Toby Part 10: Suspicious Minds
“There! Right there!”
Toby’s pulse raced as he focused on the task before him. Terra zipped across the room, and Toby ran after her. They collided against a stack of bags, crashing skulls in the process.
Toby rose to his feet, dazed from the impact. “You okay?” he asked.
Terra nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
Toby smiled. “Good. Now, where were we…?”
“Hey, Luna.”
Luna, who had been relaxing in the sun on her front porch, looked up to see her sisters, Phoebe and Haley, coming in her direction. “Oh, hi,” she said. “How’s it going?”
Haley shrugged in that signature way of hers that meant she was onto some juicy piece of gossip and trying not to show it. “Oh, nothing much. How are things going with you and Toby?”
“Never better,” Luna replied. It had been exactly two weeks since she had accepted Toby’s proposal, and those fourteen days had been the happiest days of her life.
Haley and Phoebe exchanged a worried look, which didn’t bother Luna one bit. Her sisters were terrible gossips, and anything that went normally was sure to leave them disappointed, worried, or both. “So there’s no… problems?” asked Phoebe.
“None,” answered Luna. “Why do you ask?”
“Because we saw…” Phoebe started to say before a look from Haley stopped her.
“Has Toby been acting… strange lately?” asked Haley.
Luna smiled. “He’s Toby, remember? If he weren’t acting strange I’d be worried.”
“Not what I meant,” said Haley.
Luna tilted her head. “Then what do you mean?”
Phoebe sighed. “Well, we hate to be the bearers of bad news…”
‘That’s a switch,’ thought Luna, rolling her eyes.
“… but yesterday we saw Toby going into the granary with somebody.”
“So?”
“He was with a female dog,” Haley clarified. “They were talking about something she didn’t sound like she wanted to do, but he said they had to do it. A few minutes after they went inside, we heard a lot of barking from the second floor.”
“So?” asked Luna. She knew her sisters well enough to guess what they were implying, and she knew Toby well enough to know it was stupid.
“There was more,” added Haley. “They stayed in there for about an hour, and when they came out they both looked kinda tired. She said thanks, she was glad they did it, and he suggested they do it the same time today.”
“So just what are you driving at?” she asked. She already knew, but she wanted to make them say it.
“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Phoebe. “He’s two-timing on you.”
Luna shook her head. ‘Here we go again,’ she thought. “Phoebe, the last time you thought a guy was cheating on his mate, he was working on a surprise for their anniversary.”
“This is different,” insisted Haley. “Today we went back there at the same time and followed them inside the bakery. They went back to the second floor and shut the door behind them, so we couldn’t see what was going on. All we heard was a lot of growling and barking and running, like he was chasing her or something.”
“And he said lots of stuff, too,” added Phoebe. “He called her a ‘feisty one,’ and said she was ‘good at this for a beginner.’”
Luna shook her head. “You two have been listening to too many rumors,” she said. “It’s starting to effect your minds.” ‘Not that there’s much to effect,’ she thought to herself. She loved her sisters, but… well, they had always been a little scatterbrained. In fact, she suspected that if somebody took a look in their heads, that person would see something with all the sense of a magnetic game of pick-up-sticks.
“We’re telling you, Sis, he’s playing you for a dope,” insisted Haley.
Luna shook her head. “Toby’s not that kind of dog.” She got up and headed inside. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got other stuff on my mind.” As an afterthought she stuck her head out the dog-door and added, “And for once in your lives, don’t go spreading rumors around.”
Her sisters shrugged and agreed. As they left, Phoebe asked Haley, “Do you think we should’ve told her we brought our friends to the granary the second time around?”
Haley shook her head. “Nah, she’s bothered enough already.”
Luna almost laughed at what her sisters had said. Toby double-dealing? It wasn’t possible. Why, there were dozens of logical reasons why he might be going to the granary every day.
With a strange female…
Shutting himself in a room with her…
Running around and making strange noises…
She shook her head. ‘No, Toby’s not like that,’ she thought. ‘Besides, we don’t keep secrets from each other. We tell each other everything.’ She would have just shaken it off except she knew that her sisters never told an outright lie. Embellish, yes. Lie, no. If they claimed to have seen or heard an event, they were bound to be telling at least fifty percent truth.
‘So,’ she wondered, ‘which half is true, and which half is made-up?’
Toby decided to pay a visit to Luna, now that he was finished with his other business. He trotted down the street, heading for her house. ‘That’s odd,’ he thought as he came in sight and saw the empty front porch. ‘Usually she likes to lie in the sun this time of day.’
“Luna?” he called as he stuck his head in the pet flap.
Luna came into the room and jerked at the sight of him, as if she were surprised to see him. “Oh, hello Toby.”
Toby frowned. “Do I have something on my face?” he asked as he stepped inside.
Luna shook her head. “No, why?”
“Well, you just seem a little…” he searched for a word other than strange. “…jumpy,” he finally said.
Luna nodded. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just wasn’t expecting you to drop in, that’s all.”
Toby nodded. “Well, you should know by now that I’m full of surprises.”
‘More than I can imagine, I’ll bet,’ she thought before she caught herself. ‘What am I thinking?!’ she mentally yelled. “Oh, I know,” she replied.
