The Crossing

At the last fence line in America, three dogs approach Billy and the wolf. He lets his horse run and fights off the dogs, holding the wolf at his side. Two men approach and call off the dogs. They recognize Billy and are shocked by his decision to return the wolf to the mountains of Mexico, but they offer to feed him and help recover his horse. They put the wolf in a smoke shed while they eat. The landowner interrogates Billy about his plan and says Billy has no sense.

After dinner, they return to the smoke shed, and the landowner’s wife insists on treating the wolf’s leg. She gets an old Mexican man to help, and the four of them stitch and bandage the wound, with the landowner protesting “People hear about me giving first aid to a damn wolf I wont be able to live in this county” (71). Nevertheless, they provide Billy with food and supplies and see him off, watching as he and the wolf fade away into the night.

Billy rides south with the wolf for several days and tends to her, at one point feeling her pregnant belly. When Billy shoots a rabbit on the trail for supper, the wolf panics and hides.