And Buddy barked, I did, you dummy.
Ba c k with the pack again Buddy was a hero. The Diablos howled his praise, the pups came around to jump on him, and Ramona licked his face in appreciation.
She likes you, Antwan said to Buddy. Too bad you aren't a coyote.
Buddy said right back, Too bad you aren't a French poodle, pretty sure Antwan would know what he meant.
Cletus the pack leader said, So you're the Buddy who was in those Buddy movies. Buddy Goes to War and some others?
I was Buddy in every one of them, Buddy said.
They showed them at that drive-in theater in the Valley, Cletus said. We'd sit up on the hill and watch. Antwan got Buddy away from him saying, Chief, we're hungry from all that rumbling. Gonna go get us something to eat.
He brought Buddy to his den in the side of the ravine, brush covering the opening in the wall of rock. It was a badger's den I made bigger inside and fixed up, Antwan said, laid in some carpeting.
Buddy watched him nose into the den and come out holding a limp mouse by the tail. He dropped it in front of Buddy, who hadn't had a mouse in a long time.
I forgot what they taste like.
Only one thing better, Antwan said, and went into the hole to bring out a few more mice for Buddy.
Buddy looked down at the mice Antwan dropped in front of him, then walked up to the den saying, I'd like to see the inside.
Go ahead, Antwan said, with a mouthful of mouse. Stick your head in there.
Buddy parted the brush with his nose and looked in. He saw wall-to-wall rabbit fur, limp mice lying about, a scattering of all kinds of bones, big ones, little ones, and he saw a pile of what could only be . . .
Cat collars! Buddy howled.
A pile of them, and right away he thought of Lola the Persian.
Her collar wouldn't be here, but there were some that he recognized. Collars he had seen on Geeja and Suzanne, on Alex and Max, neighborhood cats he had chased and played with. Cats as well-behaved as he was.
Buddy brought his head out of the hole to look at Antwan. I see you've had your share of cats.
Love 'em, Antwan said, swallowing a mouse. I've never had a cat I didn't enjoy.
Some of them, Buddy said, were friends of mine.
Antwan, another mouse in his mouth, managed to say, Oh. He swallowed and said, We like different food, that's all.
We're different in more ways than that, Buddy said. I'm not cut out to be a coyote. My breeding won't allow it.
You showed you can run with us, Antwan said, but if you feel you have to go back Buddy nodded.
Where I belong. He said, I hope we can still be friends, though. Amigo, come visit us sometime, and took off down the ravine.
Watching him, Antwan was thinking: Sometime? Or right now? He was sure Buddy's scent would raise the gun dogs and the hunters would find him soon enough. They'd bring Buddy home and all the humans would stand around rubbing his coat, telling him what a good dog he was, everybody busy with Buddy.
It would give Antwan the chance to circle around behind them to the yard, push through the dog door and into the house. He'd see how Miss Betty was doing and maybe score some peanut butter cookies. Antwan was still hungry.
Chapter Fourteen.
The hunters picked up Buddy, snapped a leash to his collar and brought him home.
They were cheered and slapped on the shoulder and offered a cold beverage while Courtney and even Cody hugged Buddy and the dad roughed his coat saying, Hey, fella, where you been, huh? Out looking for Timmy? You have to stay away from him, fella, Timmy's a bad boy. It was as though the dad still refused to admit Timmy was a coyote.
Buddy heard the hunters talking about going out again. Since we have the gun dogs here. We got den smokers and some good lures. One's the scream of a rabbit in deep doodoo, about to get et by a snake or something.
He saw the mom watching him, like she was waiting for her turn. As soon as the kids and the dad left him alone, the mom took Buddy by the leash and walked him away from the crowd. Now she stooped down to unsnap the leash from his collar and waited for him to give his coat a good shake. In a quiet voice then she said, Guess who phoned.
Buddy turned to see her face close to his.
You understand what I'm saying, don't you? It was your pal from the safari movie, Harry Dean Stanton. He said he was looking forward to working with you again.
Buddy's tail began to wag.
Harry Dean said he had a long talk with the producer. He said by the time they were finished the director was fired and you're back in the movie. Do you understand?
His tail still wagging away, Buddy put his nose to the mom's face and gave it a few licks.
The mom smiled saying, You dog you.
She left him and Buddy stretched out in the grass to rest. He watched friends and neighbors leave, waving to the mom and dad, who waved back going to the house, the dad saying, Let's see if it's on the news. It was right after this that Buddy, once again the happiest dog on earth, raised his head and spotted Antwan:
Antwan slinking along close to the house. Now he was through the dog door, inside.
Mi s s B e t t y s a t by the open window, her slim muzzle resting on the sill. She had watched the crowd gather in the yard, saw the hunters return with poor Buddy on a leash, saw the mom remove it and then look as though she was talking to him. Hmmmm Miss Betty would ask him about it for sure. But first she'd say how glad she was he was home, how she already missed him . . .
But now she heard the faraway howl of a coyote and Buddy vanished from her mind.
An twan, in the doorway to her bedroom, watched Miss Betty raise her head and seem to wait, like she was listening for the howl to come again. He didn't want to startle her. He said, Hey, showgirl? in a quiet tone and saw her turn, her eyes shining, and he knew she was glad to see him.
She said, I wondered if it was you out there.
That howl? Girl, you hear my song you'll know for certain it's me.
You love to brag, don't you?
I only say what's true.
Buddy's here.
I know, I saw him.
Is he home for good? I'm pretty sure.
What will you do now?
Me? Be a coyote, it's what I do.
But you don't have to. Didn't you like being a dog? I was always hungry. I still am.
Lola's treats are in the closet.
I mean I'm hungry for game, real food, since you don't have any peanut butter cookies.
Buddy was waiting in the hall, listening to them for a minute before coming into the room saying, That's why you're here, you're hungry? at ease with Antwan and with himself.
I shouldn't be running around in the woods just yet, Antwan said. This is the safest place I know of.
Miss Betty said to Buddy, I'm so glad you're home.
The old dog's come back a hero, Antwan said, a real one. He saved Ramona from the crushing machine at the junkyard. It has to be a movie. Buddy and the Jaws of Death, starring Buddy in a true-life adventure.
She turned to Buddy. What's he talking about?
Wait, Buddy said, watching Antwan at the window now. You hear it? Antwan said. There it is again.
Like a baby crying, Miss Betty said.
They heard it again, the pitiful cry of a small animal in trouble, caught in a trap or in the coils of a snake, helpless.
It's a rabbit, Antwan said, feeling a rush of excitement, his heart already racing, his nose almost smelling the game.
The hunters have lures, Buddy said. They can imitate that sound and draw you into a trap.
It's a rabbit.
And that was all Antwan said. In the next moments he was out the window, down the slanting roof to the ground, across the yard and over the fence, Miss Betty and Buddy watching him all the way.
She said, He knows the hunters are out there, her tone filled with worry, tears coming to her eyes.
Honey, Buddy said, he's a coyote.
I know but Antwan's different.
>
Buddy said, You want me to tell you what I saw in his den?
He waited. Miss Betty didn't answer. She rested her muzzle on the windowsill. Minutes passed. Now they heard a faraway sound that was like a crack of lightning and her head came up.
A gunshot, Buddy said.
Now three more shots echoed through the hills, then silence. A long silence, time passing as they waited.
And then out of the dusk came the howl, the call of the coyote, the lonesome dog song rising to the sky.
It's Antwan, Miss Betty said.
Buddy said, It could be any coyote.
No, it's Antwan, Miss Betty said. I know his howl. As the song faded she wondered if they would ever see him again.
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