They sat down and started talking like they usually would, although Luna was mostly pretending to have her mind on the conversation. Toby was so confused by her awkward state that he asked several times if she was feeling sick, even asking at one point if she was expecting puppies.
“No,” Luna replied each time, adding a little extra edge to her voice when he brought up the subject of puppies. To change the subject, and to check an idea that had occurred to her just then, she asked, “Hey, did you happen to pass by the granary any time today?”
Toby blinked in surprise. “Yeah, now that you mention it I sorta did,” he admitted.
Luna simultaneously rejoiced that he was at least admitting it (and therefore it couldn’t be anything too bad), and worried that apparently her sisters’ story might be true after all. But she kept her reaction on the inside. Outwardly, all she did was ask, “Did you happen to see any of your brothers there?”
Toby furrowed his brow. ‘What’s going on here?’ he wondered. “No, I don’t think so,” he answered. “Why?”
Disappointed, Luna mentally scratched the possibility of mistaken identity even as she remembered that none of Toby’s brothers looked like him. She scrambled for an answer that wouldn’t sound suspicious, crazy, or both. “Oh, just curious,” she replied. “Was anyone with you?”
Toby was getting very anxious by now. ‘Does she know?’ he wondered. He tried to figure out a way to dodge the question. “Yeah, I happened to be with a… friend,” he admitted.
Luna perked her ears. “Who?” she asked.
“Oh, uh… nobody you’d know.” Toby was really wishing Luna would stop asking him questions. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”
Luna’s suspicions were rising, but she suddenly felt embarrassed. How could she doubt Toby, after all? Especially when her only reason to be suspicious was a story from her sisters,
“Oh.” Toby relaxed. “Well, I bumped into someone I know who needed a little help, so I decided to see what I could do. Like I said, it wasn’t anybody you know. Maybe I’ll introduce the two of you sometime.”
Luna nodded. “I’d like that,” she agreed, mentally adding, ‘I’d like that veerrryy much…’
Toby was relieved when Luna asked no further questions on the subject. ‘For a moment there, I thought I’d have to tell her,’ he thought.
After Toby left sometime later, Luna sat down to think. Okay, so he’d admitted to going by the granary with a female dog whom he wouldn’t identify. He still hadn’t admitted to going inside, nor had he indicated that they had done anything in there. ‘It’s just silly,’ she thought. ‘He’s not the type to pull a stunt like that. Still…’
The following morning, Luna watched as Toby left the house. To her worry, if not much to her surprise, he headed for the granary. She followed him, slinking from one hiding spot to the next. ‘No problemo,’ she thought to herself. ‘I’ll just follow him, find out what he’s doing, and then go shut up my sisters. And if he is…’ she shook her head. ‘Luna, don’t be stupid,’ she told herself. She began to follow Toby, darting in and out of hiding.
“Hey, what’s up?” asked a dog who saw Luna dashing from a woodpile to a garbage can. “Aren’t you…?”
Luna jumped three feet in the air and quickly spun around. “Shh!” she hissed, worried that Toby would catch her following him. “I’m trying to follow my mate, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh,” whispered the dog with a chuckle. “Planning a surprise for him, huh?”
Luna thought carefully before answering. “You might say that.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you alone.” And the dog left, much to Luna’s relief.
‘Now where did Toby go?’ she wondered, scanning the crowd of people and dogs. There was no sign of him. ‘He must have slipped away,’ she thought. She considered going to the granary anyway, but decided against it. ‘If I went there, he might catch me and wonder what I was doing there,’ she reasoned. ‘Besides, this whole thing is a waste of time. Toby wouldn’t do anything sneaky- at least not to me.’ And she walked away, hoping that she was right.
Meanwhile, Toby was just a short distance from the granary when he heard noises coming from an alley. Peering in, he saw an older male dog cornering a grayish husky only slightly younger than Toby himself. “Come on,” the female whimpered plaintively. “I just wanna…”
“No!” growled the big dog. “And if you say another word, I'll...”
“Hey!” barked Toby. “Leave her alone, mutt!”
The other dog turned an angry gaze on Toby. “Don’t butt in, junior,” he growled. “This is between me and her.” He turned back to the female and bared his teeth. “Now then…”
Toby lunged and caught the older dog by the back of the neck. The dog twisted around and tried to bite Toby in the flank, but the younger dog outmaneuvered him and gave a violent jerk, trying to throw his opponent off-balance. The two grappled for several minutes and exchanged several heavy blows before Toby managed to throw the older dog into the street. He braced himself in anticipation of a counterattack, but the dog just picked himself up, looked at him, and snorted. “Fine,” he growled, walking away. “She’s all yours.”
Toby looked after the older dog in confusion for a moment, then turned his attention to the female. “You okay?” he asked, panting.
She nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” She frowned. “That guy has problems, seriously. I just wanted to talk, and…”
“Don’t let it worry you,” Toby consoled her. “You’ll be fine now. I’m Toby.”
“Violet,” she replied, stepping forward. “Thanks for the save, Toby. You were great.”
Toby nodded. “Well, if you’re alright then I guess I should be going.”
