Unleashed- Case of the Hound About Town

by Erik Schubach

Bri said, “Why don't we just stop at a shop and get her a new shirt or something? I have a few pounds from working the commissary. I usually use it fer books fer the little runt.” She started digging in her bag, while she shoved Luce's shoulder with her other hand.

  Luce shoved her back as I blinked. “That, Bri, is a great idea, I should have thought of that. And put away your purse, lady. Today is still my treat.”

  I noted the hint of worry in her good eye as she slapped at Luce's hand as she started rubbing the stain again. Luce almost fell into my lap trying to avoid it. It was plain to see that she really saw herself as the younger girl's big sister. I felt a wave of guilt rising again. I loved them both and it was tearing me up that I was going to be the cause of so much heartache for both of them tomorrow.

  We rang the chime to get off at the next stop. I almost chuckled, we were only a few blocks from the home, but I understood Brianne's desire to not return to the home if we didn't absolutely need to.

  Cal really enjoyed the double-decker buses, probably because the circular staircases in them reminded him of home. We made our way down and then out when the driver stopped the bus. I waved at him as we exited and his bored, almost zombielike demeanor brightened as he smiled and waved back. It was always satisfying to be seen when you have a job that makes you invisible to most but is a vital cog in the workings of the city around us all.

  Bri shook her head at me, cocking her head slightly to look at me. I squeaked, “What?”

  She again shook her head as we looked around and spotted a clothing store just a ways down from a butcher shop. Cal was keenly interested in the smells coming from it as we passed. “You can't help it can you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She shrugged as we walked and mused, “You're always lookin' at name-tags and callin' everyone we meet by name, or just wavin' like you do. Coaxin' smiles outa everyone.”

  I opened my mouth to defend, but Luce poked her in the stomach. “There's no excuse for bad manners. And thanking people for what they do for us by acknowledging their presence is only polite. An uncivilized wretch like yourself wouldn't understand of course.” Then she was screaming and hiding behind me as Bri smirked and lunged at her with tickle fingers wiggling.

  Cal spun in place, his tail going a mile a minute as he pranced in play at their display. I agreed, those two were a lot of fun together, and I saw it was actually a brilliant way Brianne chose to keep pushing Luce out of her comfort zone.

  A few minutes later we were walking out, both girls looking at me in betrayal as I grinned at them, wearing matching and very touristy 'Belfast' tees with big green shamrocks on them. I chuckled at their pouty faces. “Don't look at me like that girls, if you hadn't fought so much about the outfits, I wouldn't have stuck you with those as fitting punishment.”

  Bri whined, “I understand doin' it to the annoyin' one, but why me? I didn't have a stained shirt.”

  Luce had an evil grin as she prompted, “Misery loves company?”

  Ok, I snorted. My girl was pretty funny at times like this. I nodded and said, “You were the one egging her on by pointing out loose threads or clashing color pallets on all the other choices. You knew exactly what you were doing. So, as Luce says, you get to share in her misery and like it.” I stuck my tongue out at the pouting girls. I have to say, they looked so cute in matching shirts like that.

  Bri affected the perfect teen as she rolled her eyes and stretched out, “What-ever.” She couldn't fool me though, I was a pro at reading facial micro-expressions living with Jane. And the little lines by her eye and almost imperceptible tick of her lips told me she was amused at the 'punishment'.

  I called her on it with a smirk. “You're incorrigible.” I sashayed past them, chin up to show we were done with their faux complaints, and promptly stumbled over a rogue air molecule, or perhaps nothing, causing them to chortle at my graceful manner.

  Bri told her, “That's gonna be yer mum, better get used ta it.” They shared a giggle as I chose to ignore them while I smiled.

  That's when Luce whispered in awe as she pointed, “Canis lupus familiaris, Irish Wolfhound.”

  We turned to see the huge fuzz-bucket trotting away from the butcher's shop with a large bone in its mouth. It was the same one we saw the prior day with that amazing brindle color. It actually slowed at the road and looked at the traffic. It seemed very road-wise while it waited as I told the girls, “Wait right here, hold onto Cal,” when I pulled a spare, emergency lead from my bag and handed the bag to Bri.

