Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Fifteen

Malaki didn't dare to breath. He watched, trying not to tremble, as the dog began washing it's fore paws. Hoping this meant it hadn't seen him, Malaki started to creep backward. It was the smallest of movements, but the huge brown eyes turned to find him all the same. He froze again.

The black nose, at least as big as Malaki himself, stretched towards the young squirrel and he could feel the warm blasts of air as the dog sniffed. There was no hiding his fear now, Malaki shook like a leaf in the wind. The great head pulled away, the eyes blinked, very purposefully, and there was a sort of thudding sound. The noise took him so much by surprise, that he looked to see what it was. It was the beast's tail, rapping up against the tree.

“Hello,” she said quietly.

“Hello ma'am,” Malaki forced out. “You... you're Niki?”

“Yes,” she replied, “And who are you? You're not the squirrel that broke my collar.”

“No ma'am, that was my uncle Ruben. I'm Malaki.”

“Oh, so you're part of the family he mentioned. I hope you're all together now,” Niki said, stretching her fore legs further out in front of her, and relaxing them again.

“We are, thank you,” Malaki replied. He was feeling less afraid, as the dog didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards him. He even became curious, and moved a bit closer to a paw, holding his own near it for comparison. “I've never seen a paw so big,” he said.

“Are you sure it's my paw that's big? Maybe you're just very small,” Niki said with a smile.

Malaki felt tapping on his shoulder and turned to see his uncle Ruben, coming up beside him. “I was getting more firewood,” Malaki explained, “And... then Niki came over.”

Ruben tussled the young squirrels ears, but looked up at the dog, “Good evening, Niki,” he said. “I didn't think you were coming back this way.”

“I can leave,” she offered, “I just don't know where else to go.”

“You don't have to leave,” Ruben replied, “I just meant I didn't think we'd see you again. We couldn't have beaten those “evil little weasels” without you, please, you're welcome to stay.”

In response, the huge muzzle came towards Ruben. He braced, unsure of what the dog wanted, and received a licking from hip to head. He breathed again, shook off, and was surprised to find that he wasn't covered in drool.

“If our deal still holds,” Ruben managed to continue, “You can come closer to the camp.”

Niki said nothing, but rose to her paws, gave a great shake, and followed as the two squirrels returned to the rest of the group. She was far too big to sit properly “in” the camp, but came as close as she could and made herself comfortable. The others watched in wide eyed wonder, as the monster lay down, calm and quiet, and so close it could've reached out and grabbed them.

“Alright, my turn,” Quinn said with a shudder, “Are we sure this is safe?”

He had every right to worry, after all the beast had nearly killed him. Furthermore, the approach of the dog had suddenly made him far less threatening to the others, who had instead turned to him for protection. Everyone, save Ruben and Malaki, was either clinging to him or hiding behind him, even Cavan and Kelly were hiding behind their uncle.

The dog stared at the raccoon, “You're worried because I went after you,” she observed. “My apologies, on the farm, raccoons were enemies. I can see that's not the case here.”

“Farm dog?” Quinn said, “How did you get way out here? The nearest farm is probably more than thirty miles away.”

“What's a farm, uncle Quinn?” Gabriel asked, barely above a whisper.

“Oh, it's a place where humans keep lots of animals or plants, sometimes both,” he answered, “And they like to keep big dogs to protect it all.”

“So how did you end up out here, Niki?” Malaki asked, sitting by one of her fore paws. “And how did you end up in that pit? On a chain!”

“Malaki,” Jacob called nervously, “Don't be a bother.”

“But we've all been sharing stories,” the young squirrel protested, “And I'd like to hear Niki's story. If you want to share it,” he added, looking up at the dog.

“I think it would probably be best if I just stay quiet,” Niki replied softly, “In fact, it might be better if I go back by the tree.”

Ruben was about to say something, when to his surprise Kalah approached. She came slowly, as if one wrong step could be fatal, but didn't stop until she was close enough to touch one of the great paws and said, “That's very kind, but you don't have to go. Besides, I think we're all curious to hear your story.”

The dog agreed to stay where she was, and tell the others what had happened to her. It took a few minutes for everyone to reorganize themselves. All of the young ones (except Malaki) were now wanting to sit with Quinn, and as far from the dog as possible. Brave as they were all trying to be, every creature felt its heart sink to its toes at the sight of this new companion. Though, somehow, Malaki seemed to have gotten past the feeling rather quickly.

“Niki,” he said as the others settled into their places, “May I sit on your paw?”

“I don't see why not,” she replied, and he climbed up.

Seeing that this arrangement made Jacob and Kalah nervous, Ruben went over as well, “Would you mind two?”

“No, that's fine,” Niki said, and waited for them to settle in. “I take it everyone's where they belong now. Should I start?”

“Yes, please do,” Ruben answered.

“Well, it's true that there aren't any farms around here,” Niki began. “If you walk east however, for more days than I care to count, you'll find several. One of them was my home. My mate and I kept watch over the sheep mostly, but there were other animals we looked after. That was our job, to protect the others from whatever predators came on the land.

“Life was good. We had food and water, a barn when the weather was rough, our work to do, and of course we had each other. Things changed suddenly when the old farmer, the human who ran the farm, passed away. I don't know why, but the other humans decided to get rid of all the animals. My mate, Arkadi, and me, we tried to go with the sheep when someone came to take them, but the humans put us on chains, and left us by a tree.

“A few days later, another human came to take us away. He said he didn't want puppies. They hadn't even entered the world, and he was talking about killing them. He said I'd never whelp again, I'd never see that litter, or any other.

“Arkadi went mad. He lunged at the human, over and over again, there was blood coming from his mouth he was straining so hard at his collar. The branch the chains were on wasn't as strong as the humans thought. It was rotting. The thing gave way and crashed to the ground. Arkadi told me to run, “Run Niki,” he said, “I'll find you.”

“So, I ran, and he held the humans at bay so I could escape... but I was dragging that chain the entire way.”

Ruben hesitated to interrupt, but couldn't help asking, “Niki, does that mean you have puppies somewhere?”

She smiled and said warmly, “No, but they'll be here before long. Now where was I?”

“You ran away from the farm, and your mate was fighting the humans,” Malaki answered.

“Right. Well, the journey was long and I didn't even know where I was going, or what I was looking for. I reached this forest, and there were these weasels,” the dog's eyes narrowed, and fur bristled. “I was nearly starving, so I tried to catch one. They kept disappearing, and then reappearing further away. If I hadn't been so tired and hungry I would've realized they were up to something. Instead I followed them until I fell into that awful pit, and the chain, still looped at the end, got caught halfway down, on a tree root. I was stuck, and those vermin knew it.

“They soon started trying to convince me to hunt for them. Some dogs hunt for humans, why couldn't I hunt for them? If I would agree, then someone would come down and chew my collar off. I told them I wasn't a hunting dog and didn't even know what prey they wanted. So they started bringing me “samples” of what they wanted me to hunt... So I could practice. At least it gave me something to eat. Until they threw you in,” she concluded, looking at Ruben.

“And we all know what happened after that,” he said.