Authors: Sue Bentley

Muddy Paws (6 page)

BOOK: Muddy Paws

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“Sorry, Storm.” Martin pet Storm's fluffy black-and-white fur absently. “Dad's being a big pain! He won't let me near Fergy unless he's with me. I know I can handle driving her by myself, but he won't believe me,” he grumbled.

Beth wisely chose to stay silent on the subject. “It finally stopped raining. Why don't we walk into the village with Storm and Ella?” she suggested, trying to cheer him up.

Martin's lip curled. “Go shopping? I'd rather watch paint dry. I'm going to take Ella for a long walk over the fields. By myself,” he said rudely.

Beth got the message. She didn't bother to tell him that she was about to suggest that they go to the new sports center. “Suit yourself.” She shrugged, got up, and called to Storm to follow her.

“Where are you going?” Martin asked, frowning.

Beth turned to him and tapped the side of her nose with one finger in what she knew was an annoying way.

Martin threw up his hands, got up, and stormed out, muttering about “stupid annoying girls” under his breath.

“Oh well. Martin's back to his usual self. His good mood didn't last long, did it?” Beth said to Storm. “But I'm getting used to him now and I don't mind it so much. I think he just likes complaining!”

Storm nodded, blinking up at her with bright midnight-blue eyes.

Beth changed her mind about the sports center. “We'll go to the village by ourselves. I bet they have a pet shop that sells dog treats,” she decided.

Storm yelped excitedly, almost falling over his own paws as he bounded out of the door.

Chapter SEVEN

Emily Badby had been baking bread all morning and the whole farmhouse smelled wonderful.

Beth sat in the cozy kitchen, reading a new computer magazine she'd bought at the village shop. Storm was curled up under the table, chewing on a bone-shaped dog chew, and Beth could feel the tiny puppy's warmth against her feet.

It had just been raining again, but a watery sun was now beginning to push through the clouds.

Suddenly the faint sound of barking and growling interrupted Beth's peaceful morning. She tensed up, listening hard. It seemed to be coming from far away, but then the noise stopped and Beth thought she must have been mistaken. Her aunt didn't seem to have noticed anything.

“Where's Martin?” Beth asked.

“Up at the top field. His dad's starting to clear it with Fergy and the old plow. Ella's with him,” Emily replied.

Making sure her aunt wasn't looking, Beth leaned over to whisper to Storm. “I'll take you for a walk up there later. It's no good waiting for Martin and Ella to come back here. Wild horses wouldn't drag him away if Uncle Ollie's plowing.”

There was no reply.

Frowning, Beth bent over and looked under the table. Storm was gone, leaving the half-eaten dog chew lying there.

That was odd. He'd never run off without telling her where he was going before. She got up and went to look for him.

Storm wasn't in the living room or any of the other downstairs rooms. She went up to her bedroom, expecting to find him curled up on her blanket, but he wasn't there either.

“Storm?” she said, beginning to feel concerned.

A faint sound came from under her pillows. Beth smiled and pulled back the top of the blanket to reveal a little black-and-white tail. “What's this, hide-and-seekâ” she began, but stopped at the sight of Storm trembling all over. “What's wrong? Are you sick?” she asked worriedly.

Storm squirmed farther into the pillows. “I sense that Shadow knows where I am. He will send his magic, so that any dogs that are nearby will attack me,” he said in a muffled little whine.

“Oh no! That must have been what I heard. We need to find you a better hiding place. Maybe the barn or . . . or . . .” Beth tried to think of somewhere safe.

“It is no use, Beth,” Storm whimpered, his deep-blue eyes as dull as stones. “Leave me here for a while, please. Any dogs looking for me may pass by.”

“All right. If that's what you want,” Beth said. She had a sudden thought. “What about Ella? Will Shadow's magic work on her, too?” She felt horrified that the gentle old collie might become Storm's enemy.

“No. I have already used my magic to help her. That will protect Ella from Shadow's evil ways,” Storm whined before he burrowed right under the pillows and curled up into a tight little ball.

Beth gently gathered his tail in, replaced the blanket, and tucked it tightly around him. No one would know there was anything under the pillow. She went out quietly, hoping that Storm's plan would work. She couldn't bear to think of her friend having to leave suddenly without warning.

Beth could hardly eat any lunch because she was so worried about Storm. She nibbled on a few mouthfuls of salad and cauliflower and then asked if she could leave the table.

