The Endless Lake

by Erin Hunter

  Mickey and Daisy obeyed immediately, skidding over the water pools and dashing into the building. Snap, Dart, and Bruno were right behind them, and Whine scampered as quickly as he could on his stumpy legs.

  Lucky licked his lips, unable to get rid of the vile salt taste in his mouth, trying to think if there was anyone he’d missed. Were they all inside now? He ran through the dogs in the Pack: Sweet, Snap, Bruno, Mickey . . .

  Sweet’s elegant face emerged from the doorway. “Where’s Alpha?”

  Lucky winced, picturing the gray head sinking under the water.

  She seemed to understand, lowering her head with a whine.

  An anguished howl rose over the sound of the buffeting waves. “My pups!” cried Moon. “Where are my pups?”

  Lucky’s eyes widened. “They aren’t inside?”

  Moon shook her white-and-black head.

  Lucky turned a panicked circle. “Has anyone seen Spring?”

  “The Lake-Dog has taken them!” barked Bella, staring out at the three dark shapes moving in the foaming water by the rocks.

  Martha must have overheard. She charged out of the longpaw house with a determined bark and made for the rocks.

  “Martha, no!” yelped Sweet.

  The water-dog took no heed. She bounded over the rocks, launching herself into the Endless Lake.

  Lucky and Sweet ran to the edge of the lake road, where water crashed over the rocks in bursts of spray. Beetle and Thorn bobbed on the surface, their forepaws scrabbling against the frothing water. Martha swam toward them furiously.

  Thorn yipped in terror as her litter-brother’s head disappeared under a wave.

  Moon started scaling the rocks at the end of the lake road.

  “No!” barked Sweet. “You can’t help them if you drown!”

  The Farm Dog hesitated, terror and uncertainty flashing across her ice-blue eyes.

  Martha pushed forward with frantic beats of her webbed paws. She plunged her head under the water as Lucky held his breath. A moment later her dark head reappeared, Beetle’s scruff clasped in her jaws. She scooped Thorn close with one webbed forepaw and started back toward the rocks.

  Lucky, Sweet, and Moon watched as the great water-dog struggled against the pummeling waves. Her eyes were determined as her legs pumped tirelessly. Lucky’s belly tightened as the giant wave tumbled closer. Will the River-Dog protect Martha out here? he wondered. The Lake-Dog and River-Dog must be littermates. That had to be good news. Tension shot through his limbs as he thought of Fang and Storm. Not all littermates were friends. . . .

  He pressed his paws up against the rocks, marveling at Martha’s resilience. She shunted the pups closer.

  “Be careful, Lucky!” whined Sweet as he climbed over the rocks. His paws slipped and he almost cut himself on the rocks’ sharp edges, but he managed to keep his position by hunching. Martha bobbed up just beneath him and he craned down as low as he dared. With another wave, the water-dog and the pups were yanked back again, but Martha furrowed her brow and pushed forward until her free forepaw was hooked over a rock.

  Lucky ducked his head and waited for the next wave to raise the pups closer. As soon as it did he seized Beetle’s neck fur and hauled the sodden pup over the rocks where his desperate Mother-Dog was waiting.

  “Lucky!” yelped Martha.

  He turned back to the water’s edge. Thorn was bravely scrabbling at the rocks, but she wasn’t able to scale them. Martha gave her a firm shove and Lucky scooped her up with his teeth.

  Sweet helped Moon carry the exhausted young dogs into the house.

  Lucky searched for the giant wave in the tumbling mist. There it was, rising above the other waves and charging toward the rocks. It seemed to be picking up speed.

  “Martha, you need to get out of there!” barked Lucky.

  The huge black dog still floated on the water, panting heavily. She looked too exhausted to climb up the rocks. But instead of trying, she started to turn back to the Endless Lake. Lucky followed her gaze to a mound of black, tan, and white fur.

  “Spring needs help!” barked Martha. “I think I can reach her!”

  Lucky hovered over the rocks, watching the long-haired dog drift on the current, farther and farther from land. One of her long ears bobbed on the surface. The other curved over her eye, as though in sleep.

  Lucky gave an anguished howl. “It’s too late! There’s nothing you can do—nothing anyone can do. Spring belongs to Earth-Dog now.”

