The Adventures of Kia

The Adventures of Kia

Chapter 3: The Secret

Kia woke up to find Jamie looking at him from on top of a crate.

My isn’t this getting old, thought Kia, I wonder if she wakes up extra early just to stare at me.

Kia got up and looked around.

No Balto.

Kia mentally shrugged.

I guess he’s still bummed about getting thrown out by Jamie, he thought.

Kia got up, went to the door and looked back.

Jamie was still sitting on the crate, now with her head between her paws.

Good, thought Kia, she’s not following me.

Kia walked outside and looked around. No one. He walked around to the back of the shed failing to see a shape on the shadows of the log pile behind the shed. Kia changed into a dog and was heading back in when he heard footsteps.

Oh great, moaned Kia, who could that be?

He turned around to see Balto running up to him.

“Hey Balto,” said Kia in a shaky voice, “what’s going on?”

“What’s going on?” Balto half shouted, “ What going on? You pulling some weird mumbo jumbo and being a human and then a dog. That’s what’s going on!”

“Look,” said Kia in a voice that barely hid the panic he was feeling,” I don’t know what you’re talking about so…”

“That is so cool,” said Balto.

“Huh?” Kia looked at Balto with a disbelieving expression on his face.

“Why didn’t you tell me?,” said Balto practically jumping around, “Why didn’t you say something? Why…”

“Whoa, whoa slow down,” said Kia after a few unsuccessful tries at getting Balto out of his questioning rant. “Now, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know how you would react to me if I told you that I was part human. Do you think that you would believe me if I did?”

“Well, I suppose not,” said Balto with grin, “but still, this is so cool!”

“And why,” asked Kia, “is it so cool?”

“Because,” said Balto, "there is a human that looks at me and doesn’t shy away or reject me for what I look like.”

“And that is exactly why I didn’t want to tell anyone," Kia said. “How do you think people will react if they think or know that I have this power? How do you think other dogs will treat me and those who are associated with me? It would be worse than they treat you. You at least have one group that will eventually accept you, but for me I will always be stuck between the world of dogs and men.”

“Well,” said Balto after digesting all of this, “I don’t know what I can do.”

“Not say anything to anyone for whatever reason,” said Kia slowly and deliberately, “not even to Jamie.”

“Why can’t she know,” asked Balto, “after all you are sharing rooms with her.”

“For one because she is a woman,” said Kia, “and women tend to tell things they shouldn’t.”

“Hey,” said a voice, “what’s this about bashing women?”

“Nothing,” said Balto and Kia together.

“Not a word,” whispered Kia, “Not a word, or I swear you will regret it.”

“Don’t worry,” Balto whispered back, “your secret is safe with me.”

“So,” said Jamie walking up to Kia and leaning against him,” what say I show you around this town?”

She walked around Kia making sure that her tail brushed under his chin.

Oh goody, thought Kia, nothing worse than a girl who thinks that I actually care for her when really I was just messing around. But I need to play along for now. You can’t get involved, and besides she’s Balto’s girl as far as I’m concerned and he knows my secret. I can’t have him mad. But I can’t have Jamie mad because she might get upset with the me and drive me out. Then where can I stay if I can’t change into a wolf-dog. This is very frustrating.

While all this thinking was going on, Balto watched Jamie shamelessly flirt with Kia with a mixture of dislike and longing on his face. Jamie meanwhile took no notice of Balto and continued to whisper semisweet nothings into Kia’s ear and talk about how much fun they would have that day. Finally Balto could stand it no more.

“So,” said Balto in a hoarse tone, “are we going to stand here all day or are we going to see the town.”

“Great idea,” said Kia with a relieved expression on his face.

Jamie took one last hard look at Kia, then turned around and headed for Applegate with Kia and Balto in tow.

“Wow,” said Kia upon entering town,” I’ve never seen so many buildings.”

“You mean you never saw any cities when you were with your pack?” Jamie asked surprised.

