Spot and Smudge - Book One

by Robert Udulutch

  Smudge jumped over Max and stepped into the living room. She saw Liko seated in a chair in the middle of the room with his hands duct-taped behind him and his feet taped to the legs of the chair. He had a large cut across the bridge of his nose and his mouth and chins were bloody. He was also bleeding badly from a wound on his arm and there was a chunk of flesh missing from one of his thighs.

  Kelcy was standing in front of him holding Ben’s aluminum baseball bat.

  “Smudge!” the teenager yelled when she noticed her black pup standing next to her. She dropped the bat and wrapped her arms around her furry neck.

  Dan heard the commotion and came running down the hall. He was holding a fistful of bandages and Liko’s huge pistol. Aila was right behind him holding a bloody dish towel to her upper arm, and her cell phone.

  “Mom, Dad, look!” Kelcy said, “She smells like smoke.” She took Smudge’s chin in her hands and said, “Chelsea texted about fires in town and at the clinic. Were you there? Is Ronnie ok? Where’s Spot?”

  Smudge looked at her, and then at Aila.

  Aila came around Dan and knelt in front of Smudge. She gave her a big hug and then looked into her big, smart brown eyes and said, “Smudge, Mimi said you and Spot had gone to help Ronnie. Then this pile of shit showed up. The coyotes and the Cooper dog ripped him a new one as he came through the door.” Aila nodded somberly to a dead coyote that was laid out on a blanket on the couch and said, “Now we can’t get in touch with Ben or Mimi. We heard shots and we’re heading over to Mimi’s now.”

  Dan joined them and bent to rub the dog’s head. Emotion crept into his voice as he said, “Smudge, do you know what’s happening, sweetie?”

  Smudge nodded and then walked up to Liko who had been staring at all of them with a very perplexed look.

  In one fluid motion Smudge jumped onto his wide lap and grabbed him around the neck with her opened paws. A shocked Liko tried to move away but only managed to tip his head back which give Smudge better access to his fat neck. Her strong paw fingers worked their way under his fleshy jaw as she extended her forelimbs. She flexed her shoulders and her already bulging muscles seemed to double in size. Liko gurgled. He tried to shake his head free as a trickle of blood spilled from his split lip.

  While the big man squirmed in her grasp, Smudge remembered a recent argument she had with Spot. One night they were discussing all of the things they were going to do with their new paws. They were also discussing the Dorschsteins, and the subject of strangulation came up. They looked it up on Ben and Kelcy’s tablets, and had found conflicting information on the most effective techniques. Smudge had taken a different position on the topic than her brother, and they spent the next hour using her little chicken as a test subject, and arguing. Where Spot had preferred tracheal constriction making it hard to breathe, Smudge favored occlusion of the carotid artery that cut off the blood flow to the brain. Her position was that it required one sixth the pressure of choking and the outcome could be more effectively controlled, including unconsciousness in just a few seconds and death in a minute, if applied correctly.

  It was her first time strangling anything but based on Liko’s reddening eyes and slumping shoulders she was pretty sure she was doing it better than her brother had with Doug.

  “Aila?” Dan said quietly as they all stared at their black girl dog. The dog that now had paws she used as hands, and was choking this large man who had tried to kill them. Dan stepped forward with Kelcy for a better look, and both of their mouths hung open.

  Aila put her arms around them both and pulled them back a little. “Just wait,” she whispered.

  After a few seconds Smudge relaxed her grip, jumped off the fat man’s lap and walked over to stand next to Aila.

  Liko’s face returned to a more normal color and he blinked, and stared at Smudge, horrified.

  Dan nodded. He hefted the huge pistol in his hand and said to Liko, “My friend, I think my dog wants you to tell us what’s going on. If you don’t start talking I’m gonna have her choke the fucking life out of you right here in my living room while I watch. I’m pretty sure this obscene joke of a hand cannon was loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and I assume they’ve called the cops. Even with the clinic and gas station fires you probably only have a few minutes before we hear sirens. You need to know that I will let her kill you well before then if we don’t get what we need from you.”

  Aila said, “Kelcy, come with me into the kitchen.”

  “Sorry mom, but no fucking way,” Kelcy said as she picked up her bat.

