by K. T. Tomb
“The park is located in the middle of town,” Clementine had said. “There’s a path that leads into a small grove of woods. Not the same as your forest. Practically an island surrounded by buildings and houses. I know the place. Despite the isolation, there is a lot of land. You should be able to find a way to lose them, if that is your objective.”
“It is,” Shadow insisted.
The family loaded the car in the garage as Shadow observed from the kitchen. He had forced himself to behave in a more affectionate way for the last few days, calming them into an idea that he was beginning to adjust so that they would take him to the park with them.
Clementine had noticed that they were pleased with this new development. Finally, the female human came over and clipped his leash onto his collar and led him into the back of the large vehicle. He had plenty of space behind the seats where the human-cubs sat. He watched the houses slip past through the window as they headed down the road being stroked down his back by the young ones who called him something like “Lucky.” He did not know what the word meant and if that was some name they had given him, he certainly would not answer to it.
A large basket of food sat close by, invading his sense of smell with the tempting aromas. If not for that, he could have picked up on the nuances coming through the vents of the vehicle to see if he could grasp onto a familiar scent from the land whizzing by then. He curled into a ball on the floor of the swaying vehicle to represent some semblance of patience. Once they arrived at the park, he hoped he would be able to orient himself a little better. His plan was to slip away and head for the big forest, once he knew where he was.
After a short drive, the vehicle pulled to a stop. They unloaded, setting things up at a table. It seemed odd that a table was out in the middle of nature and that they should take their food for miles to eat it there.
The man human attached Shadow’s leash to a small tree close to the table. Shadow lay down with his chin on his paws and waited. He watched the two small humans play at tossing a ball back and forth, playing in the nearby meadow.
The human mother set up the food along the table, the smell reminding Shadow how hungry he had become since his time with the family. The dry pellet food they provided him filled his belly, but he missed the thrill of the hunt and the reward of fresh meat shared with the pack. Again, he wondered where they were in that moment. Prior attempts to reach out with his mind and connect with the pack had yielded no results. He sat and waited. When the family finally sat down to eat, the man brought over Shadow’s bowl, filled with the customary dry pellets. It was disappointing that they did not share their better meal with him.
When they finished and began to put the items away, the man walked over and took control of Shadow’s leash. They headed down the paved path into the depths of the park. The path led to another path that had been cut through the trees.
This forest would have resembled Shadow’s home terrain, were it not for the overwhelming scent of the humans that frequented this place. As they walked along, Shadow noticed the absence of creatures, whereas his woods had been teeming with birds, deer, elk and especially rabbits. All manner of creatures flying overhead and burrowing under the ground were in his forest. This forest had not much more than the few birds and squirrels that had become accustomed to the presence of the humans and begged for food from them.
The children moved ahead, sometimes running and leaping, but returning back to their parents with some interesting leaf or tree branch they had found. Shadow walked alongside the adults as they moved along the path at an annoyingly slow pace. The movement of the air gave Shadow the opportunity to figure out where he was. He lifted his nose as they walked along.
Surrounding them was the dry scent of earth and trees, intermingled with the overlay of the many humans who had traversed these paths recently—dozens, if not hundreds. But Shadow’s sensitive nose reached beyond the immediate area, recognizing the oily scent of cars, exhaust and the city beyond the edges of the small forest-island in which they existed. People, cars, buildings… He reached even further with his nose and with his mind.
The edges of the city couldn’t be far, he hoped. He tried to shut out his mind to any other distractions to home in more completely on what he could smell.
And then... and then... beyond the cars beyond the buildings, his mind connected with a distant familiarity. The tiniest molecule of something familiar had traveled from one part of the world to another. Shadow recognized the scent, however small, of the distinctive pine-scented stands that surrounded the edges of the mountains through which he once roamed. The tree trunks far away were scented with something else. Wolf-marked tree trunks. He could smell them from a long distance.
Overjoyed, Shadow recognized the Alpha’s scent on the wind. His heartbeat increased as he inhaled once more. He could picture almost exactly where he was at that moment, and how far away the forest was. If he could find a way to escape these humans, he could make it back. Back to Father, the Alpha, whose scent was available. And to Mother Wolf, who was almost always at his side.
Shadow hoped the wind wouldn’t change. He needed to stay downwind of the scent he recognized and run into it with his nostrils flaring. He wished he were loose to turn his face into the wind and rush into the scent he knew and loved. The scent of the pack.
Shadow turned his head to look at the leash. The man walked trustingly, with the strap dangling loosely from his hand as he smiled and spoke with the female human. The human cubs had run up ahead and he could hear their laughter. Shadow examined the path around them. If he could pull the leash from the man’s hand, he could cut through the woods. He already knew they wouldn’t unhook the leash at any point during their visit. He had not earned the right to roam freely, he had determined.
A little bird chirped nearby, calling out a cheery song. Shadow weighed his options, and then made a sudden break for it.
