Street Shadows

by Claire Gilchrist

  Pica checked again for human movement or sound. She stayed still for a moment, all senses alert. She knew that it would be better to leave now, while she was safe. However, she didn’t sense any humans nearby, and the smell coming from that box was so tempting. With a final look around, she followed the edge of the building until she reached the stairs.

  The smell was much stronger now and she was able to pick out new elements — ripe fruit, and something she couldn’t quite identify. She bumped the box gently with her nose. It fell over on its side, causing her to jump back with surprise. A few objects tumbled out of it onto the ground, and Pica lowered her head to inspect them. They were round and lightly coloured, and as she breathed in a fine powder blew into her nostrils, causing her to sneeze. She took a tentative bite. It gave way easily in her jaws, dissolving into her mouth with a sweet, sticky sensation. She closed her eyes in bliss. Swallowing, she lowered her head and took a bigger bite, noticing a sticky fruit substance exploding out of the object as she ate it.

  Smells and sounds faded away. Each bite revealed a new sensory adventure. She was so focused on the smells and tastes that she didn’t immediately register the crunching of heavy feet on gravel. Suddenly, there was a loud shout. Pica whipped her head up and saw human feet in front of her. Standing at the corner of the building were three large men. Panic stopped her breath and she froze, staring at them. The only thing her brain registered was the fact that these men were standing directly between her and the fence.

  One of the men shouted again, taking a step toward her. His movement unlocked something in Pica and she found herself able to flee. She dodged to the side and tried to turn back toward the gap in the fence, but the men were just a few feet away from it and she veered away in fear. Wheeling around, she ran along the line of the fence, away from the men, desperately looking for another exit. She took a few more strides, searching the fenceline in desperation, when suddenly she became aware of something blocking her path. She skidded to a stop as her face hit another fence. She had reached a corner and was blocked in on two sides. She whirled, feeling trapped.

  “Help!” Her voice was a puppy yelp. She leapt up the fence, trying to climb it, her paws scrabbling to find something to cling to, but she fell back down into the dirt. Her head whirled as she saw machines and men approaching her from all sides.

  “Over here!” The bark was familiar. Pica looked toward the sound and saw Scruff staring at her from the other side of the fence. He was bigger and skinnier than when she had seen him last, but the tufts of fur sticking up from between his ears were unmistakable, as was his smell. He pointed with his nose to a small hole in the fence that she had missed the first time she raced past it. She bounded to the spot and flung her body underneath. The hole was lopsided and one of the metal prongs snagged her side. She yelped with pain and tried to move forward, but she was stuck. She could hear a machine growling louder and louder, and felt the dust hitting her fur. She didn’t have long now — it sounded like it was almost on top of her.

  With a long, high howl, she dug her back claws into the soft earth and pushed hard. The metal piece scraped down her side, ripping into her skin, but she slid through to the other side. She jumped up and leapt into the safety of a bush. The noise of metal wrenching against itself sounded loudly behind her and she exited the far side of the bush, running blindly. She finally stopped in the shadow of a tall hemlock, breathing hard, and looked back to make sure that the humans weren’t pursuing her. She only saw Scruff, trotting after her.

  “Scruff!” she said, panting. She craned her neck backwards to investigate the cut on her side, and felt that it was wet with blood. She looked up again and her eyes met the angry eyes of Scruff.

  “Why are you here?” he asked, his voice accusatory.

  “I was worried about the construction, and worried about you. Are you mad at me?”

  He huffed angrily. “This is my forest.”

  Pica tilted her head to look at him. “Scruff, what’s wrong?” She couldn’t understand what had changed since they had last played. His eyes didn’t look the same. They looked cold.

  Scruff looked down. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to ever see you again.”

  Pica frowned. “I don’t understand. But I need to ask you something important. It’s about Jagger.”

  Scruff raised his eyes to her suspiciously. “What?”

