I'm not sure if this has been brought up, but when I first read Tracking Song I assumed the number 14 was important because of the 7 Works of Mercy. In catholic school we divided the 7 Works of Mercy into two sections of 7 each (Making 14 Acts). Here they are:
To feed the hungry.
To give water to the thirsty.
To clothe the naked.
To shelter the homeless.
To visit the sick.
To visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive.
To bury the dead.
To instruct the ignorant.
To counsel the doubtful.
To admonish the sinners.
To bear patiently those who wrong us.
To forgive offenses.
To comfort the afflicted.
To pray for the living and the dead.
I see each of these in the story, am I way off base here?
This is excellent. I am not too familiar with Catholocism's teaching tools and catechisms, having been more immersed in Protestantism. For the number "14" in Catholocism I usually think of the stations of the cross, which didn't map on to the story. It is entirely likely that the acts of mercy were a kind of schema Wolfe had in mind and makes me wonder if the title "Tracking Song" has a double meaning as a sort of checklist of what events to put into the story.