by Nancy Krulik
“I said for us,” Amiri tells me. “Our pack.”
“You’re not part of our pack,” Zahra says. She looks me up and down like she’s seeing me for the first time. “You’re not even an African wild dog.”
Boy, these dogs are mean. I think maybe I will just get my bone and go home.
I turn around to head back to the drooling rocks. But before I can even take a step—
ROAR!
Wiggle, waggle, what was that?
CHAPTER 4
ROAR!
There it is again.
That sound is really loud.
My whole body starts to shake.
I’m scared.
And I’m not the only one.
“Uh-oh.” Mahir gulps.
“They’re back,” Zahra adds.
“Who’s back?” I ask her.
“The lions.” Zahra points her snout in the direction of a big pile of giant rocks.
That’s when I see a cat with fluffy fur all around his face. He’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen. A lot bigger than Queenie, the cat who lives in my neighborhood.
ROAR!
Gulp. He’s a lot louder than Queenie, too.
There are other giant cats on the rock. One of them opens her mouth and licks her lips.
Gulp. Again.
Those are some big, sharp cat teeth.
My tail tucks itself between my legs. It doesn’t like the look of those teeth.
Neither do I.
“Should we warn Rehema that the lions are around?” Mahir asks Amiri.
“I think we should,” I say before Amiri can answer. “Those cats might want to steal Rehema’s food.”
“No, they won’t,” Zahra says with a nasty laugh.
Phew.
“They’ll want to eat her,” Zahra continues.
Yikes. Giant cats who eat dogs? What kind of place is this Serengeti?
The kind of place I want to leave. Right now. Except . . .
My magic bone is buried over by the rocks that drool water. If I want to get to it, I have to go past the giant lion cats that eat dogs.
That doesn’t sound like such a great idea.
“We have to warn her,” Amiri says. “It’s the rule of the pack. One for all and all for one. African wild dogs take care of one another.”
“Even though she’s the one who took off?” Zahra argues.
“It doesn’t matter,” Amiri says firmly. “Remember that time you had a sick stomach?”
“I remember,” Mahir butts in. He looks at me. “It was really gross, Sparky. Zahra couldn’t take two steps without having to stop and—”
“It wasn’t my fault,” Zahra interrupts. “I was sick.”
“And who made sure you had a tasty lizard to eat when you felt better?” Amiri asks her.
Zahra frowns. “Rehema.”
“Exactly,” Amiri says. “She took care of you. We take care of one another. And that’s why we have to warn her.”
“Rehema! Come back,” Mahir begins to shout.
“The lions are out on the hunt!” Zahra adds.
I wait and listen for Rehema to answer. But I don’t hear anything.
“Maybe she’s hiding,” I suggest.
“She could be,” Mahir agrees. “Rehema is smart. She won’t do anything to let the lions know where she is.”
“Rehema is smart,” Amiri says. “But she’s also reckless. It’s hard to protect yourself when you’re all alone. We must go look for her.”
ROAR!
I can still hear the lions as we hurry off to find Rehema.
ROAR!
Those lions sure sound hungry.
I hope Rehema really is just hiding.
Because if she isn’t, she could be in real trouble.
And I don’t want to think about that.
CHAPTER 5
My paws are tired. My belly is empty. And my tongue is very, very thirsty. There’s a giant water bowl just ahead. A bowl that’s so big, I can’t see the other side.
I want to stop and have a drink.
But the African wild dogs aren’t stopping at the giant water bowl. So I can’t stop. I have to stay with the pack.
GRUNT! GROAN! ROAR!
“Aaahhhh!” I shout. “What was that? Did the lions follow us?”
The other dogs start laughing.
I don’t understand. There’s nothing funny about all that grunting. Or groaning. Or roaring.
GRUNT! GROAN! ROAR!
“We have to get out of here!” I shout. I run and hide behind a big bush.
But the other dogs don’t move. They just stand there, laughing.
“Come on! We’re gonna get eaten!” I warn them.
“No, we’re not,” Zahra says. “Hippos don’t eat dogs.”
“What-os?” I ask her.
“Hippos,” Mahir repeats. He points his snout toward the giant water bowl. “See? They’re playing in that giant water puddle.”
I peer out from behind the bushes and look at the giant water bowl that is so big I can’t see the other side.
Wiggle, waggle, whoa! Those are the biggest four-legs I have ever seen! They are brownish gray, and they have hardly any fur.
Some of the giant four-legs are paddling around in the water.
Some are resting in the mud.
But none of them are trying to eat the African wild dogs.
“They don’t eat dogs,” Amiri explains. “But it’s still never a great idea to go near them.”
“Look at their size. If they wanted to, they could crush you,” Zahra says. She gives me a nasty grin.
I get the feeling she wouldn’t mind watching me get crushed.
“Those hippos make me laugh,” Mahir says. “Look how they roll around in the mud.”
Mahir gets down on the ground and starts rolling around.
“Hey, this is pretty fun,” he says. “The ground is nice and cool.”
