“Who is he?” Fisho asked, “Is this trouble?”
“His cousin is the Zulu king. The king owns the whole of these KwaZulu-Natal lands,” Ayo said.
“So what is his cousin doing here?” Fisho said nervously.
“Theo runs this game reserve, and the king’s police forces,” Ayo said, “He’s a messiah for anti-poaching. His boys are legendary and they don’t chux’d you, or even clamp the ma wenges on your wrists, they just peg you without pause and leave you for the animals. I’d be a hero if I could put a bullet in him.” Ayo clicked off the safety of his rifle.
“What are you doing?” Fisho said, “That’s got to be five hundred meters, and there’s four armed men down there, with big dogs.”
Fisho had been watching the huge police dogs carefully. He realized they weren’t just roaming randomly. They had started to circle outward in deliberate rings, and stayed almost perfectly spaced apart. They stopped every few minutes to bark at each other. He’d never seen dogs act like this, even the tough guard dogs at the copper mines.
“Relax, Dada,” Ayo said. He made a gunshot sound and mimed the rifle kicking back against his shoulder, “Just wishful thinking.” He turned to Fulfort and said, “Finish that up boy, we’re heading over that hill.”
Ayo returned to his rifle. After a few minutes of watching the rangers he said, “It looks like Uncle Theo has a new pair of big boerboels. I doubt their flat noses can scent us way up here, especially as we crossed the river, but let’s not find out…I really don’t fucking like dogs.”
Fisho agreed and helped his son to quickly scrape away the last bits of sinew and fat from the silky spotted leopard hide. The young man rolled up the fur and tied it with string as Fisho and Ayo took a last look down into the valley.
The boerboels were standing at the edge of the river, staring up at their position.
As the men crouched and wound their way through the rear of the thorny thicket they heard a gunshot.
Ayo shoved Fulfort and his father forward through the brush and said, “Go on, it’s just Theo pegging the rhino.”
The poachers had removed the horn while the animal was still alive. There was almost another fight between them as Fisho and Fulfort pushed to put the rhino down first but Ayo wouldn’t risk it, saying another gunshot would help the park’s anti-poaching rangers to triangulate on them. After seeing the very serious looking Theo and his unnerving dogs Fisho thought maybe the crazy poacher wasn’t so crazy.
Chapter 39
Resting her forehead on the cool passenger window, Kelcy stared into the dark woods as Lindsay drove.
The trees flashed by and the truck thumped quietly over the potholes left by the snow plows. They rode without speaking, with Lindsay’s country station crooning lowly in the background.
Kelcy saw a flash of brown and gray deep in the woods. The flash appeared again and she saw it was a beautiful young coyote. It was a girl, and she was gliding between the trees. She danced through the thick brush, running with her tail high and her ears alert, flying over the fallen trees and drifts of snow. The coyote bound out of the woods and ran along with them on the side of the road. The little wild dog looked up at Kelcy, and then changed course and darted under the wheels of the pickup.
Kelcy flinched hard enough for Lindsay to give her a concerned look. She reached out and squeezed the teen’s hand as she pulled her little pickup into the Walker farm driveway.
“Aren’t you a dear,” Mimi said as she held open the kitchen door, “I would have come to fetch her.” As Kelcy and Lindsay walked in she immediately caught the look on her granddaughter’s face. She held off asking what had happened. Whatever it was upsetting the girl would wait until an emergency application of a hug had been applied.
Kelcy buried her face in Mimi’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around her.
“It’s never a bother, Jean,” Lindsay said, “Sorry we ran a little late. We had a tough one at the clinic. A little coyote hit by a car over on Morgan. The poor thing didn’t make it.”
Mimi held her granddaughter and nodded.
Kelcy mumbled quietly into Mimi’s shoulder, “It was Piff. Where are Ben and the pups?”
Mimi hugged her tighter. “My wee girl, I’m so sorry,” she said, “Your brother and Spot are at the house.”
Smudge trotted into the kitchen. She had been in the back bedroom and could tell something was not right as soon as Kelcy had stepped into the house. She’d heard it in her breathing.