  “I haven’t seen you since — well, I overheard my parents talking about him. They said he has killed before. I was worried about you —”

  “Don’t be.” Scruff’s face hardened. “I don’t believe anything your parents say. Jagger was the one who rescued me, not them. And —”

  Just then, a familiar scent blew through the air and they both froze.

  Scruff looked at her and shook his head. “He’s coming. You should get out of here, quickly,” he whispered urgently.

  The danger was imminent. She had no time to lose. If he were to catch her here … she shuddered. Without waiting another second, she whirled and took off back toward home, her side hurting sharply as she lengthened her stride.

  She ran blindly without looking where she was going. Branches whipped her face and her paws stumbled on rocks. Run … run … run, coursed through her mind. She missed a root sticking out and tripped, rolling a few times before jumping back up and dizzily continuing her flight. A few moments later she sensed light, and then she broke out into the corner of the hillside. She risked a glance behind her. Nothing moved. She slowed to a lope, breathing hard and tucking back into the bushes that surrounded the golf course. As her panic subsided, she became aware of the stinging on her back where the fence had raked her, a throbbing left paw, and bits of bark and moss stuck to her fur.

  She squinted, trying to make out the shapes of her family lying in the bushes. Finally, she saw her mother, Gree, raise her head at her approach, and Pica’s terror was suddenly replaced with a wave of relief. She stopped, breathing hard. The relief gave way to shame. She had been incredibly stupid to venture out of their home territory, and even more stupid to enter the construction site. She had completely ignored her parents’ rules and had risked her life. She found herself desperately wanting her mother but also fearing her anger.

  Dane raised his head and looked at her. A few seconds later, he jumped to his feet and trotted toward her. His smile disappeared as he drew closer, seeing the gash on her side and the way she favoured her front paw.

  “Pica — what happened to you?” he questioned. Pica saw all the other heads pop up at his tone, and soon everyone was gathered around her.

  “You’re hurt!” Gree said with a surprised whine. She quickly inspected Pica’s side, finding the wound open and bleeding, and began to lick it clean.

  The family clustered around, eyes curious.

  “Whoa — what happened to your face?” Kai said with a laugh. “You got brambles stuck all over and —”

  “You left the hillside!” her father interrupted with a growl.

  Gree stopped licking, exchanging looks with Lamar. “What happened, Pica?” she asked, looking into her daughter’s eyes with a mixture of concern and displeasure.

  Pica desperately wanted to be somewhere else, feeling hot and uncomfortable with six sets of eyes staring at her. As she told her story, her siblings’ eyes grew wider and her parents’ and Taba’s eyes grew angrier. She hurried through the part where she was trapped inside the fence, and decided to entirely skip the part where she met Scruff and smelled Jagger. As she finished, she returned to her main point: “And I know I shouldn’t have gone there, but you have to listen to me — there is a huge building — it’s bigger than —”

  “Pica!” Gree cut her off, now furious. “You deliberately disobeyed us! Not just in leaving our territory, but in going to see the machines, where we expressly forbid you to go! You put yourself in danger for no reason and you got hurt!”

  Pica looked down at the ground, unable to speak out of frustration. She knew her mother
was right — she had disobeyed them. But why wouldn’t they listen to her warning? “I know, and I’m sorry. But —”

  “But nothing,” Lamar broke in with a low growl. “You acted selfishly and without thinking. You put us all in danger. And for what? To satisfy your curiosity? I am ashamed of you.”

  Pica’s insides shrivelled and she dropped her belly to the ground, ears back. She couldn’t make eye contact.

  “Taba, go back to the den site with her,” Gree instructed.

  Pica crawled away, her tail tucked between her legs. She felt shame burning through her whole body. She winced in pain as she squeezed under a dark, dense bush. She heard Taba behind her, and felt her rough tongue begin to gently clean up the blood on her side.

  “It’s okay, Pica,” whispered Taba. “Everyone makes mistakes. I know you didn’t mean to put us in danger.”

