Wild Dog City (Darkeye Volume 1) (9 page)

Mhumhi, loping behind, lowered his tail. "She
is worried about you, though."

"I'm sure."

"I mean, she's worried that you'll
leave."

"Well, why wouldn't she be," said Kutta, not
looking back this time. "She's worried there'll be less meat for
Keb, and that she might have to give some up once in a while."

"Don't say that, Kutta," said Mhumhi,
furrowing his brow. "You know that's not true."

Kutta was quiet for a moment, then she said,
"I know. I'm just very… I just get very tired of her sometimes.
Don't you?"

Mhumhi couldn't say he did, so instead he
squeezed up beside her and nuzzled at her neck.

"I'll help you now, Kutta. You won't have to
do this all alone anymore, right?"

Kutta smiled at him. "I knew you'd come
around. You're my favorite little brother, you know."

"Because I've got the biggest stomach."

Kutta laughed. "Yes, exactly!"

Mhumhi fell back behind her, noting the new
spring in her step. He wished he could share it, but the thought of
the two hideous hulker puppies that were now awaiting them weighed
heavily on his mind.

The Horde of
Hunger

Despite his concerns, Mhumhi did not have to
see the two hulkers for a few days after that. The fuss Sacha
kicked up about the way both of them smelled after they returned
seemed to convince Kutta that it would be good to lie low for a
while. She merely took Bii's portion of meat from Mhumhi every day
before traveling to the sewer herself.

She also seemed to be encouraging the notion
that she was visiting someone, something that Mhumhi himself was
uncomfortable with. Every time Kutta dropped a casual hint, Sacha
seemed to become more withdrawn. When he confronted her about it,
though, Kutta seemed unrepentant.

"I'm not really going anywhere," she told
him. "Sacha will come back around once she realizes."

Mhumhi didn't argue, though later he wished
he had. He didn't like keeping secrets from his oldest sister,
especially when he could see that it was hurting her. What exactly
would Sacha do if they told her, anyway? He tried to think about
it, but he really could not fathom what her response would be.

Sacha certainly knew something was going on
with the two of them, but she did not know what, so she spent a
great deal of time venting her frustration on the newest member of
their household. If she spotted Bii she would go over to him and
try to posture and get him to roll over and fawn over her, like
Mhumhi and Kutta would. But it was not really in the fox's nature
to do so, which tended to result in a great deal of bad-natured
growling between the two of them. Bii ended up retreating mostly to
the upstairs with Kebero while Sacha kept to the downstairs, and
the two of them would not sleep touching one another.

It was frustrating for Mhumhi to see them at
odds, especially Sacha, so he took to trying to spend a lot of time
with her himself, wiggling and wagging like a puppy at every
opportunity. He wasn't sure if this didn't just annoy her, though.
It could be hard to tell.

One afternoon he tried to cheer himself up by
playing with Kebero. The puppy, at least, seemed happier with the
new family arrangement, since Bii spent nearly all of his time
doting on him. He was bounding around the bedroom with frenetic
energy, leaping clumsily on the bed and down again, coming to
thrash and mock-bite at Mhumhi and away again. Mhumhi was hardly
having to do a thing; he just sat back and watched Kebero tire
himself out.

Bii was sitting on the bed, stretched out on
his side. Whenever Kebero jumped on he would rise and lazily snap
at him, which was enough to send the puppy out on another delighted
romp around the room.

"Be careful, Keb," admonished Mhumhi,
stopping the squirming puppy briefly with a leg over his back.
"Watch for his leg."

"Oh it's all right, Mhumhi," said Bii, and he
got up and stretched, yawning, showing them his tiny little teeth.
"It's feeling much better these days."

"Is it? That's good." Mhumhi let Kebero
thrash his way onto his back between his front legs, kicking and
snapping, and opened his mouth and teased him for a moment.

"Yes," said Bii. "I think I'll be able to go
back to the sewers soon and do some proper hunting."

Mhumhi's head came up. "Back to the
sewers?"

Kebero squirmed around as well. "Bii, are you
going awa- going away?"

"Of course not," the fox said, hopping off
the bed so he could come and lick the top of Kebero's head. "I'll
be here as long as your siblings let me stay."