She giggled. “What’s the hurry?” she asked. “Don’t you want to talk a bit?” In response to Toby’s confused expression, she continued, “See, I’m new in town. My house is the green one just a block from here on Blizzard Street. I was hoping to find a friend here…” she trailed off, giving him a look which he interpreted as hoping he could help find her friend.
“Anyone in particular?” he inquired.
“Oh, just someone tough and brave and gentlemanly,” she said in a tone that reminded Toby of how Luna had talked several times since they became mates.
“Oh, I see.” Toby gulped. There was no denying that Violet was very attractive. “Listen, Violet, I…”
He didn’t get a chance to finish. Instead, he found himself mouth-to-mouth with the strange female.
From across the street, Phoebe and Haley watched with interested disapproval. “Well,” said Phoebe, “We’ve got him dead to rights now.”
Haley shook her head. “Luna’s not gonna be happy about this,” she said in a low voice.
As they walked away, Phoebe remarked, “It’s kinda hard to believe. I mean, Toby always seemed so honest.”
“It’s the quiet ones you have to worry about,” replied Haley.
Luna stared at her sisters. “Did you two hit your heads or something?” she demanded.
“We’re telling you, sis, we saw the whole thing!” insisted Phoebe. “He chased off another dog who was bothering her, and then they talked, and then they kissed!”
“And it wasn’t even the same dog he was visiting at the bakery,” added Haley. “He’s double-two-timing you.”
“Yeah, he’s…” Phoebe stopped and seemed to be thinking hard. Luna resisted an urge to warn her not to strain herself, and finally Phoebe blurted out, “Triple-timing you!”
Luna scowled. “You’re crazy, you know that?” she asked as her fur started to rise. At the moment she looked pretty close to crazy herself, but her sisters wisely decided not to say so. “Both of you are just plain crazy. You can’t even handle simple math, and you’re trying to tell me that Toby’s cheating on me? Even for gossips like you, that’s beyond stupid.”
Phoebe blinked, surprised at Luna’s harsh tone and vicious posture. “But we saw…”
“You saw what you wanted to see!” snapped Luna. “Now I want you out.”
Haley tried to calm Luna down. “Now, Luna, I know you feel hurt, but…”
“The only ones hurting me right now are you two with your giant mouths and empty heads!” Luna shouted. “Now both of you just get lost before I do something we’ll all regret!”
Phoebe looked to Haley for direction. “Come one, Phoebe,” advised Haley. “We’d better give her so time to calm down.”
Luna snatched up her dog dish in her teeth and flung it, managing to deliver a hard blow to Haley as she left. “Better give me plenty of time!” she shouted. She watched as the pet flap swung closed and the dog dish landed on the floor, breaking in two. With a snort, Luna stomped over to the rug by the fire and threw herself down. ‘Why won’t they just leave me alone?’ she wondered. ‘What do they know?’
But where her sisters were wearing away at her before, now even her own thoughts gave her no peace. ‘Maybe they weren’t just seeing things,’ said a nagging voice in her mind. ‘Maybe Toby really is…’ she shook her head. ‘No, he wouldn’t. Not Toby, and definitely not this soon. Heck, we’ve only been mates for two weeks.’ But as she went on arguing with herself, her trust started to slip.
‘I’ll follow him again tomorrow,’ she decided. ‘This time I’ll find out for sure.’
As planned, Luna trailed Toby all the way to the granary the following afternoon. Hoping to avoid being seen, she slipped into a crowd of dogs nearby and watched as Toby approached a sandy-colored female dog outside the granary.
“Toby!” the dog barked. “Thanks for showing up! I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to get here!”
‘She’s excited,’ noted Luna, ‘but that’s no crime. I’m usually excited to see him too.’ But the rising suspicion in her mind argued, ‘You have a reason. What’s hers?’
“Yeah, I’m here,” replied Toby. “I told you I’d come. Now let’s get up there and I’ll show you how it’s done.”
The girl laughed a little. “Did you make that rhyme up yourself?”
Toby shrugged. “No, it just came out. I’ll have to remember it the next time I drop by Luna’s.”
Luna’s heart sank as Toby followed the female into the building. Still, there might be a logical explanation. Maybe she was a friend of his, just like he’d said. But what had Toby meant by, “Show you how it’s done?” With a sickening sense of distrust, she followed them inside. She got there just in time to hear the door upstairs close.
Soon after, strange noises emitted from the closed door. She could hear running, as if Toby were chasing the female around. “You’re getting better at this,” he said at one point.
‘No, it’s not possible…’ Luna thought. But those sounds and more talking kept coming until finally Luna left in despair and disgust. It looked like her sisters had been right after all.
‘I gave him everything,’ she thought. ‘I gave him my love, my support, myself… and he went and threw it away.’ Love had been a challenge sometimes, and support wasn’t always that easy either. But most of the time they had been pleasant to give, and the last had never been anything but a joy up until now. But now she felt as if she had taken everything she had and thrown it to a pig.
After about an hour, Toby nodded to Terra. “I’d better get going,” he said.
“Thanks, Toby,” she said with a smile. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”
“Good,” Toby grinned. “I’m going to go see Luna again. She’s been acting kind of strange the last couple of days. I think somebody might have seen us around here and told her about it.”
“Uh-oh,” remarked Terra.
Toby nodded. “You know, maybe I should just tell her…”
“No!” insisted Terra. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!”
