Read Online Let Loose by Rae Davies - Free Book Online

the entire team had joined in the song.
And if that wasn’t enough to give up my secret, Fluff galloped to
the window, rose up on her back legs, placed her front legs on the
glass, and stared inside.
    After a moment of husky joy, her gaze shifted
to an accusing glare. I knew then the gig was up.
    Sure enough, Kiska had decided to join me and
was now staring out on the canine invasion with a mix of
fascination and confusion on his face.
    Fluff’s emotion was a lot easier to read.
Deep disappointment, laced with a touch of disgust. I’d been
holding out on her. There was another dog, one surely in need of
her guidance, and I had not performed the necessary
introductions.
    Then Kiska began to talk, the team returned
the greeting, and my phone began to ring.
    It seemed my neighbors did have a breaking
point.
    o0o
    After assuring my closest neighbors that I
was not opening a kennel, puppy mill, or any other dog-related
business, I took Kiska out on his leash.
    The confinement seemed a bit unfair to him,
but it gave me at least
some
feeling of control.
    As probably easily predicted, Red’s team
barreled toward us like bears to a tipped-over garbage can.
    Fluff, however, was on duty. When Zef, Cash,
and Daisy got too close, she lowered her head and brushed them
aside. Gent, Winny and Inuk were even less of an issue; a strong
glare got them to back off. And Finik, poor guy, kept completely
out of the way, pretending interest in the previously discarded
stainless steel bowls.
    Kiska, happily unaware that he was being
assessed and possibly possessed like a prized new toy, watched the
proceedings with a grin and swaying tail.
    Finally, after she was sure the other dogs
knew their place in line -
after her
- Fluff went about
sniffing Kiska down tail to snout and gauging his position in her
world.
    I waited stiffly, completely unsure what I
would do if Fluff weighed Kiska’s measure and found him
wanting.
    Luckily, this didn’t happen. After a thorough
sniff down, Fluff lifted her tail, turned around and moved to the
side, apparently signaling her acceptance and thus her approval of
the other dogs giving theirs.
    After another twenty minutes of sniffing and
the occasional snarl as one dog or the other got a little too eager
and shoved a teammate out of the way, everyone seemed to have
settled down and given Kiska, me, and their temporary home
husky-approval.
    I had just stepped back inside my house with
the intention of warming up some cold coffee in the microwave when
my phone rang. Hoping the Humane Society had performed a miracle
and found a foster for Red’s dogs, I raced to answer.
    Betty’s voice on the other end of the line
dashed my hopes.
    “Why are you answering your phone?”
    I cocked a brow, thinking the obvious answer
was because it had rung, but before I could offer this reply, she
hurtled on.
    “Your walking tour called to ask if lunch was
included in their day, the Mountain Scout troop wants to know if
they can use that marble washstand for their cookie display -
outside I might add. Don’t their parents know the mercury is barely
past zero?” She didn’t wait for my reply. “Esther Monroe is in your
office waiting for you to take her to the dentist. Daniel Rowe came
by wanting to know how you killed Red Benson. Oh and a pipe broke
in the bathroom. I shoved a tablecloth in the hole, but haven’t had
time to call a plumber.”
    I held out the phone so I could stare at
it.
    The voice on the other end changed. Phyllis
called out, “Lucy? Are you there? I heard what you did today. That
is perfect. I’m getting a photographer here—”
    There was muttering and the sound of the
phone hitting the ground, and then Betty was back on the line. “Get
in here!”
    “And bring the dogs!”
    I was pretty sure the last was from Phyllis,
but I didn’t have a chance to find out for sure. The line went
dead.
    Her demand was still ringing in my ears as I
turned around to stare out my front window.
    The team had separated