Waggit Forever (7 page)

“I'll just pop 'round the back and see if there's a wall I can climb over or something,” she said cheerily, and disappeared around the back of the building after putting Lowdown back on the pavement. Pilodus led the dogs to a side entrance, carefully hugging the wall. The yard was lit with powerful lights that cast a yellowish orange glow, but the interior of the building was as black and dark as anywhere Waggit had ever been. Even though Pilodus had used this haven many times, he was always cautious when approaching it. The receptor had told him that it had been vandalized a number of times. All the copper piping had been stolen, and most of the machinery, and although there was little of value left to take, it was smart to be careful. Everyone was relieved when
a black and white dog with a huge mane of hair poked his head out of the doorway and said, “It's okay. Everything's safe.”

It was then that they heard Felicia's screams.

T
he screams were scary anyway, but because Waggit knew Felicia so well, they were especially frightening. He had watched her in tough situations before, and she had always kept her cool. He had only ever seen her break down once, and that was after they told her about the death of Lug when he was killed in the fight with Tashi. To hear the terror in her shouts now was alarming.

“Quick,” he yelled, “follow me! Felicia needs us.”

And without thinking about what they might find, the dogs all turned and ran with him back through
the hole in the fence through which they had come just moments before. Even Lowdown hobbled after them, not because he could contribute to the group's fighting power, but because there was nobody better at coming up with an instant battle plan.

Once they were on the other side of the fence, the dogs raced around the building. As they turned the far corner, they were faced with a sight that froze the blood in their veins. In front of them were five or six young men and one older one. He was holding Felicia from behind, with one hand over her face, trying to smother her screams, and the other hand pressing the blade of a knife to her throat.

“Stoners!” cried Waggit.

“Be careful,” warned Magica. “They've got silver claws.”

The dogs barked ferociously at the men and then crouched into attack position, ready to spring.

“Get her money!” yelled the older man to the others. “I know she's got some. It's hidden on her somewhere.”

But the younger men had seen the dogs and were backing off.

“Never mind those mutts!” shouted Felicia's attacker.
“They ain't gonna hurt you, but I will if you don't get the money.”

“But I'm scared of dogs,” whimpered one of the tougher-looking Stoners.

“Oh, poor me, I'm scared of dogs,” mocked the older man in a whiny voice. “Well, be more scared of this.” He took the knife away from Felicia's throat and pointed it at the frightened young man.

“Go, Waggit,” said Lowdown who had been watching the action. “Go now!”

Without another word Waggit leaped toward the man's hand. Before Felicia's attacker could return the knife to her throat, Waggit's jaws trapped his wrist, and he bit down with all his might. The man howled in agony.

“Get him off me,” he cried to his sidekicks, who were torn between their fear of the dogs and their even greater fear of the older man. They started kicking at the animals, trying to keep the dogs away as they inched toward their leader. It was at this point that Gordo threw his considerable weight against the back of the man's knees, causing him to come crashing down, bringing Felicia with him. Waggit was still clamped to the man's wrist, while Gordo, not the
fastest mover at the best of times, was unable to get away from the two humans before they fell and was now squashed underneath both of them. The other dogs were snarling and snapping at the young men when Alona looked up and cried, “Tazar!”

Sprinting around the building toward the tumult came the rest of the team, led by Tazar. The sight of reinforcements was too much for the young men, who ran for their lives in all directions. The older one released Felicia and tried to scramble to his feet, kicking Waggit in the stomach. This had the effect the man was hoping for. Waggit had to let go of his wrist, and the knife clattered to the ground. Without bothering to pick it up, the would-be mugger ran off, nursing his injured arm.

Despite the retreat of their attackers, there was still chaos at the scene, with Felicia sitting on the ground, Waggit next to her trying to get his breath back, and the other dogs yelping in victory, ecstatic to be reunited with their teammates. Everyone was licking everyone else. Finally Tazar walked up to Felicia, who still hadn't made it to her feet.

“Lady Felicia,” he said graciously, “it's good to see you again, even under such troubling circumstances.”

“It's always good to see you, Tazar,” Felicia replied breathlessly, “but never more so than now.”

