Wild Dog City (Darkeye Volume 1) (18 page)

"That's awful," said Kutta, "really awful-
how could anybody have let that happen? How could it have gotten by
the police?"

"That's a question a lot of dogs have asked
themselves," said Sacha. "Mother always said that the domestics
must have made a deal with the police. They must have worked with
other ordinary dogs, too- a lot of those hybrids were no joke, in
terms of size and strength, and there've never been terribly many
pure-blooded domestics to begin with. I think they had grey wolves
helping them."

Mhumhi thought of those great grey forms
bursting into their home, yellow eyes flashing up the stairs, the
way the teeth at his flank had felt- He shuddered.

"So what that means is," said Kutta, slowly,
"what it means is- Mother's puppies were half-breeds."

"Yes," said Sacha. "I don't even know what
they were half of. But someone tipped off the gang, and Mother's
house was marked. She didn't know what the mark meant, even. No one
did who wasn't in on the scheme. But they came in the next morning
and killed all her puppies right there."

Neither Kutta nor Mhumhi said anything, and
Sacha went on.

"She told me," she said, and Mhumhi thought
he saw a strange flicker in her small eyes for a moment, "that she
went a little mad then, and she went out and looked for them,
because she didn't believe it. Stepped right over their bodies,
went outside, around and around, street by street, calling for
them. Came across a den of bush dogs. Saw the puppies. Started to
take them."

"Then that was where she found you," said
Mhumhi, and Sacha's eyes flashed brighter.

"She stole me, you mean. Yes. The adult bush
dogs were attacking her. She fled with one. I don't remember being
stolen, but she told me." Sacha gave a sharp laugh. "When I asked
her why I didn't grow anymore. She told me. She was proud of it!
She was mad, our mother, d'you realize that?"

"Sacha-"

"She told me she came to her senses, but she
decided she'd have a puppy for each one she'd lost. That's what she
said to me. As if it would make everything right. She came back
with you, Kutta," Sacha said, suddenly looking hard at Kutta.
"That's when she stopped speaking to me. She was done with me, you
see. I'd served my purpose. I'd been a puppy, I'd suckled for her,
loved her like a mother, and that was all she cared for."

"No, Sacha, no," said Kutta, her head very
low. "No, that isn't true…"

"What happened when she came back with
Mhumhi?" asked Sacha, and Kutta fell silent.

Mhumhi tucked his tail, for he, too,
remembered a certain indifference in his mother's behavior after
she had returned with Kebero one day.

"I think there's always been something wrong
with the domestics," said Sacha. "Something wrong with their minds…
it's like they've got to care for things, like they can't help it,
like they- they
need
it. It's like our mother was the puppy,
and we were the ones taking care of her… fulfilling her needs…"

"You can't just say that
all
domestics
are like that, Sacha, you can't just say there's something wrong
with all of them," said Kutta. "Our mother… I mean, anyway, what's
wrong with being too… too loving?"

"You talk as if love is a nice thing," said
Sacha.

"Well, of course it is! It's love!"

"Yes," said Sacha. "What d'you think those
wolves were feeling, then, when they saw our mother with their
puppy in her mouth? For what feeling do you think they murdered
her?"

"You're twisting it all around," Kutta
gasped.

"No. You don't understand it… it isn't nice.
It's beautiful and terrible, but it isn't… nice." Sacha furrowed
her brow, brooding. "I've lost the thread of what I was trying to
say, anyway."

"I don't see how there's anything else left,"
said Mhumhi. He was feeling weary. Sacha was right, her words
hadn't helped. His image of his mother was now murky, fouled. For
what reason had he been taken? To serve a purpose? She had always
whispered… she had always whispered in his ear that she had
found
him, chosen him specially. That he was her beloved.
That she was his mother.

He had not thought of it before, but had
there been another mother, one who had loved him before?

"Mhumhi," said Sacha- she was looking at him,
coming over to him with her ears back. "Don't think about her."

Which her, thought Mhumhi, was she referring
to- He stopped thinking, then. Sacha had pressed herself up against
his front legs. He leaned down to lick at her muzzle and
cheeks.

