Spot and Smudge - Book One

by Robert Udulutch

  “Have a few friends?” Aila asked.

  “Yeah, they’re pretty cuddly lately,” Kelcy said as she kissed Spot on the snout. He licked the teen’s nose in return.

  Aila took a long look at her daughter. She was no Mimi but had pretty good radar when it came to her kids. Kelcy had been even quieter than normal for a few days and Aila’s spy had been no help. She suspected a new Ben-Kelcy alliance had been struck as the two kids were thick as thieves lately.

  “You’ve been pretty pro-puppy,” she said, “I mean, more than usual.” Aila had also noticed it was mutual, the pups were hanging around Kelcy quite a bit. She had seen them do the same thing with Dan when he was under the weather for a few days, especially Smudge who seemed to have learned a thing or two from Mimi, but Kelcy didn’t appear ill.

  Kelcy didn’t reply. After a few long moments of giving the pups some more scratches Kelcy asked, “Mom, how smart are the puppies?”

  Aila often wondered that very thing. “Pretty smart I think, Kels,” she said, “I think they might be pretty intuitive as well. They do seem to know when something is wrong with one of us.”

  “Yeah,” Kelcy said, “but I mean do you think they could, say, drive a car, or talk to other animals?”

  Aila wasn’t sure where this was going, but anytime you got the ball rolling with Kelcy you were doing pretty well. She often wore her heart on her sleeve like her mother when she was jazzed up, but she was also a typically complex and often guarded teenage girl. She was also not one for silly random questions.

  Aila answered, “I’ve seen them open the car door from the inside when coming to pick you guys up from school, not sure they could drive one, however. They do seem to be able to get the chickens and Mr. Watt to do what they want.”

  Kelcy nodded, and Aila decided to go there. “What’s up, Kels?” she asked.

  Her daughter looked at Spot for a long while, and he looked at her, and then the black dog nodded.

  Kelcy turned to her mom and said, “I have something to tell you. You’re gonna be mad that I didn’t say anything sooner but I just wasn’t sure how to tell you, and I’m not even exactly sure what happened. You gotta promise to let me tell you the whole thing and not freak.”

  Spot was watching her intently and when Aila nodded she swore the little dog nodded again, right at her. Aila told herself to tread carefully, the kids normally went to Dan first as he tended to be a little calmer about most things. Aila was well aware she had a track record for what some would call slight overreactions.

  Kelcy took a deep breath and said, “Okay, so the other day when Ben stayed late I get a ride home from Chelsea, remember?”

  Aila did, she and Dan had both been working in town and Mimi had picked up Ben after one of his after school things.

  “Well,” Kelcy continued, “that assho, um, jerk Aaron Cooper was in the parking lot picking fights with anyone who got close to him. It was kinda strange to see him there at all. He’d missed a bunch of school already, and even when he did show up usually he barely made it to lunch before he got booted for doing something idiotic. There’s been a bunch of fights and stupid crap lately, even without Aaron around, and I just sort of got used to ignoring them ‘cause none of them involved Ben. Anyway, Chelsea and I were just pulling out when Aaron scared the shit out of us. He pounded on her window and started talking all kinds of crazy stuff about looking for drugs and how he lost his job. And then he said he wanted to tag team both of us…you know what he meant, right?…he was pretty filthy about it, and detailed.”

  Kelcy paused to ask her, “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

  Aila realized she had made a face and worked to get herself under control. Suck it up Aila, she thought, they live in a different world.

  She told her daughter to continue.

  “So we left and Chelsea dumped me off here,” Kelcy said, “I dropped my crap and went out to get the mail, and that’s when Aaron scared the hell out of me again. I didn’t even notice him coming down the road until he stopped next to me. He had that monster dog Max with him and the thing stuck its head out the window and started to bark like right in my face. Aaron got out of the truck and hit Max really hard and yelled at him, and then he looked at me. He had a crazy look in his eyes, Mom, not like normal horn-dog boys. Sorry, but you know, right?”

  Aila did know, and she nodded.

