The more likely story was that Patches was out doing her business and got surrounded then climbed a tree, but I had no desire to call her out on the little lie. She was brave and that was all that mattered. She just does, and always will, look at the world with her own version of events no matter how far they are removed from the truth. To her it is the truth, and maybe that’s all that matters.
“You fought valiantly,” I told her.
“I know. If you will excuse me, I never got a chance to umm...”
“I understand.” I watched her walk away wondering how something so small could be so lethal. I moved closer to ThornGrip and Ben-Ben, he was offering her words of encouragement and sympathy.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine!” Ben-Ben yipped. “I just kissed ThornGrip, we’re in love now.”
“I’m too tired to push him away,” she told me. “I need to wash my wounds out. The pain is lessening but it still hurts.”
“Come on, I will help you.” Ben-Ben leaned into ThornGrip as if he were somehow going to be able to support her weight. If she collapsed, there would be nothing any or all of us could do to move her.
I swear though, the little guy was trying. He was straining as he pushed against her bulk. I think maybe ThornGrip liked the attention as well, maybe giving him just a tiny fraction of herself so he could feel like he was aiding her. The burning disc was bright, the clouds were moving away, the rain and the crashing noises had stopped. Once we moved away from the dead, the day felt right and full of promise. ThornGrip seemed to have an innate sense of where water was, or maybe she just knew the woods like the backyard that it was for her. She brought us to a small stream that had swelled from the rain. The bear winced and grimaced as she waded in. A small tidal pool of browns and reds swirled away from her heading downstream.
“Can you swim?” Ben-Ben jumped in, I suppose in an effort to save ThornGrip who wasn’t going anywhere.
“I think I’ll be alright,” she told him.
It was a relief to see the real dog under all the remains he’d been bathed in. Ben-Ben swam out to ThornGrip and paddled next to her face. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“I bet you would,” she said tenderly. “Now go back to shore, I will be fine. I would like to clean my wounds a little longer, and you look exhausted.”
“Okay,” he told her, yet he did not move, except for his paws which were paddling fast.
I took a few steps out into the strong current, only so far that I could dip my head and get my back and shoulders wet. I stayed staring upstream so I did not have to watch what washed away from me. The surprise of the day had to be when I noticed Patches off to my side, she had reluctantly gotten into the water with me.
“Strange day,” I said as I looked at her.
“I had pieces of eyeball on me.” That was all she said and I understood perfectly. She may have a deep hatred of all things water but no one wants pieces of eyeball on them. When I felt sufficiently clean I waded ashore, followed almost immediately by Patches, who began preening herself instantly, hoping to lick the water off of her. I think ThornGrip could have stayed in the water most of the morning but she knew Ben-Ben would not leave her unattended. He was beginning to flag although he wouldn’t say so. He would just start drifting down the stream and then paddle furiously to get back by her face. ThornGrip kept nudging him towards shore as she came towards us. I was laying on my side enjoying the soft grass underneath me and the fact that we’d made it through the night.
“It’s not far from here,” Patches said not looking over at me.
“Will we make it while the burning disc is out?”
“If you get up I would imagine anything is possible.”
Ben-Ben couldn’t even make it out of the water without help. ThornGrip had tenderly gripped him around the torso with her mouth and lifted him to shore. He’d fallen asleep before she could place him down.
ThornGrip moved away to shake the excess water from herself before she came back and sat next to Ben-Ben. “He is pretty cute for a dog.”
I shifted my eyes to Patches. I knew she had something to say, but for once she held her tongue. Probably the smartest thing she’d ever done in her life.
“Are you alright?” I asked. I hope she knew I meant because of her wounds and not because of her thoughts about Ben-Ben.
“I will be. Thank you Riley, thank you Patches.” Patches bowed her head ever so slightly. “I heard Patches speaking. I would very much like to reach our destination before dark. I do not believe I could fight another battle like last night this soon.”
“I’ve known Ben-Ben long enough to realize he’s probably going to sleep all day and most of the night,” I said.
“I’ll carry him.”
“You barely look as if you can carry yourself.”
“This coming from the dog that cannot pull her head up long enough to look at me.”
“You know the way back?” I asked Patches. “You’re not going to have Ben-Ben’s help.”
“Please, that dog couldn’t find his beloved bacon if there wasn’t a grease trail.”
“That’s funny.” I grunted as I stood.
ThornGrip flashed her extremely large teeth and picked Ben-Ben up. I shuddered thinking that he would be not much more than a snack if she decided to chew. He sighed contentedly yet did not stir, his back legs and head hanging low on either side of ThornGrip’s mouth.
We were moving slower and slower as the day wore on, stopping occasionally so ThornGrip could swallow properly without a bundle of fur in her mouth. The burning disc had long since passed overhead and was beginning to hide atop the trees.
“We are close Riley,” Patches told me when I looked over to her with a questioning stare.
We were on a two-legger path of hard packed ground, a red four-wheeler up ahead.