She crossed the kitchen and poked Kelcy on the butt with her snout. Kelcy knelt down and pulled Smudge to her. She held her face against the black dog’s furry neck and squeezed her tightly.
Smudge put her chin on Kelcy’s shoulder and looked up at Mimi.
Lindsay watched the family for moment and then said, “I’ll grab your backpack, one sec.”
As Lindsay went back out into the driveway Mimi said, “It’ll be alright, Kels. I’m sure you did what you could.”
Smudge started to sign but stopped when Lindsay came back into the house empty handed and said, “Your bag’s not there, dear.”
Kelcy nodded as she stood up. She had forgotten her backpack behind the reception desk. With homework to do and a test tomorrow she told them she was going to need it. Lindsay offered to run over to the clinic but Mimi said she’d done enough, and she would drive her.
“No,” Kelcy said, “Both of you stay. Have a cuppa. I forgot it, I’ll run over and get it. The drive will do me good anyway. Really.”
“Take my truck,” Lindsay said as she handed over her keys, “It’s already warm.”
Mimi thought about protesting. Technically Kelcy shouldn’t be driving by herself yet, let alone someone else’s vehicle but the clinic was less than a mile down the quiet road and Mimi suspected her granddaughter had something else in mind.
“Don’t forget to call that collie’s family,” Kelcy said, “and you okay if Smudge comes with me?”
Lindsay nodded and smiled down at the wagging dog. “I’ve had worse in that front seat,” she said. She took her phone out of her coat pocket and held it in her mouth as she slipped her coat off.
“You sure that’s alright?” Mimi asked Lindsay, “I don’t mind nipping her over.”
Lindsay nodded again and mumbled unintelligibly around her phone while she shooed the teen out the door and hung up her coat. She sat down at the kitchen table and checked the time on her phone, and noticed she’d missed a call. In all the commotion at the clinic she hadn’t felt it vibrate.
“So, tell me what happened,” Mimi said as she filled the kettle at the sink. Through the kitchen window she watched Smudge and Kelcy walk through the falling snow and jump into the little pickup truck.
As soon as Kelcy hit the truck’s lights and started to roll down the dark driveway she handed her phone to Smudge. The dog tapped the display and while the phone rang she held it up so they both could see the screen.
Spot’s black face and brown eyes appeared a few seconds later.
“Hey Spotty boy,” Kelcy said, “Get Ben, okay?”
Half of the screen went dark and the background jumped around for a moment. They could hear Spot’s nails clicking on the hardwood stairs and his breathing in the speakerphone.
A few seconds later Spot and Ben showed on the screen with Ben’s headboard and bedroom window behind them.
“Thanks boy,” Ben said, “Hey sis, what’s up? I can barely see you guys, where are you?”
“Listen Ben,” Kelcy said as she fumbled around and found the dome light, “There’s been an accident. Piff was hit by a car crossing Morgan.”
“Oh no,” Ben said, looking at Spot and then back to the phone, “Is she alright?”
Kelcy shook her head.
As a fat tear rolled down her cheek said, “She’s gone.”
“No,” Ben said as he put an arm around Spot.
“I’m sorry,” Kelcy said, “I’m so sorry. We tried to save her but she had…it was just too late.”<
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Spot signed something but Kelcy had been watching the road. She said, “What was that? I didn’t catch that boy.”
Ben said, “He said we’re really sorry you had to deal with that, sis. Must have been tough.”
“It was horrible,” Kelcy said, “That poor sweet little face.”
A fresh batch of tears ran down her cheeks.
Ben said, “Where is she now?”
“She’s still at the clinic,” Kelcy said, “I’m actually heading back there now. I forgot my backpack.”
As she held the phone Smudge watched Kelcy wipe away the tears from her wet face.
The sobbing teen reminded Smudge of Glasgow, the gray wolf mother who had lost her entire family on that horrible day in the north woods. As she listened to Kelcy’s breathing and watched the corners of her mouth quiver she wondered if the signs of heartbreak were universal.
Spot signed something and the two dogs launched into a fast conversation.
Kelcy kept an eye on the road while also trying to watch Smudge and Spot. She had trouble following the pup’s rapid signing but she caught the last part of it as she pulled off the road and into the clinic’s parking lot.