  Pica looked at her without speaking. What could she say? She felt like no one in her family understood or shared her concern about the construction site. Worse, she didn’t get the chance to finish her conversation with Scruff. Why did he suddenly hate her family so much? She sighed. At this point, everything in her life seemed to be going wrong. Her side hurt, she couldn’t hunt, she couldn’t control her impulses, and every time she thought that things were getting better, she seemed to make another mistake. She closed her eyes and let her head fall heavily onto her front paws. Giving in to the weight of her sadness, she let her body lie still while Taba did her best to clean her wound.

  EIGHT

  ATTACK

  Pica

  When it was time to go hunting that night, Gree decided that Dane and Taba would stay behind with Pica so she could rest. Pica’s side was already feeling better, but she didn’t want to argue with her mother. Shortly after the others had left, Dane and Taba decided to go to the golf course to hunt. “Pica,” Taba reminded, “stay here and take it easy. Make sure you’re resting your injury. Call if you need anything — we will be close by.”

  Pica nodded, and watched Dane and Taba dash down the hill. Their shadows faded into the darkness, and then she was alone. She lay there for a while, feeling hungry. She began thinking about her hunting skills. The past few weeks, every time she had been hunting, she had felt the weight of her family watching her, worrying about her. Would she ever improve, and if not, when would they stop helping her? What would happen in the winter when food was harder to find?

  Suddenly, a thought made her lift her head. What if it was the stress, not the poor vision, that was stopping her from hunting well? Of course, it probably was her bad eye. But it didn’t affect her in other ways anymore — she barely noticed it now. Maybe it would help to hunt alone without anyone watching and judging her. She tilted her head, considering. This could be her opportunity. She had never before been so alone, where no one would wander by to watch and judge her efforts. With a sigh, she reminded herself that she had already gotten into enough trouble for the month. She didn’t need to take any more risks. She turned over and curled up tighter. But she couldn’t stop wondering. She no longer felt sleepy.

  A few minutes later, she gave up trying to convince herself to stay, and rose to her feet. She shouldn’t have to go too far — there was the possibility of finding a rodent just uphill from the den site, and up there she wouldn’t run into Taba and Dane.

  Decision made, Pica trotted quickly uphill, stopping frequently to sniff for danger. At the edge of a patch of particularly sweet grass, she slowed, beginning the hunt. Approaching a large clump of bushes, she smelled the familiar odours of rabbit, vole, and mouse. Her steps became velvety, her small form a shadow. Listening carefully, she began to pick out the small shuffles and chewing of the animals.

  Creeping closer, everything stilled around her. The smell of vole got stronger and stronger, and she pushed out all of the other sounds and smells in order to focus on the target. Her mind calmed in a way that she had never before experienced. Her body no longer existed — her mind hovered in the darkness, alert. For the first time, she felt herself become a part of the night.

  In front of her, a fat vole emerged from the bush. She could barely see it, but rather sensed its position through a combination of sight, smell, and sound. Teeth chomped on grass, the chewing noise loud in the still night. Pica stopped breathing, completely still now.

  In the far corner of her brain, something pushed in, calling for her attention. She frowned and pushed it away — this was always her problem — other thoughts pushing their way in and distracting her. She refocused on the vole. She heard it take a few more steps toward her — now it was within pouncing range. Without thinking, she effortlessly sprung up, spreading her claws. The vole sensed danger, plunging desperately to the side. Pica was also quick in her reaction, shifting her paws as she landed, pinning the vole beneath them. She killed it with a quick shake of her jaws.

  For a moment she stood there, the vole hanging from her mouth, dazed. Her whole body felt numb — she couldn’t process the fact that she had killed her first healthy, normal prey. Then she grinned and began to savour the taste in her mouth. Relief washed over her as she realized what this meant — she wasn’t missing some vital part of herself. She would be able to practise, get better, and be able to rely on herself for food. Maybe she would even be able to start her own pack …

  Her reverie was cut short by an alarm sounding in her head. The small something that had been calling for her attention earlier was much louder now. She suddenly became aware of a strong, sour smell. She whipped her head up to see a tall, thin coyote slinking out from behind the bush. He stared at her unblinkingly with glowing, hard, yellow eyes. Breathing in, she recognized his smell — it was Jagger. She had never been this close to him before.