“Where did you find Waggit and his group?” asked Tazar.

“Actually they found me,” she replied. “I was making a tour of every park in the city trying to find you. We met at the one that runs beside the river just a few hours ago, although I must say it seems longer.”

“How did you get separated from them?” he asked.

“Looking for a way into the yard,” she answered. “As you can see, I don't fit into any of the holes in the fence.”

“Ah, it's a pity you didn't go the other way,” said Tazar. “There's a gate there that even someone as tall as you can fit through. Follow me.”

Felicia staggered to her feet, and with the black dog leading, the entire entourage made its way to the opposite side of the building. Sure enough, halfway along there was a gate that had almost completely fallen off its hinges and now leaned in an open position. They all filed through it and entered the haven.

It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the blackness inside the building, but once they became used to the gloom, they could see that they were in
a huge open space that once was the heart of the factory. The remains of some wrecked machines lay in parts on the floor, but anything valuable had been stolen long ago. The dogs were so delighted and relieved to be together again that they paid scant attention to their surroundings. Even Gruff, who was the grouchiest dog anyone had ever met, seemed quite pleased to see his teammates, and so were Cicero and Pilodus when they found Dragoman and Naviga.

The receptor, however, was far from happy. He might have had the mane of a lion, but he certainly didn't have the heart of one.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” he fretted to no one in particular. “Oh my, oh my, I can't stand it when things like that happen. I don't like attracting attention. I know there aren't many people around, but you never know. It's not good to create a stir. It brings down the tone of the location.”

Looking around, you would have thought it impossible for this desolate place to become worse, but Waggit had noticed that receptors seemed to be overly sensitive about the spots they were in charge of. As with most havens, this one had good points and bad points, and sometimes they were the same. Here the isolation
made it safer because there were fewer human beings, and yet that also made it more dangerous, because those people who were in the area were usually up to no good. The same applied to the food supply: A lack of humans meant a lack of trash for scavenging. Because of this the haven had to have a stash nearby, and the food that it contained had to be brought in from other areas, a time-consuming and dangerous process. But there was always an extra source of sustenance. As they settled in, the dogs heard the telltale rustle of rats.

“Scurries!” said Raz gleefully.

“Fresh meat!” said Cal.

In no time at all a hunting party was organized, and soon they returned with a meal fit for a queen—but not a human queen. When Felicia was offered some, she looked as if she was about to be sick but managed to overcome it by nibbling on a stale bagel that had been retrieved from the stash. Nobody got much sleep that day. There were stories to be told and plans to be made. Everyone wanted to hear about Felicia's adventures in “South.” She was a good storyteller, and the dogs rolled around howling with laughter over the outrageous things that had happened to her, or stayed
deathly quiet when she described the scary, perilous parts of her journey. Even the Ductors enjoyed the tales, once they got over the shock of being able to understand what she was saying.

Notes were compared between the two groups, each trying to outmatch the other in the degrees of danger and discomfort they claimed they had suffered on the trip. The reality was that for such a difficult undertaking, everything had gone remarkably smoothly, except for the attack on Felicia. Secretly, the Ductors thought the Tazarians had brought the incident upon themselves by being involved with a human in the first place, even one dogs could understand. When they finally ran out of stories and began to drift off to sleep, a visitor woke them; Beidel had arrived.

He entered like an emperor, with the other Ductors fussing around in attendance, and went straight to Tazar. Waggit had noticed that Beidel rarely spoke to anyone else if a leader was present, and this made the younger dog glad, not for the first time, that Tazar was head of the Tazarians. He couldn't imagine that Beidel was ever fun in the way that Tazar could be, and couldn't imagine him playing the kind of practical jokes that Tazar loved.

“I assume your journey was uneventful,” Beidel said, leader to leader.

“It was fine,” Tazar complimented him. “Very smooth. You have a good organization.”

“It has been honed over many risings and through the passage of many dogs,” the other replied. “We live to serve our fellow animals.”

Even when he was trying to be humble, Beidel sounded boastful.

“I hear,” he continued, “that the only incident didn't involve a dog at all, but an Upright some of your team traveled with. Do you think it's wise to associate with the enemy like that?”

