by Chris Coppel
“That should do,” Rex stated, trying to ignore Lester’s smirking grin.
The five animals edged their way along the platform until they reached the sign which hung above a break in the wall. Rex took a deep breath and stepped through the opening first.
“It’s safe,” he whispered back to the group. “Come on, follow me.”
He led them up a stairway, then down a long and twisting, white-tiled corridor. They continued on until it finally emptied into an open area at the base of a row of moving stairs, just like the ones they’d battled earlier.
“Not again,” Angel pleaded.
“It should hopefully be a bit easier going up,” Lucy said, encouragingly.
“Why?” Angel pouted.
“I don’t know exactly, it just seems that it would that’s all,” Lucy gave the Spaniel a gentle nuzzle to show her understanding of the other dog’s trepidation.
“Come on then,” Rex said. “Let’s do it.” He marched over to one of the flights of stairs and leapt onto it. To his amazement and the other’s amusement, the steps simply lowered him right back to the bottom again. Puzzled, but clearly determined, the Doberman turned and again lunged at the steps, this time continuing to run up them as soon as he landed. All he managed to do was stay in almost the same place. As fast as he ran up the stairs, they moved back down. Finally flustered, embarrassed, and somewhat exhausted, Rex allowed the steps to return him to his starting place once more.
“I don’t understand it,” he gasped. “I can’t seem to make any headway at all!”
“Oi, you lot!” Angel’s voice rang out through the sloping chamber.
The others spun around but couldn’t see her.
“Up here, silly dogs,” she said.
Lucy spotted the grinning Spaniel on another of the stairways, only this one was moving upwards. Angel was almost at the top as she smiled down at the others.
With the others watching, Angel’s cheery face vanished from view as the stairs carried her to the top of their run and then flattened out.
Suddenly they all heard a squeal of pain from up above. The dogs mobilised instantly and charged up the moving steps that Angel had used.
Lucy was the first to reach the top and found the Spaniel sitting against a wall nursing the top of one of her ears.
“What happened?” Lucy asked gently.
“My ear . . . it . . . it . . . got caught,” Angel cried, between teary intakes of breath, “I got . . . to the top . . . and was . . . was . . . laughing so hard . . . when . . . when . . . suddenly the steps . . . suddenly my ear got caught . . . caught in the steps!”
“Let me see,” Lucy moved close to the frightened and very miserable Spaniel.
The others arrived and stood in a circle around her as Lucy examined the damage.
“It’s just a little nick, Angel,” she announced, finding the wounded area.
“Are you sure? It hurts!”
“I’m sure it does, but it’s not serious. Let me just wash it out for you. Alright?”
“Alright,” Angel replied weakly.
Lucy gave the wounded area a good cleaning with her tongue. She even gave the flesh around the wound a gentle soft-chew to get it good and damp.
“There we go,” Lucy said as she gave the ear one final lick. “Good as new.”
“Thank you,” Angel tried to force a smile.
“I hope you learned a lesson today.” Lucy’s voice became serious.
“A lesson?” The Spaniel sounded utterly mystified.
“Yes, a lesson. You were showing off, weren’t you?”
Angel hung her head and tried to look away, but in every direction another dog was watching her.
“This is what can happen when you show off. You’re lucky it was only a nick. Next time it could be far worse?” Lucy advised.
“You sound like my mother,” Angel said, as a smile began to form on her tear-stained face.
“Maybe that’s because you were behaving like a naughty puppy,” Lucy answered, trying to suppress her own smile.
The two dogs looked tenderly into each other’s eyes then stepped forward and licked muzzles.
Rex cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “I think we should keep moving, don’t you?”
The others nodded and regrouped themselves into a line as they set off in their pursuit of St. Paul.
Rex led them down two more corridors and up one more flight of stairs. Then, after turning one final corner and with no warning whatsoever, they found themselves on the street level, breathing the slightly damp, slightly dirty evening air that hung over the huge city.
“I never thought I’d say this,” Hans said, as he took a deep breath of the city air. “But doesn’t the city look beautiful!”
The others all nodded their complete agreement, vowing silently to themselves to never venture belowground again. It was simply too fraught with danger. Maybe it was alright for bipeds, but for canines. No! Even battling city streets was preferable to the subterranean alternative.
“Which way do we go?” Lucy asked to no one in particular.
They all glanced in various directions, clearly not having the slightest clue.
“In that case, may I suggest that we find a place to hole up for the night,” Lucy suggested as she studied her friend’s anxious faces.
“What about St. Paul?” Angel asked with her large, blinking, Spaniel eyes trained on Lucy.
“It’s getting dark, we don’t know where he . . . or she is, and besides, it wouldn’t be very polite to turn up this late unannounced, would it?” Lucy looked to each face for some acknowledgment. “Also, I don’t know about you lot, but I’m famished. I think we should start thinking about dinner.”
At the mention of the word ‘dinner’ every tongue appeared as if by magic, as their owners began to pant at the mere thought of food.
“I’ll take that as a sign of agreement,” Lucy stated with amusement as she felt her own tongue begin to moisten at the very thought of food.
