The Big Chihuahua (A Barking Detective Mystery) by Waverly Curtis

Author:Waverly Curtis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2013-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

I was a little surprised to learn that my alpha was Artichoke, since she had never seemed to like me. But maybe that was what made her the ideal alpha. She was waiting in my room when I got back to the Bunkhouse and she seemed impatient.

She stood there with her arms crossed, watching as I stuffed my clothes into my suitcase. Pepe tried to help by bringing over a few nibbles of food and tucking them into various corners.

“Artichoke is such an interesting name,” I said, thinking a compliment might soften her up. “How did you get it?”

“Dogawanda gave it to me,” said Artichoke. “He said I was all prickles on the outside and a soft heart within.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing,” I observed.

“Not for you,” said Artichoke. “You will see only my prickles. My job is to teach you to obey without thinking. Only then will you be relieved of the worries that plague humans. And right now I say that you should make it snappy. I don’t have all day to stand around chatting about names.”

I tried not to take it personally.

“When do I get my name?” I asked as we headed across the compound, me dragging my bright blue rolling suitcase. Pepe trotted beside me, stopping to sniff and water various patches of the lawn.

“When you have earned it,” Artichoke said.

We stopped outside the whitewashed barn. “This is the Beta Barn, your new home.” Artichoke opened one of the doors and we were inside a gloomy hallway, with doors on either side, stretching into the distance. “These were once the stalls,” said Artichoke. “We cleaned them out and made them into bedrooms.”

Halfway down the hall, Artichoke stopped outside a door. I had noticed that each door had a placard with a name on it: CLOUD, LILY, SEED, QUAIL. The placard on the door we were facing read LEAF. Artichoke frowned at it and tore it off.

“Someone was supposed to be sure the room was clean for you,” she said.

“This was where Leaf lived?” I asked. My voice quivered a little.

“Yes,” said Artichoke. She had thrown open the door and gone inside. The room was tiny, just barely big enough for a single bed with an iron frame. A small window above the bed was too high to provide a view or any ventilation.

“It looks clean,” Artichoke said, backing out of the room so I could step inside.

“Maybe we will find a clue within,” said Pepe, running in after me and darting under the bed.

“Where am I supposed to put my suitcase?” I asked. It was still out in the hall.

“We have a storage room at the end of the hall. You won’t need any of these things you brought. We are free from materialistic concerns. We have two changes of clothing. When one gets dirty, we put it in the laundry chute and wear the other. You should have been issued a uniform. I don’t know why that hasn’t happened yet.” Artichoke frowned again.

“What happened to all of the things that belonged to Leaf?” I asked.

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