"I don't believe it…" Kutta said. "I don't
believe how any of it… could have happened… how could we never have
heard about any of that? The half-breed cull? How could it have
just… gone
quiet
?"

She looked at Mhumhi and Sacha pressing
against one another, a bit of desperation in her gaze.

"If that was really true about Mother- if she
was just picking out one after the other- what about those two in
the sewers, Mhumhi? Why did she start looking after them?"

"In the sewers!" exclaimed Sacha, jumping
away from Mhumhi. "I knew it, I knew that's what you two were
hiding- she
did
steal more puppies, didn't she? And you've
been looking after them and keeping them secret!"

Kutta and Mhumhi exchanged a look. Mhumhi
said, "Sacha, you're right mostly, but it's not just that they're…
puppies."

"Well, what about them?" said Sacha. "I tell
you, it's a wonder we've even been able to feed Kebero- I don't
know what you two were thinking, trying to look after two more- but
you'll have to take me to meet them, and then we can take them
home."

"Sacha-"

"I can't believe you'd just let them stay
down there in that muck! It's so cold- they must be getting
sick-"

"Sacha," said Kutta. "They're hulker
puppies."

Sacha paused for a long moment.

"What?"

"They're hulker puppies," said Mhumhi,
wagging his tail just slightly.

"Hulker puppies, Sacha," Kutta put in.

Sacha sat down again.

"Hulker puppies?"

"Hulker puppies," Mhumhi confirmed.

"Just… baby hulkers," said Sacha. "In the
sewers. And you've been talking care of them."

"They're not really
babies
anymore,
but yes," said Kutta. "They really don't eat as much as you might
think."

"And how many did you say there were?"

"Two. A boy and a girl."

Sacha let out a long, slow sigh through her
nose.

"Hulker puppies," she said, again. "Well, you
can't fault our mother for her choice of a parting gift."

Kutta winced, but Mhumhi had to stifle a
laugh.

"Will you meet them, Sacha?"

"I don't see that I have any choice," said
Sacha. "I'm assuming they're tame?"

"Very tame, though one isn't fully
housebroken," said Mhumhi.

"Oh, he is when he isn't sick," said Kutta,
in an exasperated way. "Yes, Sacha, they're very tame, and they can
be very sweet- you should have seen the little girl and Mhumhi the
other day-"

"All right, we don't have to get into the
details," Mhumhi said loudly. Kutta shot him a wicked look.

"I'll look at the little things today, then,
I suppose," said Sacha, rising to her feet. "After we get our meat.
Though I don't know what we'll do with them in the long run…
They'll make things quite dangerous for us, you know."

"I know," said Kutta. "But it isn't their
fault."

Sacha snorted. "It is, in fact, their fault.
If they were puppies, we could move them to the house, but I won't
risk having hulkers around, even if they are tame."

"Oh," said Mhumhi, "you should tell her your
plan, Kutta, about what you want to do with them."

Kutta gave him a look that was both annoyed
and alarmed, but Sacha had turned her gaze expectantly upon her.
She coughed.

"Well- I was only thinking- since we're
having such a hard time taking care of them, we could find an adult
hulker, and- and pass them on."

"I think that's an excellent idea," said
Sacha at once. Mhumhi stared at her in surprise, but Kutta's furry
ears pricked.

"Yes, and they'd be-"

"Gotten rid of," said Sacha, as Kutta said,
"Taken care of properly."

Mhumhi's tail was quivering with suppressed
laughter at the look the two of them exchanged after this.

"Anyway," said Sacha, "I know exactly where
we can put them."

"You do?" Kutta took an eager step forward,
her tail swishing lightly. "You know where a hulker lives?"

"Don't broadcast it," said Sacha, casting a
furtive glance at the entrance to the alley. "Yes, I do. The foxes
weren't the only things I was investigating while you two were off
chasing wolves and adopting hulkers. I followed that domestic we
saw the other day."

"The one with blue eyes?" said Mhumhi, and
Sacha grunted in agreement.

"The pale-eyed one, yes. I followed him all
the way to where he dens. You'd be surprised."

