White Fang by ACC Art Books

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2 THE PUP

THE SHE-WOLF

This story begins with a long journey to the far north, where there are barely any trees and where ice covers the land for as far as the eye can see. Two men were traveling on a large sled pulled by six strong dogs. It was so cold that they could feel the freezing temperatures even under their heavy jackets, and their eyelashes and mustaches were covered in ice. It was winter, and the light of day didn’t last long. As soon as it grew dark, the two had to stop and light a fire, unhitch the dogs, and eat a few beans accompanied by warm coffee. They got the feeling they were being watched, and they knew that a large pack of wolves wasn’t far away.

One of the men of the camp, Gray Beaver, had a debt to pay to another man, which he settled by giving him a bear skin, some red fabric, and Kiche. When the man put her in his canoe and set off down the river, White Fang jumped into the water to follow them. But Gray Beaver had other plans. He caught up to the pup in a canoe and grabbed him, forcing him to return to the camp. Instead of running away, the pup decided to stay there and wait for his mother, who would come back sooner or later—he was sure of it.

Gray Beaver decided to make him the leader of the pack of dogs that pulled his large sled. This caused even deeper friction between the wolf and the other dogs, who saw him being given the most prized pieces of meat and fish by their master. They thus chased him fiercely during runs, making him feel constantly hunted. At five years old, the wolf was increasingly lonely and mean. He didn’t feel close to anyone, animal or human, because no one had ever expressed an emotion that wasn’t indifference or rage, violence and punishment. This made him fierce toward his own kind, an enemy of the other dogs, whom he would attack without warning when he wasn’t strapped into the sled’s harness.

When the owners of the wounded dogs complained to Gray Beaver, the man defended White Fang and wouldn’t let him be punished.

Getting a good bite in wasn’t easy with all that extra skin, and when the wide jaws of the bulldog began to close around the wolf’s neck, it was the beginning of the end for White Fang.

No one came to help him, not even Beauty Smith, who sat there cursing as he watched the spectacle. Suddenly a sled pulled by a long line of dogs stopped nearby. Out stepped two men. One, in particular, upon seeing what was happening, jumped on the bulldog and barely managed to open his fearsome jaws to save the dying wolf.

When Beauty Smith tried to object, the man threw some money at him.

“You don’t deserve this creature,” he told him harshly. “He’s mine now.”

The name of that man was Weedon Scott, and with his assistant, Matt, he took the wolf to the house he had rented nearby, feeding him and tending to his wounds.

THE WOLF IN LOVE -

White Fang soon became a different wolf, though not in his mannerisms, which were still cold and threatening to all who dared to approach him, be they man or animal. But deep inside, the wolf began to feel a blind loyalty to Weedon Scott; every day he guarded his house, which he valued simply because it was Weedon’s property. Even Matt, in the wolf's mind, belonged to Weedon, so he was to be defended, too, as were his dogs, which he learned not to attack. Weedon was the only one who could harness him and put him at the front of a long line of dogs, pulling his sled in the area the man worked in as an employee of a mining company. When Weedon left for a week, White Fang refused to eat and stayed at the house, on the doorstep, waiting for his owner, howling all night long.

Over the following weeks, White Fang had to learn lots of new rules. One, for example, had to do with the chickens. He couldn’t eat them, not when they were locked up in their coop and not when they were rummaging about the yard. The same was true for the family’s cats and dogs, and even the animals owned by the residents of the nearby town, where he sometimes ventured out at Weedon’s side. He tolerated the long petting sessions of the children because he knew they were very dear to his owner, and thus also to him. And he and Collie, the female herding dog, remained enemies for a long time. Then, one day, he realized she was nipping at him playfully; her hostility had disappeared! They went out into the countryside, like his mother and the old oneeyed wolf years before.

ILLUSTRATOR

Domenico Russo is an illustrator and concept artist with experience as a props & location designer for various animated productions. With an educational background in animation from Nemo Academy in Florence to the Stephen Silver Drawing Academy in Los Angeles, Russo also teaches 2D layout and composition.

TEXT ADAPTATION

Altea Villa

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Valentina Figus

WS whitestar kids™ is a trademark of White Star s.r.l.

Translation: Katherine Kirby Editing: Michele Suchomel-Casey

ISBN 978-88-544-2053-3

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Printed and manufactured in Türkiye by Bilnet Matbaacılık ve Yayıncılık A.Ş Istanbul