“Oh, alright,” groaned Toby, although it killed him to keep a secret from Luna, especially now.
“OK, see you,” called Terra as Toby nosed the door open and left.
As Toby exited the building he ran smack into the unwelcome face of Pete. “Toby,” chuckled Pete, as if they were old buddies. “How’s it going?”
“Until now, just fine,” Toby muttered.
“So, I hear you’re a bad boy now, huh?” asked Pete.
“Bad boy?” asked Toby. “What does that mean?”
“You and what’s-her-name up there,” replied Pete with a nasty grin. “You’re giving Luna the runaround, aren’t ya?”
Toby growled. “No, I’m not,” he snapped. “I wouldn’t even think of doing that to her, and you know it. I’m just helping someone learn to… do her job, that’s all.”
“Well,” replied Pete offhandedly, “you might want to tell her that.”
Toby’s eyes widened. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked testily.
“Well, not that I really care, but I saw Luna running out of here about an hour ago. It looked like she might even be crying.”
“Oh, good Lord, no,” gasped Toby. Without any further thought about his urge to rearrange his brother, he ran off toward Luna’s house.
“If she ditches you, tell her I’m available,” taunted Pete.
‘I’d rather die,’ thought Toby.
Luna lay on the floor, crying. “How could he?” she asked the empty room over and over again. “How could he do this to me? I love him, and he knew that. He…”
“Luna!” came a voice at the door, interrupting her misery.
Luna lifted her tear-soaked head. “Go away!” she sobbed. “I know it’s you, Toby.”
“Luna, please, let me explain…” Toby called, unsure how he could do so without breaking his promise to Terra.
Luna got up and came to the door. “This had better be good.”
Toby licked a tear away from her eye, making her flinch away. “Toby, don’t do that,” she told him in a voice that was halfway between a plea and a threat.
“Luna, I know you think I’ve been double-crossing you, and it’s not true.”
“Then what were you doing up there with that… that…” she trailed off, not even able to finish her sentence.
Toby sighed. “Terra,” he answered. “Her name is Terra. Listen, I can’t tell you everything, but I promise I would never do anything like that. She just has something she has to do, and she asked me to help her do it. That’s all.”
Luna was starting to calm down a bit, although Toby wasn’t sure if that meant she believed him or was just giving in to despair. “What kind of ‘something?’” she asked.
He groaned. “I, uh… can’t tell you that.”
She sighed. “I wish I could believe you, but I just don’t think I can.”
Toby was desperate. “Please, Luna. I love you more than anything, you know that.”
“Then why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Toby paused to think for a moment. “Alright,” he conceded. “Just give me one day to get Terra’s permission to tell you.”
“Why do you have to ask her?”
“She made me promise not to tell because she’s embarrassed about her job. I can’t explain everything right now, but I promise. If I don’t explain everything by sunset tomorrow, you can… you can… you can do anything you want to me. You can even kill me if you want.”
Luna lifted her head. “Toby, even if you’re lying I don’t want to do anything to you. I just want you not to do this to me.”
“I’m not, honest. I just need a little time.”
She nodded. “Alright,” she conceded. “One day.”
Toby sighed with relief. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” As he turned and left he added, “If not sooner.”
Suddenly remembering something, Luna stuck her head out the pet flap. “Toby!” she called.
Toby turned. “Yes?”
Luna opened her mouth to ask about the dog in the alley, then changed her mind. “Don’t let me down,” she said instead.
Toby nodded. “I won’t. I promise.”
Luna withdrew her head and lay down once more by the fire. ‘He said he wouldn’t let me down,’ she thought. ‘And he never has. He’ll come through.’ But another part of her mind asked, ‘If he was being honest, why didn’t he say anything about the other dog?’ Another thought kept nagging at the back of her mind. She was sure she’d heard of this “Terra,” before. Toby had mentioned her once or twice, she was certain. Now that she thought of it, she felt as if she had even seen Terra somewhere before today, or at least a relative of hers. But when? Where? Luna kept wondering, guessing that this might hold the answer to the mystery. ‘If only I could remember…’
At that moment, Connie came into the room and noticed that Luna’s food and water were still full even though she had filled them hours ago. “Luna,” she asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”
Luna just groaned. With the way she felt right now, food was the last thing she wanted. All she wanted was for things to go back to the way they had been, and all she knew was that by the look of things, they never would.
That night at supper, Connie told her parents about Luna’s lack of hunger. “She didn’t touch her food today.”
Her mother shrugged. “It’s probably nothing to worry about,” she said.
“But what if she’s sick?” asked Connie.
“She could be,” agreed her father, “but chances are she’s just not hungry. If she hasn’t eaten by tomorrow, I’ll take her to the vet.”
“But what if she’s really sick?” insisted Connie. “We should take her there right now!”
‘I’m not sick,’ thought Luna. ‘I’m just dying.’
“Maybe she just has a stomach bug and it’s nothing to worry about,” suggested Eugene.
“Like I said, I’ll ask the vet about it if she hasn’t perked up by tomorrow afternoon,” repeated their father.
Connie nodded. “Okay,” she replied.
Later that evening, when Luna showed no interest in playing fetch or even in getting a tummy rub, Connie got her leash and said, “I’m going to take Luna for a walk.”
