Heart pounding in his chest, Lucky turned on his tail and raced back up the cliff.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lucky scrambled up the misty road, making for the abandoned longpaw building where the Wild Pack had slept through the night. As the rocky ground beneath his paws began to even out, he thought he could hear barking. Two or three voices rose on the air and he picked up his pace, panting as he rounded the edge of the building.
He was surprised to see that the dogs had spilled through the entrance and were gathered on the grass cliff top, snarling and barking. He caught a tang of fear-scent on the air and stiffened. Something was very wrong.
There was a tussle of dogs around the entrance and Lucky craned to see who was at the center. “Leave her alone!” hissed Moon, as Dart backed away a few paces, her teeth bared. Standing alongside her, Bella charged forward, throwing her forepaws against Sweet with a furious howl. Bruno and Snap flanked Bella, circling Sweet and biting at her legs. It looked like Moon and Daisy were trying to defend the swift-dog.
“Stop it, stop fighting!” yipped Sunshine in her shrill voice. “Why are you doing this? We’re all the same Pack!” The other dogs ignored her.
Lucky could hardly believe his eyes. He shoved between Bruno and Snap, blocking Bella from Sweet, his tail stiff behind him. The dogs saw him and fell back in surprise. “By the Forest-Dog, what’s wrong with you all? I’m gone a short time and I come back to this!” His glance trailed over the dogs. Snap lowered her gaze and Dart gave a small whine. Sweet shook her muzzle. A streak of blood ran along the dark outline of her eye. She’s injured! His heart lurched and he longed to run to her and lick her cheek.
Instead he cast a furious look at the dogs. “Sunshine’s right: We’re all in the same Pack! What were you all thinking?”
Only Bella still met his gaze. “It’s all very well to stand there and tell us off. Where have you been, Lucky? We woke up and you and Storm had disappeared.” She threw Sweet a distrustful glare. “She made you, didn’t she? Because she wanted to be the Alpha, she had to get rid of you. She just stood there and didn’t say anything—didn’t even have the good sense to deny it!”
Poor Sweet! She tried to cover up for me, and this is what happened. He turned on his litter-sister angrily. “No one told me to go. I went because Storm’s in trouble. Listen to me. The Fierce Dogs have captured her!”
Whimpers of shock rose from the Pack.
“Are they here?” yipped Sunshine, starting to tremble.
Daisy barked in alarm and Bruno’s hackles rose.
“Not here,” said Lucky quickly. “She went down to their lair. She wanted to make sure that we weren’t being followed, but they found her.”
“Well, I’m sorry Storm’s gone,” said Bella, not looking too sad about it. “But we didn’t know what was going on, and Sweet wouldn’t tell us.”
Lucky shook his ears in frustration. “And I suppose you voted for this?”
“Of course we did!” replied Bella, at the same time as Daisy yapped, “No, not really!”
Thorn padded toward Lucky. She looked like a miniature version of her Mother-Dog. Her fur was fluffy and long, almost completely white but for her pointed black ears and a black patch that covered one side of her face. Like Moon, her eyes were blue. “There was a vote,” she said in a small but confident voice. “The vote was whether to punish Sweet until she admitted she’d forced you out of the Pack. Bella, Snap, Dart, and Bruno voted yes, but Sweet started her own vote and got four nos. That’s when the fighting started.”
Lucky’s belly churned with guilt and disappointment. His own voting system had failed. And because he’d gone after Storm—because he’d made Sweet promise to keep the truth from the Pack—she’d been injured.
Bella looked unrepentant. Her muzzle was high and her jaw was set. “All that Four Paws stuff was a nice thought, litter-brother, but it didn’t work. The Pack needs leadership, not complicated decisions that lead to bickering and fights. We need an Alpha, and I think that should be me.” She held Lucky’s eye, challenging him to contradict her. “I’ve done it before, and I can do it again. Dart and Snap think I should be leader too. Don’t you?” She turned to look at them, but they had backed away, tails between their legs.
Lucky’s lip twitched over his fangs. Am I surrounded by spineless cowards? At least no one could accuse Storm of that. His chest tightened when he remembered her, and he started to protest that they should go after the Fierce Dogs. Before he got the words out, Sweet stumbled forward.
