Storm of Dogs (15 page)

Lucky fell into step alongside the swift-dog as she padded along the bank. The sleet was letting up, the clouds rising and parting overhead. The air grew colder as the Sun-Dog ran for cover in his warm bed beyond the edges of the sky.

“It will be hard to see soon,” Lucky whispered. “And the dogs need rest.”

“I know,” Sweet murmured. “Just a little farther.”

They were nearly at the part of the river where the rescue party had left Twitch and his new Pack. The smell was familiar—less salty, more earthy—but it looked quite different
after the Growl. A couple of the thickets of low bushes had toppled on their sides, and one bush was floating in the river, tapping the bank as though it wanted to crawl out. Between the bushes that were still standing, there seemed to be a path that wound around the back of the rocks.

Sweet turned to the Pack. “There's more vegetation on this bit of the bank. Stay here and make a camp in the undergrowth. Lucky and I will try to find a way onto the rocks.”

Several of the dogs sighed with relief. Dart sank onto her hindquarters, and Martha set Sunshine down. Lucky noticed that the big black dog looked weary, and he felt a pang of sadness. She was usually so full of determination, regardless of the hardships.
The Growl has really taken its toll on all the dogs.

Moon and Bella started sniffing out places to rest for the night. Lucky would have liked to rest too, but Sweet was already squeezing through the bushes and leaping over a fallen tree. He hurried after her. The ground was rugged and uneven, and he almost tripped on a knotted root. When he straightened up, he could see that Sweet had stopped not far ahead.

“This way,” she urged.

The shrubs and earth disappeared, giving way to shafts of rock that rose steadily upward. Lucky climbed blindly, hardly able to see more than a dog-length ahead. Then the rocks parted, and he realized he and Sweet were high on the outcrop. The Moon-Dog had risen overhead. Her faint reflection skated over the river.

Lucky looked down. The path was far below them. With a shiver, he imagined the Fierce Dogs streaming along it. While the Wild Pack would have the element of surprise, and the advantage of height, it would be hard to leap down the rocks without injury. A wrong move could send them all into the river.

He turned anxiously to Sweet. “What if the plan goes wrong? It seems so risky.”

Sweet gazed down at the river. “I know, Beta. I wish I had a better plan. But we have to do something, or we'll be running from Blade for the rest of our lives.”

Lucky thought of his dream where the Fierce Dogs had vanquished the Earth-Dog and were ruling the world with brutality. He edged closer to Sweet and rested his head on her
shoulder.

She licked his ear. “Even if we fail, we will have given it our best . . . and at least I'll have you by my side.”

The Sun-Dog was crouching behind a
thick gray cloud, but his faint light glowed on the river. There was a hoot of a sleepy night bird, and something rustled in the frosty grass. Lucky watched, bleary-eyed, as Sweet rolled onto her paws. He was reluctant to leave the warmth of the hedgerow and the Pack, but already Sweet was stretching and other dogs were yawning noisily, rising and shaking their fur.

Soon Beetle and Thorn were gamboling about, full of energy, pouncing on each other with high-pitched growls and bounding toward the river.

“Careful, you two!” Moon called after them. “Not too near the edge, it could be slippery.”

Lucky snorted white mist from his snout. Frost clung to the part of his back that had been exposed to the sky. He twisted around to lick it, feeling the chill on his tongue.

Sweet barked sharply for the Pack's attention. “Snap, lead a hunting party. Take . . .” She paused, clearly considering which dogs were best to use. With all the danger closing in on the Pack, Lucky knew that rules and roles weren't exactly Sweet's main concerns.

“Mickey and Bella,” she barked finally. “I know it's tough in the Ice Wind, but there are prey-creatures around. I can smell them. Try to find something quickly. Once we have eaten, we can move on. Watch out for broken trees or other hazards since the Growl.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Snap replied, her small body erect. She trotted down to the riverbank with her tail high. Mickey and Bella followed, and they soon disappeared from view.

