Storm of Dogs Read online

  Fear screamed in Lucky’s ears, and for a moment he froze with panic. Martha was trembling, Sunshine was a cringing ball of fur, and Bella and Snap were scrambling against each other, trying to run in the confusion.

  Only Mickey was still trying to rescue the longpaw. He was tugging at another plank that had sunk at an angle in the trembling ground. He yanked and pulled, easing it free.

  Every instinct begged Lucky to run, but he bit down his terror and rushed to Mickey’s aid. Together, they started dragging the piece of wood toward the pit. Snapping out of her panic, Martha came to help them. The powerful water-dog was able to lift the plank over the edge of the pit.

  The loudbirds had arrived and were hovering over the town. They threw down long furs, and the terrifying yellow-furred longpaws scrambled out to the ground as Lucky had seen them do in the forest. But these longpaws weren’t interested in the dogs—they scarcely looked at Lucky and the others as they landed on the street, rushing to round up their own kind.

  “They’ve forgotten about this one,” murmured Mickey as he steered the stick down into the pit, panting with the effort.

  The orange longpaw was already half-buried with soil. He scrambled wildly, unable to free himself to reach the stick. Lucky’s heart raced. He isn’t going to make it . . . none of us are!

  Then he heard Martha’s deep voice behind him. “The Lake-Dog is coming, but she will wait until we have left. She is the River-Dog’s litter-sister. I sent her my thoughts, and I know she has listened.”

  Lucky didn’t know if he believed her, but Martha’s words reassured him and gave him strength. Sucking in his breath, he helped Mickey angle the stick as Martha lowered it as far as she could.

  The ground lurched, sending the longpaw flying. He threw up his paws and grasped the end of the plank. The ground shook and Lucky braced his legs, trying not to stumble as he and the other dogs backed up carefully, heaving the longpaw up with the stick.

  The air screeched beneath the wings of the giant birds as it was whipped into a blizzard of dirt and debris. Lucky could hardly open his eyes. His jaw throbbed as he pulled backward. When he risked a glimpse into the swirling air, he was relieved to see the longpaw reaching his paws over the edge of the pit and scrambling up the stick onto the ground. He rolled onto his side, stunned and panting for breath.

  Lucky looked around. The last of the orange longpaws were scrambling up the strips of fur into the bellies of the giant birds. Lucky shouted to Mickey over the noise, “If he doesn’t go now, they’ll leave without him!”

  Mickey was quick to understand. He rushed to the longpaw’s side and licked his rough orange fur to revive him. Then he started to head-butt the exhausted longpaw, whining as loudly as he could.

  The longpaw no longer seemed to be afraid of Mickey. He rose to a sitting position and reached for the Farm Dog, resting an orange paw across his head.

  Mickey whined louder and the longpaw looked around, then seemed to come to his senses. Stumbling onto his hind legs, he started to run with lurching steps, making for the last of the giant birds, which was lifting itself into the sky.

  I guess that’s all poor Mickey gets for gratitude, thought Lucky bitterly. A pat on the head for saving his life.

  But as the longpaw reached the strip of fur dangling from the giant bird, he turned around. He stared at the dogs, then reached out his foreleg, barking and beckoning to Mickey. It was clearly an offer.

  Snap whined, her tail between her legs.

  Lucky felt a whine rising in his throat. He’ll go with the longpaw! It’s all he’s ever wanted.

  Mickey’s tail thrashed, and he panted at the longpaw. Then he turned and ran back to the other dogs. He didn’t even watch as the longpaw climbed the strip of fur and was helped by others into the belly of the bird, which then rose into the air and flew away toward the forest and far into the distance.

  Lucky was astonished. “You’ve always wanted to be with longpaws, and now, when you had a chance to go with them, you didn’t take it!”

  “He wasn’t my longpaw,” Mickey barked. “And anyway, things have changed. I’m not the same dog that I used to be. I don’t belong with longpaws anymore. I belong with my Pack.”

  Lucky panted happily. They’ve all come such a long way, he thought, bursting with pride. Not even Sunshine was watching the retreating loudbirds as they disappeared with their bellies full of longpaws. Lucky felt a warm flush of affection for all these dogs, who had once resisted losing their leashes and had mourned for so long for their lives before the Big Growl.

