Robert Calder - The Dogs

They dug the burrow out, killed the possum and her brood and ate their fill. It didn't take long. Then they turned back. Trotting, the bitch carried a piece of the possum for her pups. The spotted dog brought the carcass of one of the young ones.

The black caught the human scent first, while they were still a little distance from the clearing; he slowed and the hair on his back went up.

The pack stopped and lifted their noses to the breeze. Orph growled.

The bitch made a sound of dread, dropped the meat, and went streaking forward. The pack raced after her.

They burst into the clearing. The pups were calling shrilly. Human odor was powerfully mixed with the puppies' fear. The bitch plunged into the den.

She clawed back out in terrible agitation. Orph and the black were sniffing by the side of the stream. The bitch ran to them and pressed her nose to the ground. The human scent was dense. She jumped into the basin, sniffing, and smelled her lost pup, and its terror. She wailed and leapt out. She ran around the clearing barking.

She rushed to the burrow, crawled halfway in and snarled insanely at her pups, to send them shrinking back in horror; they wouldn't dare to venture out until she returned.

She went back to the basin, took the scent deeply, and turned downstream.

Orph and the black and the spotted went beside her.

Josie squinted. "Look," she said, pointing.

Ed and Harriet turned their heads. Hero was lying on his stomach gazing rapturously at the puppy. "What?" said Ed.

"Over there, by the big tamarack."

It was a little past noon and the sun was bright in the yard, but the treeline was shadowy. There was movement near the tamarack.

A dun-colored dog stepped from the shadows.

"I've never seen that one before," Josie said.

A second form detached itself from the gloom and came abreast of the first.

It was a German shepherd, big and heavy.

Ed got slowly to his feet.

To the left of the dun, a spotted animal appeared. Then a moment later, a huge black dog moved from the forest to stand beside the others.

"Oh God," Ed whispered. "Oh my God."

Josie stood up. Harriet gathered Hero in her arms and got to her feet.

There was a.30–06 and a box of cartridges in the house. Ed began inching backward.

"Don't say anything, don't move," he said in a low urgent voice. "Now … very gently, start making for the house. Whatever you do, keep quiet and don't panic."

"Mommy, what's the matter?" Hero said in alarm. "Who're those dogs?"

"Hush baby, don't say anything." Harriet pulled his face into her shoulder.

"Everything is fine, Mommy'll take care of you, just keep still, love."

"Ed?" Josie's voice cracked.

"Shut up," he hissed.

The dun dog barked. The puppy answered and went running toward her. It hit the end of the rope and was jerked over on its back. It leapt frantically and screamed.

The dun bitch howled and hurtled forward. The other dogs exploded after her. " lFreeze!" Ed shouted. "Don't move! Even if you get bit — DON'T MOVE!"

The pup swung through an arc at the end of its rope, brushing close to Harriet's feet.

Hero pulled his head around. He saw the dogs rushing toward them.

"Mommy!

Mommyl" He fought to climb higher up her torso.

She squeezed him tight, trying to stifle his struggles.

The dun dog bit deep into her thigh. She threw her head back and cried out, but she didn't move. Straddlelegged, clutching Hero, she didn't move. The other dogs were poised around her, growling and showing their teeth. The bitch held tight.

Harriet turned her face to the sky, her eyes squeezed shut. "Oh God..

Please… Please…"

"Hang on," Ed said desperately, "Hang on, you can do it baby, it'll let go-hang on I"

Several moments passed, in which the only sound was the low rumbling of the circling dogs.

"I can't stand it!" Harriet screamed.

"Harriet! Stopl"

Hero screamed. He began to fight crazily against his mother, and Harriet twisted away, dragging the dun with her, and tried to run.

The pack attacked. Harriet and Hero fell beneath them. A rolling jumble of bodies, screaming and snarling.

Josie bolted. The spotted dog went after her. It tore a piece from her buttock.

Ed spun and ran for the house.

Josie crashed into the lower branches of a cedar tree. She pushed herself into the impacted branches; twigs snapped off and the pointed stumps stabbed into her flesh. She clawed over her head for higher branches, locked her hands around them and struggled up. The spotted dog bit into her leg as she pulled herself from the ground. Josie shrieked. The dog hung suspended from her leg a moment, then dropped down. Screaming, Josie fought her way higher.

The black dog hit Ed ten yards from the house. It went up high and took him in the shoulder. The impact sent Ed crashing forward and somersaulting. The black lost its hold and came in again with a roar.

Ed threw his hands over his head and pressed his arms to his sides, tucked his chin to his chest and pulled his knees up.

The black bit his hip, tore into his side. Ed clenched his eyes shut.

He ground his teeth together. The agony became visible, red lines fractured the darkness of his eyelids. The black had his arm. Freeze.

Freeze. Freeze.

Ohhhmmmm. God, he couldn't bear it! Ohhhmmmm. Harriet and Josie were screaming. Ohhhmmmmm. Oh help me someonel For the love of God help me!

Ohhhmmmm. HELP MEI The teeth withdrew. He smelled the animal's musty breath, heard its rough breathing.

Ohhmmmm.

Guttural sounds. The screaming stopped.

Ohhmmm.

Ohhmmm.

Someone was sobbing.

Ohhmmm.

"Ed." Josie's quavering voice.

Ohhmmmm.

"Ed. They-" She choked. "They're gone."

His mind was numb.

"Ed, answer me! Please!"

Slowly, shaking, he uncoiled himself. Josie was climbing out of a tree. She was torn and bloodied.

He tried to stand. He fell down.

Josie was on her knees over Harriet and Hero. Her fists were in her mouth and she was biting on them. She rose and came unsteadily to Ed.

"Hero's dead," she said hollowly. "Harriet's still alive, but she's not conscious. She's all-" She shook her head violently.

"Get bandages," Ed rasped. "Sheets, shirts, anything." She knelt beside him.

"I'll be all right," he said. "Hurry!"

She left him. He crawled to Harriet and Hero on his hands and knees.

Hero was mutilated. The back of his skull had been crushed. Blood had run from his ears and his eyes. His face was twisted in horror.

Harriet lay on her back. One of her breasts had been ripped apart.

Bones and gore showed in other wounds. Her eyes were closed and her breath rattled. The ground around them was soggy with blood, and blood still pumped from her flesh.

Ed vomited. He collapsed. He sobbed.

"Ed, I have the bandages… Ed?… Ed, stop. We have to help Harriet.

Ed!"

She lifted his head. She slapped him. He blinked at her. Her face was drawn and paper-white. She had an armful of bandaging. She carried the rifle in her other hand.

"Come on," she said. "We have to tear these up and stop Harriet from bleeding any more."

Josie kept the rifle close to her while they worked and she raised her head frequently to look at the treeline.

They did the best they could with Harriet, then Josie fashioned compresses and bandaging for Ed. He sat dumbly beside Harriet. Josie put the rifle in his hands. "It's loaded," she said. "Watch for them. do you hear me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

Josie went to the house and brought him back a jar of water. "Kathy left her keys," she said. "I'm going for help."

"What if you run into them on the way to the car?"

She held a hunting knife tight in her fist. "They won't," she said.