Read Online Moonburn by Alisa Sheckley - Free Book Online

head, looking at the other dogs. One or two whined, and then broke off and moved up alongside me. I patted one absently, wondering why I was suddenly so popular with Jackie’s dogs.
    Pia must have been wondering the same thing. Her soft gold eyes, so like Red’s, filled with tears. “Actually,” she said to Jackie, “if you don’t mind, I’d rather just go for a quick run.”
    “It’s getting dark, and I need to keep the others with me, to get their shots,” Jackie said.
    “That’s all right. I’m used to being alone.” With a short bark, Pia told her former packmates to stay. Then, with a glance at Jackie and me, she held up her palm. “Stay,” she repeated in English. And then she broke off into an awkward run, as if she still had forgotten for a second that she couldn’t just throw her body forward. With an embarrassed glance over her shoulder, Piafound her rhythm and then was swallowed up by the woods.
    “Come back before full dark,” Jackie called, then turned back to me. Still looking after her, she said, “Since you didn’t know about her feelings about Malachy, you might not realize, but she’s jealous of you.”
    “Of me? Why?” But as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew. “Oh, Christ on a crutch,” I said, almost pleading with Jackie. “Malachy has no interest in me as a woman. As far as I know, he doesn’t want anybody in that way.”
    “I know, I know,” said Jackie, looking tired. “But you’re his peer and he respects you, and she thinks you’re the other woman.” I had to wonder how much Jackie had to do with that misperception. “Come on, Abra, let’s get on with tending the dogs.”
    I went back to my car and grabbed my medical bag, the male hybrids following me like an honor guard. The sun was lower on the horizon now, and shadows were chasing what remained of the light. It was still prime hunting time, though when I glanced down at the dogs, they were utterly focused on me. Two of them kept circling round and sniffing at my legs with rising levels of excitement. For a moment, I wondered if they were planning an attack. “Hey, Jackie? Just keep reminding them I’m an invited guest. Where do you want me to give them the vaccines?”
    Jackie gestured at her trailer, which looked even more forlorn in the winter than it had in the autumn. “Set up on my kitchen table. I’ll bring them in one by one.” To my surprise, the dogs continued to follow me as I opened the trailer door.
    “Come on, boys,” Jackie said, pushing the dogs away from me. “Give her some room to move.” As she opened the door, she said, “They’re a bit nervous these days. Some city idiot is busy knocking down trees abouta mile away. And there’s another bulldozer starting in down that way.” In a softer tone of voice, Jackie addressed the dogs who were scrambling to get in through the door in a giant, furry pack.
    I laughed, because I’d never seen them so eager to be examined. “Jeez, one at a time, I can’t even get in the door.”
    “Now, stop it, boys,” Jackie said, a bit more sharply, “you can’t all come in at once. I want the Doc to see Patsy’s dewclaw first.” Jackie shooed the dogs away, although one, a large husky mix, seemed intent on sticking his muzzle in my crotch. I managed to get myself over the threshold as Jackie stood in the doorway, berating her pack with mock sternness.
    “Jeez, you guys, lay off her. And where’s Patsy and Miyax? How come it’s just you boys dogging her? Huh? Huh?” The wolfdogs whined and looked abashed.
    I turned and looked for a place to set up my medical kit. There was a coffee cup filled with old cigarette ashes on the kitchen table, which I moved into the pile of dishes in the sink. The trailer stank of Marlboro Reds and wet dog, and by comparison, Red’s cabin was roomy and luxurious.
    Thumbtacked on the walls were various photographs of the wolves, along with a snapshot of a much younger Red, holding a wolf cub on his