The Empty City (15 page)

Bella gave him a worried glance, but she was more concerned with Daisy, who was sitting up now and whimpering. “Don't worry, Daisy. Those weren't our longpaws, or anything like them. Did you see their strange fur? Their faces?”

“Let's get away from here.” Martha gently nudged Daisy away.

Lucky began to follow the others as they padded dejectedly back the way they'd come, but he noticed Mickey wasn't following. “Mickey, come with us!”

Mickey turned to him. “There's something behind those longpaws being here all alone. I can feel it.” He walked up to Lucky and growled in a low voice, “What were they doing?”

“I don't know,” admitted Lucky. “I've seen hundreds of longpaws in the city, but I've never seen those beeping sticks before. And it looked like they wanted to find out about the strange river—why else would they stand so close to the bad water?”

“I don't like it.” The black-and-white dog shook his head. “Those are the only longpaws we've seen since the Big Growl! Where are all the others?”

“They ran away....”

“But they didn't come back.
Those
longpaws did, but no one else. It's very odd, Lucky, and I don't like it.”

I don't like it, either
, Lucky admitted to himself.
But who can explain longpaws? They aren't like us, whatever these dogs think....

“I don't have any answers,” he said at last, “but I do know one thing: We need to get as far from here as we can. Come on, Mickey. The sooner we get well away from the city and into the wild, the better we'll be.”

This is my home now, Lucky
thought as he padded determinedly farther from the city.
The wild
.

They'd been walking for a long time since leaving the field of the longpaws and the poisoned river.

Only when he'd reached the crest of the first foothill did he turn, panting as he gazed back at what was left of the city. He'd rarely seen his former home from this distance before. It looked so strange now—its remaining buildings leaning forward dangerously, water spraying from angry cracks, and huge, glinting shards of metal piercing the sky. Craters had opened and taken great gulps of his city. Were there other Leashed Dogs back there, trying to survive among the ruins? They didn't stand a chance without their longpaws.
Everything has changed forever
.

It was just as well he'd allowed himself that one pause to look back, though. His odd gang of followers was having trouble keeping up, straggling in a long line behind him. Sunshine caught his eye, far back at the rear. For perhaps the sixth time she'd got her long white fur—not quite so white now—tangled in a thornbush. Exasperated, he bounded back to her and pulled at the branches with his teeth to free her. As a strand of her fur tugged loose, she yelped.

“That hurts!”

“Calm down. It's not the end of the world!”

“Oh, so you're
happy
my fur's falling out? Just
look
at me!”

Ignoring her, he trotted back to his lead position. It wasn't just Sunshine. These dogs, he thought, whined a
lot
.

“You're doing fine!” he barked at them. It was a lie worthy of cunning Forest-Dog himself. “Keep going. Don't give up.”

Lucky barked to encourage them. He was worried that they were completely at a loss out here in the wild. Had a single one of them ever had to find food or shelter?
They wouldn't last for more than a few hours without me
, he thought.
First sign of a rainstorm and they'd scamper back to their ruined homes
.

Even as he hesitated and glanced back over his shoulder, he saw Alfie stumble to a halt yet again and flop to the ground.

“Is it time for a rest?” the little dog yelped.

“Look at my
fur
!” wailed Sunshine, scratching hopelessly at her belly.

“Sunshine, shut up!” snapped Bella. “This is no time to be whining!”

“Now, now,” said Mickey, plodding tiredly up to the others and dropping his glove so that he could nudge them together with his nose. “We're all together. One, two, three … yes, yes … and Daisy. Good! Lucky, could we stop a little more often? It's hard keeping everyone together … and my paw pads ache....”

Lucky sat back on his haunches and glared at them. He'd been delighted that Mickey was helping—guarding the rear, rounding up the stragglers. And now even he was complaining!

“We have to keep moving!” Lucky barked.

“But
why
?” whimpered Alfie.

Standing up, Lucky shook himself, trying to get rid of his frustration. His instincts were screaming at him to keep going. “We can't stop for any old reason—just because some dog's paw aches, or you're a little out of breath! This isn't a stroll on a leash—this is getting as far away from danger as we can. Do you want to live or die? Stop for a rest and you'll soon meet Earth-Dog, I promise you that.”

Some of the dogs let out low whimpers.

“Lucky's right,” said Bruno encouragingly. “Come on, then.”

They were still whining softly as they set off once more, gripping their longpaw things in their mouths, but Lucky tried his best to push their moans to the back of his mind. It was becoming harder and harder to feel sorry for them, even for Bella, who was on edge with everyone. She was curt and short-tempered with Lucky, snapped out orders at Mickey and Martha, and scolded the smaller dogs relentlessly.

“Sunshine! If you can't stop getting tangled, stay away from the thorns, you silly dog!”

Lucky might have tried to defend Sunshine—if he hadn't been so annoyed with her himself. He did his best to ignore both her and Bella. At least his own paw wound was feeling better, and he could set a good pace and example. If he'd been struggling, too, they never would have gotten out of the city.

Bella had the energy of a bad mood to keep her going, and for a while Lucky was content to let her take the lead. She trotted ahead, her leg muscles working fiercely. He could almost hear the angry thoughts tumbling around inside her head. He fell back to keep an eye on the others, trotting beside Mickey.