  “Nice catch.” His voice was quiet, but something about it sent chills through her skin. The fur on her shoulders bristled unconsciously. Dropping the vole in front of her, she backed away a few steps and crouched down.

  “You aren’t leaving before we’ve had a chance to get to know one another?” he said in the same odd, calm tone.

  Pica stopped her retreat, standing up a little bit straighter. At this point, she knew Dane and Taba were too far away to come immediately. She would have to try to bluff her way out.

  “He-hello. I was just hunting. I can leave you the vole if you want, but you should probably move on — this is our home territory.” Her voice squeaked awkwardly, not coming out as confidently as she had been hoping.

  He didn’t reply immediately, continuing to stare at her with narrow, hard eyes. She noticed how long his legs were, his head towering over her. He sized her up with his eyes, and she became acutely aware of her chubby puppy stomach, oversized paws, and short legs. Then, he curled his lips back and showed her his teeth. Pica crouched submissively, her body betraying her. Her tail and ears plastered themselves flat against her head. In a split second, all bravado was gone. She knew instinctively that she was in serious danger, and that she needed help. Raising her head, she howled a high, desperate call. Jagger narrowed his eyes and growled at her. “You’ve done nothing to deserve this home. Nothing.”

  At the last word, the tall coyote’s muscles bunched up, suddenly visible under his patchy, thin fur, and Pica gasped as she recognized that he was about to spring. Before she could move, he leapt toward her. She saw a dark tower of fur descend and felt the impact, then a sharp pain in her right ear. Letting out a series of sharp yelps, she rolled and tried to get away, but her ear was firmly lodged in his jaws. She was stuck. Her yelping increased in volume as she began to panic, attempting to use her small paws to push and claw at his side. Because he was so much larger than her, she was unable to get a good position, and she felt herself clawing at the air.

  Without letting go of her ear, he changed position on top of her and began to claw her side and back, his sharp claws raking through her fur and tearing her skin. He shifted again, and she panicked, knowing he was going to try to go for her stomach. Then, she saw his paw beside her hea
d, and seizing what might be her only opportunity, she turned her head to nip hard at his paw with her sharp baby teeth. She heard a grunt of surprise and felt him momentarily release her ear. Finding herself free, she spurted forward, trying to get out of his way, feeling his teeth brush her back leg as she cleared a low bush and headed downhill toward the den site.

  Lowering her head, she stretched her stride out, digging into the earth with her claws. She felt something brush her tail and realized that he was right behind her, within striking distance. Her paw rolled into a dip in the ground and she tumbled, somersaulting down the hill. A shot of pain radiated up her leg, and she yelped in pain and surprise. Jumping up, she readied herself for the impact, but was surprised to see three grey shapes rolling around and onto each other, a chorus of snarls and barks puncturing the air. It was Taba and Dane — they had come!

  Pica stepped forward to join them, and the sharp pain shot through her front leg again, from her knee all the way up to her shoulder. She gasped and fell to the ground. She watched helplessly as Dane and Taba worked together to drive Jagger back. She saw Dane’s puppy teeth dig into his hind leg as Taba kept his head busy snapping from side to side as she dove quickly in and out. She heard Jagger yelp in pain, and then he shook them off and jumped back.

  There was a standoff as the coyotes stared at each other, circling slowly. Taba gave a low, fierce growl. “Get. Out.”

  Jagger sneered. “Fine. But this won’t be the last time you see me.” He turned and slowly walked away, not bothering to look behind him. Pica, Dane, and Taba stood in silence, not moving, until his grey shape faded into the darkness. Then Taba turned her head to look at Pica.