  I moved toward him, her, or whatever, and when there was a small break in the traffic, it started trotting across the lane. But when it got halfway across, it lost its hold on the bone as it slipped from its jaw onto the street. The big goofy animal stopped and then dropped its head to reacquire its prize.

  I panicked when I saw the bus bearing down upon the dog, the driver was pointing at a map a rider had open next to him. By the swishing tail and lolling tongue, he didn't see the poor dog!

  I dashed into the street in front of the dog and brought my fingers to my lips and let out a shrill whistle as I squeezed my eyes closed and held my other hand out in front of me. I clenched my eyes tighter shut as I heard the hissing of air brakes and screeching of tires.

  After a moment, when I didn't feel squished, and could hear the bus settling over my pulse pounding in my ears, I peeked out of one eye to see the bus rocking back and forth just inches from my outstretched hand, the driver gripping the wheel in a white-knuckled death grip, half standing.

  I exhaled the breath I was holding and blushed profusely as I noted all the traffic was at a standstill. I gave a cheesy forced smile to the driver, who looked three seconds from a coronary as he hustled off the bus to check on me while I smoothed my skirt and pushed my loose curls back over my shoulder.

  The girls ran up to me and Luce pointed as she squeaked out, “It's getting away!” at the same time Bri and the driver were asking me if I was ok.

  Glancing from them to the dog as it dashed between two houses, trampling a flowerbed, I told the man as we started off after, “I'm fine, I'm terribly sorry sir.”

  As we ran, avoiding doing any more damage to the flowerbed, Bri was calling out, “That... was... awesome! You're a badass, Finnegan, you saved that dog's life. Did you see that Luce?”

  Luce just said flatly, “It is what Finnegan does, she knows things, she's the hero of dogs.” Then she squeaked and pointed as we saw a tail disappear around the corner of another house on the next block, heading east.

  I was a bit embarrassed when I told the girls, my cheeks heating, “I don't ever want to see you two doing anything as foolish as I just did.”

  Bri asked as we jogged down another block, keeping our target in sight as it just leisurely trotted along faster than our jog as we poured on the speed. “Then why did ya do it? You were almost squished.”

  I admitted sheepishly, “I couldn't let the poor dog get hit.”

  Luce sounded proud as she lifted her chin and said, “See? Hero.”

  As we all leapt a low lying hedge, Calvin flying over it like he had feathers, I told Luce, “Just unclip Calvin, he can help us and it will keep your hands free. This is like a Broken Leash back home.”

  Brianne asked as she looked at the leash in my hands, “Why do you have a second leash in your bag?”

  I snorted and said, “I've three and three harnesses of various sizes just in case of emergencies.”

  “Does this sort'a thing happen often?”

  I nodded as we veered right, into an alley that was paved in cobblestones. “More frequently than I'd like to admit.”

  The Hound at some point realized that we were following it, and it seemed to actually wait for us from time to time so we could catch up, but not get close enough to catch it. I panted out to the girls, who didn't even look winded, “It's playing with us! The big stinker!”

  I gasped and pulled out a water bottle and gulped some water down, offering it to
the girls who waved it off and we were on the move again. Through alleys, and yards. Over hedges and rock fences. Me apologizing to home and business owners as the chase went on.

  We had gone a couple of miles, the housing started to get sparse and I could see huge estates or parks to the south and hills to the east that looked to be farmland. The girls and Calvin were now panting as hard as me.

  Bri gasped out, “Remind me, what are we doin' here an' what it is we hope ta accomplish?”

  I said, “The dog is running around loose, and almost got killed in traffic. We need to catch it to make sure it is safe and return it to its owner. They're probably worried sick. We don't want the dog catchers getting it and dragging it off to doggy jail. Those places are horrible and terrifying for dogs.”

  Luce nodded after drinking from a fresh bottle of water I had just for her as Bri, Cal, and I shared the other one. The elder teen smirked and asked, “What else ya got in yer bottomless bag?” I shoved her shoulder with a grin and we dashed off again, in hot pursuit.

  Ok, maybe it wasn't such hot pursuit, since the wolfhound stopped at the next intersection, dropped its bone so it could crouch on its front legs, its hind end held high as its tail swished and it barked once in play. Calvin whined and barked back as he became wiggly in excitement.

