by Robin Roseau
"Please shift now, little fox."
I used my napkin to dry my tears and clean up a little, then stepped out of my sandals and loosened all my clothing. I can shift right out of my clothing, and I didn't feel like getting naked in front of anyone. I looked at Elisabeth. "Please bring my clothes." She nodded.
I stepped away from the table, bent down, and then shifted. I got tangled in the clothes, but I wriggled out of them.
"Shit, she shifts fast," Eric said. I walked over to him and butted my head against his thigh.
"Come here, little fox," Lara ordered.
Slowly, reluctantly, I walked to her. She bent down on the floor and wrapped the tracking collar around my chest, behind my front legs, adjusted it, and did the closure. She checked it, wasn't satisfied, and adjusted it tighter. "I don't think you can wriggle out of that."
"Better be sure," David said. I was going to enjoy taking him down.
Lara tightened the collar a little more. Then she scratched the back of my neck for me, pulling me into her arms. I clung to her when she stood up, holding me. It was better than being held by the scruff. She walked out the front door, Elisabeth stepping in front to hold the door for us. Elisabeth's SUV was waiting for us. I expected Lara to slip me into the back seat, but she walked to the back of the SUV. Elisabeth opened the back door, and I got the look of a fox-sized metal cage.
I immediately began struggling and growling. I didn't bite Lara, but I put up a huge struggle. Elisabeth opened the cage, and Lara started stuffing me into it. I scrambled to get out, and Elisabeth helped her shove me in. I bit both of them as hard as I could, but they shoved me into the cage and locked it.
I slammed myself against the cage. I'd never been in a cage before, and I was on the edge of a full panic. I was no longer acting. Lara put her fingers on the cage, and I immediately tried to bit her viciously.
"I am sorry, little fox. I must keep you safe." She pulled a cloth over the cage, obscuring it from view and preventing me from looking out. Then she stepped away and slammed the back doors of the SUV.
I went insane. I immediately began yipping and crying while slamming myself repeatedly against the walls of the cage. None of it did me any good, but that didn't stop me.
It was a while before Elisabeth climbed into the front of the SUV. I had worn myself out with my struggles, but as soon as the car door opened, I resumed all my complaints, slamming against the cage over and over.
"You're only going to hurt yourself, Michaela," she said. "This is for the best." And then she started the car, and we drove away from the farm.
I didn't stop yipping until my voice grew hoarse. I didn't stop throwing myself against the walls of the cage until I was so worn out I could only lie on the floor of the cage, panting.
I had not known such despair since I was fourteen and I had buried my family.
It was hot in the back of the SUV, and they hadn't given me any water. Soon I was panting, and it wouldn't be long before I was in distress. I lay on my side, whimpering from time to time.
Elisabeth didn't stop. She didn't give me any water. She kept me in that cage.
When we arrived in Bayfield, I recognized it. I recognized the sounds. Elisabeth drove to the marina and parked. "Michaela, I want you to think about what would happen if the humans found you. You need to be quiet. You know how bad it would go for you if you were found like this."
I whimpered.
"I am going to rent a boat and then carry you on board. Once we're on board, I'll get you some water and help you cool down. And when we're well clear of shore, I'll let you out."
I didn't understand. Why were we going on a boat? The plan had been to fake it. We would get someone to take the tracking collar around, that's it. I shouldn't have been in the cage, and we didn't need a boat of our own.
Elisabeth climbed out of the SUV and slammed the door. I heard the locks, and then I listened as she walked away.
She was gone a long time. I whimpered from time to time. I would have plotted my revenge, but I was too tired and despondent to even think about it. Finally, Elisabeth came back. She opened a side door and said, "It will only be a few more minutes. I know you must be suffering. I am so sorry."
She made several trips back and forth to the SUV before she poked her nose in again and said, "Your turn. Remember, Michaela, if we're caught with you like this, it will be very bad for you. You must be absolutely quiet. I promise this is almost over."