  “No!” whined Martha, shaking her huge black head. “I won’t leave her to be carried away by Lake-Dog. I can’t abandon her.” She floundered, looking back at Spring’s body, not sure what to do.

  Lucky’s eyes fixed on the giant wave hurtling toward them. “Martha, please come back!” He cocked his head, his ears half-raised. “If you go out there you’ll die too. The Pack needs you!”

  Martha turned back to him. She hooked her paws onto the rocks, gasping with effort as she dragged herself over them. “Spring is all alone in the water,” she whimpered in sorrow. “Lake-Dog took her and now Earth-Dog will never find her. Her dog-spirit will be trapped here—she won’t rejoin her ancestors and return to the earth. She’ll stay out in the freezing cold forever.”

  Lucky pressed his muzzle close to Martha’s ear. “Earth-Dog always takes dogs when it’s their time,” he whined softly. “She will find Spring.”

  Martha met his eye with a grateful nod. He followed as she trod wearily to the longpaw house. A winding staircase led up from the entrance. Lucky gave a sniff—the rest of the Pack must have gone upstairs. He hoped they would be safe up there.

  Lucky heard a roar of water as the giant wave charged over the rocks. “Quickly!” he yelped. He and Martha scampered along the winding stairway as water splashed through the open door. Fear raced down Lucky’s spine. How high will it rise? Is it safe upstairs?

  Water chased at their paws as they bounded up the stairway, but it soon sloshed back. Lucky wasn’t taking any chances—he urged Martha on until the stairs came to an end.

  There was only one large, circular room at the top of the longpaw house—the one Lucky had spotted with the massive clear-stone window that ran all the way around the wall. There was a clear-stone globe at the entrance of the room, and the Pack huddled around it in fear and shock. They yelped with relief as Lucky and Martha trod inside. The water-dog flopped onto her belly with exhaustion, her breath heaving. Lucky slunk down alongside her.

  “Thank goodness!” whined Sweet, rising to lick their noses.

  “Where’s Alpha?” asked Bruno.

  Dart rose to her paws, her brown eyes wide and fretful. “Did you see Spring?”

  Lucky lowered his head so it rested against the hard floor. “The Lake-Dog took them.”

  Silence fell among the stunned dogs. Dart backed toward the wall and curled up in a trembling ball.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be here,” Storm piped up.

  “Would you rather be out on the lake road?” snapped Sweet.

  Mickey whined, lowering his head onto his outstretched forelegs. “I never want to be out there again. I’m so sorry we led you all to this terrible place. It isn’t a normal longpaw house, and there isn’t a thing to eat. I should have known, after everything that’s happened.”

  “I wish I never saw the house!” cried Daisy. “Now we’re trapped here.”

  “What if the Lake-Dog never stops being angry?” Moon whined. “She’s already taken Alpha and Spring, she nearly took my pups . . .”

  Dart whimpered and pressed herself closer to the wall.

  “She’ll stop soon,” said Lucky with confidence he didn’t feel. “She wasn’t always like this. The Endless Lake was calm before. It will be calm again.”

  Bella shuffled closer to Lucky. “What if the Fierce Dogs are still waiting for us?” she murmured.

  Before Lucky could answer, Storm gave a sharp bark. “If they’re out there, we’ll deal with them! Because of Blade, we lost two of our Pack—we’ll
teach those monsters that blood must be taken for blood!” Her voice echoed in the stone room.

  Lucky shivered and didn’t reply, his head still resting on the floor. He could hear the water churning against the rocks below, the ceaseless whoosh and hiss of the waves drowning out all other sounds.

  In time, the lake grew gentler and Lucky could make out the anxious whimpers of his Packmates. Then he heard another noise—an angry growl, low in a dog’s chest . . . the sound of a young Fierce Dog as she dreamed of revenge.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Lucky awoke with a violent shiver. Gray light drifted through the clear-stone, bringing no warmth. It was sunup, but the Sun-Dog himself was scarcely visible beyond the clouds.

  It was bitterly cold in the longpaw house. At least they were out of the wind and rain. Sweet was already awake, washing herself. Bruno was scratching his ear with a hindpaw and grumbling under his breath.

