Read Online Dogs by Nancy Kress - Free Book Online Page B

smirked, making him wait. Eventually she said, “He said he heard from somebody that there’s some kind of plague going around, a disease that turns dogs vicious, so we should keep ours locked up. Ain’t that a hoot? Some people will believe anything. Probably afraid that little Spic mutt of his will bite his finger.”
    Despite himself, Ed laughed. Then he scowled at Cora and went to see if he could spot Jake and Petey and Rex from the craft-room window.
    Del Lassiter hung up the phone. Brenda had gone back to bed after lunch. The chemo really tired her out. Del was glad she hadn’t woken when Rod Gregory had called to tell Del about the dog plague.
    A dog plague …How could such a thing happen? Was it even true? Dogs?
    Del gazed at Folly, chewing on a miniature rawhide bone on the floor. All at once the Chihuahua looked up and sniffed the air. As she rose to her feet, her entire fawn-colored body started to quiver.
    â€œCold, girl?” But the kitchen wasn’t cold. Ever since Brenda had been diagnosed, Del kept the house at 78°, day and night. Chihuahuas shivered when cold, but also when excited, nervous, or scared.
    Folly sniffed the air again and began to howl.
    Ellie opened her bedroom door. The Greyhounds rushed up to her, Butterfly jumping to lay paws on Ellie’s shoulders and lick her face, the other four crowding close.
    â€œGood morning, good morning!”
    Morning indeed. Ellie had gone back to sleep and slept the morning away, which was disgraceful. She was on the four-to eleven shift today as work, but even so…
    Song dashed away and returned with her favorite toy, a much-slobbered-over football. Chimes licked Ellie’s hand. Music barked to go out. Ellie tried to attend to all of them at once, laughing at their antics. Scornfully she thought of her co-workers at the office, yammering on about TV shows and dates and clubbing in D.C. Who needed inane sitcoms or cheating men or noisy clubs? She had everything she wanted right here, with her precious friends whose lives she had saved.
    Ellie opened the door to let the dogs out into the backyard. Somewhere a siren began to sound, but she barely noticed.
    Steve Harper sat in his bedroom, listening to the phone ring. It was his mother, and he should answer it. She’d lost Davey, too, and he should be there for her. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything but sit here, see ing over and over again the same image, the brown mastiff with a single long string of saliva and blood hanging from its mouth onto Davey’s body …
    Steve put his hands over his face. The phone went on ringing and ringing.

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    Allen Levy sat watching TV in the family room, waiting for 3:00, the remains of his lunch on a plate beside him. At 2:57, his mother bustled in, "Allen, it's time for my show."
    â€œOh, Mom, pleeeessssse! I’m right in the middle of Star Wars! Look!”
    â€œYou’ve seen it before, and you know I only watch this one show, Allen. Star Wars can wait an hour.”
    â€œNo, it can’t, I haven’t seen it before, we never got the DVD, Jimmy gave it to me! Pleeeessse! I’m so bored!”
    Mrs. Levy frowned. “This isn’t like you, Allen. As I said, I only watch one show every day and—”
    â€œThen can I go outside to play? It’s so nice out, look!”
    Allen pointed to the window, but his mother just kept gazing at him. He tried to look pathetic. Finally she sighed. “All right, I’ll watch TV upstairs. But you stay right here, you hear me? And turn it down a bit.”
    â€œThanks, Mom!” Allen turned back to the screen and inched toward it happily. He didn’t touch the sound. On screen, the Sith blew up something.
    When his mother had gone upstairs, he waited a few minutes. She didn’t come down. She’d been watching her afternoon show, which seemed to involve grown-ups crying and screaming at each other a lot, as long as Allen