  The Growl!

  Lucky came to his senses. This was no time to relax. The earth was shaking harder, and water was fizzing and spluttering from the yawning gaps in the hardstone street. He cast a wary eye toward the Endless Lake. The water was lifting and bucking furiously, rising in the distance and channeling toward land with great speed.

  “It’s time to go!” he barked.

  As the dogs turned toward the banks of the lake and the jagged path to their camp, a deep rumbling rose from the cliff. They watched, ears pricked and bodies tense, as rocks started tumbling from the cliff face.

  “Our path home!” barked Mickey, wild-eyed.

  Lucky’s pulse raced in his ears. “The rest of the Pack is up there!” he yelped.

  The jutting edge of the cliff gave a furious growl and collapsed into the lake.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lucky stared at the swirling clouds of dust and dirt that floated around the broken cliff. His heart throbbed with tension. He could think of only one thing: Sweet! She was up there, on the cliff, with the rest of their Pack. Were they far enough from the cliff face? Were they safe?

  “The lake!” barked Bella.

  The dogs spun around to see the bubbling, frantic waters. The giant white wave was charging toward the bank, building every moment, sucking the water nearby into itself. At first it was the size of a loudcage, then a loudbird, then a longpaw house.

  “Lake-Dog is eating all the water in her path!” Bella whined. “She’s so hungry, she’ll swallow the town!”

  “Run!” Lucky howled, dashing toward the base of the cliffs. The cracked hardstone was splitting along the length of the street, and salt water burst out, showering Lucky as he ran. The ground bucked beneath him and he rolled onto his side, springing back onto his paws and then running toward the sandy bank of the Endless Lake.

  To make it back to camp, they would need to run along the bank—to risk the Lake-Dog’s wrath. He turned to glance at the other dogs, who were bounding behind him. Martha’s lips were moving. Was she sending her thoughts to the Lake-Dog, begging her to be merciful, to hold down her rage a little longer?

  Lucky turned back toward the cliffs. Part of the cliff face had fallen, revealing sharp gray rock. Roots and debris dangled off the exposed edge, and clouds of soil billowed around it, darkening the sky.

  “We can’t go anywhere near that!” Bella barked. “It isn’t safe.”

  Mickey caught up, staring out over the water. “We’ll have to risk running farther along the bank of the lake—there must be another way up the cliffs.”

  “But the water is coming!” yipped Daisy, shaking with fear.

  Lucky thought furiously. The huge white wave seemed to be quickening to the shore, just as it was growing larger. How far would they make it along the bank before it reached them?

  “We have to go now!” barked Mickey.

  Lucky gave a stiff nod. “Everyone, this way!” He lurched along the bank of the lake, scarcely daring to look out at the pummeling water and the deadly wave that was gathering force. The dogs scrambled on the trembling sand, their legs pulsing and their breath heaving. They skirted around the cliff, away from the broken cliff face. The rocks rose sharply, impossible to climb. It’s a mistake! We should have risked the broken cliff—we can’t get away—we’ll be drowned by the wave! Just as panic seized him, Lucky spotted a path through the rocks that seemed to wind upward through tangles of grass.
r />   Thank the Forest-Dog!

  “This way!” he barked, scrambling up the incline. Bella, Snap, and Mickey were right behind him. He turned to check on the others. Daisy was working hard, charging up the rock ridge on her short legs. Martha followed her, carrying Sunshine by her scruff like a puppy. Of course, poor Sunshine! In the panic, he had forgotten the little Omega. How lucky they were that Martha was with them. Affection and gratitude coursed through Lucky’s limbs.

  The path along the edge of the cliffs wound deeper, taking the dogs away from the lake. Soon it plateaued, making it easier to climb. But Lucky was still on edge. High walls of rock surrounded them and the ground was quivering, though not as badly as it had on the beach. But if the rocks start to collapse, we’ll be buried alive! His tail shot to his flank, and he tried to push the thought away.