“Let me try,” Zahra says.
She gets down on the ground and rolls over and over.
The next thing I know, Amiri is on his back, scratching back and forth in the dirt.
“African wild dogs do everything together,” he says. Then he rolls onto his belly and licks Zahra on the nose.
Zahra laughs. Her tail wags.
That’s the happiest I’ve seen Zahra all day.
Mahir wiggles his belly in the dirt. He is laughing, too.
“We’re hippos!” he barks happily.
They sure look like they are having fun.
“I want to try!” I shout. I drop to the ground—
ROAR!
Uh-oh.
That didn’t sound like hippos having fun in the mud.
It sounded more like a cat.
Not a little, meowing, hissing cat.
A big, roaring, angry cat.
“D-d-did you hear that?” I ask the African wild dogs.
Amiri stands still. His ears are stiff.
ROAR!
“That lion must have picked up our scent,” Amiri says. “He followed us. We gotta go. NOW.”
“You can say that again,” Zahra says.
“Why?” Mahir asks her. “Didn’t you hear him the first time?”
Zahra doesn’t answer. She just hurries off behind Amiri.
Mahir races right after her.
The African wild dogs may act brave when they’re near the hippos.
But they’re not so brave when it comes to lions.
ROAR!
Neither am I.
“Hey, you guys!” I shout. “Wait for me!”
CHAPTER 6
My paws keep on running. Fast. Faster. Fastest.
They’re moving so fast, they zoomity
, zoom, zoom right past the African wild dogs!
My paws are really scared of that lion.
“Hey, wait up,” Amiri orders.
He hurries to catch up to me. So do Mahir and Zahra.
“You can’t run faster than the rest of us,” Amiri scolds me.
“Yes, he can,” Mahir says. “He just did.”
Zahra kicks him in the rear.
“That’s not what Amiri meant,” she says. “He meant that in the Serengeti, you gotta follow the rules.”
“And the rule is, we travel in a pack,” Amiri tells me. “It’s safer that way. Because the bigger the pack, the scarier we seem.”
“I don’t think this fluffy guy will scare anyone.” Zahra sniffs in my direction.
I like my fluffy fur.
I do not like Zahra.
“Maybe you can learn to hunt,” Amiri tells me. “We can use another hunter in the pack. Especially since Rehema’s only interested in catching food for herself these days.”
I stop to thinkety, think, think about that.
I know the other dogs were being mean to Rehema. It wasn’t nice that they didn’t believe her when she said she caught a fish.
But what if she did catch the fish? And ate it all by herself?
That’s not nice, either. She should share her food with the pack. Just like they share their food with her.
I don’t know who is right and who is wrong.
Living in a big pack sure is complicated.
Amiri looks up at the sky. “It’s going to be dark in a little while,” he says. “If we don’t find Rehema, she’ll be out there alone. We can’t let that happen.”
Dark. I don’t like dark. It’s scary in the dark. That’s why I like to cuddle up with Josh in his great big two-leg bed when it’s dark in our house.
JOSH!
He’s probably going to be home soon, and I won’t be there.
I can’t let that happen. I have to go back to the rocks that drool water. I have to dig up my bone. I have to kaboom home!
But I can’t go to the drooling rocks by myself. I can’t leave the pack.
And the pack won’t go back until they find Rehema.
Which means we have to find her fast.
But she could be anywhere. Back near those trees. Or by the rocks over there. Or by that big mountain . . .
“That’s it!” I shout.
“What’s it?” Zahra asks me.
“I bet Rehema went to climb Mount Kilimahooziwhatsit.”
“Mount what?” Mahir asks.
“I think Sparky means Mount Kilimanjaro,” Amiri says. Then he shakes his head. “No, she wouldn’t be there.”
“She could be,” I insist. “She talked a lot about climbing that mountain. She wants to reach the top of it.”
“Do you have any idea how far Mount Kilimanjaro is from here?” Zahra asks me. “Or how high it is? What dog would want to climb all the way up there?”
“Rehema,” I tell her.
“Why would she want to do that?” Zahra asks.
I know the answer to that one. “Because it’s there,” I answer.
“That’s silly,” Mahir says.
Now I’m getting mad. I don’t think the African wild dogs really want to find Rehema. They just want to complain about her.
“Do you have a better idea?” I ask them angrily.
They don’t answer me.
“Well, I’m going to start walking toward that mountain,” I tell them. “Are you coming with me?”
Amiri, Zahra, and Mahir all stare at me. I think they are surprised at how brave I sound.
I’m surprised at how brave I sound. Because I don’t feel brave. I just sound that way. Inside I’m kind of scared.
I wonder if Rehema sounds braver than she really is, too. I wonder if she’s scared out there all alone without her pack.
“Sure, we’re coming,” Amiri finally agrees. “Like we told you. In a pack, it’s all for one and one for all.”
Phew. That’s good. I didn’t want to go to the big, scary mountain all by myself. Also, I’m not sure which way to go or how I’m going to find it. But I’m sure the African wild dogs know where the mountain is.
