(Chapters 1-6 for those who are late)
At the end of the schoolday Harold found himself walking to the bus loop with his neighbor Joe Jones.
"Where's Kait, I didn't see her once in any of my classes? Did you see her Harry? We have to see if she's on the bus!"
Harold was lost in thought. He was still listening to Emily and admiring her grin, 'Yeah, that sounds nice. Smores or something.' He smacked his forehead. "Damnit! I didn't give her my number."
Joe stopped walking. He looked at Harold and raised an eyebrow.
"Relax Joe Jones, I I'm not talking about your crush- I already told her I set my sights a little higher. I think I broke her heart, poor girl. But on the plus side, she'll probably be willing to stoop to your level."
Joe's jaw dropped all the way to his chest, and as he recovered from his shock, anger flared behind his eyes. "You son of a bitch! Did she ask you out? What the fuck do you mean, stoop to my level?"
But Harold was laughing. "Relax man, I'm kidding. She's never expressed that kind of interest in me- your crush is safe. And I was just making fun because you were acting suspicious- you know I would never make a move on Kait, you're practically obsessed with her!"
Joe hunched his shoulders, and kept walking... After a couple steps he turned to Harold again, he narrowed his eyes. "Then what the hell do you mean you didn't give her your number?"
Harold smiled. "Not Kait, dude. A girl I met in English yesterday. I saw her again in Art and we kind of made plans... Sort of. But they aren't concrete, and I forgot to give her those digits."
Joe smirked, and wiggled his fingers, "Which digits?"
"Phone digits, you perv."
"Perv? Not any more than you, you Harry. Anyway, tell me how that went down? How'd you get her to agree meet up with you?"
Harold gave Joe a shove, "Why you wanna know? Gonna take notes, and use my techniques to woo Kait?"
"Shut up Harry."
"Well I was telling her about the fire pit I was digging with dad. And, I don't know. I just invited her for smores once it was done."
"Smores? You gotta be fucking kidding me. That wouldn't work for normal people Harry, you're just lucky."
Harold shrugged. "Maybe so. You know, you should give that a shot! No, I'm serious. Once the pit is done, I'll invite Emily over, and you invite Kait."
Joe Jones gazed into space, and smiled. "Yeah. You think that'll work? Thanks Harry."
"It's worth a shot. But there's one stipulation. If it doesn't work you damn well stay away. I don't mind doing some kinda double date thing- but I sure as hell won't tolerate you as a third wheel."
"Fair enough, ass hole."
They came to the bus doors, the driver gave them a glare. Still sour from the morning, Harold wasn't surprised.
They boarded the bus, and moved towards the seats in the back.
Right away, Harold could see that Kait wasn't present. Joe Jones was looking back and forth, the corners of his lips turned a little further down with every seat they passed.
He turned to Harold, "She's not here Harry."
"Check your phone, did she ever reply to your text?"
Joe dug into his pocket, and came up with his neon orange case, one glance was all it took. "No." He keyed up the volume before he stuffed it back home.
Then he took it out again, and asked, "Harry, do you think I should text her again?"
"I dunno." Harold slumped into an open seat across from Joe Jones. "How many times did you already text her?"
"Once, this morning. When I asked her if she'd seen Rufus."
"Maybe you should. Just make sure you don't come off as needy."
Joe frowned. "What should I say?"
"Tell her you noticed she wasn't on the afternoon bus and you hope she's ok."
Joe narrowed his eyes and thumbed his phone. "How about: Hey Kait, I didn't see you on the bus, is everything ok?"
Harold shook his head. "Don't end with a question. It's kind of prying, and if she doesn't answer you'll feel awkward."
He tapped away, and put the phone down when he sent. "I also told her nobody has seen Rufus, and asked her to keep an eye out."
Less than 30 seconds later Joe's phone squawked.
He fumbled it and had to pick it up off the floor.
"Maybe you should change that idiotic ringtone. Literal parrot sounds? Come on dude."