  Kelcy said, “So I yelled some really not nice words at him and told him to get back in his effing truck. Mostly if you come back really strong they back down but he just laughed and said he had a few things to teach me about manners. His dog was going bonkers so Aaron went back and slugged Max again. I ran into the house and he just stood there next to his truck. I was going to call you, or call the cops, but he got into his truck and drove away. I figured I might have just been trippin, you know, and he was just a jock idiot and obviously having a bad week, year, whatevs. I thought I’d just tell you guys when you got home so I changed and grabbed an apple.”

  Spot reached out with a paw and touched Kelcy on the cheek. They stared at each other for a moment.

  “Fine,” she said to the pup as she flicked his ear. To Aila she said, “I didn’t grab an apple, Mom, I had a candy bar in my backpack. Anyway, I guess maybe I was still a little freaked so I decided to bike over to Meem’s.”

  “I went into the kitchen for a glass of water and almost crapped myself when I saw Aaron looking in the back door window. He tried the handle but I had locked all the doors, and then he just started banging and yelling freaky shit. I knew right then this was not just normal asshole Aaron. He was totally bat shit.”

  Kelcy paused and Aila took her hand.

  Her daughter said, “Mom, here’s where things get really freakin’ weird. I grabbed my phone and was about to hit up nine one one when the horn on Aaron’s truck started blaring. He stopped banging on the back door and disappeared, and I ran to the front window. He had parked his truck in the driveway at an odd angle, almost on the grass, and through the windshield I could see the passenger door was open. His horn was blaring like someone was stomping on it but there was no one in the truck. I could see Max was just sitting there in the back seat, quiet as a mouse and calm as could be. The big dumb dog was nowhere near the horn, and he didn’t seem to even care that it was screaming away. Aaron ran from the side of the house and up to the driver’s door. Just before he opened it the horn stopped. Aaron yanked open the door and tooted the horn once, like to test it. He got out, walked around the truck and looked in the passenger door. Max had his massive head out the rear window but he still wasn’t barking. Aaron slammed the door closed, yelled something, and kicked the side of his truck. He looked in the truck bed, he even got down on his hands and knees and looked underneath it.

  And that’s when I saw Spot. He was across the street in the woods, just a little way up the path from Mimi’s. He was just sitting there in the shade in the middle of the path. Max was looking right at Spot and he wasn’t barking at all. Aaron walked around the truck a few times and every time he went around the back of the truck Spot would move off the path and into the woods, and then come back onto the path and sit down again. He was watching Aaron, but he was also looking right at Max.”

  “And then I saw Smudge,” Kelcy said as she patted the girl dog at her side, “She must have crept around the side of the house. Every time Aaron walked around the back of the truck Smudge would move away from the house and towards Aaron. She was getting into a better position, but she always stayed hidden in the bushes. Mom you should have seen her, it was totally bizarro. I mean she’s pretty beefy compared to her brother but she was freakin’ jacked. Her shoulders looked like the Rock and the hair on her back was standing straight up from the top of her head to the tip of her tail.”

  Kelcy looked up at her mother and said, “She put herself between Aaron and me for the second time Mom, and Aaron’s a big dude.” Kelcy choked up and grabbed a big hunk of Smudge’s thick neck fur and gave it a loving tug. Smudge
growled a happy growl. A tear ran down Kelcy’s cheek and Aila’s heart dropped. Her precious little girl was describing this horrible assault and she didn’t lose it until she got to the part about this tough little puppy stepping between her and that asshole. I have an amazing kid, Aila thought.

  Aila tried hard to keep a grip on her own emotions but it was a losing battle. She started to mist up, and she was getting pissed.

  “Kels,” she said, “I am so sorry you were here all alone and had to go through that. You are so, so very brave.” She hugged her daughter and said, “We have to do something about that kid, dear. You should had told me sooner.”

  Kelcy nodded and wiped her cheek with the palm of her hand as Spot gave her a lick, and then gave Aila one too.

