Doglands Read Free Page A

what Dedbone was saying, but he knew the sound of boasting when he heard it.
    “Brag, brag, brag!” bragged Dedbone.
    After being angry and nasty, which he was more often than not, Dedbone liked to brag and boast more than anythingin the world. Keeva said he liked to gloat and wave a big fat wad of cash, especially when he beat his friends at the races. Most of all he liked to boast about Keeva. To hear Dedbone talk you’d think that he was the one who ran the races.
    Dedbone threw away the chicken leg. The hungry greyhounds watched as the Bulls squabbled for it. Dedbone bent closer to Keeva’s cage. His face was blotchy and red. His hairy nostrils flared at the stink from the unwashed concrete floor. Yet his own breath stank of something so vile it made Furgul feel dizzy just to sniff it.
    “Gloat, gloat, gloat!” Dedbone went on.
    But then the other man—the Gambler—pointed at Furgul.
    “Sneer, sneer, sneer!” sneered the Gambler.
    Suddenly Furgul felt very bad, though he wasn’t sure why.
    The Gambler stabbed his crooked finger at Nessa and Eena and Brid.
    Though he still didn’t know why, Furgul felt even worse.
    The Gambler scoffed and laughed. “Scoff, scoff, scoff! Jeer, jeer, jeer!”
    Dedbone’s face turned even redder than usual. He scratched his head, and greasy white dust tumbled over his shoulders. His eyebrows squirmed and his mouth went all pouty with rage. He bent over and stared at Furgul through the bars of the cage. He stared for a long, long time.
    Furgul stared back at Dedbone. He’d never seen a human face at such close range before. Dedbone was ugly, but thepocked skin, the bad teeth, the red nose and the pale dog-bite scars didn’t bother Furgul at all. What bothered him was Dedbone’s stare. Furgul felt as if the stare were sucking the life from his marrow.
    Keeva let out a whimper of alarm.
    Furgul had never heard Keeva whimper before.
    Dedbone and the Gambler turned around and walked away. The Gambler was still laughing. He seemed to be laughing at Dedbone. Dedbone was so angry he couldn’t even shout. The Bulls lingered behind and grinned and slavered at Keeva through the bars. The Bulls didn’t have dog names. They answered only to the names that the masters gave them—Tic for the male, and Tac for the female.
    “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” said Tic.
    “Who’s been a naughty girl, then?” said Tac.
    Tic and Tac barked together—“Rowf, rowf, rowf!”—which was their way of laughing. Then they turned and followed Dedbone across the yard.
    Keeva paced around the cage in a state of panic. The girls woke up.
    “Mama, what’s wrong?” asked Brid.
    “You’re scared, Mama,” said Nessa.
    “Yes,” said Eena. “What’s wrong?”
    Keeva stopped pacing so the sisters wouldn’t be frightened. “Nothing, my loves,” she said. “I’m just nervous about the race.”
    Furgul didn’t believe that this was the reason. A racecould never make her nervous. He tried to catch her eye, but Keeva avoided him. Suddenly Furgul realized what had just happened. And he knew that he wouldn’t be escaping after all.
    “They know, don’t they?” asked Furgul.
    Keeva still could not look at him. She didn’t answer.
    “The Gambler could see what we are,” said Furgul. “He told Dedbone that we’re not real greyhounds—we’re not pure—we’re just lurchers—”
    “Enough!” said Keeva.
    She looked at Furgul. Her brown eyes were filled with a sadness so deep that Furgul wanted to cry. He wanted to lick her face to make her feel better. But Keeva turned away again. Nessa and Eena and Brid huddled together at the back of the cage and said nothing. Keeva hurried over and crooned a song to comfort them. The sisters crowded beneath her legs and licked the teats on her belly to show that they loved her. Furgul wanted to join them. Instead he stood tall and waited by the door of the cage.
    “What do you want me to do, Mam?” he asked.
    Keeva stopped crooning. For a moment she