Wild Dog City (Darkeye Volume 1) (37 page)

"After I ran away from those dogs and jumped
down the manhole... she just showed up. At the door. And she was
all calm and gentle, and she said 'Come on, I know a place where
they can't get you,' and she took me to that room we stay in. Then
I told her where Tareq was hiding and she brought him. It was so
quick and simple I didn't even realize I started calling her
Mother..."

"That was her way," murmured Mhumhi, and they
lapsed into silence again. Mhumhi's mind was not quiet, though, as
they continued to walk forward. A flicker of anxiety was growing in
him: the thought of exposing the little hulkers to the dangers of
the surface world twisted his stomach. He could not forget the fear
Maha had shown the time she'd poked her head up out of the
manhole.

But it was going to be just fine. This was
Oldtown, anyway; normally worms in scat was one of the biggest
worries here.

They came to a forked pipe, and Mhumhi
scented both ways, and then said, "We should probably start
back-"

Then he stopped, and lowered his nose.

"What d'you smell?" whispered Maha, clutching
his fur.

"Shh," he murmured back. "Stay here for a
moment."

"Why?"

Her voice rose a little, and he turned and
licked her hand.

"Just a moment. I just need to check
something..."

Reluctantly she crouched by the wall of the
junction, and he moved forward, sniffing, his heart pounding
loudly.

Such a familiar scent...

He wandered a few feet further into the
tunnel, which was a branch away from the giant grate and the usual
way they went out. Something squeaked, and his ear flicked. A
rat?

He stayed completely still for a moment,
barely even breathing, and then he saw something. Eyes. Brown eyes,
watching him.

Mhumhi moved, just a slight shift of his
weight on his paws, and the other dog turned and fled, scampering
down through the dark tunnel and out of sight. Mhumhi jerked, then
stopped, the knowledge of Maha crouching behind him holding him
fast. He had thought... he had almost thought...

Had that been Kebero?

No... no, surely not; for one thing, it had
seemed too large, and for another, he was certain that Kebero would
have run towards him, not away.

His mind buzzing, he turned and went back to
Maha. She clutched at his back at once.

"Did it see us?"

"I think he only saw me," said Mhumhi, "and
he ran away. It's all right. We'll be gone even if he bothers to
get someone."

Maha made a sound that did not make it seem
as though she felt reassured, but she followed him quietly back to
the little room.

Kutta still seemed rather irritated when Maha
opened the door. Tareq had vanished, but there was a lump under the
blanket.

"Well?" she asked. "Did you see
anything?"

"Not really," Mhumhi dithered, unsure if he
should even mention the other dog. A less frazzled version of his
sister might have picked up on his uncertainty, but she only
snorted, Sacha-like, and dug at the lump with her paws.

"Come on, Tareq, it's time to go...
Come
on..."

They had a bit of difficulty trying to get
Tareq out of the room even when he emerged from his hiding place.
He whimpered and clung to the doorway while Maha pushed him from
behind. Finally Mhumhi yanked on the front of his shirt and he
tumbled out.

"All right," said Mhumhi, panting, as Maha
quickly shut the door to prevent any retreat. "All right, now let's
practice being quiet while we walk to the exit."

Practice went better than Mhumhi had
anticipated. Kutta took up the lead position, and Mhumhi the rear,
keeping the puppies linked hand in hand between them. Once outside
the room, Tareq seemed struck dumb with fear, incapable of doing
anything aside from clutching Maha's hand in his. Maha held him
grimly, her face set, and did not utter a word.

They made it through the sewers without
incident, and Mhumhi wagged his tail when he saw the pale metallic
shine of the ladder still extended underneath the manhole emerge
ahead of them. It was just the easiest leg of their journey, but
perhaps the rest might go just as smoothly. He could hope,
anyway.

From the shadows behind the ladder emerged a
large, rusty shape: Biscuit. Mhumhi saw his sister's hackles
rising. He ran to her side.

"It's all right," he said. "I told him where
to meet us."

Biscuit came forward, his curled tail
wagging, and Kutta stepped into his path, stopping him.

"Let's go," she said. "You in front."

"I must greet the children," Biscuit said,
peering around her at Maha and Tareq. "Then we can go."