“I want to be Alpha,” she spat. There was blood on her tongue. The wound near her eye had left a long red track down her muzzle.
“You must be kidding!” Bella barked in amusement. “Look at the state of you! Do you really think you could beat me in a fight? Well, that fits your lack of judgment.” Bella puffed out her chest, her yellow ears rising. “Don’t confuse fear with loyalty or affection. You threw in your lot with Alpha, and now he’s gone. The other dogs might’ve been too afraid to say it, but he was a bully and we’re better off without him.”
There were shocked murmurs from the dogs. Even Lucky trod awkwardly from paw to paw. He had been no fan of Alpha’s, but it didn’t seem right to be speaking of the dog-wolf like that now that he was dead.
Bella sauntered toward Sweet, her lip raised provocatively over her fangs. “Your time as Alpha’s sidekick is over. You’re no better now than any other dog now. You should be down there with Sunshine, taking orders.”
“There’s nothing wrong about being Omega!” whined Sunshine, but Bella ignored her.
Snap raised her head, lapping her nose with her tongue. “If we’re . . .” She paused. Lucky waited for her to continue. “Well, if we’re not doing the Four Paws thing anymore, and we’re following the laws of the Earth-Dog again, then the challengers have to fight it out.”
“That’s true,” agreed Moon. “Alpha didn’t just say he was our leader. He wasn’t just given that name. He had to prove his worth by fighting off a challenge from that ginger-and-white boulder of a dog.”
“Yes, Black Eye. I remember,” said Snap. “He had a—”
“Let me guess,” Lucky interrupted. “A black patch of fur around one eye?”
Snap cocked her head, perplexed. “How did you know?”
Lucky sighed. “Never mind.” He was thinking about Alpha as a young dog. It was hard to imagine him in a challenge, or as anything other than the leader of the Pack. “So what happens in this fight?”
“It’s just like challenging for position, but tougher. No one else gets involved—the two dogs fight it out.”
“Until the death?” gasped Sunshine.
“Until one of them submits,” said Moon, as Snap’s muzzle twitched in amusement.
Lucky tapped his forepaw impatiently. “Storm is in terrible danger. If you both really want this, we shouldn’t waste any time.” He looked meaningfully at Sweet and Bella. “The Fierce Dogs . . . They tore off a piece of Storm’s ear.”
Martha, who had been hovering in silence at the doorway, took a step forward and howled in distress. “Her ear?”
Bella stiffened, dropping her forepaws, her haunches raised. “Then we have no time to lose. Let’s name me leader, once and for all. Then I will choose what we should do about Storm and those attack-beasts!”
Lucky didn’t like his litter-sister’s tone. What if she, like Alpha, decides that Storm is too much trouble and leaves the pup to that vicious Pack?
He glanced at Sweet. The blood was still running along her muzzle and one of her eyes was half-shut. She shouldn’t have to fight when she’s injured, he thought. Can’t they save this for later, after we rescue Storm? He knew they would never agree to it, though. And maybe what they were saying was true—perhaps the Pack needed certainty and clear leadership. Tail creeping toward his flank, Lucky had to admit that his Four Paws idea hadn’t gone as he’d hoped.
Snap trotted out between Bella and Sweet. The Pack fell silent as she closed her
eyes, raising her snout to the sky. “Sweet the swift-dog and Bella the hunter both challenge for leadership of the Pack. The decision is in the paws of the Spirit Dogs now. Choose wisely, guardians of the earth and air. May our true leader win!”
She finished to a chorus of excited howls. The dogs backed away, giving the contenders space. Lucky slipped behind Mickey, hardly able to watch. Let’s get this over with. He felt fiercely protective of Sweet. She had proven her loyalty to him and been injured in the process. She was his friend from the Trap House, and she was a strong, noble dog. But Lucky couldn’t help worrying about his litter-sister. He remembered her as Squeak, a bouncy, bright-eyed pup. He knew that behind her worldly confidence, there was something of Squeak still inside Bella. Please, Spirit Dogs, keep my litter-sister safe.
With a snarl, Bella launched herself at Sweet. The swift-dog twisted out of her reach, springing back on her hindpaws and boxing her forepaws at Bella’s head. Bella rolled back and pounced, snapping at Sweet’s muzzle.