I was going to kill her. And Lara. And fuck David. Once they were dead, I would run. No one would ever do this to me again.
But for now, I stayed quiet. Elisabeth closed the side door and opened the back door. She took the cage out, set it on the ground, and then closed up and locked the SUV. Then she carried me and the cage down the docks and onto a boat. I could just barely see under the edge of the cloth over my cage, but not enough to really tell what was going on. It was awkward for her, but she carried me into the cabin below then pulled a portion of the cloth away from the cage.
I was lying on my side, panting, and severely overheated.
"Michaela," she said. "Can you understand me?"
I ignored her.
"Michaela, I know you hadn't planned on the cage. But we're going to collect all the data you intended to collect. It will be exactly as you agreed with the alpha. We'll pull away from shore, and then I'll let you out. You can make your plan. And we'll collect the data you intend to collect. Do you understand me?"
I lifted my head and looked at her, then lay down again, trying to cool down.
"I have a bowl of water, and I can pour more over you if you want. Will you let me give them to you? I am worried, Michaela. I can't let you out of the cage yet. Please, trust me."
I flicked an ear at her.
I listened to her fill a bowl with water from a jug.
"Listen to me, Michaela. If you attempt to escape when I open the cage, I will slam it closed, and you will wait for your water until we are two miles from shore. That will take a while. I know you're hot. Please, please, let me give you this water."
She paused for a moment, opened the door, and set the bowl inside the cage with me. I didn't move.
"Honey please drink. Please, Michaela."
I tried to get up but I was so hot and tired.
Elisabeth opened the cage wider, but blocked it with her body. Then she poured water into her hand and offered it to me. When I didn't take it, she dripped it over my muzzle, then pet her hand dry in my fur.
I whimpered a tiny bit.
"Please drink, Michaela."
She used her hands to give me more water, a little at a time wetting my muzzle. Eventually I struggled to sit up, and she reached in and helped me, then moved the water closer to me, and I drank some. She filled the bowl a little fuller, then said, "I'm going to close the cage now, but I promise, I'll let you out as soon as I can. We'll make a plan, and then you can collect all the data you want to collect. Please understand, Michaela."
I looked at her, and her eyes were so filled with concern as she crouched in front of my cage, the cage she'd helped shove me into. I didn't know what she was saying anymore, and I didn't know who I could trust. I didn't think I could trust anyone. I was sure I couldn't trust her.
But I was fox. I would bide my time. I licked her hand, feigning forgiveness.
"I'm glad you understand," she said. I didn't. But I would bide my time. I would let her believe she could trust me. But she had abused my trust for the last time.
I watched her close the cage, and I couldn't help but whimper. Then she dropped the cloth back in place and stepped out of the cabin, closing the door. About twenty minutes later, the engines of the boat started. She called to someone to cast off, and we eased out of the slip.
I drank more of the water then lay down, conserving my strength.
* * * *
From the feel of the boat, I could tell we were well away from shore. Boats like this have an auto pilot. One needs to be careful about it, be
cause it's easy to end up where you shouldn't. We slowed to a slow crawl through the water, and I could tell when we turned into the wind. Then the cabin door opened, and Elisabeth pulled the cloth from my cage. She sat down in front of it.
"Michaela, I am so very sorry."
I didn't even turn to face her.
"The cage was David's idea. He insisted. Lara couldn't say no."
I didn't care. We weren't following my plan. I didn't even know what we were doing on the boat.
"We were followed as well, all the way from Hayward. I didn't see who it was until I was loading you. That's why I took so many trips, to try to see who it was."
I turned to face her, cocking my ears.
"It was Reggie, Michaela." I lowered my head on my paws. "We had to go through with the plan. We had to look like there was no duplicity. I am so, so very sorry. I know what you must be thinking. I am so sorry."