  Just as we get within thirty feet of it, it made a cute gruffing sound and scooped up the bone and went loping off again, leaving us in the dust.

  Someone was giggling at the playful wretch. Fine whatever, it was me... shut up. This got Bri giggling too, and Luce looking at us like we had just sprung a nut. I could almost see her processing the situation to try to determine what was so funny, then I could almost see a light switch on in her as she smiled and giggled a little too.

  We turned onto a lane that wasn't as well maintained, and only a few older houses and some stone cottages as we started moving into areas that looked more like farmland. Before long it was just a dirt road and we stopped at a road sign, where another dirt road crossed the one we were on, to catch our breath and drink some water.

  Luce started to tip back her bottle when her eyes widened, the bottle slipped from her fingers to bounce on the ground as she went pale as a ghost. She dropped to the ground, rocking as she yanked roughly at her hair and rubbed the back of her hand across her jaw so violently it had my anxiety slam into me like a runaway freight train as I dove to her side. “Luce! Luce! What is it? Are you ok?”

  She was just rocking, her eyes staring at the road sign as she just kept repeating in a whisper, “No no no no no no.”

  I pulled her into my lap and she didn't even try to avoid being touched as she yanked and yanked at her hair. Bri was there in our faces as Luce's anxiety seemed to resonate in me and compound it to panic as I swore I could feel the fear rolling off of the little redhead in waves.

  “Fin! Snap out of it! She needs us!” Brianne slapped my cheek lightly twice to get my attention, I looked at her with wide eyes and her good eye searched me out inside the fog of anxiety I was swimming in. I nodded at her and pushed it away to focus on Luce.

  Bri took the panicking girl's face in both hands and was forcefully turning her head from the road sign to look at her. She smiled and said, “Hey, Luce-Goose. It's going to be ok. It can't hurt you. Hey, I'm here.” She offered a pinky and Luce seemed to blink and then just nodded once and let go of her hair and linked pinkies like it was a lifeline as she droned out, “No no no.”

  I asked as I cupped Luce's other hand in mine to stop her from rubbing her skin raw on her jaw, “What is it? What's wrong?”

  Brianne took a deep breath before looking at me again and then nudged her chin to the road sign. “Quarry Road. This is where her family car rolled over in tha ditch ta avoid a flock of sheep crossin' tha road.”

  I looked at the sign in horror, then down at Luce and pulled her tight to me, and she grabbed on for dear life as I whispered to her, “You poor girl. It's ok, baby, it's ok. Shhh. I'm here, Bri is here. It can't hurt you. It's just a road.”

  She stopped chanting as Calvin whined and leaned against her. She reached out a hand, fisted it in his fur, then started to cry as she pulled in tighter to me, then sniffled and nodded into my shoulder. Bri said brightly, “Luce, look.”

  We both looked up and she was pointing down the dirt road. The wolfhound had circled back when it realized we weren't following anymore. Bri said, squinting her eyes with a mischievous crooked smile, “It's just darin' us ta catch it.”

  And that was all it took to distract Luce from her breakdown. She pushed away from me, stood as she wiped her eyes as she sniffed and said, “Its a langer if it thinks it can get away from Finnegan. Come on, we have ta catch it. The eejit doesn't know who's after it.”

  She looked down and said, “Let's get it, Sir Calvin.”

  Cal's butt was about to wiggle off in excitement when she said his name. Then they were off like a shot. I gleeped and bounced to my feet, scooping up her water bottle, then Bri and I dashed off to catch up.

  The hound barked once, scooped up its bone, and the chase was back on. I mouthed a thank you to Bri, and the girl just shrugged it off. God, she was an amazing girl.

  Chapter 13 – Grand Dog Niece

  We found quickly that the chase was about over when the dog bounded over an old crumbled stone wall into a tilled field and trotted lazily beside that fence. I smirked and said to the girls, “Ok, now we've got this.”

  Then I said, “Cal, go get 'em!” Calvin dashed off in a shot, bounding over the wall with a grace that showcased his agility, then I poured on the speed and caught up and paced the gently loping hound.