Kebero wagged his tail. Mhumhi thought,
wryly, that they wouldn't be making him leave anytime soon, not
with the extra meat he was giving them. They needed every last bit
they could get.

"What do you hunt down in the sewers,
Bii?"

Bii gave him a surprised look. "The usual, I
suppose… cockroaches, and things. There's always some meat and
offal left over around the dispensary pipes, so you can get maggots
there, too. I've seen some pretty large rats, but I don't care for
them myself. I know a few foxes that do."

"Can I go there too, Bii?" asked Kebero. Bii
gave him his impish little smile.

"Certainly you may. We'll make an
insect-eater out of you yet, won't we?"

Kebero smiled and wagged his tail. Mhumhi
tried to imagine what Sacha's thoughts would be on this: probably
not positive.

"Do a lot of foxes go hunting down
there?"

"Quite a few," said Bii. "We try to keep out
of each others' way though. Too many spoil it for everyone."

"So I guess there are a lot of foxes who
don't eat any meat?"

"I'm sure some are supplementing with it,"
said Bii, "but yes, I think it's fair to say that many don't use
it. Why, are you thinking of getting a few more helpers like
me?"

"Hm," replied Mhumhi, who had in fact been
thinking of something along those lines. More meat would certainly
help, even in small portions.

"Be careful about that, if that is what
you're thinking," said Bii, looking at him with his black button
eyes. "I'm not the only fox who trades, you know. Most of the ones
that do aren't trading to the families from Oldtown, either."

"What do you mean- that they're trading
to…?"

"The police, yes, and other better-off packs.
A lot of them do it for access to fruit, some of them do it for
protection, and some… well."

"Well what?" asked Mhumhi, intently curious.
Bii glanced at Kebero, who was now lying down between Mhumhi's
front paws.

"A lot of them will do it for access to
hulker meat," he said. "A lump of cold flesh for a mouthful of
warm. That's what I hear, anyway."

"Oh," said Mhumhi, feeling a weird tremor in
his stomach. "Is it really that good?"

"I don't know," said Bii, flicking his tail
at him. "I've always preferred the flesh that crunches,
myself."

"I see," said Mhumhi. "Is that why you
decided to come here, instead of to one of those better-off
families?"

Bii sneeze-laughed. "I came here because I
once knew your mother, and liked her all right. And because I'd
rather give my meat to someone who needs it. And because, well, I
like looking after puppies." He gave Kebero a fond little
nuzzle.

"I'm happy you came, Bii," said Kebero,
smiling at him.

"I am, too," said Bii. "You just wait, little
wolf, I'll take you down to the sewers and make a rat-catcher out
of you!"

"Yes, yes!" Kebero yapped, standing up and
wriggling out of Mhumhi's grip. "I'll get all those rats! Eat 'em,
down to their ta-tails!"

"Down to the tails?" Bii asked, amused.
"Where did you learn to say such things?"

But Kebero was off again, whirling around the
room, pouncing on a piece of the tattered bedspread and growling
and tugging at it.

"Hey, Bii," Mhumhi said. "When you were down
in the sewers, did you ever see a… a hulker?"

Bii pondered for a moment.

"No," he said, finally, "but I've heard of
them being down there, creeping around to avoid the police. It's
dark and strange down there- if you hear an odd noise, you run for
a little tunnel and you don't look back. There can be strange
smells, shapes… not just hulkers."

"Not just hulkers?" Mhumhi asked,
intrigued.

"I've heard strange sounds," Bii said
quietly, "and smelled a strange scent… darker and more powerful
than anything I've ever smelled… heavy footsteps… a kind of
moaning, from far away. Almost like the way a hulker sounds, but…"
He hesitated. "It isn't a hulker. Or at least, I don't think it is.
Maybe a different kind of hulker."

"A different kind of hulker?" Mhumhi
repeated, feeling chilled.

"Yes," said Bii. "One with sharp teeth."

"Oh," said Mhumhi, trying to keep his tone
light, "more like a proper dog, then."

"I suppose so," said Bii. "Still, I'd be
careful. If you ever come across something like that down there,
Mhumhi, don't stop to find out what it is. Dogs have been
disappearing lately."

"I don't plan to be brave again," said
Mhumhi, adding quickly, "and anyway, why would I be in the
sewers?"