“I stayed out of them when I was with my pack,” Kia said.

“So,” said Jamie with a smile, “what do you want to see first?”

“Well,” said Kia a little unsure, “what do you recommend?”

“Hey,” said Balto, “let’s go to the weekend meeting at the mill.”

“That’s a great idea,” said Jamie, “I’m sure everyone will want to meet Kia.”

“Oh,” Kia fidgeted nervously, “I don’t know. What if they aren’t especially friendly towards wolves?”

“Oh don’t be silly,” laughed Jamie, “everyone there respects those of wolf heritage.”

“How do you know?” asked Kia.

“Well,” Jamie said with a knowing expression, “they’ve been friendly enough with Balto, and he’s about as close as you can get to being wolf without being one.”

“Well,” Kia said reluctantly, “alright.”

Jamie walked towards the far end of town with Kia and Balto behind her. When they finally stopped, they were in front of the old mill.

“Well,” said Kia walking up to the door and nudging it open, “let’s get this over with. After you.”

“Oh, such a gentleman,” Jamie giggled and walked in.

Balto walked in next and looked hard at Kia. Kia just shrugged his shoulders and followed him in. Once inside, Kia saw a large square room with a bunch of dogs sitting around talking. They all turned as the three entered.

“Well now, what’s this,” said a dog walking up to Kia and looking him up and down and then turning to Jamie,” who is this?”

“Oh, him?” said Jamie nodding her head toward Kia,” Just a stray I found a few days ago.”

“Oh,” said the dog turning to Kia,” name’s Avalon. Hope you’re having a good time with Jamie here. She hasn’t given you too much trouble has she?”

“Oh no,” said Kia looking over at Jamie who smiled at him.

“Good, good,” said Avalon, “well don’t just stand there waiting for summer to come, come on in.”

They all walking in and joined the circle, Balto being last to come and last to sit and not failing to notice that they failed to notice him.

“So,” said Avalon, “where are you from Kia?”

“Well,” said Kia unsure if he would make a fool of himself in a dog congregation, “I use to live in the hill by the north side of town by the hills and forest.”

“Oh,” said one female dog who Kia had noticed had been staring a lot at him, “what was it like being out in the wild?”

“Well…,” began Kia.

“Did you ever meet any humans like that boy who lives out there in that old house near there?” the female asked.

Kia looked at her for a moment, “I might have. And your name was…?”

The female giggled.

“Oh, my name is Mara.”

“Well Mara,” said Kia, “I’ve been in that area once twice. Why do you ask?”

“Oh well,” said Mara, “I thought I might have seen some hulking form like yourself around there.”

(Shoot. Nothing better than an actual flirtatious freak of nature. At least I can tell that Jamie is only trying to make Balto jealous, but this woman is really just a big flirt machine.)

“Look,” said Kia, “thanks for the compliments and the flattery but I, first of all, came here with Jamie, second, I came to see the sights, no to pick up women. I could have done that very easily at any old place.”

Mara’s simpering smile flickered ever so slightly, but snapped back in a second.

“Oh, but you can see lots of good sights with me, mostly me.”

“Thanks for the offer,” said Kia with a smile, “but I prefer buildings.”

“Well alright then,” said Mara with a coy smile, “but I have a feeling you might change your mind before long.”

With that Mara walked past the group toward the door, flicking Kia with her tail on the way out.

When she had left, Avalon looked at Kia and whistled, “Wow. My word, that was astonishing.”

“What?” asked Kia, “What was so amazing? All I did was tell her to back up two steps.”

“Well yea,” said Avalon shifting a bit, “but don’t you know?”

Kia looked at him.

“Know what?” he asked.

“Well,” said Avalon, “she the town gossip and uh…entertainer.”

“Uh huh,” said Kia,” so what again is the big deal?”

“Well no one else except one other dog has flat out blown her off and come very close to insulting her,” said Avalon. “It’s a very dangerous thing to do.”

“And why,” asked Kia cocking

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