The leash jerked through the man’s fingers as Shadow pulled with a quick side-step into the forest. Immediately, both grown humans began to shout something at him and he realized it was the name they had given him. Not his real name and he would not be recalled by it.
At first, his goal was to get as much distance between himself and the humans as he could. But immediately, he realized that he had to get the leash off of him. The offending strap dragged along behind him, snagging on branches and pulling along the leaves on the ground. But Shadow moved forward in a mad dash to put distance between himself and the human family who had fed him and petted him and played with him. It was not enough to win his loyalty, though. After all, the human man had stolen him from his family and nothing could ever make up for that.
As he ran, he could hear the shouts of the humans calling after him.
The girl, who had sometimes dressed him in clothing and tied ribbons in his fur, had begun to cry, which made Shadow feel a slight pang, but he kept running. The handle of the leash snagged on a broken edge of a tree that jutted out of the ground. The leash pulled him back by his neck while the velocity whipped him around backward. He scrambled his feet and dug in his heels, pulling backward until his head popped free of the collar with a painful snap that crunched past the cartilage of his ears. With some surprise, Shadow realized he had broken free and could now run unencumbered.
Should have tried that ages ago, he thought.
Shadow ran onward, trees and earth whipping past in a blur as he ran the fastest he ever had. Now that he had a plan, he felt a new rush of adrenaline surge through him. He ran onward, his senses becoming heightened as he did so. Up ahead was the busy road that ran alongside the park. He would have to avoid this but maybe go along and find a way to cross all of the lines of machines that the cat had told him were called ‘cars.’
He had one little pang for Clementine the cat, whom he would never see again. But she was half-free and was allowed to roam and chose to return to her easy life with the humans. Where nothing was ever expected of her. Nothing.
It was dif
ferent for him. And he knew what he wanted and who he wanted. He just had to get home and then everything would be the same as it once was.
Shadow knew that if he followed along the large road, he might come across the road that would lead him back to the forest. His forest, not this park that was made by human hands, but one that grew naturally. He slowed his pace when he realized that the family behind him had turned back and were leaving without him.
They had stopped their shouting and pursuit and would no doubt return to the car. The car! He had not thought about that. If they did so, they might come along the freeway and see him running along the edge of the hard road. He would have to find another way.
The little bird that had sung so happily had followed him when he’d run from the humans. He turned toward it, watching it hop from branch to branch, sailing alongside him with wings outstretched.
“Where are you going?” he chirped.
Shadow regarded the little creature. Though small, he recognized that this bird had lived in freedom his whole life. Always able to fly to his heart’s content, hunting bugs and seeds in his own way, making his own life in the treetops.
“I’m going home,” Shadow explained.
“Where is home, Dog Who Thinks He’s a Wolf?” the bird asked with a happy swoop of his wings.
Shadow smiled at the name the bird had given him. “I’m going back to the forest to find my pack. My family.”
“Of course,” the bird said in his sing-song voice. Suddenly, Shadow had an idea.
“Do you ever go to the forest?” he asked the bird.
“This forest?” the bird said, sweeping his wings around to indicate the surroundings.
“No,” Shadow explained. “The big forest. Where the wolves live. My wolves.”
The bird eyed him with a twinkle of mischief. “I go there sometimes. If the worms are hiding in this park.”
“I see,” said Shadow. “So, you know the way?”
“To the wolves’ forest? Yes,” said the bird.
“Can you go there?” Shadow asked. “If I give you a message, can you find the wolf pack that lives at the base of the mountains by the lake? Can you find that place?”
Shadow asked with such sincerity that the little bird couldn’t help but be moved by his plea. He agreed, and Shadow described to him what they looked like. He was unsure if they still remained in the same grove as he remembered, but he was certain that they wouldn’t have gone far.
“There is danger coming to the pack. Explain to them that I have seen something in the house of the man who took me. A picture depicting the forest in which they live. Tell them there is danger and they should travel up the mountain to safety.”
“What kind of danger?” the bird asked.
“I don’t know,” Shadow said. “The humans are bringing something different to the forest. I think they mean to change the land in a way that wolves cannot live there any longer.”
“The humans?” The little bird let out a trill of laughter. “They are not dangerous. They bring grains and food to throw on the ground when food is scarce. They wouldn’t harm the forest.”
“Please,” Shadow said to the bird with a tiny voice. “Can you just deliver the message?”
“I can,” the bird said.
“Thank you.” Shadow heard a rustle in the forest behind them. “And tell them I am coming. I will meet them in the mountains, once I make my way home.”
The bird flew away, disappearing into the sky as a little dot against the expanse of sky.
Shadow turned back to make his way closer to the edge of the park. Once he spied the many lines of cars ahead of him, he stayed hidden in the shadows of the trees. He would have to avoid humans and cars as much as possible until he could get to the part of the land that was uninhabited by humans or traveled by cars.