There was a light drumming of paws and Beetle returned, breathless, his litter-sister right behind him. “We've found something!” Beetle barked.

“It's really strange,” added Thorn.

Sweet and Lucky followed the half-grown pups down to the riverbank.

“Look!” yipped Thorn. A thin layer of ice had formed along the surface.

Beetle turned to Lucky. “Why has the water stopped moving? Is the River-Dog okay?”

“Sometimes, when it gets really cold and the Sun-Dog is far away, water turns sharp and hard. It's frozen,” Lucky told them.

“And it never moves again?” asked Thorn.

Lucky nudged her gently with his snout. “Of course it will. Perhaps later today, but perhaps not until Tree Flower, when the air becomes warmer.”

Beetle shuffled closer to Thorn, shoving his litter-sister out of the way. “Will the Endless Lake freeze too?”

“I don't think so,” said Lucky slowly. It was hard to imagine.
But maybe anything is possible,
he told himself, distracted for a moment by the memory of Alfie from his dream. That dog had appeared on ice . . . had that been the frozen River-Dog? Lucky looked about him anxiously.
Is this place important?
he wondered, recalling the dead dog's words.
Is it here that I'll “know what to do”? The place I will do my “duty”?
A crow cawed nearby, and his ears pricked up nervously.

Martha joined them on the riverbank. Gingerly she lowered a paw onto the ice and gave it a tap. She recoiled with a small whine.

Beetle watched her, wide-eyed. “Is River-Dog okay?” he persisted. “You know about her, don't you? Is the cold hurting her?”

“She's just sleeping,” Martha soothed, but her whiskers flexed uneasily as she watched the frozen river.

“Keep away from there!” barked Moon. “Get over here right now.”

Her pups turned and hurried to her.

“We were careful,” yipped Thorn.

“Careful or not, I told you it's slippery. That ice is thin, and the River-Dog is sleeping underneath it. Can you imagine how angry she'd be if you fell through the ice and woke her up?”

She led the pups back to the temporary camp among the hedges, leaving Sweet, Lucky, and Martha alone.

Lucky could see that Martha was still worried. “River-Dog will be fine,” he reassured her. “When I lived in the city, the ponds in the park would sometimes freeze over during Ice Wind, but they would always spring back to life in Tree Flower.”

The black dog turned her brown eyes on him. “I know, it's only . . . I can't help feeling sad. As though she died and will never come back.” She drew her gaze away and shook her thick fur coat. “I'm just being silly. Tired, I expect.”

Before Lucky could say any more, Martha turned and padded along the riverbank. She sank down onto her belly and licked her paws as she stared over the frozen water.

“I should go to her,” he murmured.

“Not now,” replied Sweet. She craned her neck and her ears pricked up. The hunters had returned, Bella holding a pigeon in her jaws and Mickey and Snap each with rabbits. The dogs gathered around them next to the thicket.

Lucky wagged his tail approvingly. He knew it was tough to find food in this environment. This wasn't exactly a feast, but it would give every dog in the Pack a much-needed boost.

The dogs watched hungrily as Sweet tore off a succulent hunk of rabbit and fell back, indicating that it was Lucky's turn to eat. He knew that the Alpha and Beta, above all the other dogs, had to keep their strength up to protect the Pack. Still, they were careful to leave some good pieces for the weaker dogs. Not like the wolf-dog, who had eaten heartily, indifferent to his Packmates at the bottom of the ranks. There had been days when Whine and Sunshine hadn't eaten at all. Lucky glanced at the dirty white dog. A brightness had returned to her eyes.

No dog will go hungry in Sweet's Pack.

He thought of the half wolf. Would he be treated badly as Blade's Omega? He had
looked skinny, the outlines of his ribs just visible beneath his fur. But Lucky could feel no sympathy for the Wild Pack's old leader.
He made his decision when he sided with the Fierce Dogs.

