The Empty City (17 page)

“That makes sense to me!” said Mickey eagerly.

“Keep your noses alert for anything we can eat—gophers, rabbits, mice, anything—and try to hold on to the scent as you follow it to the source. Really open your nostrils—like this, see?” He flared his own, taking deep breaths, casting around in the wind. “It's easy once you start. Let's go.”

It wasn't as if he was the most natural of hunters, but Lucky felt like the favored pup of the Forest-Dog as he led the others in search of prey. Sunshine, despite his special warning to her, was incapable of doing anything quietly, yelping every time she so much as caught her fur on a twig. Alfie darted ahead, his little white paws flashing as he ran.

Mickey, Bella, and Bruno were doing their best—slinking low to the ground, avoiding twigs and rustling brush as they snuffed the air for clues—but they weren't used to staying unseen. Though he didn't like to say so, Lucky knew they didn't have a hope of creeping up on the small prey they needed to catch. As for Martha, she was simply too big and burly to be inconspicuous—though Lucky couldn't resent her for that, not after what she'd done the previous day. They were such a varied bunch, he would simply have to accept that they all had different talents.

In the meantime, though, he had to give up any hope of rabbit or squirrel, any of which must have scarpered long ago, or of the gophers coming out of their holes. The land spread before them, not a mouse stirring, the only sound the breath of the wind in the grass.

We're wasting our time
, he sighed inwardly. Calling them together again, he decided on a change of tactic.

“Let's start small,” he suggested. “We'll practice with bugs and beetles.”

“Bugs and
beetles
?” Sunshine's wail of horror must have frightened away any remaining prey. Lucky took a deep breath and reminded himself to stay patient.

“Yes. You don't have to eat them if you aren't that hungry,” he said.

That quieted the little dog down.

“Here.” Lucky pawed a rock, hooking it with his claws till it tumbled over to reveal fresh wet earth. “Catch, Martha!”

She bounded forward, slapping both huge forepaws down on the beetles that scurried in a panic for the grass. Tentatively she lifted a webbed paw, and yelped with delight when two bugs tried to escape. Quickly she caught them again.

“Two!” exclaimed Lucky. “Well done, Martha!”

All the same, she eyed them doubtfully. “You can really eat these?”

Daisy bounced forward. “I'll try one if you will!”

Lucky watched as the giant dog and the little one crunched a beetle each. Their expressions of uncertainty gave way to a brightening of the eyes and a pricking of the ears.

“That's not bad at all,” observed Daisy.

“Really rather nice!” said Martha, in a tone of elegant astonishment.

That was enough to reignite the whole Pack's enthusiasm. At Martha's recommendation, they all bounded off in search of rocks and branches and roots, and foraged beneath them.

This, Lucky decided some time later as Alfie pounced with delight on a green beetle, was a much better idea. It gave the dogs some practice in stalking, with a reward at the end of it—however much Sunshine wrinkled her little black nose. Even she was hungry enough, eventually, not to mind the taste and the crunch of spiders and insects, and Mickey in particular was getting the hang of slinking low along the ground, snuffling at the rough grass, then pouncing.

“Well, Bruno,” said Martha with amusement as the brown dog chewed on a particularly plump spider. “Did you ever think we'd be doing this?”

“No indeed.” He chuckled as he gulped it down. “No indeed!”

They'd come close to the edge of a belt of trees as they worked, and now Lucky sniffed the air. There would be larger prey in here, the kind that didn't disappear down holes. Squirrels, and birds, perhaps—even a nest full of eggs if they were lucky. Maybe they were ready for a bigger challenge. It was getting later in the day, and bugs only went so far toward filling hungry stomachs.

Mickey had come to his side with surprising quietness, and now he said hesitantly, “Lucky … I've been thinking.”

“What?”

The other dog looked a little awkward. “I know you're the expert, but … these rabbits are so fast. What do you think … I wondered”—he looked at his paws—“suppose Bruno and Alfie go to the other side of the trees, downwind. And you and I and the others could drive out any game from here … let them smell us? Then when they run, they'll run right into—”

“Bruno and Alfie!” This was an inspired idea! Lucky was impressed. “It's worth a try. Come on, let's suggest it to the others.”

Some of the dogs were doubtful, but Bruno and Alfie were more than willing to trot a cautious wide circle to the far side of the copse, and despite their inexperience, managed to do it without too much noise and disturbance. These dogs, who he'd thought so spoiled and soft, were learning quickly. Three birds took frightened flight, clattering up through the branches, and a mouse scuttled into a hole in a tree trunk, but there was no mass stampede of prey. The Sun-Dog had bounded to his highest point in the sky; perhaps most small creatures were dozing now, sleepy with warmth.

Mickey was proving to be a natural. He slunk into the undergrowth, sniffing for possibilities, and though his first find was a squirrel that scurried out of reach up a pine trunk, he didn't waste time and energy barking at it. Daisy, overexcited by the prospect of meat at last, put her forepaws on the trunk and yapped, but even that was no disaster—alarmed into unwise flight, a rabbit bolted from the grass.

Mickey and Daisy were after it at once. Lucky had to force himself not to spring after it, too—this was a challenge for the Leashed Dogs, not him. There was a slab of rock at the edge of the wood, and he leaped up onto it, watching the chase. The rabbit Daisy had scared scuttled into a hole, unreachable, but another instantly panicked and ran—straight toward the place where Bruno and Alfie were waiting. Lucky felt a flicker of excitement.
This might work!

