Doglands Read Free

felt good.
    “Your brain is bigger than a greyhound’s too,” she said. “But don’t worry about me. As long as I’m the fastest, Dedbone won’t do me any harm. And I aim to be the fastest for a long time.”
    Furgul had another thought, even more horrible than the last.
    “But what about Nessa and Eena and Brid? They must be lurchers like me. Does that mean Dedbone will think they’re worthless too?”
    Keeva’s eyes darkened. “That’s why I want you to escape tonight. You can show them how it’s done. If you can do it tonight, maybe they can do it tomorrow.”
    Furgul loved Nessa and Eena and Brid. He looked at them snoozing together in a heap at the back of the whelping cage. They were beautiful and good. How could they be worthless, just because they weren’t pure? Furgul’s throat trembled with a growl.
    “Will you do this for me and for your sisters?” asked Keeva. “Will you be brave and make me proud?”
    “Yes,” said Furgul. He swallowed his rage. “I’ll make you proud.”
    The sun began to sink in the gold and crimson sky beyond the mountain. Furgul knew that soon it would be time to make his escape. Keeva had told him not to tell his sisters, in case they became too excited and gave away the plan. That meant Furgul could not say goodbye to them, and this washard. But he was strong and he obeyed his mother.
    He practiced the plan in his mind until it felt perfect. He knew he could get to the truck and jump into the crate and hide beneath the newspapers. At least he would be with Keeva on the journey to the track. He would snuggle right up to her belly all the way. He knew he could hide until he heard the cheers of the gamblers. He knew he could escape from the parking lot. After that—when he was free—he had no plan at all.
    Furgul was scared. But he thought of the father he had never seen, the mysterious outlaw—the legend, the ghost, the vision—named Argal. And he thought of his mother, Keeva, the fastest and the most beautiful. And he thought of his sisters, Nessa and Eena and Brid. And even if he did not know what he would do when he was free, he knew that he would make them all proud. Or he would die.
    “Furgul,” said Keeva. “Get ready.”
    Through the bars of their cage Furgul saw Dedbone walking toward them.
    All masters were bigger than the greyhounds, but Dedbone was a monster. He had a big head with greasy black hair and a neck as thick as a tree trunk. He had strong arms and meaty hands with knuckles like big red walnuts for punching the dogs. His belly spilled from his pants as he swaggered across the yard, kicking up sparks from the soles of his steel-toed boots. His mouth was scarred and twisted. His eyes were small and dead, like pellets of sheep dung. Hedevoured a leg of fried chicken as he came, and the hungry dogs watched him from their crates and licked their lips.
    Behind Dedbone came the two bullmastiffs, slavering from their big fat mouths and flashing their big sharp teeth. Walking next to Dedbone was another master, whom Furgul had never seen before. He had eyes like sheep dung too, but he wasn’t half as big as Dedbone. Furgul had the feeling he was one of the masters who gambled on the dogs to make money. They stopped at the cage, and Dedbone pointed at Keeva and puffed out his chest.
    “Boast, boast, boast!” droned Dedbone.
    Dogs learned a few words of the master tongue, the ones that they heard all the time like “No!” and “Sit!” and “Go!” and “Cage!” and “Bad boy!” But the rest was mainly gibberish. The masters thought they were clever, but the fact was that dogs could learn at least a little of the human tongue, whereas masters were too stupid, or too lazy, to learn any of the dog tongue at all.
    Not a single word.
    Dogs didn’t need to understand all human words because they could read what humans were feeling. Most humans couldn’t read dogs at all. In fact, they couldn’t even read each other. Furgul couldn’t translate