Kutta seemed displeased by this, but with a
glance at Mhumhi she stood aside. Mhumhi himself was less than
thrilled as he watched Biscuit walk up to the puppies, wagging his
tail low now, mouth open in a smile.

"Dog!" said Tareq, eyes wide, and he let go
of Maha to toddle over and fist his small hands in Biscuit's thick
fur. Biscuit turned and licked his chin and cheeks. Tareq giggled
and curled his hands up by his chin.

Maha said, "Hello," and held out her hand,
and Biscuit turned and licked her fingers. Her lips pulled back
slightly in a small hulker smile, then a grin, and suddenly she was
scratching and patting him all over, ruffling his fur, while he
whined and licked her face.

Mhumhi, watching, felt confused. Biscuit had
greeted the hulkers as if he was already familiar with them, a
long-lost loved one, part of their family. And the puppies had
responded in kind. It was as if no tension or introductions had to
happen between them at all. He looked at Kutta and saw that she
seemed uncomfortable, mirroring his own emotions, flicking her eyes
to and away from the scene.

He had not spared much thought to the
relationship between hulkers and domestics, much-touted by Biscuit
as it was, but now for the first time he wondered if there was not
some sort of merit to it. There were no barriers between them at
all from the start. Mhumhi, watching the three of them laughing
together, felt queer- almost- almost jealous. Where did such
unfettered affection come from?

But then, it did not come without a price, he
reassured himself, for Biscuit was subjugating himself utterly,
acting the puppy, and himself a grown dog-!

"All right!" barked Kutta suddenly. "That's
enough playing. We need to go now, if we want to arrive before the
sky starts getting lighter."

Biscuit separated easily from the children,
mouth open in a smile, and Mhumhi thought he detected a certain
self-satisfaction emanating from him.

"So be it," he said. "Then I'll go in front.
Children, stay between the wild dogs."

"Dog!" said Tareq, reaching after him sadly
as he trotted back to the ladder. Maha took the boy's hand, but her
eyes were also tracking Biscuit. Mhumhi felt a sudden flash of
annoyance and flicked her with his tail as he walked back behind
them. She jumped.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing," said Mhumhi. "Just making sure
you're paying attention to your surroundings."

She pulled her lips down in a frown at
him.

Biscuit made his way up the ladder, rung by
rung, then Kutta after him. Tareq followed her easily even though
Maha had to let go of his hand- he was eager to get back near
Biscuit. Mhumhi watched Maha disappear up through the hole before
going up himself, wishing for the first time that he was not
stationed at the back of their little train.

The upper world was cool and quiet, with that
sort of liquid darkness that came after the stars had gone out.
Mhumhi heard the faint scream of a vixen disturb the silence, but
it was far off, and likely intended for other ears. Still, they all
tensed, and Maha gripped Tareq's hand so hard he whimpered.

"Hush, Tareq!" said Kutta, who had not seen.
Mhumhi went forward and nosed the back of Maha's thigh, making her
jump again.

"Calm down," he said softly. "We're here to
keep you safe."

Maha did not respond, and he did not see any
of the tension evident in her form dissipate. She was scanning all
around, her eyes wide and distracted.

Biscuit wagged his tail in what was likely
meant to be a reassuring way and they all went off, Mhumhi nosing
Maha again to get her to start moving. They had debated for some
time about how to structure their journey, but had eventually
settled on simply taking the fastest route that they could. It was
likely they'd be seen by
someone
, anyway, and the best thing
to do would be to have themselves in a safe place before
repercussions rolled all the way to the police.

The puppies could not move near as swiftly as
Mhumhi would have liked, but they strode as quickly as they could
on their long legs while their three guardians stalked around them,
focusing their eyes and ears on the silent darkness.

They reached Wide Street, the asphalt under
Mhumhi's paws cool and wrinkled like the skin of some gigantic
beast. Despite the evening chill in the air, Kutta was panting, her
tongue hanging low as she zigzagged forward. She stopped to cough,
flinching when the sound was loud in the silence.