"Shut up Harry." He didn't look up from his phone. "She replied! She said she's ok, but she has something she needs to tell me."
His phone squawked again, and he read the message aloud, "In person."
Joe looked up and smiled, he grinned across the aisle at Harold.
"Don't get too excited now, Joe Jones. She misses school, and then entices you to see her in person... Sounds a little fishy. Maybe you ring her doorbell, and she calls from the dark inner rooms of her house. You walk and all the shades are drawn. Maybe the thing she needs to tell you is that she's taking your blood, because she's laid up with a case of vampirism."
"You're a fucking idiot Harry."
"Obviously I'm trying to make a point. Sure, you know she's not a vampire. But you don't know why she wants to talk, so don't get your hopes too high."
"Shut up man, you're just a little bummed that you're not the only one making moves. You thought you were so slick getting Emily to agree to smores. Well you're not the only one who'se a mother-fuckin' magnet to the ladies. Better move over, Harry. I'm climbing up to the top spot."
Harold laughed. "I hope so man, there's plenty of room at the top." But he wasn't so sure.
The bus rounded their corner, and the doors flung open. The driver, spoke as they passed, "Don't be late tomorrow boys."
Harold pretended not to notice.
Once they were off, Harold tapped Joe's shoulder. "Can you believe that prick?"
"Who?"
They watched the bus chug away, "What do you mean who? The driver."
Joe raised his eyebrows, "What are you talking about."
"When we were leaving. 'Don't be late tomorrow boys.' He's an asshole. He tried leaving without you this morning, I'm pretty sure he's gonna try and be here before us tomorrow, so we miss the bus."
"Shit I bet you're right. I thought I heard him mumble, but I was too far away to hear what he said."
"Get your ears checked Joe Jones. He wasn't mumbling he was speaking right to us."
Joe shrugged. "Whatever, I've got other things on my mind. And I think you better scram?"
"Scram? What the fuck are you- from the forties or something?"
"I'm being serious Harry. Remember what you said about third wheels?" He pointed at himself, then at Harold, "Goes both ways."
"Alright man, I'll see you- and good luck!"
They started walking in opposite directions, and he heard Joe shoot back over his shoulder, "As if I need it! But thanks, Harry I'll let you know how it goes."
As Harold walked, his stomach groaned. He was always hungry after school, but today he was especially ravenous. He got inside and found a note when he went to raid the fridge, 'Harold, I did some work on the pit. Off to home depot. If you're home before me get the tools: shovel, gravel-rake, tamper, wheelbarrel.'
But his stomach wouldn't wait. He dug in the fridge and got the milk. He sat down and killed the last box of cereal. But it wasn't enough.
He dug for some deli meat and peeled off 4 or 5 slices to stuff down his gullet.
He wanted more, but he didn't want to keep his dad waiting. He shuffled out to the garage, and got all the tools.
A little time to spare...
He went and got some more meat.
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Joe Jones was a jittery mess as he walked towards Kait's house. But he thought he'd hid it well- he was pretty sure Harold hadn't noticed how nervous he was.
His thoughts raced, and he stopped to breath, tried to soothe his nerves.
Harold was right... That text could have meant anything.
But there was no reason to think the worst. He sniffed, and swallowed, and kept walking.
He still had a chance. It wouldn't make any sense, for her to ask to see him in person just to tell him it was hopeless. It's not like she really even knew he was interested.
Well that was the problem, wasn't it?
She didn't know.
He set his thoughts on one track: letting her know how he felt.
And then he was there, at the foot of her driveway.
He walked up, each step took all his courage.
Onto the porch.
His hand drifted through the air and found the door bell. He didn't let himself hesitate, he jammed his finger hard onto the button.
Joe heard the bell from inside the house, and jerked his hand back as if he'd poked a hot iron.
He movement through one of the windows. Well the blinds were open, that was a good sign. At least she wasn't a vampire. He silently cursed Harold, and waited.
The door swung in, and he saw her- the beauty that danced through all his day dreams, marred by bleary eyes and tear streaks.