Her mother, who was busy sewing, nodded. “Alright,” she agreed. “But don’t stay out too long. It's almost dark.”
“I won’t,” promised Connie. She went out the door and headed straight for the vet’s office. “I’m gonna find out what’s wrong with you, girl,” she said firmly.
Luna groaned. ‘A vet can’t help me,’ she thought. She felt her stomach lurch as they walked past Toby’s house. ‘Toby…’ she thought with an ache in her chest. How she wanted this all to be over.
Connie marched straight up to the vet’s office and tried the doorknob. It was locked. “Oh, no,” she complained, stomping her foot. “The office is closed.”
“Can I help you?” asked a voice from overhead. Connie looked up to see the vet sticking his head out a window on the second floor.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” she called up to him. “Please, Luna’s really sick. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but Dad won’t take her to see you until tomorrow.”
The vet shrugged. “I’d like to help you,” he replied, “but the office is closed. I’m sure she’ll be fine until then. Do your parents even know you’re here?”
“No,” answered Connie.
The vet shook his head. “Sorry then, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
“Please?” begged Connie. But the man had already closed the window.
Connie, not one to be easily discouraged, bent down and scooped up some snow. Rolling it into a ball, she threw it up at the window. There was a thump as the icy sphere hit the glass, and the vet came back and opened it.
“Stop that!” he called down.
“Just take a look at Luna, please?” begged Connie. “Just a quick check-up?”
“Well, all right,” the vet agreed. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.” He closed the window and appeared a few minutes later in his white jacket. “Now, let’s see what’s going on with your dog.”
“She won’t eat,” Connie explained as the vet lifted Luna onto the table. “And she’s been really sad all day. I even tried to give her some spaghetti from supper, but she wouldn’t touch it.”
“Spaghetti?” asked the vet in confusion as he listened to Luna’s heartbeat.
“It’s her favorite,” explained Connie.
Luna’s stomach knotted itself just at the mention of spaghetti. It had been her favorite food ever since Toby had given her some on their first date, but now just the thought of it made her feel sick.
The vet felt Luna’s nose, rubbed her side to feel for her ribs, and shrugged. “Has she been acting like this a lot lately?”
Connie shook her head. “No,” she answered. “Not until today.”
The vet thought for a minute and shook his head. “Let me check her record,” he said, going to his file cabinet. He ruffled through the folders, pulled out Luna’s, and began to scan through it. “Well, she doesn’t have much of a history,” he noted. “All I have on her are some basic shots and one case of broken bones and an injured back when she was a puppy.”
Connie suddenly thought of something. “Could she be expecting puppies?” she asked brightly. “My mom got kinda tired before she had my brother.”
Luna groaned. ‘That’s all I need,’ she thought. ‘Puppies at a time like this.’ She had wanted puppies for a long time, but if she was losing Toby like it seemed, she couldn’t bear the thought of having children on top of everything else.
“Well…” the vet began slowly.
And then he said something that shook Luna to her very core.
While all this was going on, Toby decided to go to Terra’s and tell her everything right away. As he walked through the streets of Nome, dogs growled at him or cast him dirty looks. Old friends turned up their noses. Most of the sled team looked the other way when he passed, while Kodi, Dusty, and Norik just shook their heads in disapproval. One dog, whom he recognized as Luna’s brother, even gnashed his teeth at him and had to be pulled back by his master. The gossips in Nome had obviously outdone themselves this time.
As was typical of Toby’s luck, Terra wasn’t at her house or the granary. He tried to sniff her out, but the smells of all the dogs and people that had passed though the area covered up the scent. He tried asking around, but that proved useless as well. The few dogs who would still talk to him (most of whom were total strangers) could not provide him with any help whatsoever. Finally with the sun going down, he trudged home with his head and tail drooping in defeat.
Poor Toby found it all but impossible to sleep that night. All he could think about was Luna. They’d had their rough times, but this nightmare was a first. He vividly recalled Luna’s tear-soaked face when she had come to the door. He’d never seen Luna cry before. Never. Not even when he had broken her back legs by accident as a puppy. And now he had personally seen her crying her eyes out, all because of him. ‘I never should have agreed not to tell her,’ he thought. ‘It didn’t seem wrong at the time and yet…’
All the while that he was thinking this, something else was arising in the back of his mind. What if Luna was so upset that she decided not to be his mate anymore? ‘No,’ part of him argued. ‘She’s not like that. She wouldn’t do that, not to me. Would she?’
Toby wasn’t the only one to suffer a troubled sleep that night. At her own house, Luna was tossing and turning so much that although Connie kept silent, it was hours before the girl got any sleep. Over and over the sounds she had heard Toby and… and Terra making behind that door played themselves in her mind. It just didn’t make sense. Toby had always been so open with her. He was a loyal friend and a loving mate. Why the change? Was it something she had done? True, she had joked about his appearance and manners from time to time. But it had only been meant as humor, not nagging, and he always seemed to understand that. ‘No,’ she thought, ‘there has to be a logical explanation for all of this. But what?’ And in the middle of it, the vet’s revelation kept playing itself over and over in her mind, looming before her like a giant reaching out to crush her in its fist.