  Lucky’s mind returned to the dogs they’d left behind. He thought of Moon and her pups, Storm, Bruno, even Whine. Most of all, he pictured Sweet. He threw himself forward with all his might, charging along the path up the cliff. His muscles burned, and he fought for breath. What if something’s happened to her? What if our good-bye on the cliff top was the last I’ll ever see of her?

  He heard a thunder of paws, and Bella appeared at his side. “They’ll be okay,” she murmured.

  He glanced at her anxiously and didn’t answer.

  As they reached the top of the cliff, they could see over the jagged rocks down to the Endless Lake. The enormous white wave had overrun the streets of the town, gobbling up houses and sweeping abandoned loudcages into its belly. Lucky shivered with terror. That was almost us.

  It was disorienting to reach the top of the cliffs. They had arrived at a different point from the one they were used to, but even so it was clear that everything had changed. Part of the slope had collapsed. Lucky’s eyes trailed over a deep crater of rock and earth mounds, where an upside-down tree jutted out at an angle, clods of soil dangling from its roots.

  The dogs padded warily over the churned-up grass, struggling to get their bearings in such an altered world.

  Lucky realized that the ground was no longer shaking beneath his paws. The Growl has passed. At least it wasn’t as bad as last time. The Pack may be okay, if they stayed clear of the cliffs.

  “There are the trees and the pond,” whined Sunshine.

  The little dog was right—the pond was just up ahead, though Lucky could hardly recognize it. Several of the trees had fallen, and silt-filled water pooled around their trunks. Most of the long grass had been flattened. But it was worse toward the edge of the cliff, which was now much more rugged and ended abruptly at a sheer drop.

  The Pack had vanished. Although the Endless Lake still crashed in the distance, an eerie silence fell over the valley. Lucky barked sharply, then barked again, listening for a reply, but none came.

  Lucky’s trembling legs gave way beneath him, and he slumped onto the ground like one of the fallen trees. Sweet . . . He should never have left her to go to the town, not when he sensed danger. Unbearable anguish swept through him.

  Sunshine was the first to start whimpering. Soon Mickey, Snap, and Bella were whining and yelping. Then Martha threw back her black head and howled.

  “Listen!” yapped Daisy, cutting over the frantic dogs. “Can you hear something?”

  The others fell silent, and Lucky’s ears pricked up. Someone was barking in the distance, on the far side of the pond!

  Daisy burst forward, her tail wagging frenziedly.

  “Wait!” ordered Lucky. “We have to be careful. The Growl has moved things about. Take it slowly and keep away from the trees; they could be unstable.” He led the way over the curving landscape, careful to test the ground before setting down his paw. But inside, he was just as desperate as Daisy to run to the sound. Hope burned in his chest.

  As they skirted around the pond, the yaps grew louder.

  “I can hear Storm!” yelped Martha, her tail thumping.

  “And Bruno!” added Sunshine.

  “Where are you?” barked Lucky.

  “Over here!” Bruno barked back. “Under a tree trunk at the edge of the pond.”

  Lucky sniffed along the ground until he could scent his Packmates. All at once, he saw them. They were sheltering amid the knotted roots of a fallen tree. The trunk had fallen into the pond itself and was half-submerged under water. Lucky dipped his head to peer beneath, and a series of snouts greeted him. Among them, Lucky spotted Sweet’s pale muzzle, and he panted with relief.

  “We rushed under here when the trees began to fall,” she explained. “The roots protected us. But then the ground shook again, and the tree rolled, trapping us. We were waiting for things to feel calm again before we dared to start digging our way out.”

  Mickey sprang down to the side of the tree. “The Growl seems to have passed now. We’ll help you.” The Farm Dog started kicking away the sodden earth and Snap hurried to help him, digging easily with her short, powerful legs. Daisy helped Mickey and Snap by pushing back the dirt, and Lucky, Bella, and Martha cleared a path while Sunshine yipped encouragement.

  “You’re nearly there!” shouted the little Omega.

  A moment later, Beetle scrambled out from under the tree trunk. “Lucky!” he yapped. His thin tail lashed the air, and he bounded around his Packmates ecstatically. “Don’t you think that was a clever place to hide from the Growl?”

  “It certainly was,” said Lucky, his tail wagging with delight.

  “It was all my idea!” the young dog said proudly.