“That’s Jess’s wheeler!” I said excitedly. Until I realized she would never drive it again. I took comfort in the dog that had often times ridden in there with his two-legger friend, the one called Talbot.
ThornGrip pulled up short just as we passed the wheeler and had the two-legger home in sight. She placed Ben-Ben down, he finally awoke.
“Whew, I’m exhausted.” He yawned. “Oh look we did it!” He exclaimed happily once he saw the house. “I was so tired I barely remember walking here, it must have been hard because I’m covered in sweat!”
“You don’t remember because you slept the entire time. And dogs don’t sweat,” Patches told him as she swept her tail under her nose.
“Then why am I soaked? I smell good though.”
“I will go no further,” ThornGrip announced. She was looking up at the house with concern.
“Sure, come on. They have food and they’re really nice. I’ll share my bed with you,” Ben-Ben told her.
“Riley, I know part of your pack is in there but you should retrieve him and leave this place. Something is not right here. I smell, I don’t know, something old, something corrupt. It is not a smell that has a place in this world.”
I could smell it too if I concentrated on it. I was convinced whatever had caused it was not here at the moment. I would have to take my chances, we could leave before it came back. Zach was most definitely part of my pack and I would do all that I could to protect him. And right now that meant staying with these two-leggers because we would not be able to do the job on our own out there in the wild.
“I...we have to stay,” I told ThornGrip. “Zach is too young.”
“When you do leave this place, please come find me.”
“Where are you going?”
“I think you know. I will miss you Riley, and even you Patches, you are indeed a beast to be taken seriously.”
Patches’ chest seemed to puff out, although she did her best to pretend ThornGrip’s words did not affect her. ThornGrip turned and began to walk down the path. Ben-Ben looked crestfallen.
“Oh.” She turned. “One more thing. Ben-Ben, yes, perhaps we
would have made beautiful puppies, perhaps a small lick to remember me by.”
Ben-Ben yipped his way all the way to her. A tongue the size of a side of beef, swept along Ben-Ben’s head and down his entire body.
“I love you,” Ben-Ben told her.
“Stay well little one. Perhaps we will meet again.”
“I would like that.”
We all watched until ThornGrip was no longer in sight. Ben-Ben came back up to myself and Patches.
“Love hurts,” he said.
“Sometimes,” I replied.
I barked to get the attention of the two-leggers. A male came out on a deck and was looking down at us.
“That is Ron. He is the brother of the one called Michael and he is the uncle to Justin,” Patches informed me.
“Oh, I just thought he was the food bearer,” Ben-Ben said.
“Are you Riley?” Ron asked as we approached. He got down on one knee and held his hand out for me to smell. “Jess thought you were dead. It’s good to have you here girl.” He gently rubbed the side of my face and behind my ear, I let him. I liked the smell he gave off. There was sadness in the man but strength as well. “Missed you guys too, what were you thinking running off like that? Come on into the house. I have food and treats for all of you.”
“Bacon, bacon, bacon.” Ben-Ben zipped inside.
I cautiously walked in and sniffed around. Zach was sitting on the couch.
“That is Nancy, Ron’s spouse, holding Zach.”
I jumped up onto the couch, placing my head against Zach’s. His fat paws gripped either side of my face. “Riley, I have missed you so. Jess is dead.” He started crying into my fur. We stayed that way a good long time until he was all cried out.
ThornGrip took a few moments to decide what she was going to do when she left Riley at the Old One’s home. It wasn’t much of a debate. She walked through the night not wanting to let a feeling she’d never experienced before creep into her. Loneliness had never been a concern of hers, but the more she was around Riley and the humans, the more she found she liked being around them. She wasn’t sure if she’d stay forever, but it would be nice to have a home to come back to. She was at the edge of the yard, standing next to a few trees watching as Harold chopped wood. He stood, his eyes grew wide, and then he placed the flat of his hand up to shield the sun.
“That you, bear?”
ThornGrip stepped out. “It is, but we are going to have to work on you getting my name correct, like you did with Riley.”
“Mabel has been in a right sad mood since you two left. Where’s Riley? Is she alright?”
ThornGrip snuffed what she hoped was a comforting gesture. It seemed that Harold understood.
“She got home? I’m happy to hear it. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I told Mabel as much, didn’t matter to her, she still made me get as much cereal as I could. Made four trips, got enough cereal to last me a lifetime, but maybe enough for a month with you.”
ThornGrip moved closer to Harold.
“That blood? Come on girl, let’s get you patched up. There’s going to be someone mighty happy to see you.”
Harold opened up the back door, Mabel was in the living room. “That was quick. Are you already done?”
“Mabel, you’re going to want to come here.”
“Did you hurt yourself again?” she asked as she was coming into the kitchen. “Oh, my God!” She dropped her knitting and rushed forward, hugging ThornGrip’s head. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” ThornGrip told her.
“Riley made it home?”
ThornGrip grunted a contented “Yes.”
About the Author
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