  Dan waved them both into silence. To Liko he said, “So what’s it going to be?”

  Through red, terrified eyes Liko looked at Aila and then he looked at Smudge. He looked at the huge dead black dog who had knocked him through the door. He looked at the dead coyote that had taken a chunk from his leg, and then he stared at Dan. Liko didn’t say anything.

  Smudge was getting frustrated. She could feel the crucial seconds ticking away and had a strong urge to just bolt and join Spot but she also knew it was imperative the family understood exactly what was happening. Apparently all that strangling the fat guy had accomplished was to freak him out so she decided to switch to her other technique to motivate compliance, one that had worked well on the second Weasel brother.

  Smudge walked forward and placed one paw on each of Liko’s knees. She flexed and pushed, and despite the big guy’s bulk and his struggling she forced Liko’s knees apart. Liko started to utter a protest but Smudge leaned forward and bit down on his crotch. Liko screamed and tried to move backwards. The chair bounced and rocked until Smudge bit harder and Liko froze, panting rapidly through clenched teeth.

  Kelcy leaned forward with her bat over her shoulder and said, “Maybe she’ll choke you to death after she rips your balls off.”

  “Alright alright alright,” Liko quickly whispered, “Call if off, call it off, call it FUCKING OFF!”

  Chapter 73

  From just outside the kennel’s gate Spot paused to sniff the air, and watch the van on the far side of the small dirt turnaround. Its front was facing the chain link fence and the closed back doors were facing the kennel doors.

  He could see shadows moving inside the kennel but couldn’t see who was making them. Spot shot through the gate and circled the lot, keeping to the dark along the perimeter fence until he came up behind the van where he could see inside the open kennel doorway. On the far inside wall the bloated dogs were thumping against the doors of their cages, biting and scratching as their terrible choked whines and gargling growls rolled out into the cool night air.

  He saw Mimi, and he saw Doug hovering over her. He was raising his hand and it was obvious it wasn’t the first time he’d struck her.

  Spot dug his claws into the dirt and said, Where the hell are you sister? I need you. I need you now.

  Chapter 74

  Dan and Aila stood together in the kitchen doorway, out of ear shot of Kelcy and the tied up Liko who were still in the living room. Smudge was standing between them, listening while she stared at Liko.

  Dan was amazed at his wife and daughter. They had both just displayed that incredible Walker ability to go from berserker mode to planning mode faster than the time it took Dan’s shaking hands to pick up his glasses. The in-and-out bullet wound to Aila’s upper arm had stopped bleeding, but Dan still swooned a little when he looked at it. He might not have that Highland warrior gene, but he was plenty pissed off and thankfully rage was winning out over his nerves.

  “These boys are into some seriously freaky shit,” he said as he held up one of the finger-sized shells he found in Liko’s pocket, “Remind me to never argue with Mimi’s radar.”

  He reloaded the cartoonishly large silver dragon pistol, looked down at Smudge and added, “And you’re brushing your teeth before you kiss anyone in this family.”

  Aila nodded and said, “She never liked that Doug guy but fucking bloody hell. Ronnie...Mimi...oh Dan, that fucker has our boy.”r />
  He could see her starting to boil again and Dan put his arm around his wife and held her tight as he looked down at Smudge and said, “You ready?”

  Smudge shook her head.

  As she walked out from between the parent’s legs and trotted into the living room she thought, No, there’s one more thing you need to know before we leave.

  Dan watched Smudge walk away and he shrugged at Aila. They shared a baffled look as they followed behind their solid dog.

  Kelcy was standing in front of Liko with her aluminum baseball bat resting across her shoulders. The teenager and the thug watched Smudge walk past them and over to one of the end tables. She carefully picked up a framed picture of Papa with her mouth and placed it in Liko’s lap.

  Dan and Aila came up behind Kelcy and she slung the bat over one shoulder as her mom put an arm around her waist.

  Liko looked down at the picture, confused. “What the fuck is that?” he said to Kelcy.

  With the precision that came from four years of lacrosse Kelcy stepped forward and spun the bat. It shot straight out and stopped a half inch from Liko’s already bloody nose.

  “Fuck,” he blurted as his head snapped back.

  Kelcy said, “Language,” and poked him hard with the end of the bat, “Do you know who that is?”