He pressed forward. The sky darkened as the sun passed behind a cloud. Much to his dismay, raindrops begin to fall. Shadow had come to the edge of the park and up ahead, he sensed the smells wafting from the buildings. It was human food, but food, nonetheless.
He wanted to find shelter and think through which path he should take through town to reach the outer edges without harm. The many lines of cars veered off in another direction and the smaller hard road in front of him was not as wide, with far fewer cars. Shadow trotted across the road between a pause in the traffic. He didn’t see many humans around and the ones he did see paid no attention to him.
Down a little alley, Shadow found shelter from the rain, nothing more than an awning over a hard pavement. But next to that was a large Dumpster. Piles of cardboard boxes had been spilled out, which contained the real reason for him finding shelter here.
While waiting for the rain to subside, Shadow dragged one of the boxes open to find a whole pizza, covered in cheese and some kind of sliced meat. He ate it and found it to be quite delicious, like nothing he had eaten before. With a full stomach and a warm enclosure to hide in, the strum of the rain against the metal awning lulled Shadow into sleepiness.
He had much to think about, but for now, he would simply take a quick nap.
Chapter Eleven
Shadow awoke to the sound of canine voices nearby. Gruff voices. There were three dogs of various breeds. And obviously, he was trespassing on their territory.
The sun slanted at an angle into the alley that let him know several hours had passed. How long had I been asleep? he wondered. He opened his eyes, careful not to move and reveal his wakefulness. They spoke in hushed whispers, and he listened for a little while.
“What should we do with him?” one said.
“What do you mean, do? We can’t do anything with him. He’s just another dog. He’ll go his own way when he wakes up.”
“But you know, what if she finds out?”
“If we get him to move on, she won’t find out.”
“But he’s found our stash. How do we know he doesn’t know about the other places?”
“The other places haven’t been compromised. None of the food is missing, except one pepperoni pizza.”
“But what if we don’t know the other food is missing?”
“Shh! I think he’s waking up.”
Shadow thought he had been as still as he could while they spoke and he felt unsure how he might have revealed himself. He slowly lifted his head and turned to face them.
He saw three dogs, just as he had thought. One larger dog had long, reddish coarse fur drooping around his face like a white mustache. The other dog was mid-sized with short brown hair and one ear flopped over. The third had about the same build as the short hair but with a beautiful golden, shaggy coat. All three were covered in a thin layer of dust and city grime. Shadow wondered how long they had been on their own, and thought, momentarily, about taking a dip in the calm part of the stream in the forest when he got back.
The large dog turned toward Shadow.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Come forward.”
Shadow stood, shook himself awake and walked to the small group. He had no intention of tarrying in any way with them. He had apparently slept the evening away and needed to get back to the forest.
“What’s your name?” the large reddish dog asked.
Shadow simply looked at him, his gaze never wavering.
“I’m sorry,” the dog said. “My name is Red. This is Switch. The fluffy one is Goldie. We’re waiting for the She-Alpha. She told us to meet her here after our hunting for the day.”
Switch nudged him quietly, giving Red a look that clearly indicated he thought he’d said too much.
Shadow eyed them with caution. What he described sounded a great deal like the instructions that had been given to them by Mother back in the forest, when they were given leave to hunt, as long as they returned within a certain time. Shadow had found a box of pizza, so perhaps these dogs knew of more places in the city much like this one. Places where food may be more plentiful, just like he knew of in the forest.
The yellow dog, Gol
die, spoke next. “She-Alpha will decide what to do with you. You’ve walked onto our turf, you see. And helped yourself to one of our pizzas.”
“I didn’t know it was yours. And I’d like to keep walking,” Shadow said. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m trying to get to the forest. I have no desire to stay. Your turf can remain undisturbed.”
“That’s all fine and good,” Goldie continued, “but you see, you’ve eaten one of our pizzas. So, how do we know you aren’t one of the Mulligan Gang?”
“The what?” Shadow said. What on earth had he walked into?
The large dog, the one who had called himself Red, stepped forward, giving Goldie a sideways glance. “There’s no need for overreacting,” he said. “When She-Alpha gets here...”
“Um, guys,” Switch spoke for the first time. All three of them looked past Shadow and lowered their heads.
Shadow turned to see their She-Alpha walking in silhouette down the alley, the yellow glow of the setting sun behind her. She looked smaller than Shadow had assumed she would be, but soon, her shape became more familiar as she neared. She stepped into the light, revealing a shaggy, dirty black and white coat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other three lowering their heads in a sign of respect for their leader. The female Alpha dog glanced over them and let her gaze fall on Shadow, who looked at her with astonishment.
“Ula, is that you? All grown up?”
“Hi, Shadow,” she replied with a tail wag and a tongue loll. “I see you’ve met the boys.”
Chapter Twelve
After a greeting of circles, yipping and nose touching, while the other three looked on with amazement, the group of dogs sat around the warmth of a kitchen vent. They gnawed on some stale crusts, while Ula told Shadow what had transpired since she had last seen him in the shelter.