Lucky turned away as the other dogs pressed closer. He heard Sweet yowl in pain and flinched as though he’d been struck. The Pack’s chants washed over him. Some barked Bella’s name, or urged Sweet on. Others yipped excitedly, not taking sides but driven crazy by the sight of the battle and the smell of blood.
Lucky wished he could cover his ears. Sweet is in pain; she can’t fight, not properly. A howl of anguish cut through the din of the barking dogs. Lucky spun around, making for the fighters. The Pack had gathered so tightly around Bella and Sweet that Lucky had to push his way through them. As he scrambled between Snap and Mickey, he saw a flash of beige fur. Sweet was on her paws, ragged but triumphant. It was Bella who had cried out! His litter-sister lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
She twisted onto her back, revealing bleeding claw tracks on her belly. “I submit!” she panted.
Sweet sat with a deep sigh as Bella rolled onto her paws with a wince of pain and limped up to her. The golden-furred dog dipped her head, stretching herself before Sweet. “You win, Alpha,” she breathed to several yips from the Pack.
The swift-dog was good enough not to humiliate Bella further. She touched her nose lightly. “Thank you for a good fight,” she said.
Bella nodded, already rising. She limped next to Bruno, who helped her to lick her wounds. The other dogs hurried to Sweet, ears erect and tails wagging. They promised their allegiance to the new Alpha as she thanked them with a satisfied gleam in her eyes.
Lucky was happy for Sweet, but he felt sorry for Bella. And it still stung that his efforts to get them to work together had failed. I guess we need a hierarchy after all, he thought sadly. He padded away from Sweet and the dogs who were jostling around her. He shook his head with a frown. All this feeling sorry for myself, he thought with a stab of guilt. And Storm’s still missing! He spotted a long wooden longpaw seat outside the building, overlooking the cliff face. He pounced onto it and addressed the dogs.
“We need to find Storm. She’s all alone with the Fierce Dogs; she’s in terrible danger.”
Sweet shrugged past the Pack and hopped onto the seat by Lucky’s side. Her injured eye was almost completely closed, but she didn’t seem to notice. Ever so gently, she nudged Lucky to one side, so she was standing on the middle of the seat. Then she spoke loudly, so the Pack could hear her.
“Thank you, Beta.” She gave Lucky a lick on the nose and he stared at her, shocked. They had discussed it, of course, but he didn’t expect her to choose him just like that. Don’t I need to do anything? Fight some dog . . . ? He looked about him. The other dogs seemed to accept the news without surprise.
Sweet went on. “The Fierce Dogs have Storm. We’ve wasted enough time already—we need to get back to their lair and track her down. Beta, you found them before. Can you lead us?”
Lucky dipped his head gratefully. Alpha would never have asked for my help like that. He would have acted out of pride, even if it harmed the Pack.
“Thank you . . . Alpha,” he murmured. The word sounded strange on his tongue, but he didn’t have time to consider it now. He hopped off the seat and started tracking Storm’s scent. The trail was already fading. “Quick!” he barked, scrambling through a burst of low shrubs. He heard Sweet’s footfalls behind him and his fur tingled with hope.
Lucky retraced the route along the cliff road down to the abandoned town. As the Pack scampered after him, the Sun-Dog climbed higher in the sky. His golden tail brushed away the fog to light their path.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The dogs gathered at the outskirts of the town. The cool wind lifted the sand that dusted everything, and Lucky shook his fur, trying to get clean.
He turned to Sweet. “The camp is in a large, broken, old building just ahead. But it will be guarded. Even if there’s no dog out front at the moment, the Fierce Dogs have patrols and we don’t know when they’re next due to come around.”
Sweet’s keen face was raised. “We need to get close without being seen. Maybe there’s a side entrance?”
Lucky thought a moment. “Follow me.” He started around the sandy street, approaching the building with the faded images of longpaws plastered over it, but this time from the back. He glanced over his shoulder to see Sweet, with the rest of the Pack edging along behind her.