  “Fu-” Liko started to say, and then corrected himself, “No, I don’t know who that is.”

  Kelcy said, “That is my grandfather Duncan Walker, Jean Walker’s husband. He died a few months ago and my dog thinks you know something about it.”

  Smudge looked at Liko, growled and nodded.

  “So,” Kelcy continued, “if you don’t tell me what you know right now my dog with the insanely powerful bite is going to remove your cock while I bash in your skull with this FUCKING BAT!” A tear ran down Kelcy’s face as she held the bat to the side of Liko’s head.

  Liko stared at her. After the monster dog had knocked him through the front door this teenage girl dove on him from halfway up the stairs. She had punched him, hard, three times in the face as they fell. She then continued to throw an effective beating on him until her mom hauled her off, after delivering a few well-placed kicks herself. One of the girl’s punches had broken his nose. The hot little bitch and her MILF mom knew how to fucking fight.

  Aila started to take a step towards her daughter but this time it was Dan’s turn to hold her back.

  Smudge took the picture from Liko’s lap and put it gently down on the end table. She flexed her shoulders to full pump and moved her chin a few inches from Liko’s crotch. She bared her teeth and looked up at him.

  Liko felt his bowels loosen up a bit and he tore away from the dog’s maniacal stare to look up at the teenager. “I had nothing to do with it,” Liko cried, “Doug did it. Doug killed him.”

  Chapter 75

  “No, Mrs. Walker, you’re going to do exactly what I fucking tell you to do,” Doug said as he backhanded Mimi again. What had been a small trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth now flowed freely down her chin. Mimi was seated at the small work table with one ankle and one hand tied to a leg of the table with dog leashes.

  Doug limped to the back of the van and opened it. He came back carrying a gas can and a large envelope. The gas can was full and he struggled to carry it. His burned hands had swelled and blood dripped from the cracks between his fingers when he bent them. He stopped a few times to adjust his grip on the heavy gas can but finally gave up and just left it outside. He shuffled into the kennel with the envelope that was now smeared with blood.

  Doug grabbed a towel from the storage rack next to the work table and wiped at the blood, making more of a mess.

  “Fuuuck!” he shouted in frustration. He took a deep breath, and used a clean corner of the towel to open the envelope and slide out a stack of documents. He placed the documents in front of Mimi. He straightened them, and pulled a pen from a cup on the table and placed it on top of the documents.

  “There you go,” he said.

  He stared at her.

  Mimi didn’t look at him. She just stared straight ahead.

  “You don’t seem to understand the position you’re in,” Doug said with a slurp. His burned lip drooled a stream of red mucus down his charred shirt. He put his arm around Mimi and whispered in her ear, “I’ve burnt up your fucking freaky dogs, I’ve slit the throat of the little fucking whore at the clinic, and now I’m going to kill your grandson if you don’t sign this.” Tapping the paper with the towel, Doug said, “Right there, where the little sticky tabs are, please.”

  Mimi stared at the paper, but didn’t move.

  Doug hit her on the back of the head with his open palm and yelled in her ear, “SIGN THE FUCKING THING!”

  The dogs in the kennels barked and whined louder.

  “Oh shut the fuck up,” Doug spat at them.

  Mimi didn’t flinch.

  “Perhaps my lady just needs the proper motivation,” he said, and pulled the pistol from his belt.

  As Doug walked away Mimi tugged on her binds and took another look around the desk for anything she could use. She tried to avoid looking at the cages behind her and those poor, horrific dogs.

  Spot moved to the edge of the pool of light cast from the open kennel doors. He came to the front of the tractor and watched Doug limp towards the back of the van.

  Spot stepped into the light long enough for Mimi to see him.

  Mimi smiled and a fresh new rivulet of blood ran down her chin.

  Chapter 76

  As Kelcy worked quickly to finish duct taping Liko to the driver’s seat of the SUV he started to squirm again.

  “Shut up,” Dan said as he reached over from the passenger seat and hit him with the butt of the big dragon pistol.

  Liko’s arms were folded across his chest and his whole torso was taped to the seat. His feet had been secured out of the way of the pedals and his neck was taped to the headrest.