“If it was any other Upright, I would emphatically tell you no,” replied Tazar, “but this one is well known to our team and has been a true friend. She is always welcome among us. I would introduce you, but I see that she's sleeping, and like most Uprights, she's difficult to wake.”

Felicia was stretched out in her sleeping bag at the far end of the building. As if to emphasize Tazar's comments, she let out a huge snort and rolled over, blissfully unaware that she was the topic of conversation.

“Well, that is a pleasure that will have to be delayed,”
said Beidel, his tone of voice implying he thought it unlikely to be a pleasure and one that he would be happy to delay forever.

“This will be your last haven,” Beidel continued, changing the subject. “We should be able to guide you to the new park before the next light.”

“The assistance you have given us is greatly appreciated by my team,” said Tazar. “If there is any way we can repay you, don't hesitate to call on us.”

Beidel smiled. “Thank you for the offer, but I can't imagine any circumstances in which we would need your help.”

“Well, you never know,” replied Tazar, somewhat put out by this dismissal of his gesture.

It was now quite dark, but still too early for the team to move out, because the planned route went through heavily populated streets that would still be lively at this hour. The dogs hated this part of the night. They were impatient to move, especially since this was the last time they would spend on the road before reaching their new home. Beidel and Dragoman decided that instead of breaking the team into two groups, they would do better to keep them together for this final leg of the journey, and not take separate routes to
the new park. They would move the team through in batches, three or four at a time. It would take longer, but at least they would be sure to get all the dogs to their destination at the same time.

To pass the time until their departure, the Ductors and Tazarians talked about differences in their lives. Although they had been together for the past two days, the Ductors had been so focused on leading and the Tazarians on following that neither group had really gotten to know the other. The Ductors weren't the most talkative group, even at the best of times, and secretly Waggit was sure this was because they were street dogs. Living the way they do must be very stressful, he thought, always being so close to Uprights, dealing with streets and traffic and all the other things that had made the journey hard for the park dogs. He remembered fondly the times that he and Lowdown had spent almost the whole day just lying in the sunshine on a rock, watching the comings and goings of the park. This kind of contemplation never seemed like a waste of time to Waggit, but he was fairly sure it was something that street dogs didn't have either the time or the inclination for.

The other thing that was foreign to the Ductors
was hunting, even though, like this haven, many of the places they lived in were infested with rats. The Tazarians' hunting tales fascinated them, but not so much that any of them felt tempted to share the Tazarians' meal.

“So you mean you always have to chase them and kill them?” Pilodus asked incredulously, referring to the small animals that were the park dogs' staple diet.

“Well, yes,” Waggit replied. “We've found they don't usually come to us on their own.”

“And you eat them right away, like you did tonight?” inquired Cicero.

“No,” said Waggit. “We always used to take them back to the pipe. We all share food. It doesn't matter whether you hunted it or not, the rule is that you have to share anything that's big enough to divide up.”

“Are they still warm when you eat them?” Dragoman chimed in.

“Not usually, but sometimes,” said Waggit.

“Oh, how disgusting!” exclaimed Naviga. “How can you do that?”

“Well, at first it's hard,” Waggit admitted, “but you get used to it. If you've ever been really hungry, it's
amazing what you'll do.”

“Don't they all taste the same?” asked Pilodus.

“Oh no,” Gordo assured him. “My favorite's hopper, but that scurry we just had was pretty good too. You should try it sometime.”

A shudder ran through Pilodus's body.

“No, thank you,” he said firmly.

While this conversation was taking place, Tazar formally introduced Felicia to Beidel. The leader of the Ductors remained wary of her but acknowledged that she had remarkable skills, the likes of which he had never known in a human being before. She was assigned the role of lookout and coordinator for the rest of the journey. Her responsibilities were to warn of danger and to keep the team moving and together. She was eager to be a part of the effort and assured them that her height would allow her to give them the earliest possible signal of potential threats. Everyone agreed to the plan, and the receptor was sent into the yard to listen to the sounds coming from the direction in which they were traveling. After what seemed to be an eternity, he returned and said the two words that were their signal to leave.