Lucky padded over the sand, skirting mounds of rotting river grass and broken objects until he reached the rear wall of the building. There were no faded longpaws on this side. The wall had probably been white once, but the thin pelt of color had chipped and worn away, revealing long stretches of gray, like hardstone. Lucky beckoned to Martha, Moon, and Bella, who had been with him when he and Storm had first tracked the Fierce Dogs to their lair. “It’s this one, isn’t it?” he whispered.
“Yes, it must be,” agreed Bella.
Lucky lowered his muzzle and sniffed deeply. A whiff of the Fierce Dogs hung on the wall, but it was faint. The patrols focus on the big, open entrance to the building around the other side. They rarely come here. That meant it was safer, but how could they get closer? He could hear a faint scuffling sound on the other side of the wall and his fur rose on end.
“Leave that alone!” hissed Bruno. Lucky looked up with a start. The old dog’s ears were back. “Come back here; we need to stick together.”
Lucky realized that Bruno was addressing Sunshine. The little dog had drifted down the far side of the wall and was pawing something on the ground, her frothy tail jerking back and forth. Lucky trotted to her and she turned with a guilty whimper.
“I’m sorry, I just wondered where these stairs go.”
“Stairs?” Lucky saw that one of her dirty white paws was propped on a metal bar that ran down through the ground, through a gap in the earth. He squinted into the darkness. She’s right—there are stairs going down!
“Well done! I think this may be just what we were looking for,” he whispered, and Sunshine’s eyes shone. He looked to Sweet, who hurried over to them. “There are stairs going under the building,” he explained. “I think we should see where they lead.”
Sweet hesitated, gazing down into the darkness. Her tail froze straight behind her. In that moment, Lucky remembered how scared she had been in the Trap House—a world away from Alpha’s confident Beta, and the new leader of the Wild Pack. He was about to assure her that they could always leave if they ran into trouble, but Sweet seemed to make her mind up.
“Pack,” she whispered as the dogs drew closer. “We’re going in.” She led the way down the metal steps into the belly of the building.
Lucky hurried after her. As he stepped down into the darkness, he could hear the soft thuds of the other dogs’ paws trailing behind him. The stairs led a long way under the building. The small opening to the street was just enough to cast a thin light down there. Lucky’s whiskers crinkled and he smelled the dank air as he hopped off the bottom step and followed Sweet onto the cool ground.
Martha padded past. The water-dog had hardly said a word since her fight with
Storm. Lucky wondered if she had forgiven the young Fierce Dog.
Lucky heard Daisy pounce onto the ground. She pressed her muzzle to his ear. “I don’t like it down here,” she whined. “So dark and stale.”
“We won’t be here long,” he assured her.
Sweet turned to them. Lucky could see her shadowy outline. “Did you hear that? Overhead?”
Lucky craned his ears. He could hear a creaking noise, then shuffling. A dog whined, but the voice was muffled. “We must be under their lair,” he whispered.
The swift-dog lifted her narrow muzzle. “We need to get closer.”
Martha called them in her soft, deep voice. “I think I’ve found something.”
Sweet and Lucky followed her into the cave beneath the Fierce Dogs’ lair. Lucky noticed some chinks of light overhead. As his eyes adapted, he could just make out a knotted rope dangling down from a door in the ceiling.
“I think it’s some sort of sky door,” whispered Martha. “If we can pull it open, we should be able to get aboveground. That would take us into the heart of the building, wouldn’t it?”
Sweet paused as Martha and Lucky waited. The other dogs crept closer and stood in silence. “Okay,” Sweet said at last. “Get it open if you can. Be careful; we don’t know what’s up there.”
Martha closed her jaws around the rope and gave it a tug. With a creak, the ceiling panel caved in and swung down to the ground, unfolding into a long ledge with steps leading upward. Dust spun through the dark air and Lucky sank down onto his haunches, covering his head with his paws, trying not sneeze. When he looked up he could see there was low light at the top of the sky door. He could smell Fierce Dogs nearby and his fur rose on end.
Sweet licked her lips uncertainly before placing an elegant paw on the wooden ledge. As she placed her second forepaw down, it creaked beneath her weight but held firm. She climbed up until her head disappeared through the sky door. Lucky waited anxiously as Sweet’s tail twitched above his nose. Then she peered down.