"But did you see a
hulker
?" Kutta
asked, impatient. "You know not every domestic has one around…"

"No, but I'm quite certain that's who he's
been bringing the meat to. His
sister
, no doubt." Sacha gave
another grunt. "I suppose Mother wanted you to call those two
little things in the sewer our brother and sister, too."

Kutta looked a bit guilty.

"Anyway, we should go get our meat, it's
almost time," said Sacha, wagging her tail slightly. "I can show
you were they live on the way."

"It's on the way?"

"Yes," said Sacha. "We pass it every day.
Stupidly obvious. It's in that squat brick building- what did
Mother call it-" She furrowed her brow a moment. "The school."

Teeth, Hand, Wire, Laughter

They were quite glad that Sacha had directed
them to go early that day when they saw the lines already forming
when they got there. Mhumhi had spared a wistful thought for the
extra meat having Kebero might have gotten him, but there was
certainly no way the puppy would have been recovered from his
earlier distress; certainly no way he'd be prepared to face such a
mass of strangers.

Mhumhi felt a bit down, thinking of what
Kebero must have been feeling, and wished that they hadn't argued
in front of him, but Sacha had been right. He'd have had to find
out about their mother sooner or later, maybe it would help him get
some closure and sleep through the night again.

He resolved, anyway, to pay Kebero some
special attention when they got back.

When they finally got their meat Mhumhi was
still thinking of Kebero, but Kutta's mind was clearly on the
school.

"I still can't believe we passed it
every
day
," she muttered to herself, snapping up her meat rather
savagely. They were under the concrete overpass again, in the
darkened corner. "Right there…! If I had known that, I could have
tried to move them a long time ago…"

"Better you didn't," said Sacha. "Not without
us there. You'd have been caught and had your throat ripped out
then and there, I expect."

"Don't ease her into it, Sacha," said Mhumhi.
"Really tell her what you think would've happened."

Sacha wagged her stub of a tail.

"Can we try to go in today?" asked Kutta.

"No, we'll have a look at the two little
things first," said Sacha. "See how feasible it is in the first
place. If they're unmanageable, it won't be worth it."

Mhumhi wondered if they ought to tell Sacha
the hulkers could talk, but she was probably already suspending her
disbelief enough for them. Best let it be a surprise.

"Oh!" said Kutta. "I've just thought of
something that should make it a lot easier. They can come up
through those metal lids- manholes, I think they're called. If we
can find one near the school, we can just take them underground and
have them pop out closer."

"There's lots of dogs in the sewers, though,"
Mhumhi reminded her.

"It's got merit," said Sacha. "It's probably
still safer than overland. Though how can they move those metal
things…?"

"You'll see it," said Mhumhi. "It's really
strange. They use their front paws like- well- it's very hard to
describe. They've got these talons-"

"Hands and fingers, Mhumhi," Kutta reminded
him.

"Yes, well, they pick up everything in their
front paws and walk around on their hind ones," said Mhumhi. "I've
never seen then use their mouth to do anything but eat with. And
they don't lick-"

"Don't lick?"

"I always thought that was strange," Kutta
admitted. "They have never even tried to lick me or mother, they
just use their pa- their hands all the time instead. But they've
got funny fat tongues, so I suppose it's harder for them."

"Stop talking about them," Sacha said. "It's
not making me more eager to welcome them to the family."

"Oh but you will like them, Sacha," said
Kutta, wagging her tail earnestly. "I'm telling you, they are very
sweet."

"Hmph," said Sacha. "It doesn't matter if I
do or don't. With any luck we'll be rid of them in the next day or
so. Then we can begin bringing Kebero with us and…" She gave a slow
sigh. "We'll be able to have enough food again, finally."

"Oh," said Kutta. They were all quiet for a
moment. Mhumhi could tell Kutta had mixed thoughts about it, but he
liked the sound of that. They wouldn't have to hide anything
anymore… They'd be able to eat
all
their meat. Kutta would
probably be less tired and thin-looking, too.

As for the little hulkers… perhaps he'd miss
them a little. Maha had been starting to grow on him, really. But
it was for the best. They'd be better off with their own kind.

Sacha licked her chops, having finished all
of her small portion of meat, and stepped around Mhumhi to peer out
at the mass of dogs still waiting in line.