Read Online The Empty City by Erin Hunter - Free Book Online Page B

Lucky, and the heavy stone-feeling of loneliness in his belly lifted just a little. Yap! How long had it been since he’d heard his Pup name? And hers came back to him in a tumble of sounds and images. A snuffling nose, an insistent squeaking, a body nestled close to his, tiny paws shoving him, golden skin and fur pressed cozily against his own … and yes, again and always, that constant talkative squealing....
    â€œSqueak! It’s you!” Overcome by happiness, he licked at her face, and she crouched playfully on her forepaws to nibble at his throat.
    â€œI’m not Squeak anymore,” she yipped. “I have a new name. Bella!”
    â€œBella,” Lucky repeated, getting used to the sound. “That’s beautiful,” he decided.
    There was a snorting yelp from the pretty white dog, and a shut up! growl as the crossbreed beside her nipped her nose. Lucky realized the whole motley Pack was sitting there, ogling him and his newfound litter-sister. They looked both fascinated and expectant, though the Fight Dog had a defensive expression. They might be an odd assortment of dogs, but they all looked very fine in their own way. Their fur was sleek, their bellies round, their muzzles free of fleabites and scratches, except for the few scrapes the foxes had managed to inflict before they ran. Poised on three legs, one forepaw delicately raised, the pretty dog might have had her long glossy hair brushed by a longpaw just that sunup.
    Despite her pert confidence, though, she seemed a little ashamed of her outburst, and Bella was giving her a stern glance of disapproval. “It’s what my name means , Sunshine. Bella means beautiful .”
    Lucky nudged Bella’s muzzle with his own, as much to calm her down as to show affection. “I have a new name, too,” he told her. “I’m Lucky.”
    She washed his ear with her tongue. “The name fits! You’re certainly lucky we came along just now!’”
    â€œYou’re right about that.” Lucky stepped back and studied Bella’s friends. “Hello,” he said.
    Sunshine seemed too intimidated to reply, and quite off-balance with her paw in the air. The Fight Dog grunted some inaudible answer, but he was standing up on his hindpaws and sniffing hungrily at the meat Lucky had left on the counter.
    â€œOh, Bruno.” Bella gave him a playful growl and a nudge with her muzzle. “You’re always hungry. Even at the end of the world, you’re thinking of food.”
    Don’t all dogs think of food and how to get it? The end of the world wasn’t a joke—it was real, he thought, remembering the terror of the Big Growl, the horrible endless depths of the crevice in the road. Getting and keeping food wasn’t a joke . He knew that. But perhaps these sleek, well-fed dogs didn’t.
    As if to prove him right, Sunshine flopped onto her plump belly, her white coat spreading on the ground. She gave a whine. “I wish you wouldn’t say those things, Bella. We don’t know the world’s ended.”
    Bella’s answering whine held a touch of irritation, though she licked reassuringly at the black button nose. “If the world hasn’t ended, Sunshine, where do you suppose our longpaws are?”
    Lucky stiffened. Our longpaws? In disbelief he studied each dog, all so very different, except for one thing. Every single one of them wore the ownership sign of the longpaws.
    Horrified, he couldn’t help exclaiming out loud.
    â€œYou’re Leashed Dogs !”
    They all stared at him, and then at one another, bemused.
    â€œYes?” said the Farm Dog, cocking his head curiously.
    â€œIt—well, that explains—I mean, the way you all—” Lucky fell silent, his mind a turmoil. Leashed Dog s. Pampered dogs. Tame, silly, pointless dogs …
    They’d let longpaws buckle collars around their necks. They relied on longpaws for food, for fun, for