The weary dogs began a search for sustenance. They stayed close to the shop fronts and office buildings as they sniffed at each doorway. They noticed almost immediately that the area they were in was different from the others they’d encountered. At first, they couldn’t quite put a paw on what it was they found unusual, but after covering a few more blocks, Lucy stopped the group as a thought formed.
“Humans don’t live here,” she stated flatly.
“What do you mean?” Rex asked, not certain that he understood her meaning.
“That’s what’s so different around here. There are plenty of bipeds, but have you noticed how none of them look comfortable. The ones we’ve seen through the windows . . . did they look relaxed? No! This area seems to be where they come to . . . I don’t know . . . not relax!”
As they talked, the dogs continued moving down the street, which was growing less inhabited with bipeds by the minute.
“Why would they want to do that?” Angel asked, clearly very sceptical about Lucy’s theory.
“I don’t know, but even back at the cottage, I remember when my Man would shut himself up in his room, he sometimes looked just like these bipeds. He’d be very serious and would become completely focused on paper bits and an illuminated box and the black rectangle they like to talk into. He’d also tap his fingers on a funny black tray thingy for hours on end. When he’d reappear much later his eyes would be dull, and his scent would be a little sour.”
“Did he stay like that?” Lester inquired, with concern.
“Oh, no! Usually, I was able to get him back to normal with a couple of back rolls and a good lick or two. Sometimes, if he was really in a bad way, he’d pour himself some foul-smelling brown liquid. I never knew how he could, but he’d drink the stuff and become quite merry and playful.”
“I
’ve seen that happen to my humans too!” Hans said, smiling at the memory. “Only they’d drink a lot of this odd, fizzy liquid that smelled a little like bread, then, as you said, they’d get very playful and clumsy. They’d sometimes even fall down.”
As Lucy laughed trying to imagine her Man ever falling, she noticed that Rex was facing away from the group, looking up at the darkening sky. She stepped in front of him, but he turned his head away from her.
“Rex, what’s the matter?” she asked gently.
“Nothing, Nothing at all. Just go back to the others and enjoy your memories.” his voice had a definite edge of pain to it.
“Rex, look at me,” Lucy commanded.
The Doberman slowly turned and faced her. She could see immediately that his eyes were moist, and his expression, strained and sad.
“What is it? Tell me and maybe I can help.”
“Thanks, Goldie, but you can’t help me. No one can,” he spoke in a whisper so the others wouldn’t hear.
“You’re sad. I can see that.” She nuzzled his neck trying to help relieve his despondency. “Maybe if you talked about it, it would help.”
“I can’t Goldie. I don’t even think you’d understand. That’s part of the sadness.”
“Why don’t you at least try?” she coaxed.
Rex again looked up at the sky, as he tried to hold down his rising emotions. Suddenly without any warning, he let out a long and soul-wrenching howl that made Lucy shiver at the strength of its emotion.
The others all turned and made a move to approach the pair, but Lucy signalled for them to stay put while she talked with Rex. For a long time, Lucy sat patiently next to him, waiting for him to begin speaking. Rex’s eyes were closed as he kept his head high and his muzzle pointed upwards.
Angel nuzzled Hans and Lester away from Lucy’s vigil, then coaxed them to join her in a food hunt while their friends had a chance to be alone.
Rex didn’t notice their departure, and when he finally lowered his head and opened his sad eyes, he was surprised by their absence. Lucy explained that the others had gone off in search of dinner.
“They can’t do it alone,” he exclaimed. “We should help them.”
“It’s alright. They’ve gone off so that we could be alone. I can see that you are very sad Rex, and it hurts me inside. You need to let the sad out and the happiness in.”
“Don’t you think I want to? I’ve tried. Oh, how I’ve tried.” His voice was tight with emotion. “You don’t have any idea of what I hold inside. You think you do, but you don’t.”
He stared into Lucy’s brown eyes, which were at that moment filled with warmth and caring. With an expression of resignation, he suddenly nudged Lucy into a dark doorway belonging to a large building which was shut up securely for the night.
“I don’t think you could possibly understand what I feel, but I’ll try and explain if for no other reason than for you to let it rest, alright?”
Lucy nodded encouragingly back at him. Rex took a couple of deep breaths then began in a voice devoid of almost any emotion.
“One of my few memories of when I was young, was when I’d sleep with my brothers and sisters as my mother watched from her blanket. I remember feeling secure and incredibly happy. I remember watching as our door opened and humans entered our room. I saw a strange biped talking to the male that looked after us. The stranger got to his knees and began playing with each of us in turn. Mother was not happy about it and even began growling. Our human had to take her out of the room and shut her away.
The stranger finally got to me and petted me, tickled me, rolled me over, all things that I enjoyed, yet for some reason I didn’t feel any warmth coming from him. It was as if he was simply going through some routine. Anyway, after a few minutes of this, the biped got to his feet and began talking to our human again and they left the room. I thought no more about it and resumed playing. A little while later, as we were all dozing after a rough game of tag, the bipeds came back. Our human reached down - I’ll never forget this - and lifted me away from my brothers and sisters and handed me to the stranger. I didn’t think anything was wrong until the biped placed me in a box with little holes in it and shut the lid. It was so dark. I can remember trying to peer out of the tiny holes and for a moment, could just see my family. Then, without warning, the box rose into the air and moved out of the room.”