  Aila started to say something but Kelcy stopped her with a raised hand. “Wait, Mom, just wait,” she said, “You gotta hear all of it. Aaron got really really pissed and shouted into the woods and punched his truck hard enough to leave a dent in his door. He yelled at me and then got back into his truck, burned out of the driveway and tore away towards his house. I was going to call you right then but I just wanted to get out of here so I decided to go to Meem’s.

  It was weird, I wasn’t scared anymore now that the pups were here. I wanted to see Mimi and get to the farm, but I really wasn’t afraid.

  When I opened the front door Spot and Smudge saw me. He stepped from the woods but then stopped on the side of the road, and Smudge came up onto the porch but she didn’t come in the house. She just kept looking back and forth from me to Spot.

  I rode to Mimi’s and the pups stayed with me until I was about half way and then they shot off ahead of me and were gone. When I showed up at Mimi’s she was in the goat pen and the pups were waiting in the yard for me, wagging, and acting like nothing happened. At first I was kinda mad but then it hit me.”

  Aila was hanging on every word, but wasn’t putting it together. “What, what hit you, baby?” she asked. She thought she may have missed something Kelcy had said, she was too preoccupied with this Aaron fucker and thinking how she wanted to cut his balls off.

  “Mom, the pups were staying at the farm that day, right?” Kelcy said, “How the heck did they know to come home and rescue me? And when they got here why didn’t Max freak out at them? The last time they saw that dog it tried to rip their heads off. Why did they stay hidden? Why not just attack Aaron if they were trying to protect me?”

  Aila’s head was spinning. She tried hard to concentrate on what Kelcy was saying but she was just too enraged at the thought of someone trying to hurt her little girl. Still, Kelcy’s questions were slowly sinking in. Kelcy could tell from the look on Aila’s face that her mother didn’t have any answers.

  “Dammit Mom, keep up,” Kelcy said, “Okay, the pups are hangin’ at Mimi’s, right? They hear that booming black shepherd bark and let’s assume they can tell it’s coming from here, and there’s something in that bark they don’t like. They blast through the woods, and I mean blast. I tried to figure out how long it was from the time Aaron first pulled up to the time he came back and it could only have been minutes. Anyway, so the pups show up and open Aaron’s car door somehow and Spot leans on the truck horn while Smudge comes to protect me. They stay out of sight and they don’t attack.”

  Aila was catching up, but slowly.

  “To protect us, Mom,” Kelcy said like her mom was an idiot, “They stayed hidden to protect us.”

  “To protect us?” Aila asked as if in a fog, “Kels, I hear everything your saying, but that still leaves Aaron running around out there. He could maybe hurt someone else.”

  “Mom, listen,” Kelcy said patiently, “Spot and Smudge are smart. I’m convinced they would never have let Aaron leave if they knew he was still a threat to me, but they also know that keeping their secret within the family is the best way to continue protecting me…and Ben…all of us. If they had attacked Aaron in the driveway, well, it wouldn’t have ended well, right?”

  Aila nodded and said, “So how do you know our little Spot and Smudge here were so sure Aaron was no longer going to be a threat to you?” She didn’t like where this was headed.

  Kelcy took Spot’s chin in her hand and brought his nose right up to hers. It was a kind, totally loving gesture that gave Aila pause. Smudge uncurled herself and also looked up at the teenager. Kelcy took Smudge’s chin in her other hand and brought all of their faces together.

  “I can’t fully explain it, Mom, but I saw what I saw. I’m not worried about Aaron,” Kelcy said, “I think our pups had Max deal with him, for good.”

  Chapter 55

  A cold and wet Smudge joined her equally soaked and shivering brother on the small knoll overlooking the kennels. The rain had just been spitting when they left the farm, but by the time they crossed the river the skies had opened up and it was coming down in buckets.

  As the storm descended over the woods, so too had darkness. The trails could be murky even on a clear night with the limited light filtering through the thick canopy but when the rain clouds dropped to ground level visibility was cut to just a few yards. Even on their perch near the dirt road the pups could see the kennel but not the woods beyond.

  Smudge had just circled the area again and aside from the occasional clap of thunder all was quiet.