Mhumhi would have liked to comfort her, but
he felt he had to stay focused on the puppies. Tareq had been
hovering delicately between quiet and noisy tears for some time-
his rate of sniffing was steadily increasing- and if he started
wailing, it was all over. Maha seemed to get this as well, for she
kept directing increasingly frantic looks at him as they
walked.

Ahead of them, Biscuit suddenly stopped in
his tracks.

Kutta went up to him, turning her ears
forward and swallowing in an effort to keep her breathing quiet.
Mhumhi pressed close to Maha's side, and she suddenly reached out
and dug her fingers in his fur.

Ahead of them was the line of stoplights that
hung near the dispensary, blinking yellow at this time of night. It
shed light on a dark object below: the stoplight that had fallen
onto the street. Mhumhi was familiar with it, as a landmark that
showed they were getting close to the dispensary. But it was not
the fallen light that Biscuit was looking at; rather, it was the
figure of the small fox sitting on top of it.

"He sees us," said Maha, in a kind of
gasp-whisper

"He can't hurt us," said Mhumhi, leaning
closer to her, but he felt sick all the same: they had been seen,
and the fox was staring straight at them.

Kutta stepped forward beside Biscuit,
blinking in time with the pulsing yellow light. Mhumhi heard her
sniffing.

"Is that... is it Bii?"

"Bii?" Mhumhi repeated, his eyes
widening.

The fox leapt lightly down from the
stoplight, arcing his tail in a familiar way.

"It's been some time since we last met," he
said.

"Bii!" said Mhumhi gladly, his tail wagging,
and pulled out of Maha's grip to go greet him with an excited
twitter. Kutta jumped at him and gave him a sharp nip on the
shoulder.

"Shh! Not so loud!"

Mhumhi put his tail down and swallowed,
stopping just short from licking Bii. The fox glanced between him
and Kutta, then behind them.

"Interesting company you keep," he noted.
"Especially this time of night."

Mhumhi opened his mouth to responded, but
then Biscuit muscled his way between him and Kutta.

"You know this dog?" he asked, glaring down
at Bii.

"Yes, so back off," said Kutta, raising her
lip, though she barely reached Biscuit's shoulder. "And you- Bii-
where have you been all this time? When we found the house empty we
thought..."

"To make a long tale short," said Bii, "I
heard the police approaching before they got to the house, and
decided to slip myself and Kebero out through one of the back
windows."

"Kebero? He's all right?" said Mhumhi,
bouncing. Kutta shot him a look- he'd forgotten to be quiet
again.

"Of course he is," said Bii, giving his tail
a single wag. "Growing quite fat off of rats now, in fact. Quite a
natural hunter. He will be glad to see you again."

"This is wonderful, Bii, I'm glad we met
you," Kutta said. "But we can't really stop and talk now- we've
got- we've got some business to take care of. You can come with
us-"

"No, he may not," growled Biscuit. "How am I
to know this creature is trustworthy? He cannot be allowed to know
too much."

"He's perfectly trustworthy," Mhumhi snapped.
"He's practically a member of the family!"

"If you'll allow it, I'd like to ask you
about this business of yours," said Bii. He looked through
Biscuit's legs to where the two hulkers were crouching together,
behind their little conference. "I couldn't help but notice you've
got hulkers with you. Are they in the care of this domestic?"

"Hold your tongue," growled Biscuit. "We
shall not-"

"No," said Kutta. "No, Bii. It's hard to
explain, but... they're like Kebero. They're our brother and sister
now. I know it seems strange, but..."

"Like Kebero," said Bii, in a thoughtful way.
"I see."

Mhumhi wasn't sure why, but a nervous feeling
crawled up from his stomach just then.

"I would guess that your mother had something
to do with this?" said Bii.

"Yes, but we really need to keep moving now,"
Kutta urged. "Once they're safe, we can talk all you like, and
bring Kebero in too-"

"Where is Sacha?" interrupted Bii. "Did she
not like these new family members?"

Kutta drew back a little, and Mhumhi
answered. "Sacha is not... She never had a chance to meet them,
Bii."

"Oh," said Bii. "Does that mean... no, I have
another question. These small hulkers- what do they eat?"

"What?" Kutta snapped. "What kind of question
is that? Bii, really, we've got to-"

Tareq screamed. They all whirled around.