  With a start, Lucky remembered Spring floating on the Endless Lake, her black, tan, and white fur riding into the waves. His throat tightened and he whimpered. His thoughts drifted to Alpha’s last moments, howling for help at the edge of the lake road. Calling for Savage. And Storm, squaring up to Blade, indifferent to Alpha’s pleas.

  Lucky sighed, wishing there was a way of burying memories. For a moment, he pictured himself digging a deep hole and offering them to Earth-Dog. No, she wouldn’t want them.

  He stretched, throwing his forepaws in front of him. His limbs were so stiff with cold, he thought he could hear them creaking beneath his skin. His coat, which had been soaking wet from the waves that had broken over the lake road, now cracked with a layer of frost. He remembered what Moon had advised, and climbed to his paws, shaking out his fur. The hunger in his belly had passed from a gnawing ache to something vague and dull, and his limbs felt heavy.

  A deep, mournful howl broke through the air, making Lucky jump.

  All the dogs were awake now, blinking at one another in confusion.

  “What is it?” Sweet barked.

  Lucky frowned. The howl pulsed through the wall, reminding him of the honking growls that loudcages made in the city, back when the longpaws used to live there. “I think it’s coming from the building. . . .”

  Bella shook her ears. “A house that howls!”

  Lucky gazed at his litter-sister. He hadn’t known that buildings could talk. They weren’t alive—were they? He thought of the dead clear-stone globe in the room with them. It was like the globes that lit up longpaw streets at night, but huge and lightless. Had the house seen Spring and Alpha carried away by the Lake-Dog?

  “It sounds sad,” murmured Beetle, pressing himself closer to Moon.

  In the weak morning light, Moon’s eyes looked gray. Her ears drooped and her tail was limp behind her. She opened her mouth and started to whine, her voice mingling with the howl of the building. Beetle and Thorn joined in, their high voices rising in sorrow. Soon the rest of the Pack was howling with the longpaw house, calling to Moon-Dog and Sun-Dog, though neither were visible in the murky sky.

  Lucky shut his eyes and threw back his head. O Spirit Dogs, who watch over all things, please lead our dead Packmates to safety. Let their dog-spirits find peace with Earth-Dog.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw waterbirds through the clear-stone. They turned loops in the sky and Lucky’s heart ached, wondering if he’d ever feel free like them—like he used to a long time ago, as a Lone Dog before the Big Growl. He lowered his gaze. His Packmates all looked weary and disheveled, their coats straggly. They would be hungry too, and thirsty. Lucky swallowed, unable to rid himself of the taste of salt water. He was desperate to drink from a cool, clear spring, and the thought made him lick his chops.

  “We can’t stay here,” he told the others. “There doesn’t seem to be anything to eat.”

  “And the Lake-Dog is dangerous,” whimpered Dart. “If she can take a dog like Alpha, none of us is safe.”

  Sunshine whined, shaking her knotted fur. “But leaving means crossing that horrible lake road, doesn’t it?” Her haunches quivered and she took a step back, bumping into Bruno with a start. “What if the Fierce Dogs are on it, waiting for us?”

  She had a point. “I could go and find out,” said Lucky.

  “No!” whined Sunshine. “Not alone.”

  “I won’t be caught. It will be fine.” He trod over to her and gave her nose a comforting lick.

  “Can I come too?” asked Storm, rising to her paws.

  “No,” he said quickly. He wouldn’t put it past her to challenge the whole Fierce Dog Pack. “One dog can find out just as much as two, with less risk.”

  Storm looked like she was about to protest, but stopped herself.

  Lucky stepped down the stairway, careful not to slip on the pools of water that had collected on the hardstone. Reaching the bottom of the longpaw building, he peered outside. The mist had settled into a heavy white fog. It hardly moved as it hovered above the water. He could hear the Endless Lake shifting beneath, calmer now, just as he had predicted. The waves lapped against the rocks but did not reach over them.

  He edged along the longpaw building. It continued to howl and Lucky’s ears swiveled forward, trying to detect other sounds beneath its mournful call. The fog hugged the Endless Lake, but only tendrils of mist reached the lake road. Lucky slunk closer, low on his belly. There was no sign of movement.

  His muscles relaxed and he let out a slow sigh. There’s no dog here.

  Lucky heard pawsteps behind him, and his nose twitched as he picked up the scent of a Fierce Dog. Heart lurching in his chest, he spun around to see Storm. He thumped the hardstone with a forepaw. “I told you not to come!”

