches the shortstop, the only serious one on the team. Peter resonates with the boy: “A baseball field was the only place where he felt he was exactly where he was born to be” (45). It was a feeling he’d never described to anybody else because it felt too private.

Peter addresses the Shortstop after practice, complimenting him. There is a sudden camaraderie between the two, and the boy asks Peter if he’s new there, catching Peter in a lie. The boy suspects Peter is scouting for Hampton, the team’s rivals. He calls Peter a jerk and walks away. Peter feels relieved he came up with a lie but also feels bad.

Peter reminisces about experiences with the therapist he had to see after his mother died: “That must have been hard for you. Your mom gets in a car to go buy groceries, a regular day, and she never comes home” (47). The therapist asked him if he ever felt angry. Peter said “no,” but he lied. When he returned home, he told his father he wasn’t going back again. His father was relieved, and a few months later, they had gotten Pax.

That night in the woods, Peter trips over a root and breaks his leg. He realizes he can’t walk on it and that the pain is worse than anything he’d felt before.

Pax sleeps in the same den as Bristle and Runt; Runt cuddles up against him. The little fox is very enthusiastic about playing with him, but Pax is only concerned about getting back to his humans. Pax drops the little toy soldier as an offering for Runt to play with and then leaves the den.

Bristle had warned Pax that the rest of the forest was home to an older fox and his mate. Pax gets a glimpse of a large gray fox and runs away. The gray fox follows him. The older gray fox makes it clear that he is no threat and tells Pax that he once lived with humans. Pax asks if Grey has seen Peter. Grey tells him that the crows reported humans bringing war from the west, but there were no children among them. Grey leads Pax to a body of water to quench his thirst. Pax tells Grey that he needs to be back at the road when his humans come for him.