“Luna?” asked Connie. Awakened by the constant movement of Luna’s tossing and turning, Connie crawled out from under the covers to pet her. “It’s okay, Luna. I know you’re sad, but you’ll be okay.”
‘Right,’ thought Luna skeptically. As if the vet’s news was her real problem. It wasn’t, it was just extra wood on the fire. Her mind drifted over who she could possibly go to for advice. Her sisters were sympathetic, but deep down this was just gossip to them. Her parents had been supportive when they found out, but somehow they didn’t seem to be much help either. Her brothers had promised to get revenge on Toby, but Luna didn’t want that. Even if she had, promises of revenge could only go so far. None of her brothers had ever actually been through anything like this. Her parents had always been faithful to each other. Even her sisters, who had been through more boyfriends than she could count, had never been betrayed in this manner. Without Toby, Luna’s whole existence was falling apart. For the first time in her life, she was truly and completely alone.
The next day, Toby went to the granary as usual. Sure enough, Terra was waiting for him. “Ready to go?” she asked.
Toby shook his head. “Not really. Listen, we need to talk.”
“Okay,” said Terra agreeably. “But let’s do it inside, it’s warmer there.”
Toby followed her inside and sat down. “Terra, I have to tell some dogs what we’ve been doing.”
Terra’s eyes widened. “But you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!” she cried. “What would happen to my reputation if word got out? I’d never be able to show my face again!”
“Well right now, I can’t show mine,” Toby retorted. “Disappearing for an hour everyday, going behind locked doors with a female dog who isn’t my mate… you do the math. Everyone is coming to the conclusion that I’m two-timing on Luna. Old friends, my brothers-in-law, they’re all turning against me! All you have to worry about is some friends who might think you’re a lowlife if they find out. But if I keep hiding the truth for you, I could lose my friends, not to mention my mate…” Toby frowned. “Terra, do you realize what this is doing to me? Everybody in town is giving me dirty looks. Pete thinks I’ve turned into one of the ‘bad boys’ like him, and Luna is going out of her mind!” He paused to let this sink in, then decided to pull out the heavy artillery. “And I’m telling you right now that I am done giving you your lessons until this is over.”
Terra stared at the ground. “You’re right,” she agreed. “I shouldn’t have made you promise to keep it a secret, especially not from Luna. Come on, let’s go tell her what we’ve been doing before it gets any worse.”
Toby smiled. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
But when they trotted outside, they found themselves faced with a daunting crowd: Luna, Phoebe, Haley, half the town gossips, and all three of Luna’s brothers.
“There they are!” shouted Phoebe. “Caught in the act!”
Luna looked like she might cry again. “Toby, I thought you were better than this.”
“Come on!” said one of Luna’s brothers. “Let’s get those two-timing rats!”
“Listen!” barked Toby as several of the dogs got ready to attack him. “This isn’t what you think!”
“Oh, sure!” snapped one of the gossips. “Face it, mutt, we’ve got you cold!”
“Listen,” said Toby desperately. “I promise we can explain everything.” As he surveyed the crowd, he realized they weren’t exactly eager to take his word for anything. “And I can prove we’re telling the truth, too.”
“How?”
Toby looked desperately at Luna. “Luna, would you please… no, I’ll go. I’ve caused you enough trouble already.” He turned to the crowd. “I’ll explain everything, but first I need to get a couple of dogs who can back up what I’m going to tell you.”
The crowd parted with a concert of growls to let Toby leave, but closed shut before Terra could follow. “We’ll keep her here until you get back,” snarled Haley.
Toby nodded, hoping that Luna wouldn’t let them hurt Terra. “Alright,” he agreed. “But if you guys do anything to her, you’ll answer to me and my dad for it.” And with that he ran off down the street.
Luna stared after him. “Please, Toby,” she whispered. “Don’t let me down.”
Toby ran as fast as his legs could carry him to his mother’s house. “Mom!” he barked, scratching at the door.
Terry came out and stared at him. “Toby, what’s wrong?”
“It’s a long story,” Toby panted. “But right now I need you and Dad to be witnesses at a trial.”
“A trial? Who’s on trial?”
“Me and Terra.”
Terry blinked. “You I can understand, but why Terra?”
Pushing aside a brief thought about wishing for once that his mother did stay up-to-date on gossip, Toby beckoned her to follow him. “Trust me,” he said, “you’ll never believe what’s going on when I tell you.”
“With a son like you, nothing surprises me anymore.”
“I hope you’re right,” Toby answered.
Five minutes later they had convinced Rex to come with them and had returned to the granary, where the dogs still had Terra surrounded. “Alright, I’m back,” said Toby. “And I’ve got the witnesses. Now, please let us through.”
The dogs allowed Toby to enter the ring, along with his parents. The three of them took their place next to Terra. “Now,” said Toby, facing the crowd, “I understand that you think I’ve been cheating on Luna.”
“We heard you two going at it!” barked several of the gossips before a loud bark from Rex silenced them.
“Let my son speak,” he ordered.
“Thanks, Dad,” said Toby. Focusing on the crowd again, he continued, “Now, first of all I want to say that perhaps I’ve given you some reason for suspicion. But as anyone who knows me would know, I would never think of hurting Luna. And I certainly wouldn’t go with Terra, of all dogs.”