“No, I’m sorry guys,” Kelcy said, “I can’t just walk in there and take her.” She stopped the pickup and as she got out said, “But you guys can say goodbye to her, C’mon Smudge.”
She waved Lindsay’s keys over a raised pad on the door frame and the glass front doors slid apart. They crossed the dark lobby, walked down the exam room hallway and entered the large white treatment room as the sets of automatic frosted glass doors slid apart and closed again behind them.
Kelcy didn’t see Marty and assumed he was in his office.
She walked to the closest surgical unit. The plastic curtain still surrounded most of it but she could see the end of the table and Piff’s muzzle. There were a few big drops of blood near her nose, and more were on the floor in front of her.
Kelcy stopped Smudge and knelt down next to her. She turned her phone around so they could see Spot and Ben.
She said, “I’m sorry guys, but she hasn’t been cleaned up and this is going to be hard to look at. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
Spot signed, and Kelcy nodded.
“Okay,” she said as she stood up and turned, holding out her phone.
Ben and Spot watched as Smudge put her front paws up on the table and touched the girl coyote’s little nose. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against Piff’s.
Another round of tears rolled down Kelcy’s face. She had never seen her sensitive dog look so sad. Smudge’s ears were flat and her tail hung limp. Kelcy patted her, and ran her hand over Piff’s soft ear. After a long moment Smudge hopped back down.
She looked up at the phone and signed, This is our fault. Brother, we did this to her. It’s just like the wolves. It’s just like Max, and Lissa, and it’s just like E’sra.
No, Spot signed, It’s worse than all of them. We did this to the coyotes all by ourselves.
The hackles on Smudge’s neck shot straight up and she spun to face the back of the clinic. She looked up at Kelcy and raised her paw, pointing towards the surgical ward at the back of the large treatment room.
“It’s okay girl, it’s just Marty,” she said.
Before Smudge could sign that it wasn’t just one person Kelcy stepped into the open corridor as Marty walked out from behind the rear ward’s curtain.
“Hey there, Kels,” he said, walking towards her, “You forget something?”
“Yeah, my backpack,” she said, “Gotta test tomorrow. Stupid.”
“I think we can give you a pass on being stupid,” Marty said, “It was a tough afternoon. Who’s this?”
“Oh, that’s Smudge,” Kelcy said, “Sorry, probably should have left her in the truck.”
“Not a worry,” Marty said, “Just keep her away from that coyote, they can carry some nasty stuff you don’t want her to pick up.”
“Okay,” Kelcy said, “You’re right, duh. I guess it was a tough afternoon. We’re heading out now.”
Smudge leaned to the side, looking past Marty as she let out a low growl.
Marty looked down at the dog and his best southern charmer smile spread across his face. “It’s alright girl, you’re probably getting a whiff of my research partner’s bargain cologne,” he said as he turned and spoke loudly towards the back of the large room, “Hey Johann, wave hello to my brightest vet tech.”
The curtain surrounding the back ward moved aside and a dark man with a bushy gray beard and round glasses smiled, and waved. He pushed his glasses back up onto his nose with the palm of his hand.
In Marty’s office Harley and Katia stood in front of the large monitor with their arms folded, watching the doctor and the Hogan girl on the security camera feed.
Tian and the cousins were behind them, clustered around the large conference table. They were finishing connecting the tranq guns and grenade launchers to the little assault rifles. Jixi loaded hers and tested her thumb activated microphone as Mu touched his headset and gave her a nod.
The lethal group of cousins joined Harley and Katia at the monitor and watched Johann waving at the girl.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Katia said as she turned around, “You three, outside and around the front, Harley and Tian, on me. Looks like we’ve just been handed a pretty little gift.”
Back in the treatment room Kelcy waved goodbye to the doctors as the doors to the exam room hallway closed between them.
She looked down at her phone as Smudge trotted along by her side and said, “I’ll call you guys back when we get to Meem’s, love you.” She disconnected the video chat.
The lobby glass doors slid apart and closed behind them as Kelcy walked behind the reception desk and bent to reach into a cubby.