“Are you feeling all right?” her aunt asked.

“Fine, thanks. I'm just not very hungry,” Beth replied.

Martin glanced at Beth in concern and seemed about to say something, but then he changed his mind. He finished eating and jumped up from the table.

“Why don't you and Storm come up to the top field before lunch and see how Dad and I are doing? We've cleared a lot of it already. I'm going up there again now with Ella. You could come with us, if you like.”

“I might. I'll . . . um . . . follow you up there in a minute,” Beth murmured absently.

“Whatever,” Martin muttered.

When he and Ella had left, Beth went into the hall with a heavy heart. She was dreading going upstairs to her bedroom. Would Storm still be here or had her friend already left forever?

Suddenly, a tiny fluffy black-and-white figure came bounding down the stairs. “Hello, Beth,” Storm barked happily.

“Storm! You're still here!” Beth cried, overjoyed, throwing her arms around him.

Storm yapped and licked her face, his tail moving wildly. His midnight-blue eyes were as bright as a moonlit sky and he seemed completely back to his usual self. “I cannot sense any strange dogs nearby, so they must have gone away. But if they return I might have to leave at once. We might not have time to say good-bye.”

“I understand,” Beth said, hardly taking this in. She just wanted to enjoy every single moment of the time they could spend together now.

She secretly hoped that Storm would stay with her forever, even though she knew he must someday return to help his injured mother and lead the Moon-claw wolf pack.

Beth decided to talk about something else. “Do you want to go watch Uncle Ollie giving Martin some plowing practice? It'll probably be really boring,” she said, making a face.

Storm's cute face lit up, as it always did at any chance of a walk.

Where's Uncle Ollie?
Beth wondered as they walked toward the top field. She could see the red tractor and the plow mounted behind it, but only Martin and Ella stood beside it.

Storm was trotting beside her with his nose sniffing around on the ground.

Martin waved. “Hi! I didn't think you'd come,” he shouted, sounding surprised and pleased.

Ella spotted Storm. She wagged her tail and trotted over, barking a greeting.

“I thought we might as well. Storm loves playing with Ella,” Beth said, smiling at the dogs.

“Great. Now you can see what plowing's all about. Watch this,” Martin called out. Leaping into Fergy's seat he started the engine and moved forward.

“Martin, don't! You're not supposed to be doing that!” Beth said worriedly, remembering her uncle's strict rules about Martin only driving under his supervision.

“I know what I'm doing!” Martin said huffily. “Anyway, I'll only plow a couple of furrows. Dad just went down to the barn for a can of lubricating oilâhe'll never know. Unless you decide to tell him,” he said, looking harshly at her.

“Thanks a lot. You should know by now that I don't tell!” Beth said indignantly.

Martin looked uncomfortable and then he gave a grin and nodded. Concentrating hard, he held the large steering wheel steady as the red tractor trundled slowly along, pulling the plow behind it. As he moved forward, the weedy ground was turned over and the soil curved away from the plow's metal moldboards in rich brown waves.

Despite herself, Beth was fascinated by watching the furrows form. Martin leaned over to watch the back wheels, making sure he kept driving in a perfectly straight line. The new brown furrow folded itself over and was laid neatly next to one previously made.

Beth realized that plowing took a lot of skill. “You're pretty good at this, aren't you?” she said, impressed.

Martin threw her a smile over his shoulder, obviously enjoying himself and pleased by her praise. “I'm not bad. But then I was taught by an expert. My dad!”

Suddenly Storm's head came up and his midnight-blue eyes flashed. Barking shrilly, he raced forward and began darting back and forth in front of Fergy's front wheels. “Stop! Stop!” he barked urgently.

“Martin! Watch out for Storm!” Beth cried.

“Why's he doing that? Make him stop!” Martin shouted.

Beth frowned. It wasn't like Storm to do something so dangerous without a good reason. But she was too worried about him getting hurt to try and figure out what that was.

“Come here, Storm! You'll get hurt!” she shouted.

But Storm seemed determined. Barking frantically, he ran even closer to the tractor's ridged tires, snapping at them and growling. One of the wheels passed by him closely, missing him by a fraction.

As a stone flew out and hit him, Storm gave a loud yelp.

“Martin! Look out!” Beth screamed, thinking that Storm was about to be run over.

BOOK: Muddy Paws

11.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

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