The Wolf by Steven Herrick

Ever since I can remember,

my dad has talked about the wolf.

From the age of five,

I'd sit beside him on the back step,

We'd look across the paddocks of sheep

into the forest shimmering in the afternoon heat,

watching,

the two of us sure the wolf would come

if we sat here long enough.

Sixteen-year-old Lucy Harding lives with her mom and dad and her twelve-year-old brother Peter on Battle Farm. Her father is physically and emotionally abusive to Lucy and her mother who spend most of their time avoiding him.  He loves to shoot his gun but he often misses the paper targets Peter draws for him. He did hit and kill their pig Winnie one time shooting while drunk. 

Fifteen-year-old Jake Jackson lives in an old timber house close to Wolli Creek with his mom and dad. His great-grandpa Ellis settled here with two dogs and some prize Merinos. He married Lizzy Peacher and they had a large family who have all worked on the farm. 

Jake helped his dad build a veranda around the century house when he was ten years old. Every morning he goes to the hen house to collect eggs and often in the afternoon he likes to cook with his mom. She taught him how to make bread, so three times a week they make bread in the Early Kooka to give it that smokey flavour.  Since he was five-years-old, Jake's father has told him about the wolf. His father was twenty-years-old when he saw the wolf at Wolli Creek while fishing for trout. The wolf drank from the creek, looked at him and then ran into the bushes. He tells Jake that wolves supposedly do not live in Australia.

Jake along with Lucy and Peter take the school bus together to Coomuya Central School on what is the last day of school before winter holidays. Peter, Lucy and Jake are all in the same class because the school only has seven teachers for Prep to Year Twelve. Lucy has been allowed to read a book about the Triobriands, islands in the Pacific. She finds their unusual culture funny because of what the women do to the men during the Yam Festival. As she leaves school for holidays, Lucy cannot wait to spend the next three weeks reading books by Wolli Creek where she won't hear her dad shouting at her mom or Peter whining or the complaints on talkback radio. On the bus ride home, Nathan Stokes bullies Peter for his inability to read and Lucy comes to her brother's defense by slapping him in the face. 

At Jake's family farm, they lose their second sheep in a week to what Jake's father believes is a wolf. Jake and his dad along with their two dogs, Patch and Spud head out in the pickup with it's spotlight to see if they can spot the wolf. Jake and his father debate about shooting the lone wolf. Jake's father only shoots snakes and foxes because snakes kill people and foxes kill sheep. They don't find anything that night. But one night Jake hears the long, lonely howl of the wolf on Beaumont Hill, searching for a mate. Jake hopes he can one day meet the wolf and befriend him.

Lucy remembers the story that her grandma told her years ago about how one of their dogs went wild. Her father was walking down the stairs and stepped on their dog Shadow's tail. The dog latched onto his leg and would not let go. Her dad beat the dog until he let go and then ran inside to get his gun. But Shadow ran off with her father in pursuit of the dog for hours. He never found him but was certain he could hear his howls. Lucy also hears the howls up on Beaumont Hill and believes that is Shadow. Her father tells her he intends on finding the feral dog and killing it.

One day, Lucy, Peter and Jake are together at the Wolli River. While Peter speaks badly of Jake's father but eventually leaves. Lucy startles Jake with the claim that she knows where Jake's "wolf" lives: "Near Balancing Rock on Sheldon Mountain". She doesn't have proof other than she knows, but Jake agrees to let Lucy take him to Balancing Rock the following day. In fact, Lucy doesn't know where the wolf is. She just wants to get away from her family farm and she plans to tell Jake once they reach Balancing Rock that she is not going back. 

They meet up in the morning and walk along Wolli Creek. Lucy has packed her school bag and as she has no intentions of returning home, she steals her father's beers and empties them into the creek. Soon they reach Sheldon Mountain just as the mist begins to roll in. While Jake wants to turn back, Lucy refuses. And then the unexpected happens: Jake slips on the wet rocks, falling down the cliff and severely injuring his ankle. Lucy finds a cave and she and Jake spend the night on Sheldon Mountain. Their time together changes everything for both Jake and Lucy and their families.