  Spot wanted to make sure they wouldn’t have to deal with the coyotes tonight. The wild dogs’ scents were all over this place but none of it was fresh as far as the pups could tell. Smudge was pretty confident the hunters weren’t in the area.

  In fact Smudge was pretty confident the only animals out in this crap were two dumb, wet, cold black dogs.

  Spot ignored the sarcasm and nudged his sister down the trail towards the kennel.

  They came out of the brush along the chain link fence and followed it to the open gate. Somewhere high above the thick clouds lightning flashed and the entire area strobed brightly a few times. For an instant the pups could clearly see the entire kennel, the dented van, and the tractor. The lightning was followed closely by several sharp cracks of thunder, loud enough for Spot to close his eyes and lean against Smudge until they passed. As they approached the open gate they could see light spilling out from the open center kennel doors. The rain pounded the overhanging corrugated roof and ran off its edge in broken rivers.

  As part of their systematic exploration they had gone a little further south every night. They had followed the trails to the river, and then to the knoll, and then to the kennels. They had also followed the dirt road to the little house. The pups had been coming to the kennels every night since discovering them. On those visits the gate had been locked and the kennels were dark.

  When Spot sorted through the smells and sounds around the kennel, and at the small house, he was convinced they needed to come back. They also needed to find a way inside the kennel. Smudge had thought she could possibly scramble over the top of the tall fence but Spot wasn’t so crazy for that plan. The fence was rusty chain link with twisted points at the top and would certainly be tough on his sister’s paws and belly. No, Spot had said, we need to come back when these doors are open, and we gotta do it soon.

  Smudge hadn’t quite understood the urgency, and now that the gate was open it really didn’t seem like a good idea. She was cold and soaked and she just wanted to head home. They had been at Mimi’s for four nights in a row and had covered a lot of miles each night, including that new bit of nasty business with Max.

  Spot felt that was all the more reason to do this now as he was pretty sure Ben was going to stay at home tomorrow night, and for who knows how many nights.

  Brother, remember I’m still recovering from parvo, Smudge said as she added a cough, And it’s going to take us a bloody hour to dry off before we can even start to warm up in bed.

  Spot shook his head and shoved her through the open gate. They hugged the inside of the fence until they were opposite the open kennel door. They moved closer and the smells and sounds that had concerned them
from outside the kennel were much stronger, and more horrible. Mixed in with the drumming of the rain they could hear music playing and they could hear water being sprayed into a bucket. As they crept closer they could hear the breathing and the shuffling feet of whoever was holding the hose just out of sight around the corner of the doorway.

  They inched forward and the loose gravel turned to hard wheel ruts as they stepped around the tractor and into the circle of light behind the van.

  Smudge was getting spooked and wanted them to leave. She didn’t like this place but Spot ignored her head butts. He had to get closer. There were too many important questions, and the pieces of sensory input he was getting from this vile place were starting to fill in some of the answers.

  He stepped closer, gambling the drumming rain and rivers of water flowing from the roof would make it hard for anyone inside the kennel to hear or see them.

  There were dog sounds coming from inside. Spot closed his eyes and focused but he was having trouble deciphering them. The quiet yaps and whines were muffled, almost like they were under water. There were hundreds of overlapping dog vocalizations, but not one of them was clear enough to understand. Taken collectively, however, it was clear they were in pain.

  Not surprisingly the kennel also smelled heavily of dog. Dog fur, dog breath, dog excrement, dog food, and an array of dog supplements, but those smells were massively overpowered by the same terrible odor they’d picked up from Doug that day in Mimi’s driveway. They had also picked up hints of it under the pen shed, from Max, and even at their mother’s grave. It was an unnatural, chemical smell that stung their noses, and it was totally foreign from anything they had ever smelled before. It wasn’t a cleaner or a car product, it almost smelled like medicine. It was hard to describe, but they agreed, Just plain wrong, seemed to fit it best. Spot didn’t understand how anyone could stand working in there. He often wondered how it was that humans had thrived when they were so oblivious to their environment, especially the smells and sounds of danger.