Why hadn't she told me all this earlier. We were in the car. No one could have heard. I turned away from her. She could have saved me all this worry. I had hurt myself throwing myself against the cage. I had spent two hours sure they had both betrayed me.
"I couldn't tell you, Michaela. He may have bugged the car. I was worried he bugged the cage, but I checked it very carefully while loading you. But if it's David, he could have bugged the car. I wasn't sure. I knew you would prefer complete subterfuge."
"I am going to let you out now, and take the collar off you. I'll go back on deck while you shift. Your clothes are here, and when you are ready, you can come talk to me. I hope you will forgive me."
Then she opened the cage door and stepped away. I climbed to my feet slowly and walked out of the cage gingerly. I stood still while she removed the collar from around my body. "I'll wait on deck," she said, but I jumped ahead of her, shifting immediately, then turned around and threw myself into her arms, sobbing.
* * * *
I cried for a long time. Elisabeth used the cover from the cage to wrap around me, but otherwise she held me and let me cry, making soothing sounds and repeatedly apologizing.
"I thought-" I said between sobs.
"I know. I know."
I finally cried myself out, pulling away from Elisabeth. Elisabeth spent the next twenty minutes pampering me, giving me more water and some Ibuprofen for my pounding headache.
"Michaela, it's a glorious day. Why don't you get dressed and come out on deck? We can talk more out there."
"All right," I said.
She left me, closing the door. I found my clothes and put them on, then found the head and cleaned up. I stepped out on deck, and Elisabeth smiled weakly.
"Do we have supplies?"
She smiled. "Yes." She pointed to a cooler sitting in a corner. I crossed over to it. It was full of ice, beer, and soft drinks. I grabbed a beer for her and a soda for me.
"Am I forgiven?" she asked.
"Will I be following your orders or will you be following mine?"
"I will be following yours," she said.
"You are forgiven." We tapped cans together and drank.
"You know who it is, don't you?"
"No," I said. "But I am ninety percent sure. Do you want to know now or wait until I am positive?"
"Tell me, please."
So I did.
When I was finished, I told her, "Once we're sure, I am turning it over to you and Lara. I am not competent to plan what happens after."
She nodded. "Lara should be the one to handle it, anyway."
"So we're agreed, my job is to find proof, and hopefully find the missing pups. I tell you, and we talk about how to tell the alpha without anyone else knowing. And you'll follow my lead."
She nodded. "Exactly."
"Did you get my maps?"
"Yes. I spent a lot of money on maps. That's part of why it took so long."
"Where are my notes from the office?"
"I kept them. I thought they might be incriminating, but I didn't understand them. It's just some numbers." She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out my paper, handing it to me.
"Not just numbers, Elisabeth. Latitude and longitude."
She took the paper and looked at them. "If these are latitudes and longitudes, they are somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa."
The numbers were all a single digit and a lengthy decimal point. I smiled. "Add forty to the latitudes and eighty to the longitudes."
"These are close," Elisabeth said.
I grinned. "They're all in the upper peninsula. You know, where David's wife, Natalie is from."
"What are they?"
"The locations of her parents," I pointed at the top number. "Her brother." The second number. "And a piece of property in her maiden name." That was the third pair of numbers. "I think perhaps we should start with that one, don't you?"
She smiled. "I believe we should stop by Natalie's property and make sure no one has broken in. It's only the neighborly thing to do. Where is it?"
"Where are my maps?"
Elisabeth got up, disappeared into the cabin, and then returned with two map tubes. "Wisconsin and Michigan," she said.
"Gimme!"
She opened the Michigan tube and began pulling out maps. We spread them out, and finally I found the one we wanted. I marked the three properties, labeling them P for parents, B for brother and N for Natalie. The N was about six miles inland from the lake.
We both stared at the map. "I think perhaps, captain, that you should set a course there."
"I do believe, little fox, that you are correct."
While Elisabeth ran the boat, I dug out both tracking collars. I switched the harnesses between the two of them. When I put one back on, it would be the one from the deer, the one no one knew about.
