George Knows

by Mindy Mymudes

  I smellfeel the magic prickle my whiskers. Even an ancient witch with tons of experience like Auntie can make mistakes. From her appearance, she really doesn’t have a clue. Auntie Heather’s eyes widen and she smiles. Roque trots to her and climbs up to her shoulder. It’s really a nifty trick. Wish I could do it, but bassets are built for better things. Not for climbing our Peeps. Still, it’s a nifty trick.

  Roque sniffs the book and sneezes. I don’t know if he tastes anything unless he washes it first. He chitters at Auntie Heather. She opens the book to the Hodag page and puts it in front of me. Well, finally. She must be tired. She took a long time to figure what I want. Is that why she hasn’t fed me anything yet?

  She brushes hair out of eyes that have big swollen bags under them. If they were droopier they’d look quite wonderful. “George, concentrate now. Keep your mind on the subject, which is the Hodag and this book. Can you do that?” She’s cranky as a snapping turtle. Why blame me? There wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t have to rely on the stupid books.

  I shake myself and nose the page. The magic is very prickly and I pull my nose up. It’s like I am dragging my paws on the carpet and getting stung by spark flies. They like coming out when the heat is on during the win…

  “George! Concentrate. You sense something and I am too tired to keep up with your thoughts,” Auntie Heather growls. Yeesh. Wow, she’s good. It’s no fair. She can growl and get into my mind. I’m not allowed to growl and I can’t get into her mind.

  Not that I’d want to.

  I concentrate on surrounding my nose in white light. A simple spell to protect my nose by using the energy that is stabbing my nose to turn it inside out. I hope I can still smelltaste through it. I can if I am going through pricker bushes, but this is magic, who knows?

  My nose is glowing white as I touch the page. It’s thicker than the rest, magic holding other pages together like there’s honey sticking them together. I drool at the thought.

  A wet blob hits the page and the magic smellfeels hotshinymusky. The pages flap apart like Herb the crow coming in for a landing and settling his feathers. Kind of black like him, too. Hah, proof my basset drool is magical.

  I didn’t know that was going to happen. It did, though. I put my nose between the pages and draw it back. It smelltastes like The Horrible Hodag. Auntie Heather lifts an eyebrow.

  With a hint of chocolate frosting.

  Hmmm. The frosting isn’t on the pages. I look up to see Karly unwrapping a cupcake. That isn’t fair. “Aroo!” I yell at her to share.

  Karly dips down and hands me a liver brownie. She almost hits heads with Auntie Heather who is bent picking up the book. I sit back and enjoy my brownie. Roque chatters and uses his fingers to point to his mouth. Karly tosses him a piece of tuna fudge.

  “That isn’t very smart, Karly. Now George is going to want a piece of the tuna fudge and Roque will want the brownie.” Roque points to his mouth and I sit up and drool. “I told you,” she says, sighing.

  “It’s Sunday, isn’t it? You won’t be able to stay tonight. Go on home and have dinner. If you get a chance see what else you can find on our Hodag. I’ll see what I can find on these pages George found and tell you tomorrow, all right?”

  Karly groans. “That’s totally unfair. We’ve worked so hard to find clues and now I have to go home?”

  I am waiting for my Girlpup to stomp her foot, like The Creep does. She’s crabby. Silly Girlpup, if we eat something we’ll all feel better.

  I nudge her and roll over, playing dead. My tummy is gurgling, starving.

  Food.

  Now.

  Or at least a bowl of liver brownies. That would be very good. I drool again. Snacks are good. They just aren’t enough. “Gurgle.” I look at Karly with big eyes.

  “Do you pro…mise,” Karly stretches the word out as long as a dachshund, “to wait until tomorrow before you do anything?” Karly needs to learn trust skills. Auntie Heather can’t do anything without me. Roque is good, but he’s no basset hound.

  “It’s going to take a while to figure out what these pages George found mean. Besides, Roque and I need you, the more energy we raise, the stronger we are. Magic is usually a team sport. Haven’t I taught you that?”

  Karly nods.

  Auntie Heather rummages around a cabinet and pulls out a bag of Snickerdoodles. I can smelltaste them. Sweetsugarygoodness. She gives the bag to Karly. Why doesn’t she give me a bag? I am starving to death here.