As Sunshine gulped down the last of the pigeon, the dogs set out again along the river path. The Sun-Dog had pierced through the clouds, and a low light dazzled the frozen water. Soon Sweet led the Pack farther from the Endless Sea, forging a difficult path over churned-up earth and fallen hedges. They foraged deeper into the sloping valley, sniffing for signs of other dogs.

Lucky's whiskers bristled, and he looked about. The landscape was beginning to look familiar. The number of trees was steadily increasing and the earth was richer. Lucky shrank away from the occasional fallen trunk, with roots exposed and flailing in the breeze. The forest was a dangerous place to be during a Growl. His fur prickled. What if Twitch's Pack hadn't made it?

As Lucky paused, sniffing, Bella caught up with him. “Do you recognize this place?”

“I think so,” he murmured. He caught the faintest whiff of Twitch's scent on the cool air. “I think this is where I first saw Terror, the mad dog.”

Sweet had stopped up ahead. She turned to address the Pack. “It's cold, and we need to cover as much range as we can and get back to the rocks along the riverbank before the Sun-Dog goes to sleep. We'll move faster if we break up. I will lead one group and Lucky will take charge of another. Moon, I want you to take a third group. I will explore the flank of the valley that loops around the cliffs. Moon, double back through the forest toward the city, but don't go too far. Lucky, you head straight on, into the center of the forest.”

Moon and Lucky barked their agreement.

“Be sure to call out for Twitch every few pawsteps,” Sweet went on. “We don't want him to be caught unawares and think we're trying to sneak into his territory.”

Daisy, Storm, and Snap were in Lucky's group. They watched as the other dogs peeled off on either side of the tree line. Then Lucky gave a small bark and led the way straight through the trees, deeper into the forest in the opposite direction from the riverbank. They
advanced slowly as the trees pressed closer together. Lucky barked for Twitch every few steps, climbing over the rotting undergrowth and watching for falling branches.

Large crows cawed in the high branches, and fallen leaves crunched beneath their paws. The forest of Ice Wind was very different from the golden forest of Red Leaf. The Sun-Dog's light cut strange patterns through the bare branches, throwing twisted shadows over the uneven ground. Lucky felt edgy, keen for the Pack to be reunited.

A deep, furious roar rose over the forest, and the ground seemed to quiver. Crows took flight in panic and the dogs turned to one another, wide eyed.

“What was that?” hissed Daisy.

A moment later they heard the howl of a dog in pain.

“This way!” barked Lucky. He and the other dogs crashed through the forest, zigzagging between trees and leaping over fallen branches. They burst onto a terrifying scene.

A giantfur was rearing onto her hind legs. Her brown coat trembled with fury, and she threw back her head in a powerful roar. Drool fell from her jagged teeth as she flailed her forepaws ferociously. Her head skimmed the branches of a nearby tree, and her body was easily as thick as its trunk.

Lucky gasped, his hairs rising on end.

Cowering beneath the giantfur was a skinny, gray-furred dog. His tail was trapped under a fallen tree, and he tugged and scrabbled to free himself. His eyes fell on Lucky and the others, and he howled in desperation.

“Help me! I can't move! I've been trapped here since the Growl. Please help! I've been calling to my Pack, but the only one who has answered is the giantfur!”

The beast gave an angry snort. Thumping her paws on the ground, she moved closer to the terrified dog.

Lucky's heart raced. He didn't know how they could defeat this beast, but they couldn't leave the dog to be killed. Lucky ran to the gray dog's side, barking furiously at the giantfur, who fell silent a moment and blinked at the dogs in confusion.

Snap took her cue from Lucky, charging toward the giantfur with a volley of barks. The
beast seemed to return to her senses. She swiped at Lucky with a huge paw, but Lucky ducked and sprang out of the way as the giantfur's claws skimmed his fur.

“Leave him alone, you monster!” barked Storm, rushing to Lucky's side.

The giantfur's shaggy head quivered with rage, twisting sideways as she released a deafening growl.

Daisy was barking, trying to be heard above the din. “Not like that! Don't you remember the giantfur near the white ridge, when our old Alpha sent me out with the three pups?”