“Why not?” asked one of Luna’s brothers. “She’s slim, silky-furred…”
“…and his sister,” put in Terra.
You could have heard a snowflake land in the silence that followed. “Say that again?” asked Luna as hope began to grow in her expression.
“Toby is not my boyfriend,” clarified Terra, “and there’s not a chance in the world he ever could be, because he’s my brother.”
Terry and Rex nodded, confirming Toby and Terra’s story.
“Wait a minute,” said Luna as a thought struck her. She focused her gaze on Toby. “Now I remember you mentioning her. Didn’t you tell me you freaked her out with a dead rat once when you were puppies?”
Toby smiled. “They all freaked out,” he clarified. “She just screamed the loudest. I’m glad you remembered that, Luna. Especially because that’s why we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing every day.”
“Which was…?” asked Phoebe.
“Chasing rats,” answered Terra.
If the crowd had been confused before, now they were downright baffled. “Chasing…rats?” asked one of Luna’s brothers slowly.
“That’s right,” said Toby. “You see, Terra’s owner recently inherited the granary from his late brother. So he took over running it, and tried to have Terra deal with the rat problem.”
“The problem,” said Terra, “is that I’m… I’m…” she hung her head. “Scared of rats.”
Two of Luna’s brothers started laughing, but the girls in the crowd quickly shushed them. So, for that matter, did the third brother.
“That’s right,” Toby said, picking up the story. “Ever since she was a puppy, she’s been terrified of rats.”
Rex and Terry nodded, again confirming Toby’s defense.
“So,” Toby continued, “she asked me to teach her how to chase and kill them so her owner wouldn’t be mad at her.”
“Then all that running and barking…” murmured Phoebe…
“Was just us chasing the rats,” finished Terra.
“What about all that stuff we heard you saying?” asked Haley. “I remember you called her a feisty one.”
Toby paused for a moment, then laughed. “I wasn’t talking to her. I was talking to a rat that had just bitten me.”
“And all the secrecy?”
Terra hung her head. “I didn’t want it to get out that I was a rat catcher,” she admitted. “I was afraid that everyone would think I was some kind of low-life.”
“She usually hangs out with a crowd that’s more into talk than action,” Toby explained. “More into conclusions than facts, too, a lot like two other ladies whose names I won’t mention,” he added with a glance at Phoebe and Haley, who were looking very guilty.
“Then why did you always shut the door?” asked one of the gossips.
“So the rats wouldn’t escape through it. Duh,” put in Luna. Toby smiled, glad to see that she was finally back on his side.
Phoebe and Haley stared at the ground, but then Phoebe abruptly raised her head. “What about the girl we saw you kiss the other day?” she demanded.
Toby groaned. “I was hoping nobody saw that,” he murmured. Seeing the renewed expressions of anger from the dogs, he quickly added, “I can explain that too. See, she kissed me, but I never kissed her. All I did was get another dog to leave her alone, and she read it the wrong way.”
One of the gossips in the crowd raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t happen to catch her name, did you?”
Toby nodded. “Yeah, I think her name was Violet.”
The gossip nodded. “I thought so. Her family moved to Nome last week, and she’s been trying to get a boyfriend ever since.” Shrugging, she added, “Heck, I’ll bet the dog you chased off had just gotten sick of trying to make her leave him alone.”
Toby nodded. “That sure fits with her attitude,” he agreed. “When I managed to get out of her lip-lock and tell her I was spoken for, she just asked what my point was.”
Luna stared at the gossip in surprise. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner?!” she asked. “Or you, for that matter?” she added, turning to Toby.
Toby seemed embarrassed. “Would you believe I didn’t want to get you worked up about it?”
Luna stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “Yeah, that fits.” She turned to the gossip. “What about you?”
The gossip shrugged. “When the Toby scandal came along, Violet was old news.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Sorry, Toby,” murmured Haley.
“Yeah,” agreed Phoebe. “We really made a mess of things for you and Luna.”
Toby smiled. “Ah, no harm done.”
“On the contrary,” interjected Rex. He glowered at the group. “You tongue-waggers have blackened the names of not one, but two of my children all over town.” He paused for a moment to let this sink in. “So I want all of you young ladies to get going and tell everyone you told about this the real story. Otherwise, I’m going to put all of you away for public slander.”
Without bothering two question how Rex would go about locking them all up, the group scattered as if someone had thrown a grenade. “Well,” remarked Terry with satisfaction, “I guess that takes care of that.”
Luna glanced at Toby and lowered her eyes. “I’m… I’m really sorry,” she admitted. “I know I always said I believed you, but for a while there I thought you really were leaving me.”
Toby nuzzled her. “Hey, there’s nothing to forgive,” he replied. “If I’d been in your shoes, I would’ve been worried too.”
“I’m barefoot,” she pointed out.
“Rex,” Terry whispered, “I think we ought to give them a little privacy.”
Rex nodded. “Alright,” he agreed, and he and Terry departed. Toby thought he heard one of them make a comment about “grand-“something, but he didn’t dwell on it.
“Next time, I’ll take your word for it no matter what anybody says. But I still feel guilty for not believing you.”
“Well, that’s in the past now.”
Luna hung her head. “That may be,” she admitted, “but there’s still one thing I need to tell you.”
