strays.”

“Yes Mom.”

“Stay close to the neighborhood.”

“Yes Dad.”

Exiting the house, Wedge left to find some of his friends.

Matt eagerly gnawed on his bone he’d just received from the butcher.  It still had some remnants of meat on it; the butcher must have been in a very good mood today.  He stopped when he heard something all too familiar.  His spirits and ears lifted.  Wedge!  Matt left his bone by the garbage can and tore off to catch up with Wedge.

“Wedge!  Hey, Wedge!  It’s me, Matt!”  He hollered at the top of his lungs.  Wedge did not stop, in fact, it seemed like he’d began to pick up his speed.

We-edge!”

Matt ran fast enough to catch up to Wedge’s bobbing tail.  “Gosh, you run fast,” he panted.  Wedge didn’t give him even a wayward glance.  “I’m talkin’ to you, Bub, so ya’ better reply.”

Wedge stopped in his tracks, Matt crashing into his hind legs.  “What do you want, Matt?” he asked, annoyed.  “Where’re you going?”

There was a long pause before Wedge’s reply.  “To see if anyone’s racing.”

It sounded more like a question than a statement.  Matt laughed.  “There aren’t any races today.”

Another long pause.  “Aw, c’mon Wedge.  Where are you really going?”

“Somewhere,” came Wedge’s reply as he started to trot.  Matt ran to keep up with him.  “Tell me!  Tell me!  Tell me!”

“Shut up!  Shut up!  Shut up!”

“You can’t make me!”

Wedge didn’t notice some of the other dogs on the opposite side of the street watching.  Female dogs.

“What’s the matter, Wedge?  Having an oversized tick problem sucking the life out of you?”  one of them sarcastically asked.  Bounding after Wedge, Matt heard the comment.  I don’t get it.  The girls started giggling, and Matt noticed Wedge speeding up. 

“Hey!”

Too late.  Wedge was already long gone having slipped into one of the alleyways.  Matt trotted to the sidewalk and plopped on his rump.  Where could he have gone?

“Hey Pup!”

Matt looked up.  It was one of the girl dogs.  What’s she want?  “Um, yeah?”

The three females stood now inches away from him.  “Do you want to know where Wedge went?”

Matt perked.  He bobbed his head up and down vigerously.

“He’s heading for the boiler room,” the slender dog with black splotches whispered.  “Just don’t tell him we told you.”  She winked.  “It’s our secret.”

“Sure lady—I mean—Sure thing ma’am,” Matt said before leaving.  Now I’ve got you!

“Cindy!  You sly devil,” one of the girls remarked.  Cindy, the slim dog, smiled wickedly.  “Thank you, Terra.  I’ve always wanted to pull a fast one on Wedge, and the chance just came to my doorstep in a package.”

Her two friends agreed.  “Well I’ll be seeing you two.  Gotta’ run and see what happens.  Can’t resist these old set ups, you know.”

“Bye!”

“Tell us how it turns out!”

Cindy went on her way.  Deep down inside, she knew what she’d done was just a small pebble rather than a large rock it couldn’t do much damage.  But maybe Roscoe and the others can.

Wedge hesitated before entering the boiler room.  First, he didn’t know whether or not he should’ve come here, and secondly, he wondered why his parents wanted him out of the house so badly.  Mentioning the strays made them jumpy.  What if they know something about these dogs?  Wait, how could they have relations with a bunch of dogs that are so vicious?  Why, even?  A throat being cleared interrupted his thoughts.

“Oh, uh—“ he turned to see who exactly it was.  “Hi Kodi.”

Kodi beamed.  “So your parents finally released you from their dungeon, eh?”

Wedge mustered up a grin.  “Sort of.  I got in trouble last night and they let me off easy.”

Kodi cocked his head.  “Is something bugging you?”

Wedge didn’t know how his friend could “read minds”, but he guessed that he probably read his body language.  I could tell someone about last night, I’ve been needing to explain it to someone who knows me, anyhow.

“I have to tell you something.  It’s about some dogs I saw last night; I think they may actually be wolves.”

Chapter Three

Evon ran it over in his head.  “It doesn’t make sense.  It just doesn’t make any sense.  Why would a bunch of dogs attack things at night, then go into hiding during the day?”

“Maybe they’re werewolves,” Carolina said jokingly.  “Carol, your jokes aren’t helping a bit.”

Seriousness returned to Carolina’s face.  “I’m sorry, Evon.  It just gives me the creeps that if we tried to go visit someone in the evening we could get jumped.”  Worry flooded into her voice.  “And it happened to Wedge.  What if those dogs have rabies?  They could’ve transmitted it to him.”

“Carolina, calm down.  There’s no need to worry as long as we stay indoors at nighttime.”  His voice lowered.  “We should keep a close eye on Wedge though, you never know if they really did have some sort of strain.”

Evon nuzzled Carolina affectionately.  I’ll stay up and see where they’re coming from.  Maybe I could find some backup from my old friends—or my team.

“There you are!”

Wedge ceased talking in the middle of his sentence and cringed.  Oh, great.  Matt’s here.  Matt invited himself to sit with Kodi and Wedge.  “Dang…you run pretty fast,” he commented.  Only when I’m embarrassed and an annoying puppy’s chasing me.  “I know.”

“Ever considered racing?”

“No, not really. I’m not that into it like my dad.”

“Your dad’s a great racer!  I’d love to be on his team!”

“I’m sure you’d make it.”

“Your story…?” Kodi reminded.  “Um, Matt, could you excuse us?”

Matt waved a paw.  “You’re excused.  Where you going to burp or somethin’?”

Wedge motioned for the boiler room.  Kodi got the message and they both left Matt as he babbled on.

“…Or were you going to excuse me because you were going to leave?”  Matt opened his eyes and looked around.  “Guys?  Aw, man.  They ditched me.”

                                                                        *

“So you think that theses dogs are actually wolves?”  Kodi inquired.  “Why?”

“For one thing, they were a whole lot bigger than me; probably even my dad.”

“Did you get a good look at them, or is this just a guess?”

“OK, they felt big.”

Kodi got up and jumped unto a couple of crates piled up against the window.

“They came at night, huh?  Maybe their food supplies out there are low.”

Wedge shook his head.  “Already considered that.  If they came into town for food, why would they go around attacking random dogs too?”

“They don’t like dogs…?” Kodi suggested. 

“Nah.  I think that there’s something—No—someone here who they want to take back.”

“Sirmiq,” Kodi said, facing Wedge.  “It’s Sirmiq.  She’s what they want.”

With a loud BANG, Cindy slammed the door against the wall.  Wedge suppressed an agitated growl.  She’s been eavesdropping!  “Cindy, get lost.  We’re talking,” Wedge barked.  Cindy strode in.  “You think that can drive me away?  So who’s this ‘Sirmiq’ gal you guys were talking about anyways?  You both like her?”

Wedge rose to his feet.  “I said go away.”

“Not unless you tell me who Sirmiq is.  Then I’ll leave.”

Wedge glimpsed a look at Kodi.  He just shrugged. 

“A wolf-dog.  Now beat it.”

Cindy studied him closely.  “I heard something about those mongrels being under her thumb.  Is this true?”

“We don’t know,” Wedge truthfully replied.  A shifty smile replaced Cindy’s frown.  “Thanks for the info, boys.  But you should’ve been more sensible, because I’m known to gossip.”  She winked and left the boiler room.  Kodi jumped down from the window.  He sat next to Wedge quietly.  Here it comes…Three…Two…One… 

“Why did you tell her about Sirmiq?!” Kodi blurted,