A Boy, a Dog Girl and a Beginning: Part Three

“Why are the horses free?! Simms, get your brain damaged body over here and get these beasts under control or so help me gods I’ll ride you into Bell’s South!”

The large man with the beard reaching to his belly and a sword as long as his arm at his hip screamed to his subordinates as their horses rampaged through the camp. All of the men were trying to surround the eight horses, doing all they could to get them retied to their posts.

“How did they come loose? Simms is an incompetent, but he knows I’d gut him if a horse got loose on his watch, let alone all eight…”

A hunch entered Skabbart’s brain. He looked away from where the horses had been tied, hearing someone say it looked like the ropes had been chewed. He walked quickly to the storage tent.

Most of their weapons were gone. It had only been ten minutes since the men had focused on getting the horses back under control. It had been enough.

“Thieves. Thieves stealing from thieves. What is this world coming to?” Skabbart kicked an empty box in the tent, then burst out of it. “Men! If I can call you men! Spread out! Thieves!”

From behind a bush on top of a nearby hill in the woods, Zack and Honey listened to the shouting, straining to control their own heavy breathing.

“Well, we got more than we thought before they noticed us,” Zack said.

“But they’ll find it all! Or us!” Honey said.

“Yeah, but it gives us time to think up a better plan.”

Zack only wished he had a single clue what it could be.

“Fan out! Check the trees! Check the bushes! Check the hills and valleys! I want our gear found, no matter how dark it is!”

Eyes growing wide with panic, Zack looked around for an option. He couldn’t let them have their stuff back. He also couldn’t stay put. Leaves and sticks crunched as the bandits moved closer.

“Zack…”

“I know! I know! I’m a moron who doesn’t plan! The fact I’m talking to my now human dog right now is proof of it!”

His head moved frantically, looking around until he noticed a hill a short distance away leading down into thick, thorny bushes. He grabbed two boxes and slung a large bag over his shoulder.

“Quick! Grab what you can and dump it! We’ll take some swords and knives and food with us!”

The two crept as silently as they could, which wasn’t silently at all due to their panic and heavy load. Zack quickly threw one of the crates down the hill, wincing as it crashed into the bushes.

“Over there! A noise!”

“Dump and run!” Zack hissed. He and Honey grabbed two swords, a collection of small knives and a sack of food, dumping the rest down the hill.

“Damn the clouds! Covering the damn moon again!”

They heard Skabbart roaring and hoped it covered their fleeing footsteps.

*

They continued to move until the morning sun began to rise and turn the sky red. Zack pressed his sweat covered forehead against a tree. Honey held her hands, watching her boy.

“Moron…”

He said the word in a raspy, tired tone.

“Zack…”

His palm slapped against the tree, interrupting her.

“Moron! I’m a moron! A complete dumbass! We could have been killed! Again! You could have…” He turned, sliding down the tree so he was sitting against it. “You could have died.”

“So could you.”

“It’d have been my choice. But this keeps happening. I try to help, try to do the right thing, but I keep hurting other people. I fight back against my dad and he goes to jail and my mom ends up alone. I protect kids at school and I get suspended. I try to stop a mugging and we die. Now this! I’m a stupid loser failure…”

He felt soft hands gently place themselves on his face. They tilted his head up so he was looking into Honey’s eyes, the orange of the sky reflecting in them.

“Look at me.”

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.

“I don’t regret what we did. Yes, we were hurt. But it made it possible for me to talk to you. As a dog, you have no idea how much I wanted to talk to my boy.”

“Honey…”

She shook her head, her wild mane of hair blowing in the wind. “I’m talking. You are good. I know. We dogs are trusting. We look for a pack to protect so they protect us. The man was bad. You hit him back. The woman cried. You held her. You roar when bad things happen. You cheer when good things do. You are good.”

Zack didn’t know what to say to her. She knelt down and held him as she remembered the woman doing when he was small.

“I love you. I’ll protect you, because I know you’ll protect me.”

The moment was silent. Not even the wind intruded with a rustled tree branch. Zack suddenly knew what he wanted to say to her.

“Aw. Isn’t this precious.”

Their heads snapped immediately over Honey’s shoulder. Skabbart stood several feet away, hands on hips, grinning broadly. Zack stood, grabbing his sword. Unfortunately, he did not notice the two men to their sides. Honey was struck in the face and Zack was grabbed from behind in a choke hold.

“You honestly thought we couldn’t track you? Pathetic.” Skabbart held a device up and shot a glowing red orb up into the sky. “My men will be here momentarily. You will not.”

“Don’t touch her!” Zack roared as he was bent to his knees. Honey growled and snapped her jaws as she was held in place.

“You’re thinking of her? Buddy, don’t worry. A girl like her fetches a good price. You, however…” Skabbart drew his sword as Zack’s head was held in place.

The sword swung down, and Honey screamed.