What The Wildflowers Know

Chapter Five

By the time the initial shock set in, Cahello wasn't hungry anymore. Kvetina forced herself to eat the last spoonful of macaroni, then they silently washed the dishes. It was 2:34 pm when they finally sat down on the couch, unsure of what they would do. Cahello was going to go to Kevin's house, but then he remembered that Kevin was the leader of the pack. On that day he fell unconscious, he had only told his mom that he bumped his head on the roof of the chicken coop, and he was okay. But his friends, or something like that, knew better. They now followed Kevin's orders, and besides, Cahello had better things to do than to hang out with them. Kvetina stood. She said,

"I guess I'll go weed the wildflowers." Cahello wanted her to leave, but not to go weed the dandelions. "Wait. I'll show you the chicken coop. I haven't shown that to you yet, right?" he stood and offered his hand to her. "Come on, they're really funny to watch." Kvetina hesitated, but then accepted his offer.

"Okay, let's go!"

They wandered around the house, stopping at the little tiny coop that housed three chickens. "This is Sunflower, the one with the black dot on her wing." he reached down to grab a small egg from below her, but she pecked him on his hand.

"Ow!" he jumped back. Kvetina laughed.

"Here, let me try." she gently lay her hand under Sunflower's beak, and while the chicken sniffed curiously at it, she snuck her hand behind her and retreated with the egg.

"What?" Cahello gaped at her. The chickens all took about a year to actually let him close, but Kvetina was able to just grab an egg on her first visit? Unbelievable, he thought. "So if that's Sunflower, let me guess, the other two are Rose and Dandelion, right?" Kvetina joked. Cahello's face went red.

"Um, actually, that's Daisy and Dandelion." he muttered. Kvetina's eyes went round and she laughed. Cahello gazed at her. He could have gotten mad, but, he'd rather stay happy. He joined in on the laughter.

"Hey, my mom usually turns the sprinklers on, wanna come?" he asked. Kvetina twirled over.

"Yes!" she cried. It was obvious she was happy. And, Cahello thought, he was happy too.

"How do you tur-" Kvetina was silenced by a gush of water from the sprinkler that hit her right in the face. "Oh!" she sputtered. Cahello laughed. It was one thing to get splashed, but another to be squirted in the face.

"Hey!" Kvetina exclaimed, but laughed with him. He was just reaching down to grab his own sprinkler when a wave of water sprayed his shirt. Cold dripped down his shirt, but it felt cool in the heat of the sun. "What?" he cried, and turned to face Kvetina. She stood there, a mischievous grin on her face. "What's wrong? I just turned it to rotation mode." She smirked. Cahello raised his eyebrows. "Oh, it's on!"

"Ha! You missed!" Cahello danced behind the sprinkler, away from the squirt of water Kvetina shot at him. "Just give up!" he yelled, while he grabbed his hose and ripped it off the sprinkler. Kvetina's eyes widened, and she ducked just in time. A line of water pierced the air where she had been. But Kvetina unplugged her hose too, and when Cahello wasn't looking, got him on his back. Cahello had the advantage of knowing which nozzle shot the farthest, so he basically drenched Kvetina. Meanwhile, he barely noticed his wet clothes. He was concentrated on Kvetina's retreating figure.

Suddenly, there was a savage bark from the woods. The woods that were right behind Kvetina. Kvetina looked around, curious but not frightened. Oh no. Cahelo knew what it was. It was the wild wolf that put their chickens in danger, and though it never hurt humans, well, humans had never been outside when it roamed their yard. Kvetina had never seen the wolf before, or known the sense of danger it imposed upon Cahello and his mother. "Kvetina!" he yelled. "Get back here! It's a wolf! Run!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Kvetina ran. Cahello could see nothing but black fur as the wolf gained on Kvetina. "No!" he shouted. Without even thinking, Cahello aimed his hose at the wolf and pressed, 'Jet Blast'. Water flew out of the hose and slammed into the wolf's muzzle. It paused, then howled, enraged. Although it was just a few seconds, it was a few seconds enough.

Kvetina raced to Cahello, and the two ran toward the door. "Hurry! It's coming!" Kvetina whispered as they snuck around the front door. They had tried it, but it was locked. The only open way was from the deck, right beside where the wolf had been last time they saw it. Hopefully, that was unlocked.

There was silence, and then, a loud growl from behind Cahello. The hairs on his neck stood up. He could see Kvetina's surprised face, and he slowly turned around to see the wolf's teeth inches from his own. "Ahh! Run!" he screamed. Kvetina and Cahello flew across the grass, and Kvetina yanked the door open, held it for Cahello, and as he dove into the house, pulled it shut around the muzzle of the wolf.