Rex had to stop for a moment to catch his breath and wipe away a tear.
“I never saw my family again,” he sighed, trying to control the emotions that were rising within him.
“It’s alright,” Lucy said as she moved closer to him. “I’m here with you. Don’t stop. Keep letting it out. I promise it will help.”
Rex again looked into Lucy’s gentle features and nodded, somehow knowing that she was right.
“It’s not easy.”
“I’m sure it’s not, but try.”
He again looked at the night sky before allowing the hurtful memories to surface. Lucy sat patiently next to him, knowing that Rex needed as much time as he felt necessary.
“After being taken from my family, I don’t remember much until I was quite a bit older. My new human treated me reasonably well. I was fed regularly, exercised, and taught manners that humans thought appropriate, but in all my time as a puppy, he never played with me. I used to invent little games that I could play by myself, but somehow it just wasn’t the same.” Rex shook his head slowly at the memories. “Anyway, when I was in my early adult period, I was moved out of the big house and put into a kennel out back. There were ten other dogs, and at first I was overjoyed at the prospect of new friends and playmates, but that excitement didn’t last long.”
“Why?” Lucy asked in a surprised voice. She was staring intently at Rex, clearly riveted to his story.
“They were guard dogs,” he continued, “They had no humour, no emotions; they were hard and brutal beasts. I remember wondering, what could turn a dog into such an uncaring shell of a canine? I found out though. I most certainly found out.” Rex lowered his head and forced a thin smile for Lucy who nodded encouragingly.
“For the next . . . oh I don’t know, six moon cycles maybe, I was taught to be a guard dog. My human found just about every possible way he could to break my spirit and turn me into as vicious an animal as possible. I learnt how to bite and incapacitate bipeds. How to knock a human to the ground in less than a second, how to . . . well you get the drift. Eventually, I presume he must have felt my training to be complete because he began using me just like the others. His business appeared to be the loaning out of dogs for specific guarding duties. We would be sent to protect everything from lavish homes with walled gardens, to nasty little junk yards filled with rusted metal and rats.”
“How awful!” Lucy exclaimed.
“You know, I’d like to make light of it, but I can’t. It was awful. I would never know where I’d be placed next. Whether it would be sheltered from the elements or be just an open-fenced enclosure where I’d have to keep moving all night long or freeze to death on the ground. After a while, all that became an accepted part of my life. What I could never accept, was the loneliness. Most of the time I could bury my feelings inside and carry on with life relatively well, but other times, I’d . . . I’d hurt inside. I’d hurt very badly. It was like a hot ball lodged in my chest - throbbing away, making it hard sometimes for me to even think. When you were all talking about your memories with your humans, I . . . I felt so . . . ”
“That was very stupid of us,” Lucy stated frankly as she shook her head. “We should have known better.”
“No! You have every right to remember your good times. I should have become like the other dogs in the kennel and lost all my feelings, but Lucy, I never did. I tried so hard to become a cold and callous dog, but I couldn’t. I never really learned to hate humans as I was supposed to. Every time I see a biped, I am
supposed to feel hate towards them, but you know what? I don’t. I can’t. I want to play with them. I want to be taken for walks and be talked to, and have my stomach rubbed and my ears scratched and . . . Oh, Lucy!” Rex began to cry. At first, he fought back the tears, but as Lucy rested her head on his neck, he broke down completely and cried like he’d never cried before.
“I’m so sorry about this,” he gasped, between sobs. “But you see what I mean. I’m not exactly your stereotypical attack dog, am I?”
“No, you’re not, but there’s nothing to apologise about. You’re simply a sensitive dog who’s had a tough life so far, but you know what? I have this feeling that all of that is behind you now.”
“Do you really?” He asked hopefully, between sniffles.
“Yes, I do.”
Rex gave her a huge, toothy smile in clear appreciation of her sentiments. Lucy was about to speak when the other three came trotting around the corner towards them.
“Find anything?” Rex inquired.
“We’re not quite sure,” Hans replied. “We’ve found an interesting scent, but we’d feel a little more comfortable if you were both with us when we check it out.”
“Why?” Rex asked mildly puzzled.
“You’ll see,” Angel stated with a nervous grin.”
Rex glanced at Lucy, who seemed as perplexed as he was, then with a brief shrug of his shoulders, followed the others to find out just what they’d come upon. Lucy trotted along behind the group, feeling quite proud of herself as she watched Rex, with his head raised high, reassume his position as leader of the team.
After no more than a couple of blocks, they reached the area in question. Lucy took one look at it and felt a shiver run the length of her spine.
The three explorers had found a place where part of the street branched off and ran down a steep incline under a large office complex. Above the sloping entry hung a bright yellow sign upon which was a large letter P.
Rex turned to Lester, “What’s that mean?”