“Well then tell me.”
“You know how we’ve been… well, trying to have puppies?”
Toby’s tail started to wag. “Luna, are you…?”
She shook her head. “No, and I don’t think I ever will be.”
Toby was dumbfounded. “What?” he asked. “Why?”
Luna fought hard not to cry. “Well, yesterday Connie took me to the vet because I was so upset I couldn’t eat.”
Toby nodded. “Go on.”
“The vet said that I wasn’t sick, and Connie asked if maybe I was expecting a litter. The vet said no, because the back injury I got during the Storage Lot Incident would make that impossible.”
“So you can’t have puppies?” asked Toby.
Luna’s eyes started to leak and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “No,” she whispered. “The vet said it’ll never happen.” She choked back a sob.
‘Please, no,’ thought Toby. After everything that had happened, he couldn’t handle Luna crying twice in two days because of things he had caused. ‘What can I say?’ he wondered. Seizing on the first thing that came to mind, he told her, “Luna, it doesn’t matter.”
Luna stopped in mid-sob and stared at him. “What?” she asked.
“For me, it doesn’t matter if we never have kids. I know you wanted them, and I was hoping it would happen too. My parents are probably going to be a bit let down, too. But if I can’t manage it with your help, I’m not doing it period.”
Luna sniffed and drew back. “Are you serious?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he assured her, nodding his head. “I’d take you over a hundred pups any day.”
Luna wiped her eyes with a paw. “Thanks.”
Toby smiled. “That’s more like it. Now, what do you say we go find Violet and take care of that little problem?”
Luna smiled, even though her heart still felt like a lead weight. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
They found Violet near the General Store, trying to strike up a conversation with a male dog who looked like he desperately wanted to be elsewhere. She stopped when she caught sight of Toby. “Oh, hi!” she said cheerfully, trotting over to him. “Having a nice day?”
“Getting better,” Toby replied. “Violet, I want you to meet someone. This is Luna.”
“Oh, hi Luna,” said Violet, not really acknowledging her presence.
Luna decided to give it to Violet with both barrels. “Actually, you can call me Mrs. Toby.”
Violet blinked several times. “Oh,” she said, sounding a lot less cheerful than before.
“She’s the one I told you about right after you kissed me,” explained Toby. “I thought I’d introduce you, since you did ask what my point was about being spoken for.”
Violet stared down at her front paws. “I’m really sorry, honest. You must want to rip my throat out right now.”
Luna shook her head. “Not really.”
Toby grinned. “Luna’s not that type. She likes to do her killing slower. Usually she breaks the front legs first, then the back ones. Not a quick snap either, she just pins the dog down and puts more and more pressure on each leg until it gives. Then she tramples the spine a little…”
Violet swallowed hard and stepped back. “Hey, I said I was sorry, didn’t I?”
“Relax,” said Luna, forcing a calm tone. “I can completely understand why you find him attractive.”
Violet sighed with relief. “Thanks,” she said. “You’re pretty lucky.”
“Listen to her,” Toby suggested to Luna. “She’s making a lot of sense, you know.”
Luna rolled her eyes and pretended to ignore Toby’s comment. “You know, Vi,” she said casually, “If you’re looking for a guy to hang out with, I think I might know someone just right for you.”
Violet lifted her head a little. “Oh?” she asked.
Toby and Luna nodded. “He’s a purebred husky…” said Toby.
“… and he knows his way around town…” added Luna.
“…and it just so happens, he’s single,” finished Toby.
Violet smiled. “Any chance you could set us up?” she asked eagerly.
Luna almost felt guilty as she told Violet, “No problem. Just go down Main Street until you come to Maple. Go to the first house on your left and ask for Pete.”
Violet ran off. “Thanks!” she called over her shoulder.
“Hey, Violet,” called Toby, “Main Street’s the other way.”
Violet turned so sharply she almost fell on her side and ran past them in the other direction. “Thanks again!”
Toby and Luna waited until she was out of sight, then collapsed on top of each other in hysterical laughter. “She fell for it!” giggled Luna.
“I know!” Toby was laughing so hard he couldn’t stand up.
When the two dogs finally stopped laughing, Luna’s face grew sober. “Do you feel guilty?” she asked. “I mean, we’re setting her up for a nasty surprise.”
Toby shrugged. “I guess I feel a little guilty,” he admitted. “But look at it this way- if Pete doesn’t teach her that guys aren’t everything, nobody will.”
Luna stared off in the direction Violet had gone. “It’s just wrong,” she said quietly, the happiness of moments before gone as if it had been swept away by a passing breeze. “She has a chance for something I never will, and she doesn’t even see how special it is. She just treats it like it’s some kind of toy.”
Toby rubbed his nose against her cheek. “I know,” he whispered, “but it doesn’t matter. I know it would have meant a lot to you to have pups, but in the end we still have us.”
Luna pushed her neck against his. “Yeah,” she agreed, wondering if she’d ever be able to say it enough times to convince herself it was enough. “We’ll always have that.”
“Always,” promised Toby.
Toby, Terra, Luna, Haley, Phoebe, Pete, Rex, Terry, Violet © Dragon Tamer
Thanks to The Silver Phoenix for her collaboration on Violet’s part in the story.