  “There’s enough to share with everyone.” Auntie Heather gives me a long look. She better mean me too. “Including George and your brother. No snitching any until you have your dinners. Now go on home before your mother gets mad at me for taking up so much of your time. She’s barely seen you the last few days. Hopefully the Snickerdoodles will keep me in her good graces.”

  “No problem. What time will I see you in the morning?” Karly looks in the bag and licks her lips. Peeps do that when something smells nummy. Dogs do that when we want to calm someone down, but we also use it when something smelltastes nummy. She didn’t know they were Snickerdoodles. Peeps have no senses.

  “I’ll call you. Depending on what we need to do, I’ll either need to pick you up, or you can ride your bike here. Do you want a ride home?”

  Karly shakes her head.

  That means no.

  “Well go on before your mother shoots me.”

  Karly snaps her leash on me and we amble home. With a few pee-mail stops on the way.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Where’s Joey? He said he was going to try to find you and your aunt this morning,” Packmom calls out the second we get in the door. That’s so wrong. Where is my supper dish is the real question. The Creep can get his own food.

  My Girlpup unsnaps her leash. I run over to my corner, tail thumping a tune of impatience against the floor as I sit and wait. Look, I’ve waited long enough. Feed me. I pant. It’s been a hard day. I’ve worked like a dog.

  Heh.

  Karly’s face is scrunched up in confusion. Not the first time today, poor Girlpup. “He wasn’t with us. He isn’t supposed to butt, um, bother us when Auntie Heather and I practice my magic. He gets bored and drives us nu…um, he doesn’t like it.”

  Good catch Girlpup, from the look on Packmom’s face. Now, let’s see. Where is my supper bowl hiding? “Rooooo.” I wish I could say food or treats, but basset mouths are made for better things.

  Like eating.

  My tummy grumbles and growls. Nothing says hungry like a tummy alarm.

  Packmom looks at me like she’s never seen a basset before and her hands are clenched white-tight.

  “Karly, I need to call Heather. Now.” She glances at me. “Feed George before he eats the table.”

  Hey. I don’t eat furniture.

  Well, as a puppy when my big teeth were coming in, but not since then.

  I am not a beaver. They’re big fat things with slaphappy tails. Their only goal is to dam up the creek that goes into the big river in the park. My goal is to scare them off. They don’t have any respect for my authority. Roque’s pulled apart their den a few times. They don’t belong on our water. Auntie Heather says they have as much right as we do. We don’t try to make lakes. They can go back to Beaverland.

  I hear the wonderful taptaptapping of kibble falling into my supper dish and then the dull thuds as it fills. The smelltaste of chickensaltflourgarlicchicken fills my mouth and nose. A strand of my magical drool puddles on the floor. The floor doesn’t peel away to show any secrets. It does melt some of a dry, muddy pawprint. Wonder when I left that. It’s mine—I don’t smelltaste anyone else here. Hmmm. My Pack is slacking off on cleaning our den. I spread my drool around with my paw and the puddle turns brown. Basset drool is multipurpose.

  Karly plunks my bowl in front of me. No candles or flowers. Sheesh, do they think I am uncivilized? I dive into my bowl, the smelltastefeel passing through my mouth and nose as I crunch my way through my meal. I grunt a lit
tle at the joy of filling my tummy.

  My nose hits the bottom of my supper dish.

  Hey.

  I look around. Where’s the rest? Where’s my supper? I still smelltaste the goodness, but there must be more. Maybe under the bowl?

  I kick the plastic dish into the wall. It bounces off with a loud clack. I sniff the floor where the bowl was. There isn’t anything there. I walk over to the bowl. There are other scratches on the wall. They look like the one I just made. Wonder where they came from? I wrinkle my eyebrows and sniff my bowl one more time.

  Nothing.

  Sigh.

  “George, what did you do? Oh ick. You didn’t have to paint the floor with your muddy paws. Mom, I can’t find any towels.”

  Packmom is on the phone. She glares at Karly. “It’s right in front of your nose, exactly where they’ve been since you’ve were born.” She turns her attention back to Auntie Heather’s voice. I can hear everything with my superbasset ears. It can be a distraction—fortunately it comes with an off switch. If I am busy, I don’t need anyone calling my name and distracting me. Unless they have food.

