W. Bruce Cameron by The Dogs of Christmas

Author:The Dogs of Christmas [Christmas, The Dogs of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2013-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

It took Josh only a moment to take in the entire scene as it was unfolding.

There were two of them, young, lean, and hungry, hunting the puppies together. God, they were cunning. One of them was on the left, out of the trees, taunting Lucy, pacing back and forth just out of reach. Lucy was lunging toward this one, her face fierce, her lips drawn back, her shoulders hunched and her fur up. With every feint Lucy made, the predator would dance back, tantalizing, drawing Lucy farther and farther from her frightened brood, who were huddled together where Josh had left them. Lucy was drooling, her eyes wild, her teeth snapping.

The coyote who was goading Lucy with its taunts had an evil calculation in its eyes as it drew the dog forward, because the other hunter was in the tree line, circling stealthily to the right, waiting for Lucy to be lured just a few more feet before it darted out to steal a puppy.

Next to the door was the shotgun with the salt load. Josh grabbed it and racked in a shell as he ran out the door.

Lucy couldn’t help herself. Enraged, she was charging the coyote on the left and the one on the right was making its move, darting out of the trees, mouth open in anticipation, ready to snatch a baby. “Hey!” Josh yelled. He leaped off his deck and stumbled. The coyote was almost to the puppies.

Josh fired a round into the air and the loud noise changed everything. The coyote on the right flinched, broke off its attack, and raced for the trees just as the other one fled from Lucy. Lucy went after it.

“Lucy! Come back!” Josh shouted, standing over the puppies. He racked in another shell. Coyotes were lurkers—they might appear to be in full retreat but they’d soon circle back for another look. “Lucy! Come!” Josh fired into the woods, the salt snapping at the trees.

Lucy came galloping back, panting. Josh doubted she’d caught up with the coyotes; they were consummate escape artists.

“Good dog, Lucy. Stay here,” Josh told her. Lucy came to him, her wet nose touching his hand, the puppies squealing at their feet. Josh bent to them and that’s when he noticed that there were only three.

Lola, Oliver, and Sophie were all swarming Lucy, seeking solace. Rufus and Cody were missing.

They were gone.

Josh gave into a heedless rage and plunged into the woods after the coyotes. He ran downhill, his vision clouded with fury and his face hot. He jacked in another shell, holding the gun across his chest like a charging soldier. He wanted to shoot the predators; he wanted to hurt them, beat them, kill them.

Fifty feet from the house he was in the thick of his lodgepole pine forest, unable to run as fast because he literally needed to dodge trees. Looking down slope he could see well into the woods, though, and wasn’t able to spot any sign of the coyotes or the missing puppies.

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