Bella and Mickey raced after the rabbit, and even Sunshine joined in. Little Daisy wasted energy barking her excitement—
Not again!
thought Lucky.
She needs to calm down!

But just as Bruno and Alfie burst from the undergrowth ahead, forcing the rabbit to double back, it was Daisy who was in the right place. As the rabbit ran almost between her paws, she made a wild pounce-and-grab—and caught it!

It struggled so hard she'd have lost it right away, except that the other dogs were on it in an instant. Martha slapped her big paws onto its back, holding it firmly, and Daisy gripped a hind leg desperately between her teeth. Now that it was immobile, Bruno grabbed it securely and finished it off with a shake of his powerful jaws.

For a moment they stood panting, staring at one another with delight.

“We did it!” squealed Sunshine.

“Well done, Daisy,” rumbled Bruno, dropping the dead rabbit to the ground. “Well done!”

It wasn't enough to fill all their bellies, thought Lucky as he put a paw on the still-warm body and began to tear it into portions, but it was a start—and more than that, it had once again given him hope for the future. Mickey's instincts had been right back there—and that was further proof that the Leashed Dogs must still have some instincts left that could help them survive. Mickey's dog-spirit was waking inside him, and Mickey was listening to its voice. If all the dogs followed his example, they had a chance of becoming a true Pack—a free, wild Pack!

The hollow by the river was
an excellent location to settle and make a proper camp. The place they'd slept last no-sun had been fine, but Lucky knew they needed to find a more permanent base, one that could protect them.

There was a broad plot of grass shielded both by the rising ground that stretched away from the river and by a tangled thicket of bush that would give shelter if it rained. With their hunger lessened somewhat by the rabbit and bugs they had eaten, the dogs could sit, heads cocked, and listen to the soothing trickle of water over stones, and watch the light play on the rippling surface.

“It's perfect,” sighed Sunshine happily. “Who'd have thought we'd find a new home so quickly!”

“And not too far from the longpaws,” added Mickey. “We'll be able to go back to the city quite easily when they come back for us.”

Lucky couldn't help giving a small growl of despair, but he managed to keep it to a muffled rumble in his throat. “Don't get too comfortable,” he warned them. “We have to stay alert.”

“Oh, nonsense,” yapped Alfie. “Why would we ever move from here? It's so clever of you to find this place, Lucky!”

Best not to say any more
, Lucky decided. Instead he gave a more cheerful bark. “The ground is good, but you'll soon feel every single pebble against your bones. Let's gather some leaves. It'll be much more comfortable than lying on grass.”

The other dogs were enthusiastic enough not to grumble at this task, and they bounded energetically into the trees, seizing jawfuls of soft fallen leaves and bringing them back to scatter on the ground beneath the scrubby bush till there was a messy heap of them. Bella and Martha scraped the pile together into a good thick bed, broad enough for all of them if they lay snuggled close together.

Stepping back, Bella examined their work with satisfaction, though Sunshine had now flopped down, panting.

“Being a wild dog is such hard work!”

Bella licked her ear. “And we haven't finished yet.”

“Bella's right,” Lucky agreed. “We have to organize ourselves. We all have different talents. Let's make use of them.”

“I don't think I'm good at anything,” said Sunshine mournfully, her ears drooping.

“That isn't true,” said Lucky heartily. “You have sharp eyes and a good nose. You can patrol for dangers. You and Daisy!”

Daisy gave an excited yap. “Oh, yes! I can do that, Lucky!”

“You think I can do that?” Sunshine pricked her ears doubtfully. “All right, Lucky! I'll try my best. And I can look for more leaves....”

Lucky felt his eyes twinkling with amusement. “I think we have enough of those at the moment, but you should keep an eye out for anything else we could use. Alfie could scout for that sort of thing, too. Mickey? You should be in charge of looking for food.”

“Yes,” agreed Bella. “Mickey's the best hunter. He should come with me.”

Mickey positively swelled with pride, yelping proudly through his mouthful of glove.

“And Bruno and Martha can stand guard?” Bella looked questioningly at Lucky.

“Yes! Martha, you'll be especially good at watching for trouble from the river side.”

Sitting around Lucky in a semicircle, the dogs gave him looks of pride and gratitude, and he found himself touched by their trust. He yelped encouragingly and pawed the ground. “Let's get started!”

Sunshine bounded after Lucky, along with Daisy and Alfie, as he trotted out of the makeshift camp.

“We could go back toward the field where we saw the longpaws,” suggested Alfie. “What do you think, Lucky?”

At his side Daisy shivered nervously. “Maybe not exactly that direction,” Lucky said, with a swift reassuring nuzzle at Daisy's head, “but we could take a wide circle around it. I don't want to run into any of those yellow longpaws again, but there might be things they've left behind, things we could use.”

“Good idea!” yapped Alfie, and bounded ahead, up a shallow slope and onto the grassy plateau.

They weren't nearly as far from the city as Lucky would have liked, but there were advantages to being around old longpaw places. It wasn't long before they came in sight of a small wooden longpaw house that looked deserted, tucked between a rough field and a copse of trees. Was it a longpaw house—or something else?

Lucky sniffed the ground very carefully, but couldn't find a fresh scent. “Can you help, Sunshine?” She placed her yellow leash on the ground and the two of them worked together, their noses close to the earth, but they couldn't find any clues. “Let's have a look around,” he murmured.