by Anh Do
I powered upwards and broke through the surface. I barely had time to suck in a breath before I was driven against the flat rock of the cavern wall. Zip was still underwater and dragging me down with him.
If I let go of Zip now, he’d be swallowed by the mountain forever.
My free hand clutched at a small crack in the cavern wall, and I held on as hard as I could. I pulled Zip towards me through the current, then up through the surface of the water. I kicked away from the wall and, with the last of my strength, swam for the shore. As soon as I found sand underfoot, I staggered upwards, and flung Zip onto the shore.
I collapsed beside him, my head aching and groggy. I needed to get air into his little lungs, but my own heart was pounding so hard I thought I might black out.
I heard voices from all around and wondered if the soldiers had reorganised. I tried to wipe water away but all I got was an eyeful of grit.
Someone touched my shoulder and I flinched, ready to defend myself … but it was a worker, wearing a look of concern. I blinked furiously and, as my vision cleared, I saw other workers arriving in more carts. And more workers moved to surround the soldiers as they struggled ashore.
With the soldiers’ guns all waterlogged, the workers had overpowered the soldiers! I couldn’t believe our plan had worked!
Beside me, Zip began to cough up water.
‘Oh, Zip,’ I said, throwing my arms around him. ‘You silly, brave, wonderful dog! Never scare me like that again!’
I’m...cough, cough...sorry...cough, cough...
I decided we would just lie there for a moment.
I soon found the rest of my pack, all as sodden as each other. People wanted to thank us, but I was anxious to get out of the cave. What if other workers were already fleeing? What if my parents were among them?
‘We need to get outside,’ I told Rupert, and he gave me a serious nod.
I unloaded the dogs and ran, with Zip in my arms, towards the entrance. He was still dazed, and his swollen eye was even more swollen. As we burst into daylight, I saw more workers gathering together.
I set Zip down on some leaves.
‘You look after Zip, doggies,’ I said to the others, and they wagged their tails.
‘Come on, Gwen!’ said Rupert, taking off towards the workers.
‘Mum? Dad?’ I shouted.
People turned, and I realised it was a silly thing to cry out. Who knew how many mums and dads were here, desperate to find their own lost children?
‘Jeremy and Tess?!’ I called. It felt strange to say their names.
Suddenly a man stepped forwards from the shadows and my heart skipped a beat.
Could it be Dad?
No. No, it wasn’t. NOOOOOOO!!!!
As I searched unfamiliar faces, I felt a growing sense of dread.
All that effort, and they weren’t here. Again.
Rupert appeared, looking miserable. ‘I don’t think mine are here. You?’
I shook my head, overcome by disappointment. I choked back a sob and we hugged each other. I don’t think either of us could believe that we were no closer to finding our parents than before.
A commotion broke out near the cave mouth. A group of stronger workers were marching soldiers out of the cave with their hands tied behind their backs. Others circled around their former captors, scowling and cursing.
I didn’t care about the soldiers. I needed my dogs. I turned to head back to them. Then I froze.
I couldn’t see them. The leaves where I had left Zip were empty, and the other dogs were gone.
‘Zip! Sunrise! Nosey!’ I called urgently as I ran. ‘Tiny? Brutus?’
How could they have disappeared so quickly? Could someone have taken them? Panic rose within me as I raced through the crowd.
Tiny bounced out between people’s feet, his tail wagging furiously.
Gwen! Have you ever seen so many two-legs in one place? Tiny trotted through pairs of legs.
‘Tiny, what’s going on? Where are the others?’
He sniffed her out. We couldn’t stop him! He gave short, excited yaps.
‘What?’ I demanded. ‘What do you mean?’
A couple of people looked at me strangely as I talked to my dogs.
Come with me! Tiny ran back through the crowd.
I took off after him.
I had to duck and weave around people to keep him in sight. A few moments later, I spied the other dogs sitting on their haunches. As I got closer, I saw that they were crowded around a middle-aged woman with Zip at her feet.
As I approached, the woman sat down and pulled Zip into her lap.
She stroked Zip’s fur and he wagged his tail weakly and lifted his head to lick her face.
‘What are you doing with Zip?’ I blurted.
The woman smiled at me and I realised she was crying.
‘I can’t believe he’s really here,’ she said. ‘After all this time, he’s still alive! I never thought I would see him again.’
The woman held Zip up to her weary face.
‘Wait,’ I said, ‘Zip is your dog?’
The woman nodded, breaking more tears from her lashes, as she cuddled the overjoyed greyhound. ‘When we were first invaded, we fled the city. I got stuck in traffic up into the mountains when the bombing began.’
‘I was there,’ I said, amazed.
The woman continued. ‘I was thrown to the ground and passed out. When I woke up, there were soldiers rounding everyone up. One of them spotted me, made me get to my feet, even though I was hurt. I didn’t call for Zip, because who knows what the soldier might have done to him?’ She looked at Zip, her eyes full of love.
I felt for her, but I had a burning question. My impatience got the better of me.
‘Have you ever met a Tess or Jeremy Lang?’
The woman frowned. ‘No … I’m sorry. But wait – how do you know Zip? These dogs all followed him over here.’
‘Zip has been running with our pack for a while,’ I said. ‘They’re just looking after him.’
‘You’ve all been caring for my poor angel?’ said the woman. She gently laid Zip down, then stood up and gave me a hug. ‘I’m Meredith. I’m more grateful to you – and your dogs – than I can ever express.’
Meredith’s hug was warm but suddenly my heart felt cold. She might have been Zip’s original owner, but what did that mean for us? He was a part of our pack. He was family.