Discussion

The Wolf  tells the story of two teens, fifteen-year-old Jake Jackson and sixteen-year-old Lucy Harding who are neighbours on opposite sides of the Wolli River in Australia. They spend a night together in the bush, after an attempt to locate a "wolf" they believe lives nearby goes awry. The story is told in alternating points of view, with the occasional poem by Peter.The story is told in free verse with a group of poems each forming a chapter. 

The Jacksons and Hardings live on opposite sides of the Wolli River in Australia but their two families could  not be more different. The Harding farm is described as overgrown with weeds, their livestock running wild, fouling the creek and knocking down fences. Lucy's father drinks, and spends his time shooting at targets and small animals. Lucy hears the call of a kookaburra only to see her father shoot it. Lucy remembers, "I've never heard the valley so quiet."  She spends her time hiding from her abusive father on the shed roof until the sun slips behind Beaumont Hill. Her narrative reflects the kind of life and home Lucy is a part of, the tone angry and defiant, filled with swear words and crass phrases.She refers to the librarian Mrs. Bains as stupid and old. Lucy loves to read but since they are only allowed to take out three books over the winter holidays, she decides to steal a few.

Lucy is a tragic character because she is a victim of verbal and emotional abuse. In a poem titled Lucy: bad luck she explains that one day she was a normal child running about on their farm and then next she was to blame for the drought, the bushfire and the floods. Her father used his words to blame her:
"Every day he laid into me

with his words,

as though blaming someone else 

made it easier for him.

And what he said stung

like a nest of bull ants,

but I'll tell you want hurt more.

Every day while this was going on,

Mom did nothing to stop him.

She kept cooking,

mopping the floor,

hanging the washing."

Lucy wonders if her mother thinks the same as her father or if she's glad it's Lucy who is being abused and not Peter. To shield herself from her father's hate, she grew her hair long so she could hide her eyes. What Lucy doesn't realize is that women in an abusive relationship often do not leave and do not defend their children from abuse. It's a puzzling paradox to people on the outside but there are many reasons why women may feel compelled to stay in an abusive relationship. In Lucy's mother's situation, her husband drinks, and his behaviour is often threatening.  As a child, Lucy doesn't understand that her mother may want to defend her, but feels overwhelmingly threatened too.

In contrast, Jake is calm and grounded because he has two loving parents who care for him and involve him in life around their farm. He helps his mother bake bread and works with his father on various projects. Unlike Lucy's father, Jakes father kills only those animals that harm people or his sheep. However, Jake's father doesn't like the Hardings and he tells Jake he doesn't trust them.

When the two are stuck on Sheldon Mountain because of Jake's ankle, they are mutually attracted. Lucy feels safe with Jake and tells him that she has lied and brought him out to Sheldon Mountain on false pretences. She explains that she did it because she wanted to be free. She then explains to him what her life is like in the Harding family with her father's slaps and his leather strap.  Jake recognizes Lucy's pain as real, lasting pain whereas the pain from his ankle injury will ease with time. 

"What Lucy is feeling, 

that's real pain.

The sort that stabs and pounds

and makes you shake with anger."

When Lucy believes she hears her father outside hunting for her nearby, to protect Jake she decides to leave early in the morning. On her way to get help Lucy sees the animal they've been searching for, perhaps a wild dog, or maybe a wolf. As walks to get help Lucy remembers what her grandma told her,

"Time only goes one way....

She was telling me

to hold tight,

to wait,

that it'll all pass."

Jake's care for her, gives Lucy courage. She now knows she is strong enough to face her abusive father rather than cringe and hide.

"My father can bash me

all he likes,

but I know now,

he can't touch me.

I'm unbreakable.

I'm strong.

Stronger than any fist."

It is Jake's acceptance of Lucy as she is and his keeping an open mind despite what he's been told about the Hardings that gives Lucy the strength to go back for help even though it will mean having to go back home. As it happens, that is not the outcome as her mother decides to confront her father forcing him to leave. 

Jake's immediate acceptance of Lucy, whom he really doesn't know feels somewhat contrived as does their hinted at intimacy in the cave. He's injured and in a lot of pain and she is in tremendous emotional pain and very vulnerable. Peter's narrative felt unnecessary to the storyline. The mystery of the "wolf" remains just that - unresolved.

Readers looking for a story involving a wolf will find a superficial novel that deals with family abuse and teenage relationships. Not recommended.

Book Details:
The Wolf by Steven Herrick
Australia: Allen & Unwin 2006
214pp.