Whatever guard he held was dropped, and he stammered.
"Hi Joe." As she spoke, tears blossomed in the corners of her eyes, and she had to bite back her words to keep from choking.
"Kait- my God are you ok? What happened."
"I'm ok." She fanned her face with her hands and took a breath. "I'm ok. It's about your dog- Rufus."
His head swirled- not immediately from grief, but from confusion. Why would she be telling him about his missing dog? Did something bad happen to Rufus? Obviously, or she wouldn't be crying. But why wasn't his mom the one telling him what happened... What happened anyway, and how would Kait know about it?
All he managed was, "What are you talking about?"
"Come inside."
He'd entertained more than a few fantasies that started off with her inviting him in, and them sitting alone, talking. But none of them went like this.
His face settled into a grim line. His legs felt like jelly, but he forced them to move and stepped over the threshold.
They sat in the living room. On the same sofa.
They were so close!
But it wasn't supposed to happen like this.
Silence, she was looking at her knees. He was looking at her.
His thoughts were thrown against eachother in chaos and frustration.
She spoke, "I sleep with my window open."
That didn't help his confusion. Maybe she could see that he was lost.
He tried to focus.
"Last night I heard something outside my window. Like a high pitched yelp. It woke me up."
He shook his head, still not quite following. Did she hear Rufus yelp? Then where was he now?
"It woke me up, and I got out of bed." She pointed at the ceiling. "I'm on the second floor. Thank God!"
He couldn't take it anymore, he blurted out- and regretted saying, "Kait, what the hell are you talking about?"
She wiped her tears. He thoughts she was sad, but for a moment he had a vague impression that she was afraid.
He tried to comfort her. He thought about touching her arm, her hand... But he didn't know if he should. So he didn't. "I'm sorry. You don't have to worry, just tell me what's going on."
She swallowed. "When I got out of bed, I went over to the window and looked down. There aren't any lights on that side of the house, I couldn't see anything besides shadows, and dark clusters of bushes. But the bushes were moving. I was scared, but I kept trying to see- because it sounded like a little animal was hurt, or in trouble."
His shoulder's slumped. "Rufus. What happened, Kait?"
Her hands were trembling. He reached out and held them, they were warm and soft.
"I got my phone and turned on the flash light." She shook her head. "The second I turned on the light, I heard a fucking snarl. I dropped the phone out the window- the snarl turned into a growl. The way the phone landed, the light was facing up- it was bright. Bright enought to see whatever was going on, but I was too scared to look. I slammed the window shut and ran back to my bed."
He waited for her to continue.
"I don't know if it was a rabid dog, or a coyote... Either way I was too scared to leave the house this morning, so I faked sick, and my mom called out."
"That's why you weren't on the bus."
She shook her head, and wiped her tears again, here yes were raw and puffy. "In the daylight I wasn't so scared. I finally worked up the courage to go look. When I got my phone, I saw your text but I was too ashamed to say anything back."
He squeezed her hands, and she squeezed back. "It's ok. It's ok. Tell me what happened."
"It was Rufus. Some animal got him."
He frowned. He loved that little puppy. "Are you sure?"
She stood up, and guided him to the kitchen. There was a small blue collar, hanging on the drying rack- it had a tag he'd recognize anywhere.
But the collar was torn and frayed, and the blue was brownish-purple in some spots.
"I tried to wash off the... The fur."
But he could see that the blood stains hadn't come out. He pulled his hands free and stumbled to the sink. He picked up the collar, and felt his own tears pushing their way to the surface.
His voice caught, and he coughed. "Rufus." He squeezed the collar as hard as he could, and looked at the little metal tag.
Joe turned away from her so she wouldn't see the salt water trickling down his cheek.
He could sense her moving close.
He felt her arms around him, and he melted into her embrace.
"I'm sorry."
He gulped, and sniffed, and turned towards her. But he didn't want to get his tears on her, so he awkwardly wiped them away before returning her embrace. Thank you for telling me, Kait."