‘He’s very injured,’ I said. ‘Please, I need to check his bandage. I have some …’
Where is our forest sage? Then I remembered – back in our packs, inside the cave, on top of that ledge …
‘You’ve done enough,’ said Meredith, with a smile. ‘I’m a nurse. I can get him healthy again.’
‘But …’
I felt a touch on my shoulder. It was Rupert at my side, giving me a sympathetic smile.
‘Zip found who he was looking for,’ he said.
‘But—’
I looked back at Zip and burst into tears. Rupert was right.
I knelt down before Zip and gathered him up.
I had to be careful not to hold him too tight, because I wanted to squeeze and never let go. He gave a little whine and licked my hand … and then other furry bodies squeezed in to jostle us. The pack wagged their tails and we all nuzzled Zip.
Bye, Zip.
You make sure you get better.
Gonna miss you.
‘I had no idea,’ said Meredith, putting her hand to her chest. ‘You must think me awful to assume I could just have him back. It’s just, I don’t have anyone else, but if you …’
‘No,’ I said. The other dogs continued to fuss over Zip as I stood up, wiping away tears. ‘You two belong together. He’s your dog. You’re his human. And besides,’ I chuckled, ‘he needs your help. I just wasn’t expecting to say goodbye so soon.’
‘Well,’ said Rupert, ‘who knows if this is really goodbye? These are strange times, after all.’
Sunrise came
up beside Rupert and nuzzled his hand. Without appearing to think about it, Rupert gave her a scratch behind the ears. Sunrise lifted her head in pleasure, but then she caught me looking.
What? I’m just thanking him for his assistance, that’s all, Sunrise huffed.
‘Oh, is that all?’ I said, amused.
Sunrise walked off, puffing out her chest. I laughed.
Over by the captured soldiers, somebody started shouting. ‘They’ve been mistreating us for years!’
‘They took our homes!’ shouted someone else.
‘They stole our lives!’
Sickle Soldier, on his knees with the other soldiers, looked about with worry as the furious workers closed in.
‘We were just following orders!’ he protested.
The gunshot made everyone jump.
‘All right, you lot!’ Ratty Minion snarled. ‘Fun’s over! There might be a whole lot of you, but I have a whole lot of bullets. So, this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to untie my comrades there, and then we’re all going straight back to the—’
Teddy dropped on Ratty Minion with his claws extended, while Tara and Zara raced out of the forest behind him. Tara leapt and sank her fangs into Ratty Minion’s hand. He dropped his gun and screamed and swung about in surprise.
Ratty Minion stumbled forwards and flung himself to the ground, covering his head, as the cats fell back to circle him. Rupert and I grinned at each other.
‘Call them off!’ Ratty Minion cried. ‘I surrender!’
I held up a hand. ‘Thank you, cats.’
Meow.
‘Zara! Teddy! Tara!’
The worker woman I had spoken to in the cave rushed out of the crowd, followed by a taller man. They went to the cats, and Teddy immediately sprang up into the woman’s arms.
‘You know these cats?’ I asked her.
‘Know them?’ she said. ‘I grew up with this little fellow.’ She hugged Teddy to her face. ‘I’m amazed to see them. How did they get here?’
‘Must have followed us from Ma Taylor’s,’ said Rupert, looking impressed.
‘Ma Taylor?’ said the woman with a gasp. She ran towards me and clutched at my arm with her free hand. ‘You’ve seen my mother?! Where is she?!’
‘She’s fine,’ I said, putting my hand on hers. ‘She’s been hiding in the forest.’
‘All this time,’ said the woman, tearfully, ‘I thought that she must be …that she was …’
‘Strong as a goat,’ said Rupert. ‘We were with her last night, for dinner and dancing.’
The woman laughed. ‘I’m Steph,’ she said. ‘This is my brother, Stu, and around here somewhere is my husband, and …oh, never mind about that! You saved us. How can we ever thank you?’
She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight.
I couldn’t help but smile.
Perhaps it had not been for nothing after all.
The cats began to meow impatiently and pace along the tree line.
‘I think they want to lead you to her,’ Rupert said to the Taylors.
I gave Rupert a wry look, raising my eyebrows.
‘You speak cat now?’
‘I’ve picked a few things up,’ he said, with a smirk.
The Taylors said their goodbyes, and headed into the forest. Some other groups of workers were shuffling off as well. No doubt they realised this area would get a lot of attention from the enemy very soon. We had to get our packs and get going too. The only question was, where?
A couple of stragglers stepped out of the cave. One of them was a woman wearing something strangely familiar …
My heart leapt.
It was a shawl, orange and purple, a distinct pattern I instantly recognised. My father had once given my mother a shawl just like that, for her birthday.
Before I knew it, I was running full tilt towards the woman. Her eyes lit up with surprise as I skidded to a halt in front of her.
‘You’re not my mum,’ I blurted out. I quickly felt embarrassed by my childish words. ‘I’m sorry … I thought …’
How many emotions was this day going to throw at me?
‘No … I’m Nancy,’ said the woman, looking confused. ‘Why did you think I was your mum?’
‘That shawl. My mother had one very much like it.’
‘Oh, this? This was given to me by a very nice lady at the last camp I was in. I was cold one night, so Tess said—’
‘Tess?’ I said breathlessly.
My heart was pounding. I pulled out my locket. My fingers were sweaty as I wrestled it open, then lifted the photo for her to see.
‘Is this her? Is this Tess?’
Nancy looked, then nodded. ‘Yes, that’s her.’
I couldn’t believe it.
My mother was still alive!