"Of course, why would you be?" said Bii,
shooting him a look, and then trotted over to Kebero with his tail
hanging in a playful arch.

Mhumhi, a bit shaken, wondered again exactly
how much the fox's big ears were privy to.

He didn't have much time to think about it,
though, because in the next minute Kutta came thumping up the
stairs.

"Hey, Mhumhi," she said, and Mhumhi wagged
his tail and went over to plant sloppy kisses on her chin.

"Why don't you go to the dispensary with me
and Sacha today?" she asked, backing away a bit from his affection.
"The three of us haven't been together much lately."

"We've been in the house," Mhumhi pointed
out.

"Yes, but we haven't moved anywhere, really,
and I think it would be good," said Kutta, giving him a kind of
searching look. "I know you've already eaten yours, so you don't
have to, but…"

"No, no, I'll go," said Mhumhi, bouncing on
his front paws a bit at the prospect. Having the three of them out
together
did
sound like fun, now that he thought of it. They
hadn't gotten a chance to romp around outside together since their
mother had left, since someone always had to be in the house for
Kebero.

This made him think, as he tromped down the
stairs after his sister, and he asked, "But will Sacha be all right
with Kebero just staying with Bii?"

"Ask her yourself, she's the one that
suggested it," said Kutta, stopping short, because Sacha was
waiting for them at the foot of the stairs. Mhumhi pushed by Kutta
at once and bounced over to go lick her, and she jerked away
irritably.

"Come on, Mhumhi, we've been in the same
house, we haven't even separated!"

"I missed you," said Mhumhi, pushing against
her lovingly, so that she tottered on her short legs.

Kutta laughed. "Mhumhi says he wants to go,
Sacha."

"Well, we should go, then," said Sacha,
pushing back against Mhumhi. Mhumhi pretended he was being shoved
back and her stub tail wagged. "All right, that's enough, let's not
be stuck at the end of the line."

"Right!" Mhumhi cried, and bounded over to
the doorway, falling into a play-bow from excitement. "Let's go,
let's go!"

"Now he's all riled up, Sacha," Kutta told
her older sister reprovingly, but Sacha's stub tail was still
wagging and she gave a pleased little grunt as she passed Mhumhi on
the way out.

They fell into their customary formation,
single-file, with bear-faced little Sacha at the front, Kutta
trotting behind, and Mhumhi loping and wagging at the rear. Sacha
led them on a zig-zagging path, sniffing, brazenly ignoring the
other little foxes that had to jump out of her way. Mhumhi was
panting happily. There was a certain comfort and power from
traveling in a group, even a group as small as three- when he was
with his sisters, they filled him with confidence.

He entertained a lazy, happy vision of what
it would be like when Kebero was big enough to join them, when he
didn't look so much like a puppy anymore. Then they'd be four. Bii
could even come, though Mhumhi felt more neutral on that point.
Then they'd be five. And with his mother…

His wagging tail slowed. He hadn't spared
much thought on his mother lately. It had been hard to, with the
new, pressing worry of the two hulker children weighing on him, and
the ever-present need for more meat. He had not tried to go to Big
Park to look for her.

If she was even there, his mind added
desperately. If she was not long dead…

That thought effectively obliterated the rest
of his good mood. He trailed after Kutta, head low.

"What's going on?" Sacha growled suddenly,
from up ahead. He raised his head again.

They had reached Wide Street, and had found
it already very crowded with a mass of dogs. Mhumhi felt a strange
chill. Many of these dogs were not little foxes. They were large
ones, ones he knew he had never seen around Oldtown before. And
when he looked around, he saw many, many more painted dogs than he
was used to prowling on top of cars, overlooking the crowd.

The Oldtown dogs had noticed this, and there
was a great deal of yapping and tail-puffing at the sight of these
amassed interlopers. The little dogs had never been much for
solidarity, and indeed fought more often than not, but the sight of
strangers before their food supply united them. Loud growls
reverberated all across the street. Mhumhi realized that Sacha was
adding hers, and Kutta was showing her teeth. He put his ears
back.

There came a short howl, and the fur on
Mhumhi's back bristled. Standing on top of a large van prowled a
massive dog. The biggest kind of all: a gray wolf, panting,
yellow-eyed. She howled again, briefly.