Doglands by Tim Willocks

Author:Tim Willocks
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780375896040
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2011-09-26T22:00:00+00:00

A little later Brennus came padding over to Furgul. Furgul was in awe of the big Saint Bernard, even though he was weak and sick. He bowed to show his respect.

“This is quite a rumpus you’ve started,” said Brennus.

Furgul didn’t know if Brennus approved or not. He didn’t reply.

“Argal would have been impressed,” Brennus said.

“What should we do next?” asked Furgul.

“It’s a question of what the Traps will do next,” said Brennus. “This riot of ours has made them look bad. Very bad. Especially since it’s on TV. They’ll want to get us back in our cages as soon as they can. Chances are, they’ll hit us in the dark—after midnight. And it won’t be Fatso and Baldy. The Traps’ll hit us hard. More Traps and more guns than we’ve ever seen.”

“What can we do, Brennus?”

“Do you see that lady behind the fence—green T-shirt, long hair?”

Furgul scanned the crowd and saw the lady. She was looking right at him.

“She told me she wants to talk to you,” said Brennus.

“She told you?”

“She’s what we call a Dog Talker,” said Brennus. “It’s only the second time I’ve ever met one. There aren’t many around. She speaks dog tongue—a kind of dog tongue anyway. It’s odd, but it works. You’ll see.”

“What does she want to talk about?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to go and find out.”

“But why me?”

“You’re our leader,” said Brennus. “You’re Argal’s son.”

“I’m not sure I want to be the leader.”

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” Brennus saw that Furgul didn’t understand. “It’s hard to carry all that responsibility,” he explained. “But if you don’t, all this will fall apart. It will all be for nothing. And they’ll make every one of us pay.”

Brennus’s eyes gave Furgul courage.

“Stand tall,” said Brennus.

Furgul trotted over to the lady at the fence, feeling suspicious.

“Hello, Furgul,” she said. “I’m Jodi. I believe you are the leader of this pack.”

Furgul was shocked. He could understand her. She wasn’t speaking human words, and neither did she have a dog voice. She just made a kind of murmur. Yet her meaning was clear, as if it were going straight from her brain into his.

Jodi asked, “Is that true?”

“Yes.” He remembered Brennus and raised his tail. “I’m their leader.”

“If you like, I can get you out of here. I can take you to my farm, Appletree Dog Sanctuary. There are no cages, no muzzles, just fields and trees. You can run with the winds.”

“You know about the winds?”

“I’ve heard about them, from other free dogs,” said Jodi. “You can live at Appletree for the rest of your life, if you want. Unless you meet a new owner you’d like to live with. But that would be your choice. There are other free dogs to run and play with.”

“Are you saying I’d be completely free?”

“No one’s completely free, Furgul. Not even humans. Especially not humans. Including me. But it’s as free as you can be without getting into trouble.”

“Why me?” asked Furgul.

“Because I like you.” Jodi had deep blue eyes, and they bored into Furgul’s heart.

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