  “How long has he been gone, Doreen?”

  Packmom looks at the collar on her wrist. “He left after his snack, about ten this morning. Where do you think he went?”

  “There was a big gathering at the park today to demonstrate against the development. He may have gone there. Still, he should be back by now. Call Brian and the police. Why don’t I grab Karly and George? With his nose, he should be able to find Joey and there’ll be one less thing for you to think about.”

  Packmom eyes are round and she’s very white. Her breathing is fast and she smellfeels franticadrenalinesweat. She’s very upset that The Creep is missing. I guess I have to find him. I stretch and pull Karly’s leash off the door. No use having two lost Pups tonight.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I hate cars. My nose and mouth burn from the chemicals. It makes my mouth taste like I licked a hot road. At least Karly isn’t dragging me. I settle in the back seat, wishing the window was open so I can stick my head out.

  “Too dangerous. You could easily get something in your eyes. We’ll be there in a minute.”

  Minutes, like sand in an hourglass, take forever. Or something like that. What’s an hourglass? I shake my head free of the alien thought. Hmmm. Auntie Heather is in my mind again. I sigh.

  “So what are we going to do? If Joey is in the fog we’ll never find him,” Karly sounds tired. It’s been a long day. Did she eat yet? Not good for young witches to forget to eat.

  Food is power.

  Auntie Heather taps her fingers on the wheel while we are stopped. Why do we stop in the road sometimes and not other times? “No one can find the fog spot except other witches, and I’ve called out Belinda and Tamara. Belinda promises not to share anything. If she does I’ll seal her mouth shut.” The car moves again.

  Karly giggles. Auntie Heather gives her a quick glance and Karly swallows. The chain between us is linked and I feel she is still laughing. I wonder if Auntie Heather can seal a mouth shut. Sure would be handy for some dogs that are always barking at me when we pass their houses.

  Now it’s my turn as Auntie Heather turns her head and looks at me. I wrinkle my face. I wonder if Roque knows how to block her out. Wish I knew how to ask him.

  “So what are we going to do?” My Girlpup asks again. Auntie Heather doesn’t seem very focused.

  “First we’re going to search the woods, just in case Joey got lost or hurt. If we can’t find him, we’ll have to try to break the fog spell and hope the Hodag doesn’t have him.”

  Would that really be bad?

  “George!” Auntie Heather growls.

  Sheesh.

  Aren’t dogs allowed to think without getting scolded?

  I hate to argue with Auntie Heather, but how do we break the fogcloud spell? If we do find it, what then? Did she find a Horrible Hodag trapping spell in the pages I found?

  Karly is bouncing on her seat. She should’ve gone potty before we left. I shake my head at the foolishness of young pups.

  “Settle down. We’ll find your brother.” Auntie Heather should find a place for Karly to do her business first.

  My Girlpup puts her hand on the back of the seat, turns, and shows me angry eyes. “George! I don’t need to potty. Geez.”

  I realize that the leash link is still connected. Now I get that she’s bouncing because she’s worrying about The Creep.

  “His name is Joey. What if he’s hurt, or dying, or…” Karly’s voice squeaks and trails off. How embarrassing. She is really worrying about her brother, our Packmate. Well, yeah, I worry too. He’s Pack and it’s my job to protect him. I am a big enough dog to admit I am wrong.

  I slide to the floor and put my nose through the crack between the front seats. I nuzzle Karly’s arm and lick her skin. It’s GirlpupPeepsaltysoap. She skritches my ears and puts her face against mine. Now I smelltaste painsaltwater. I lick away tears and peer into her eyes, letting her see through mine. She’s a brave Girlpup who can learn and do what we need to do. I cover my thoughts so she doesn’t catch the ‘whatever it is we need to do.’ I hope Auntie Heather has something figured out.

  We’re at the park and Auntie Heather pulls into a spot near the woods. There’s a car with flashing lights already there and lots of Peeps. How’d they beat us here?

