"Uh, I guess you're sort of used to all this traveling by now… I mean, you've been to all these places before so many times probably," she said, feebly making some kind of conversation.

Hawkins looked as if he had been very far away. "What? Oh, yes, you're absolutely right. But I never get tired of it all. This is the kind of life I was born for, and I don't ever aim to change. I guess I'll die one day up here on the road somewhere. Won't be nobody around to mourn over me 'cept Lobo."

"Lobo? That means wolf, doesn't it?"

"Not only means it, he is a wolf."

"You've got a wolf? I didn't see him with the other animals." Hawkins shook his head. "No, I don't keep him down in California. He stays up here with 'Stump' during the winter, and I just take him with me when I come through. He's out by those trees there. Take a look, I think you can probably still see him."

Sarah peered out the fogged-over window, first wiping a spot clear with her fist. "Oh, you weren't teasing! There he is… and he's not tied or anything!"

"Tied! Lobo? He wouldn't stand for it. 'Sides I've raised him ever since he was a pup. One of our trucks accidentally killed his mother and I took him in. Had to feed him just like a natural baby for months. He and I are pretty good pals now, like I was his real pappa or something."

Sarah started to giggle at the thought of Mr. Hawkins fathering a timber wolf, but the look of misty-eyed seriousness on the old man's face cut her short. By God, he was serious, all right! That mean-looking animal out there running around loose was like a son to him! Well, anybody his age was due a few eccentricities, she supposed. If that was all she had to contend with, it wouldn't be hard at all. "When do I start work, Mr. Hawkins? I mean, when do I really start to do something? It's nice and all just sitting around, but I get sort of bored. You know what I mean?" she asked, her soft blue eyes twinkling.