Free Wild Dog City (Darkeye Volume 1) by Lydia West Page B

usual, I
suppose… cockroaches, and things. There's always some meat and
offal left over around the dispensary pipes, so you can get maggots
there, too. I've seen some pretty large rats, but I don't care for
them myself. I know a few foxes that do."
    "Can I go there too, Bii?" asked Kebero. Bii
gave him his impish little smile.
    "Certainly you may. We'll make an
insect-eater out of you yet, won't we?"
    Kebero smiled and wagged his tail. Mhumhi
tried to imagine what Sacha's thoughts would be on this: probably
not positive.
    "Do a lot of foxes go hunting down
there?"
    "Quite a few," said Bii. "We try to keep out
of each others' way though. Too many spoil it for everyone."
    "So I guess there are a lot of foxes who
don't eat any meat?"
    "I'm sure some are supplementing with it,"
said Bii, "but yes, I think it's fair to say that many don't use
it. Why, are you thinking of getting a few more helpers like
me?"
    "Hm," replied Mhumhi, who had in fact been
thinking of something along those lines. More meat would certainly
help, even in small portions.
    "Be careful about that, if that is what
you're thinking," said Bii, looking at him with his black button
eyes. "I'm not the only fox who trades, you know. Most of the ones
that do aren't trading to the families from Oldtown, either."
    "What do you mean- that they're trading
to…?"
    "The police, yes, and other better-off packs.
A lot of them do it for access to fruit, some of them do it for
protection, and some… well."
    "Well what?" asked Mhumhi, intently curious.
Bii glanced at Kebero, who was now lying down between Mhumhi's
front paws.
    "A lot of them will do it for access to
hulker meat," he said. "A lump of cold flesh for a mouthful of
warm. That's what I hear, anyway."
    "Oh," said Mhumhi, feeling a weird tremor in
his stomach. "Is it really that good?"
    "I don't know," said Bii, flicking his tail
at him. "I've always preferred the flesh that crunches,
myself."
    "I see," said Mhumhi. "Is that why you
decided to come here, instead of to one of those better-off
families?"
    Bii sneeze-laughed. "I came here because I
once knew your mother, and liked her all right. And because I'd
rather give my meat to someone who needs it. And because, well, I
like looking after puppies." He gave Kebero a fond little
nuzzle.
    "I'm happy you came, Bii," said Kebero,
smiling at him.
    "I am, too," said Bii. "You just wait, little
wolf, I'll take you down to the sewers and make a rat-catcher out
of you!"
    "Yes, yes!" Kebero yapped, standing up and
wriggling out of Mhumhi's grip. "I'll get all those rats! Eat 'em,
down to their ta-tails!"
    "Down to the tails?" Bii asked, amused.
"Where did you learn to say such things?"
    But Kebero was off again, whirling around the
room, pouncing on a piece of the tattered bedspread and growling
and tugging at it.
    "Hey, Bii," Mhumhi said. "When you were down
in the sewers, did you ever see a… a hulker?"
    Bii pondered for a moment.
    "No," he said, finally, "but I've heard of
them being down there, creeping around to avoid the police. It's
dark and strange down there- if you hear an odd noise, you run for
a little tunnel and you don't look back. There can be strange
smells, shapes… not just hulkers."
    "Not just hulkers?" Mhumhi asked,
intrigued.
    "I've heard strange sounds," Bii said
quietly, "and smelled a strange scent… darker and more powerful
than anything I've ever smelled… heavy footsteps… a kind of
moaning, from far away. Almost like the way a hulker sounds, but…"
He hesitated. "It isn't a hulker. Or at least, I don't think it is.
Maybe a different kind of hulker."
    "A different kind of hulker?" Mhumhi
repeated, feeling chilled.
    "Yes," said Bii. "One with sharp teeth."
    "Oh," said Mhumhi, trying to keep his tone
light, "more like a proper dog, then."
    "I suppose so," said Bii. "Still, I'd be
careful. If you ever come across something like that down there,
Mhumhi, don't stop to find out what it is. Dogs have been
disappearing lately."
    "I don't plan to