  He expected her to gnash her teeth and insist upon vengeance against her former Pack. He was surprised when she lowered her front quarters, dipping her head and gazing up at him submissively.

  “I know I shouldn’t have followed you, Lucky. But I was worried about you, out here alone. I’m sorry for being so angry before. I’m just tired of all this running and hiding, but I didn’t mean to challenge you.” She looked beyond Lucky, where the lake road met the sand. “I thought you might need help if the Fierce Dogs spotted you.” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice. She licked her chops.

  Lucky nuzzled her ear in thanks. “That’s okay. I understand,” he murmured, though it troubled him to see how much she yearned for a confrontation with Blade.

  They returned to the longpaw house, calling the rest of the Pack to join them. The dogs made a sad procession over the lake road, their heads bowed. Lucky peered beyond the rocks. He found he was grateful for the fog. If Spring’s and Alpha’s bodies were out there, floating on the water, at least they couldn’t be seen. He hoped they weren’t there, though—that Lake-Dog had shown mercy to the two unlucky dogs, at least in death, and had delivered them to land far from here. A place where the earth was soft and brown, not hard, yellow sand, and where Earth-Dog would greet them.

  As the Pack trod uphill along the bank of the Endless Lake, Lucky thought about Twitch. Spring wanted to see him again, and now she never will. He wished there was a way to let Twitch know what had happened to his litter-sister.

  They climbed the steep incline to the cliff, puffing with strain. There was no sign of the Fierce Dogs, but Lucky half expected to see them any moment, jumping out from behind a rock.

  Lucky led the way, looking back at the rest of the Pack to make sure no dog had fallen behind. They made a ragged bunch. Filthy and bedraggled, Sunshine whined about the green stains that clung to her coat like slimy river grass. Bruno limped and was panting heavily. Moon kept Thorn and Beetle close, protecting them from the edge of the drop with her body and making sure they were safe on their paws. “Not too quickly, take your time,” she murmured.

  Sweet and Bella trod close to Lucky, pressing determinedly uphill. Martha trailed them, her head low to the ground. The exhausted water-dog scarcely seemed able to lift her paws. She used all her energy saving Be
etle and Thorn, thought Lucky. And she still blames herself for not rescuing Spring.

  The cliff path was barren and rocky. Icy wind leaped over the Endless Lake. At least there were pools of fresh water to be found in the dips between rocks. Lucky drank gratefully, finally ridding his tongue of the vile salty taste.

  When they reached the top of the cliffs, they stopped to catch their breaths. There was a clearing where spiky grass burst out between the sand and scatterings of large, smooth rocks. From this vantage point, Lucky could see the full scale of the red-and-white-striped house. It still howled mournfully. Between pelts of fog, Lucky could spot the Endless Lake. It lapped against the rocks, much lower than it had been the day before. He remembered the dog-wolf’s horrified face as he’d tumbled into the water. Had his body been broken against the rocks? Lucky lowered his head in a mark of respect. He might not have liked Alpha, but no dog deserved to die like that.

  It’s all because of Blade and her Pack. Why couldn’t she just leave us alone? Lucky knew the answer to that: It was because of Storm. Blade believed that the young dog had been stolen from her. She would never rest while Storm was with the Wild Pack. Alpha knew it too. He said it would end in disaster. Lucky watched Storm from the corner of his eye. She was standing alongside some of the others, discussing hunt trails.

  Sweet was giving instructions. “Mickey and Snap, I want you to follow the cliff uphill, and check around the crags for any prey-creatures. Take Storm. Everyone else should take the opportunity to rest.”

  Lucky watched, the back of his neck tingling with unease. Had the young Fierce Dog heard Alpha’s pleas as the half wolf had begged for help at the edge of the lake road?

  “Storm?” said Lucky, on instinct.

  The young dog swirled around immediately, gamboling toward him with her tail thrashing. She cocked her head, her tongue lolling. “What is it, Lucky?” she asked, wide-eyed, desperate for his approval.

  Lucky’s voice was soft. “Catch me something tasty.”

  “I will!” she barked cheerfully, spinning back toward Sweet and the others and bounding back to them. There was nothing wrong with her hearing.