She straightened, slung her heavy backpack over her shoulder with a groan and said, “Alright girl, let’s go ho—”
Kelcy froze. She looked back at the sliding doors and Smudge saw something terrible wash over her face. At that moment Smudge heard faint voices coming from the back of the clinic. It was a woman’s voice, and Smudge could make out multiple pairs of running feet.
“Slight change of plans, docs,” Katia said as she, Tian, and Harley jogged past the treatment curtain where Marty and Johann were standing, “We’re gonna grab the girl. You two finish packing up, grab the samples and don’t forget the data cores. We’re on channel seven.”
Into her mic Katia said, “Remember, we take her fast and alive. Tranqs only, no fuck ups. Someone shoot the dog.”
Kelcy didn’t have time to tell Smudge she recognized Johann from the DARPA videos, and Smudge didn’t have time to tell Kelcy about the three pairs of feet running towards the lobby.
Smudge leapt into the shadows on the far side of the doorway just before the frosted glass doors slid open. She cocked her head and shoulders, and her neck muscles rippled out. She was fully Cu Sith as three tactically outfitted and heavily armed attackers charged through the doorway.
Smudge pushed off hard, reaching wide with her open paws and hind legs in an effort to catch all three of them.
Katia saw Kelcy Hogan behind the reception desk. She picked a target with her tranq gun but as she pulled the trigger Harley was knocked into her and they tumbled to the floor with something heavy and furry on top of them.
Tian had seen the black flash out of the corner of his eye and instinctively rolled away as the dog’s hind legs brushed his shoulder. He sprung to a knee and raised his rifle as he came up next to the desk.
Smudge was trying to figure out how she’d completely missed one of them. When she leapt she had planned to shove the bigger man hard with her hind paws and knock the other two through the glass doors, but when she uncoiled she pushed on nothing but air. He had been there one moment, and several feet away the next.
Tian sent two darts towards the young woman but she’d raised her backpack after Katia’s darts whizzed past
and his darts sunk harmlessly into the bag with two quiet snaps. The young woman immediately spun in a tight, fast circle and let the heavy backpack fly at him over the countertop. It happened fast, and Tian was impressed. Katia had said these were soft targets but now he wasn’t so sure.
Harley kicked wildly below the dog. He tried to bring his gun up under the oddly muscular animal as Katia screamed for him to get the fuck off of her.
Smudge leapt away from the two assassins and charged low towards the kneeling shooter as she watched Kelcy’s bag coming fast.
Tian ducked below the counter to let the speeding backpack sail over his head just as Harley sat up. The bag caught him full in the face and he landed back on top of the still-shouting Katia.
Tian popped back up from behind the reception desk with his gun raised but the young woman was gone.
After letting her backpack fly Kelcy dove over the reception desk, landing between the end of the desk and the floor-to-ceiling windows that curved along the entire front of the lobby.
Tian again saw the black flash coming low and fast towards him. He twisted and managed to avoid most of the impact but was still smashed hard into the desk.
Smudge had dropped her powerful shoulders as she rammed forward but the man slipped out of the way at the last instant. Most of the force was absorbed by the end of the desk and he was just tossed aside. Wood splintered, and the entire curved desk tore from the floor and moved a foot with a loud crunch.
The man hit the back wall of the reception area and sprang to his feet with his weapon raised just as Smudge spun upright. She’d never seen a human recover his balance so quickly. The muscular young man moved like a panther.
Tian had the strange black dog in his sights. He moved his hand quickly up from the tranq dart grip to the assault rifle grip. He didn’t want to kill the animal, but he had seen the FBI agent continue to move after having been hit by multiple darts and something about this muscular dog suggested his darts would only anger it.
Just before he pulled the trigger the animal locked eyes with him. It then changed from black to white. Even in the dark lobby the white had clearly rippled over the dog’s body, starting on its snout. It rolled over its massive neck and shoulder muscles until it flowed around its sides and off its tail. The dog’s nose turned black again, and in an instant the black flowed down over its short fur again.
Let Slip the Pups of War: Spot and Smudge - Book Three Page 17