"I'm sorry," she said again. "It's my fault."
He squeezed her harder, and told her it wasn't.
"If I hadn't run away. If I had gone down to help..."
"To help? I loved Rufus. But it would be too dangerous to try to help? What could you have possibly done differently? A rabid dog- or a coyote- is no joke."
"But I could have called somebody. I could've..."
"It's ok. You didn't do anything wrong." He released her embrace, and held her shoulders at arm's length. "Thank you for telling me. It's better to know." He managed a smile, a desperate one. He held up the collar, "And thanks for getting this back. Is there... Anything to bury?"
She nodded.
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Harold stuffed the last slice of deli ham into his mouth, and licked his fingers.
He was beginning to get restless, wanting to spend some energy pounding gravel. But his dad still wasn't home, and Harold really didn't know what needed doing out there.
He thought back to art class, and the drawing he'd made- he wanted to compare to the skull itself, see how close his 'sketch from memory' came out.
But when he unzipped his back pack, he remembered the skull itself was with Mrs. Isaac in the biology lab room...
He had forgotten to pick it up! And he needed it to do the second art assignment, 'sketching a model'.
Harold wasn't too worried about not having the skull, his next art class wasn't until Thursday, so he had time to retrieve it.
But he was bothered by the fact that he had forgotten...
And he was especially bothered by the fact that Mrs. Isaac would notice. Harold looked up to her, and that's what made the whole thing embarrassing- he didn't want her to think he was forgetful or stupid.
He wasn't normally forgetful- he knew that. But he also knew that sitting across from Emily had really stirred his emotions and jarred his focus.
Harold wanted to see her again. He tapped his feet, he wanted to dig to spend that pent up energy.
He hated to wait.
Waiting for his dad to bring the supplies...
Waiting to see Emily again...
Waiting to learn what species of skull he had found...
It dawned on him that he might not have to wait for the third- he dug for his biology syllabus, and smiled at what he read: Mrs. Isaac's office hours went until 5:30 pm.
He dialed the school and her extension
She picked up on the second ring, there was no way to hide the fact that he had forgotten the skull, so he might as well embrace it, "Hi, Mrs Isaac? I wanted to call to say I'm sorry I forgot to pick up my skull... I hope it won't be a problem if I pick it up tomorrow morning before the bell."
"No, not at all. Funny you should call, I'm looking at the skull right now. Just did some research... Would you like to know what I think?"
"Yeah!"
"First, what's your guess?"
"Well, it seems kinda big for a coyote... I hope it's a wolf, but I think realistically it's probably a big breed of dog."
"Well I hate to tell you Harold, I think you guessed wrong. But I'm pretty sure you hoped right..."
He furrowed his brow. "So it's a wolf?"
"My best guess says yes. Granted, there are some strange anomalies- one being the size. This is kind of large for a wolf skull, but not impossibly huge. The other surprise is the width to length ratio. The snout isn't quite so long as we'd expect in modern wolves- and it's quite broad. The eye sockets are also larger and closer together than we'd normally see. I think- and please understand this is not my area of expertise so I can't give you too much confidence here- I think this was a wolf which suffered some skeletal deformation. Perhaps something similar to Paget syndrome, but not precisely- the bone texture isn't rough or mottled and the skull itself does not feel weak. Again, I'm no expert. I think if you took this to a veterinarian or zoologist you'd get more information- and it would be more accurate."
"So a mutant wolf? Couldn't it just be a weird breed of dog?"
"Sure, it could be. Maybe even a wolf-dog mutt. But, the teeth are very large, larger than any domestic breed I know of. And the skull is ridged. I think wolf, but this is just my best guess."
"That's awesome! Thanks Mrs. Isaac."
"Anytime Harold. Take it to someone who knows more than me. And while you're at it try to figure out what a possible-deformed-wolf was doing buried in your backyard."
After she hung up, he pulled out the art folder and looked at assignment number one...
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You Can't stop now... Chapter 8 just came out: "Can You Dig It?"
