The Lead Dog

CHAPTER 7

"I was afraid you would never come back." Shadow said. 

I walked to my dog bed and laid down.

"So are you gonna tell me?" Shadow asked.

"Nope." I said.

"But you promised. You can't break a promise!" he said.

"Well, guess what. I just did." I said, laying my head down.

"You are a sick, sick animal." Shadow said.

"I know," I said, smiling, "but if you ever follow me again, I WILL hurt you." With that last note, we both went to sleep.

"What in the world happened!?" I opened my eyes to see Roger standing outside of the broken window. Shadow looked at me.

"Did someone break in last night, Shadow?" Roger asked.

"Not exactly..." Shadow said in dog language.

"It doesn't look like anything's stolen." Roger said, "What happened last night, Nero?" I barked and wagged my tail.

"You want some breakfast?" he asked. I barked twice and Roger came in through the door. He grabbed my dog bowl and poured some dog food into it.

"Sit." he said. I wagged my tail and pretended to not know what he was saying. He raised the bowl over my head.

"Sit." he said. I backed up and barked.

"Nero, sit." Roger ordered. I jumped up and knocked the bowl out of his hands. The food fell all over the floor and I began eating it.

"Now you're just trying to make me look like a fool." Roger said, "Let's see if your brother is better behaved and smarter than you are." He poured dog food into Shadow's bowl and raised it over Shadow's nose.

"Sit." Roger said. Shadow sat and Roger placed his bowl on the ground.

"See, Nero? That's how it's done." Roger said to me. I finished the last piece of kibble off of the floor and looked at Shadow. I went over to him and snapped at him. Shadow jumped back and I dove my face into his bowl and started eating.

"Nero, no!" Roger shouted, "Bad dog!" I quickly backed away from Shadow's bowl. Roger picked me up and let Shadow eat the rest of his food.

"We're gonna need to work on that." Roger said to me. Later that day, Roger invited Anita over. She 'taught' us how to sit and stay while Roger nailed some wood where the window would be. There were still cracks in between them, but Roger said it wasn't permanent. Then came night time. It was time for me to see Kavik again. I looked at the boarded up window.

"How am I supposed to get outside?" I thought to myself. We needed to get some type of doggie door or something. I suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

"Nero, what are you doing up?" Shadow asked.

"Um... I have to go to the bathroom." I lied.

"There's a puppy pad over there." Shadow said, looking toward the corner of the cabin.

"I don't like to use puppy pads." I said.

"Well, it's either that or nothing." he said.

"Look away." I said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just do it." I told him. He looked away and I peed on the rug that was in front of the door.

"Okay. I'm good now." I said. Shadow looked back.

"Nero, did you pee on the rug?!" Shadow asked.

"It was the only other way." I said.

"You could've just used the puppy pad! Now you're gonna get in trouble!"

"That's the price I'm willing to pay."

"There is something seriously wrong with you." Shadow said. I heard Kavik howling in the distance. I felt kinda bad that I was just gonna leave him hanging.

"Is that a wolf?" Shadow asked.

"I think so." I said, "We should probably go to sleep now." We went to bed and Kavik kept on howling for about half an hour before giving up on me.

In the morning, we waited for Roger to come. I hoped that my plan would work. I heard a car park near the cabin and then the car door slammed shut and I heard footsteps. My tail wagged. Roger opened the door and immediately noticed the stain on the rug.

"Who peed on the carpet?" Roger asked us. I kept wagging my tail. My plan was working.

"Shadow, did you pee on the carpet?" Roger asked.

"What? No! Nero did!" Shadow said in dog language, but since he was being defiant and was surprised by Roger thinking it was him, his ears went back and he looked at me which made it seem like he was looking away. Roger probably didn't notice that Shadow's tail curved over his back. If he was actually guilty, he would've tucked his tail.

"Bad dog, Shadow!" Roger scolded him.

"What?!" Shadow exclaimed. His ears went back again.

"Very bad!" he said. I backed away, but I didn't fold my ears back or tuck my tail. Roger grabbed Shadow by the scruff of the neck and dragged him over to the rug and practically rubbed his nose in my urine. I tried to hold in my laughter.

"You don't pee here!" Roger told him. He carried Shadow to the puppy pad and dropped him on it.

"You go here!" he said. My tail thudded on the ground. Shadow ran away and hid behind the couch.

"Nero, you hungry?" Roger asked me. I wagged my tail and barked. He poured me food and I sat down, waiting patiently.

"You've been a good boy." he said, and he set down my food bowl, "Shadow doesn't get any breakfast 'cause he's been a bad dog." On his way out, Roger grabbed the rug.

"It's safe to come out now, Shadow." I said.

"I can't believe this!" Shadow said, "I got blamed for your actions!"

"Yeah, but you gotta admit, that was hilarious!!!" I said.

"No, it wasn't!" Shadow said, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Why would I be?" I asked, "I tricked him into blaming you. That is probably the best thing I've ever done!" 

Shadow glared at me.

"Oh, and you should probably wash your face off." I said.

"Whatever." he said and he stuck his nose into the water bowl.

"I'm not drinking out of that." I said. 

Shadow shook off and I knocked the water dish over so the water would spill everywhere.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"So Roger will refill it. Duh." I said.

"Are you gonna get me in trouble for that too?" he asked.

"Maybe." I said.