“Let’s go,” I say.
But before I can take another step, the ground begins to shake underneath me.
I hear pawsteps. Lots and lots of pawsteps.
THUMP BUMP. THUMP BUMP.
What’s going on?
Lub dub. Lub dub.
That’s my heart. It’s pounding almost as loud and strong as the pawsteps.
THUMP BUMP. THUMP BUMP.
They’re coming right for us.
Slowly, I turn around and . . .
AAAHHH!!!
CHAPTER 7
All I see are legs.
Gray furry legs.
Black furry legs.
Brown furry legs.
Striped furry legs.
There are big four-legs. And little four-legs.
And they are all running together in a big giant pack!
THUMP BUMP. THUMP BUMP. THUMP BUMP.
The ground all around me is thumping and bumping. Even the trees are shaking!
I’ve never felt anything like this before.
“What’s happening?” I ask the African wild dogs.
But they don’t answer.
That’s because they’re not there. They’ve disappeared.
“Get out of the way!” I hear Amiri’s voice coming from the bushes.
“They’ll stomp right over you,” Mahir adds.
“Those wildebeests don’t stop for anyone!” Zahra says.
I don’t know what a wilde-whatsit is. But there’s no time to find out. I zoom over to the bushes where the wild dogs are hiding.
Lub dub. Lub dub.
My heart is pounding.
Heh. Heh. Heh.
My mouth is panting.
“What. Is. Going. On?” I ask the dogs, in between pants.
“The wildebeests are on the move,” Mahir tells me.
“The what?” I ask.
“Wildebeests,” Mahir repeats. “Those gray and black four-legs with the big horns.”
“Where are they going?” I ask him.
“I don’t know,” Mahir admits.
“Where are the other four-legs going?” I wonder.
“You mean the zebras and the gazelles?” Mahir asks.
I nod. I guess that’s what I mean. I’m not really sure.
“They’re going wherever the wildebeests are going,” Mahir tells me.
“Do you think Rehema is traveling with them, too?” I ask.
“I doubt it,” Amiri says.
“Why would she leave a pack of dogs to run off with those characters?” Zahra asks me.
“Maybe she was looking for something different,” I say.
The African wild dogs stare at me. They don’t know what to say. I’ve stumped them!
THUMP BUMP. BUMP THUMP.
The ground keeps shaking as all those four-legs thunder by.
“Looks like someone’s chasing down dinner,” Zahra says. She looks toward a big spotted cat running behind the crowd. “That cheetah is going to grab the first wildebeest to get tired.”
“Why would that big cat want to hurt the wildebeests?” I ask as the giant cat races past us.
“Why do you think?”Amiri sounds annoyed. “Because she’s a cheetah. That’s what cheetahs do.”
Amiri doesn’t have to be so mean. It’s not my fault I’ve never been to a place where the cats are so big and dangerous before.
The African wild dogs and I stand for a while in the bushes, watching as the big crowd of four-legs runs past us.
The ground shakes under our p
aws.
THUMP BUMP.
THUMP BUMP.
And then—suddenly—the thumping and bumping stops.
Just like that.
It’s quiet. And calm.
“Come on,” I say to the African wild dogs. “We can start looking for Rehema again.”
I walk out of the bushes and start heading toward the giant mountain.
But no one else’s paws are moving.
“Come on, you guys!” I shout to the African wild dogs. “Why are you still hiding in those bushes?”
THUMP BUMP! THUMP BUMP!
The African wild dogs don’t answer me.
That’s probably because they can’t hear me over all that THUMP-BUMPING.
There’s a whole new crowd of gray, black, and white four-legs running this way.
And coming up behind them is an orange and black-spotted cat.
It’s another cheetah!
Her paws are moving fast, faster, fastest.
She’s racing right toward me. And her mouth is wide open.
“Run, paws!” I shout to my paws. “Run! Now!”
But my paws don’t run.
They are frozen stiff, like the ice statues I saw in Zermatt, Switzerland.
I can’t move.
Any second now that cheetah is going to gobble me up!
CHAPTER 8
OOOOMF!
Something—or someone—shoves me. Hard. Right in my side.
Wiggle, waggle, WHOA!
I am flying through the air. Kind of like a bird. Except I don’t have any wings.
THUD!
I land on my rear end. That hurt!
Zahra comes running over.
“Are you an idiot?” she barks in my face.
“N-no,” I answer. “I’m a sheepdog.”
Zahra rolls her eyes and breathes heavily. Amiri and Mahir race over to us.
“Why did you run out into the stampede like that?” Mahir asks Zahra. “You could have been killed.”
Zahra shrugs. “I saw Sparky standing there, like cheetah bait. The next thing I knew, I was pushing him out of the way. I didn’t think about it. I just did it.”
“You did it because he’s a dog, and dogs help one another,” Amiri says. “You saved his life. I’m proud of you.”
Zahra gives me a dirty look. “Um . . . You’re welcome,” she says nastily.