“Thanks for herding everyone together back here,” he said. “We can't afford to lose anyone.”

“No worries. It's what I do,” Mickey mumbled through the glove in his mouth. He shifted it slightly so that he could talk more easily. “It's good of you to lead us like this.”

“Only for a little while,” said Lucky quickly. Anxiety prickled through him—he couldn't let Mickey start thinking of him as Pack leader. He needed them to be strong without him. “You know, you'd all do much better without these longpaw things.”

Mickey nodded, but he kept his grip on the glove. “I know. But I can't leave this. My young longpaw … he …”

When Mickey looked around at him, there was such sadness in his brown eyes that Lucky could almost feel it, too. He shook his head. “I'm glad my longpaws gave me up,” Lucky said softly to the older dog. “I'm glad I didn't have a life like yours. All your longpaws have done is break your hearts.” Lucky knew he was being harsh, but Mickey deserved to hear the truth.

“But they never meant to, Lucky. If my longpaws left me, it was because they had no choice. I know that.”

Lucky sighed. “All the same. I'm glad I never got the chance to be attached to mine.”

Mickey gave him a sympathetic look. “Bella told me about what happened to you. They don't sound like any longpaws I've known.”

“Hmph,” growled Lucky.

“It's true. Most longpaws are good. My longpaws took care of me when I was sick. They fed me treats from the table, they took me to the dog park every day, and played with me. The youngest pup—I slept in his bed every night, since I was a pup myself. I was on duty, you see, to stop him from having nightmares. But I had nightmares, too. And then they stopped, because we both helped each other. That's what most longpaws are like. They're our friends.”

“Good for you,” growled Lucky. It did sound nice, he thought, if you liked that sort of thing—but why did they abandon Mickey?

The city was fading into a haze behind them, the crumpled buildings and broken metal no longer visible. Lucky couldn't help feeling satisfied that despite all the whining, they'd managed to walk so far. If there were any more Earth Growls, they'd be far from those dangerous snakes that buzzed with energy or the falling blocks of stone that could crush a dog's body. The Sun-Dog was beating hard, and all around was the sound of crickets, but farther ahead he could see pools of shade and scrubby patches of woodland. He lifted his muzzle, sniffing the faint breeze.

Could it be?

Yes!
He knew that fresh scent, the teasing deliciousness of it. Water! And not bitter, rotten, gray-green water. Suddenly his throat felt dry, and the vision of a bubbling spring was too much to resist. He bounded ahead, barking.

“Come on! Come on! There's a river ahead!”

As if the Sky-Dogs had suddenly given them wings, the Pack burst forward, breaking one by one into an excited run. Lucky, racing side by side with Bella, crested a low rise—and there, glittering in the sun-high light, a clear stream flowed over stones.

“Is it safe?” barked Alfie anxiously. “Do you think it's poisoned?”

“Not this one,” cried Lucky. “Use your nose! It smells fresh.”

“He's right. I can smell the fish wriggling,” said Sunshine. Lucky blinked at her in surprise. He could smell it, too, but he wouldn't have expected the inside dog to recognize the scent. Sunshine must have a better sense of smell than he'd realized....

“Come on,” he barked, and joyfully sprang for the deepest pool he could spot, plunging in up to his neck. He called to the others. “Look! This will make you feel better!”

Bella splashed in beside him, her temper forgotten. She and the other bigger dogs entered the water up to their bellies, lapping happily, shaking their fur free of dust and easing the ache of their paw pads. Alfie trotted deeper, sending up fountains of spray to splash the others, but no one minded. Little Daisy and Sunshine were more hesitant, but they paddled into the shallows, flicking droplets at each other's faces, panting and lapping and standing dreamily with water dripping from their jaws before wading farther. Sunshine even let herself sink up to her shoulders, so that running water could wash her fur clean of the dirt. “Oh, this is lovely! Much better than that poisoned river!”

“Careful,” warned Lucky. “River-Dog can be tricky, even when she's bringing you wonderful clean water. The stream's deeper when you go farther in, and the flow looks fast.”

They were far enough away from the city to stop and rest for a little while, he decided. Wading from the water to join Bella on the pebbly shore, Lucky shook himself dry in a spray of cold droplets, and let the dappled light warm his fur.

Sunshine had splashed back out of the river, and was examining her paw doubtfully. Lucky sniffed at it with her.

“It's nearly healed,” she said, sounding surprised.

“Clean it again,” Lucky told her. “Just to be sure. Give it a lick. That's what I kept doing.”

Gratefully she licked at the little scratch, as Alfie shook water from his short brown-and-white fur and watched with interest.

“I can't believe Sunshine has a battle scar!” exclaimed Alfie. “I missed so much excitement!”

“You had quite a bit yourself,” Bella reminded him.

“That's probably why I'm so hungry!” Sitting back on his sturdy haunches, he wagged his tail and looked expectantly at Lucky.

Alarmed, Lucky averted his eyes from Alfie's—which were big and hopeful—and studied the others instead, jumping and clambering out of the river. But they, too, were watching him with hope, tongues hanging out.

Oh no …
thought Lucky. “I don't have food! Don't look at
me
like that!”

“Of course not!” panted Mickey, cocking his head to smile at Lucky. “But you can hunt!”

“Yes!” squealed Daisy. “You're a hunter! You can teach us!”