"Michaela," Elisabeth said. "We can't get there tonight, not by boat."
"All right, Elisabeth," I said. "Let's put in here." I pointed to the map. "We don't want to be out on the open lake at night. This is a big boat, but it's just a boat."
We got everything settled, and I fetched a second beer for Elisabeth. Then I said, "I'm going to have one, too."
I slept afterwards.
* * * *
We put in to the harbor at Ontonagon. We didn't think we would be seen, but just in case, I stayed below with the curtains drawn. The theory was I would be furry, collared, and caged any time we were near shore, and I wasn't ready to go back into the cage.
We had a quiet dinner, talking about happy times. Then finally I sighed and shifted. Elisabeth put the collar on me and I climbed into the cage, grumbling. Then she called Lara. I could easily hear both sides of the conversation.
"Hello, Alpha."
"How did it go?" Lara asked her.
"She was angry. I still think the cage was going too far, and she was severely dehydrated by the time I got her on the boat and could give her some water."
"It couldn't be helped. She is too willful."
"She refused to go into her cage tonight, Alpha. I got some bites and scratches in the deal. Now she's sulking. I'm not sure she's going to ever forgive either of us."
"Did she accept the collar?"
"Yes, although she was pissy about it. Hang on, I'll take a picture with the other phone and you can see her body language. She's not happy." Then Elisabeth took a photo of me giving her my back, forwarding it to Lara's phone. "As you can see, she's all caged up and exceedingly unhappy. Can I please take her out of the cage at least?"
"Tell her I am very sorry."
"I don't think it's going to be enough, Lara. She knows I am following orders, and still she bit the crap out of me before I could shove her in. But she also knows whose orders they are. I don't think you're going to have a girlfriend when this is over."
"At least she'll be safe," said Lara. "That's all that matters now."
"Yes, she'll be safe, but I wonder about her mental condition. I am doing this, but it is under protest."
"Noted. Stick to the plan, Elisabeth
."
"Yes, Alpha."
They talked for a while longer.
"Tell her I love her," Lara said as they wound down.
"Hang on, I'll put you on speaker. You can tell her yourself. Okay, go ahead, Lara."
"Michaela, I know you're not happy about the cage, but I hope you understand it's for your own good. I'm sure we can work through this. I love you."
I growled at the phone.
"I'm sorry, Lara. She's not happy."
"She's safe." And then they said their goodbyes. As soon as Elisabeth hung up, she let me out of the cage and took the tracking collar off me. I shifted human, put on pajamas, and sulked for a while. Elisabeth felt miserable, so eventually I pulled myself out of it and told her it was all going to be all right.
* * * *
I slept fitfully, full of bad dreams, dreams in which Elisabeth didn't let me out of the cage. In the morning, I was crabby and took it out on Elisabeth. She put up with my moods, undocking us and setting us back out on the lake. Once we were well clear of the harbor, I came out on deck and apologized for being a bitch.
"Sleep badly?"
"Nightmares. That you didn't let me out."
"Oh Michaela, I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Does the pack have a good therapist? I'm going to need one."
She laughed, but I had been serious. I didn't push it. I went below and made us breakfast.
The swells were heavy today, and it wasn't a comfortable ride, but it sure felt a lot better when we turned around the point and dipped into the calm leeward water. We traveled another half hour, cruising along until we found a cell signal. I made use of the dinghy that came with the boat. Elisabeth waited off shore in the big boat while I ran up onto the sandy shore with the tracking collar -- the one they knew about. I found a good place to hide it. Then I returned out to the boat, and we continued on.
We dropped anchor and had dinner. Then I shifted. Elisabeth put the collar around me and I climbed into the cage again. Elisabeth called Lara. I immediately began putting up a significant fuss, bitching in fox at the top of my furry lungs.
"How is she?" Lara asked.
"Angry. I promised I wouldn't put her in the cage. It was the only way I could get her to shift."