THE TRAP by Tabitha King

Author:Tabitha King [King, Tabitha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 1985-04-01T21:00:00+00:00

Dragging a pair of old wooden sleds behind them, Liv and Travis stomped a path to the studio. The Poor bounded along behind them, light enough to be able to walk on the surface of the snow.

Travis grabbed the leg of her ski pants.

“Look, Liv,” he commanded, and sank to his haunches, pointing out a new track in the snow.

They had seen the paw prints of squirrels and coons already. This new print was much larger, and familiar.

“Dog,” said Liv, touching it. “A big dog.” Maybe a coyote.

“I thought there was nobody here but us,” Travis said.

“Well, it could be somebody’s dog off their leash,” Liv said. “Or a stray or a runaway.”

“Oh,” said Travis.

That seemed to be enough for him. But Liv looked around as they straightened up, noting that the dog tracks, if that was what they were, seemed to skirt their house and head into the woods. That was fine by her. Any dog could be dangerous, unleashed, or stray, or gone wild. At least there was only one. Sometimes the wild dogs gathered into packs to hunt. And then there were the coyotes, which the farmers and hunters hated so much. Liv made a mental note to keep The Poor indoors more, and especially at night, to keep her out of harm’s way.

They went on toward the studio, Liv watching for any more signs of the large dog, but they found only more squirrel tracks and some bird prints that Liv thought might be one of the ground-dwelling game birds, pheasant or woodcock or whatever.

The studio was forlorn and cold. Liv turned on the heat and swept up the usual die-off of flies near the windows.

“Give it a day,” she told Travis, “and we can work out here.”

Travis climbed off the stool he had been sitting on. “Don’t forget the water, Liv.”

“Right,” she said. “The water.”

It had been shut off and the pipes drained months ago by Walter.

Travis tried the faucets. “Dry,” he said.

“Yup,” Liv agreed. “I’ll have to call Walter to fix them. Maybe he’ll come out today and do it. Then we can still work tomorrow. And if he can’t come today, we’ll just carry a pail over from the house.”

“Now we can go sliding?” Travis asked.

“Ayuh,” Liv said. “Right now. Over the hill to Miss Alden’s house.”

They set off through the woods. First it was uphill, and then the land fell naturally toward the boundaries of Miss Alden’s property. Stopping to take a breather, Liv leaned against a tree trunk, and then slipped behind it.

“I’ve got you now,” she growled at Travis, and jumping out from behind the tree, fired her forefinger at him. “Ptu-ptu-ptu-ee. Die, Commie dog!”

Travis flopped onto the snow clutching his chest. “Aargh,” he screamed. He rolled over and fired back. “Ka-pow. Ka-pow.”

Liv flopped into the snow, too, rolled onto her back, and stared at the sky. Snowflakes fell onto her lashes and she blinked. She opened her mouth and let them fall on her tongue. She moved her arms and legs in arcs to make an angel.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.