  The girls were calling after me, trying to catch up. I watched as a black and white blur rocketed past the silly Irish Wolfhound, and he stepped in front of it and crouched low on his front legs, his tail swishing high in a classic invitation to play. The hound slowed just a step, and that was all I needed as I said in my best Snidely Whiplash voice, “I've got you now!”

  I launched myself over the wall and landed on the huge dog, wrapping my arms around its neck when we rolled across the tilled field. It wound back up on its feet and I held on for dear life until I could get a chance to gain my footing and loop the leash around it. But the beast didn't even slow, dragging me along up to Calvin, it's long tail whipping and whooping through the air behind us.

  I was making gleeping and glacking sounds as I commented, “Slow down, you big oaf.”

  When it reached Cal, it stopped, allowing me to finally stand as it dropped the bone and nudged it toward my faithful lieutenant and it barked once, almost deafening me as my face was next to it as I struggled to get the leash around its neck.

  Then I was dragged around in a circle as the two dogs introduced each other, circling around sniffing each other's butts, eww. The girls caught up with us and Luce had wide eyes as she just stared at me. Was that awe in her eyes? I started to blush and Bri repeated her earlier words, “That... was... awesome!”

  I squeaked out, “A little help here?” Bri helped me bring the dog to a stop and it looked at us with its big goofy eyes then gave me a sloppy wet slurp on my cheek. Eww, wet doggy lovin'. I told Luce, “Can you get the large harness out of my bag, please. I think Tinkerbell's should fit this...” I dipped my head for a second to check the dog's undercarriage, “This silly girl.”

  I realized the dog was excited to meet the girls and wasn't resisting anymore, not that she was really resisting before, she was just so powerful she was taking me along for the ride. Bri was squatting and making baby talk with the big fuzzy girl, and the dog was over the moon as it snuffled her then licked her cheek.

  I noted the big bone-shaped dog tag on its collar and looked at it, hoping it would tell us who its owner was. But it only had one word etched on the metal. I thumped her sides and scratched her back as I said, “Well hello there, Buttons.”

  It took just a moment to get her harnessed up and clipped to the leash while Luce was right in Brianne's face asking, �
�Did you see? Finnegan dove over the stones to tackle the wolfhound. She's like a superhero.”

  Bri chuckled at her, “Of course I saw, I was right here Luce-Goose. And yes, it was amazing.”

  I stood and exhaled, long and loud, then asked, “Right then, now that we have you, how do we find your parents?”

  Brianne cleared her throat, looking like she was dipped in a mischief fountain with a dash of smug thrown in to complete the playful teen look. I glanced at her as she said, “Oh, I don't think that'll be as hard as ya might think, Fin.” She nudged her chin.

  I turned to look behind us toward a farmhouse on the hill above the field and saw three or four Irish Wolfhounds milling around by it, as two particularly large ones bounded through the field toward us, tails swishing.

  Giggling, I pronounced with all the authority I could muster, “We have successfully located your home, Buttons. Another job, well done.”

  Luce spoke behind her hand to Bri, “Do ya think Finnegan has lost it?” The teen snorted.

  The dogs arrived to bound around us in excitement, then started the introduction dance with Calvin, who wasn't the least bit intimidated by the oversized brutes who were definitely male... there wasn't any question this time with their dangly boy parts.

  I glanced back up the hill and saw someone step out onto the covered porch, shielding their eyes from the sun as they looked our way. I waved then said, “Ok, Buttons, let's get you to your mom.” I lightly tugged the leash, and the dog looked up at me then scooped up her bone and just trotted at my side as our group made our way up the hill, being joined by more and more hounds along the way.

  I counted eight total, nine with Buttons by the time we reached the elderly woman in a long summer dress at the porch, looking down the two steps at us with a quizzical expression as she recognized her baby. “Good afternoon ta ya. Has my Buttons, gotten herself inta trouble again? I swear, that girl.”

  I smiled at her and said, “Good afternoon, ma'am. I'm Finnegan, and these are Luce, Bri, and the furry one who looks in doggy heaven is Calvin. Buttons here almost got flattened by a bus in town and we thought she was a runaway.”