  “That’s true,” said Thorn, following her litter-brother out onto the wet grass and shaking out her fur. “He said it would be the perfect shelter—that this big tree would stop other trees from hurting us if they fell down. And Sweet agreed!”

  “Yes, I did.” Two lean forelegs reached through the gap beneath the tree, and Sweet shook herself free. Lucky rushed to her side, growling gently with excitement.

  “You were clever to avoid the cliffs.”

  “What happened?” Her dark eyes met his.

  “Part fell into the Endless Lake. But we’re all okay. We saved the longpaws by warning them of the danger—they escaped into those giant birds.”

  Sweet tilted her head. “We saw them high overhead, but there was so much chaos we didn’t know what they were.”

  “The Leashed Dogs worked quickly,” Lucky told her. “They proved their loyalty to the Pack, especially Mickey.” Lucky thought better than to say more about what had happened—Sweet probably wouldn’t understand Mickey’s insistence on saving the longpaw from the pit. Mickey’s eyes glittered, and he dipped his black-and-white head.

  “I am glad to hear it. We are all well too,” said Sweet as the rest of the Pack shuffled out from under the tree trunk. Their pelts were wet and covered in soil and grass, but no dog was injured.

  Sweet broke away from Lucky to pad farther into the valley. She gasped, glancing back. “It’s unbelievable. I thought the cliffs were solid, like a mountain, but they fell apart when the Earth-Dog shook her fur.” She started farther across the grass, but Moon called her back.

  “Alpha, be careful! The ground could still move. It’s better to stay away from the cliffs. We need you alive and well!”

  Sweet turned and trotted back to the Pack. “You are wise,” she murmured to Moon. Then she turned to nudge Beetle and Thorn. “Just like your pups.” She ran her shrewd brown eyes over the Pack. “And we will need plenty of wisdom and intelligence in the days ahead.”

  Lucky watched the Pack too. The dogs who had emerged from the pond were licking the dirt from their coats and rolling in the grass to get clean, but their eyes stayed fixed on their Alpha. Storm was shaking out her short fur, her head cocked and her ears pricked.

  Sweet looked out across the valley. “We will have to rebuild a camp, something that we can defend. Now is the time we need to stand together. The Growl returned, and we survived. If it has passed, it means the Fierce Dogs are also getting to their paws and shaki
ng off the dirt and destruction. Blade knew about this Growl, she saw it. Now she’ll be convinced that her prophecy is true—that Earth-Dog is angry and needs a sacrifice. She’ll be coming for us soon, and we need to be ready.”

  Lucky lowered his muzzle, gazing out toward the cliffs. He didn’t want to think about Blade and her disturbing visions, or how they strangely paralleled his own. But Sweet was right: The Growl would make Blade more determined than ever. She would come for Storm and any dog who tried to protect her.

  Lucky shivered. We don’t have much time.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The Pack turned to one another, heads cocked in confusion.

  “What does the Growl have to do with Blade?” asked Moon.

  Bruno sat heavily and cleared his throat. “She’s right, you know, Alpha. You are very wise, and we all agree that Blade is a menace. But there are limits, even to her power. She cannot control the elements—no dog can!”

  The dogs started barking in agreement, and Lucky realized that Sweet hadn’t told the Pack what the four of them had heard Blade ranting about—how she was convinced of Earth-Dog’s wrath, fervently believing that worse was to come unless the Spirit Dog was appeased by Storm’s death.

  The fur rose along Lucky’s back. He padded up to Sweet and nudged her gently with his nose. “Are you sure you want to tell them?” he murmured. “They don’t know about the dreams. It could scare them.”

  He heard a rasp and looked down to see Whine. The small dog’s eyes bulged and his tongue hung out. “What could scare us?” he panted. “What don’t you want us to know, Beta?” He turned to the Pack with a malevolent glare. “Our Alpha and Beta are keeping secrets from us. Always whispering to each other . . .”

  A ripple of suspicious yaps ran through the Pack.

  Sweet glared at the stumpy little dog and he shrank back, hiding between Bruno and Martha.

  “It isn’t like that,” Lucky insisted.

  Mickey looked at him thoughtfully. “Did Blade say something when you were trapped in her lair?”