  Karly and Auntie Heather get out of the car and Karly opens my door. I bolt through the opening to escape the fast-rolling crate. Hate it, unless I can hang my head outside the window. My Girlpup grabs her leash, snags me by my collar and snaps the lead on. We don’t need her to get lost. She’ll be safe with me.

  I don’t smelltaste any other dogs. Hmmm. No birds or animals other than Peeps, either. It’s dark and the woods go on forever. There should be something there. I inhale with an open mouth. Where’s The Horrible Hodag’s trail? I don’t smelltaste gassulfurdrysnakecatstink. That isn’t good. Is he in the fogcloud?

  They should’ve brought in more sniffer dogs, even if they are inferior to me. Maybe there are more smelltastes deeper in the woods and more noses make light work. Peeps are useless when it comes to common senses. Well, then it’s up to me to find The Creep. I can do it.

  I sigh, spin three times for the magic protection spell, and melt into a down next to Karly. The Badge Dude is talking to Packmom, Packdad, and Auntie Heather. Hmmm. Interesting. He’s talking to Packmom and Packdad, but looking at Auntie Heather like she’s the most interesting thing here. Auntie Heather’s looking back at him and she smellfeels of warmcinnamonbutteroranges. He smellfeels of cinnamonapplejuice. It’s so sweet I look around to see if there’s any food around.

  Nope.

  It’s spring. They just like each other. Peeps don’t do the normal thing in spring and check each other’s ears and butts to see what the other smelltastesfeels are.

  In my experience, they’ll dance around each other like bees around flowers— getting close, moving away, and close again until they figure it out. Peeps have very poor communication skills.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Weldeen, we have people checking out the neighborhood for Joey. They’re looking for an eight-year-old boy with a shiny, silver colored bike helmet, an orange Harley-Davidson T-shirt, and riding a black bike, right? Anything else that can help us find him?”

  Packmom shakes her head as tears roll down her cheeks. If she were lower I’d groom her face clean.

  “No, I told you everything. He left at ten this morning and told me he was going to find out what Heather and Karly were doing today in the park. Karly came home without him and there hasn’t been any sign of him since this morning.” Packmom’s voice is weak and wavery.

  She needs to trust me.

  I won’t let her down.

  “Anything you can think of Mr. Weldeen?”

  “I left for work before Joey and Karly were up this morning. I don’t even know what he was wearing.” Packdad’s hands are at his sides and clenched so t
ight that if his nails were long they’d puncture his skin.

  “I don’t want to worry you any more than necessary, but have you noticed anything odd lately? Someone that you may have thought was following you or your family? Anything unusual at all?”

  Packmom’s eyes are blinking fast and a waterfall of tears spills from her eyes. I smelltaste bitingbitteracid fear from her. From Auntie Heather and Karly, too.

  This. Is. Not. Good. There is a Horrible Hodag out there that leaves bones for me to find. I hope Auntie Heather really found a way to make the fogcloud go away. Did she have enough time? Without my nose, mouth, and whiskers I am as useless as a Peep. That’s pretty useless. Even with my magic, I need all my senses.

  Why would The Horrible Hodag steal The Creep? Karly glares at me. Er, Joey. We’ve trounced around the woods forever and it didn’t bother us. Except for when I stuck my nose into it. It must’ve recognized my great power as a protector.

  Unless…were other Peeps taken by it? Maybe all the animals and birds? Will I need to fight The Horrible Hodag? My sleek perfection is designed for finding prey, not bringing it down. I am a cuddler—not a killer. If I have to, I can kill evil squirrels or stupid plant-eating rabbits. Not sure about monsters with sharp, pokey quills.

  This needs magic. The kind that witches and familiars work together. If the witches stored their memories in their brains instead of rotting books, we’d know what to do now. Familiars support Peeps’ spells ’cause familiars can’t speak the words right. The Earthmom is all about balance and so is magic.

  We balance our witches. Otherwise nothing would get done.

  Like now.

  Peeps don’t use that thing in their heads. We have the common senses; they have the words. Even Auntie Heather, as old as she is, still needs more common sense. That’s not something that’s easily taught no matter if a witch has a lot of familiars during her long life. I sigh thinking about how much a witch has to learn.

  Auntie Heather nudges my paw with her toe. “If you’re done feeding your ego, we need to go find Joey.”