  A fresh trail of blood ran from the bridge of his nose as Kelcy jammed his thick glasses back on his face and said, “Okay Dad, all set.”

  Dan pushed the passenger door open with his foot, waved to the waiting Smudge with the pistol and said, “Let’s go girl.”

  Smudge jumped up into the SUV and scrambled over Dan’s lap to the center console.

  Aila hung up her phone as she came down the front steps and joined Kelcy in giving Dan a quick hug. He kissed the top of Kelcy’s head as she reached around him and grabbed a handful of Smudge’s neck fur. The pup licked her arm.

  “Go get them back, and you two be careful,” Aila said into Dan’s chest. As she and Kelcy pulled away she pointed to Smudge and added, “I mean it.”

  Smudge nodded at them.

  Dan closed the door and reached his foot past the center console. As he jammed the shifter into reverse he forced a smile, and nodded at Aila. He noticed blood from the wound on her arm had soaked through the bandage and a small trail ran down her arm again.

  Aila trotted down the driveway as the SUV started to roll backwards. She almost told Dan not to go but she paused, and then said, “All of the emergency numbers are just ringing, and when they do pick up I’m put on hold right away. I don’t know how long it’ll be until they can respond.”

  “Don’t worry,” Dan said as the van pulled away, “We’ll all be home soon.” He hid the gun from her so she wouldn’t see his shaking hands.

  Smudge leaned forward and ripped down the little tree air freshener so she could nod her thanks to the two coyotes watching from the front porch. Keep them safe, she said.

  Dan cranked the steering wheel to back the SUV into the street. He put it in drive, stepped on the gas, and the SUV’s tires squealed as it straightened out and roared off to the south.

  Chapter 77

  Doug limped to the back of the van and threw open the door. He reached in, pulled out the end of a leash and Ben came tumbling out onto the ground. His hands were tied behind his back and Doug yanked on the leash again to pull him to
his knees.

  Doug jammed his boot into Ben’s shoulder, slamming him hard against the back bumper. He wrapped the leash around the trailer hitch and tied several tight knots before slapping Ben hard across the face and hobbling back to the kennels.

  “Stop it,” Mimi said calmly, “You’ll never get anything from me if you hurt him.”

  “Oooo, bloody really?” Doug said, mocking her accent, “We’ll let’s just see about that, shall we?” He bowed with a flourish as he picked up an empty five gallon pail. “Please excuse me for a moment, my good lady,” he said sarcastically, “I’d like to present my darling fucking wife to both of you.” He limped into one of the side kennels.

  Spot crawled up next to Ben and started to work on the knot. Ben flinched at first, surprised to see his dog alive, and then he leaned against Spot and gave the sooty fur of his head a kiss.

  “Good boy,” he whispered into Spot’s ear as his tears mixed with the ashes. Ben tried to keep an eye on the side kennel doorway but Spot’s split paws drew his attention away. He gaped as his dog’s pad-fingers worked on the leash, deftly untying the first knot. Spot shot him a quick look and Ben smiled at him. Spot reached up with one of his split paws and grabbed Ben’s chin, and turned his face back to watching the side kennel. Spot could hear the awful noises that Ben and Mimi couldn’t, and he worked faster on the knots.

  Doug walked backwards out of the side kennel dragging Jerry by the chain around her neck.

  Spot grabbed Ben and moved him so he was in front of the trailer hitch, and crawled back under the van and continued to work on the knots from behind him.

  As Doug moved Jerry into the light Ben almost screamed.

  Jerry shuffled on bloated legs that were round stumps with no discernable knees or ankles. Her feet were red knobs. Her arms reminded Ben of lobster claws without the pincers. There were an odd number of bent black fingers on each hand. The tips of each finger looked to have been chewed on. Her head was a lump that was not very well centered on her distorted shoulders. Jerry’s face was far off to the side and her head was made up of a series of overlapping lumps. Her eyes and nose were almost indistinguishable from the other folds and discolorations on her face. There was no chin, and her mouth had become a large oval muscle that never fully closed. A ring of jagged gray teeth were evenly spread around its perimeter. When she bit it was more of a contraction that forced the teeth to all crash together. Her round mouth dripped a trail of blood-tinged slime that swung around her like a necklace.