Queen hazel

Chapter 8

The dog-catchers were every dog's worst nightmare. Street dogs were caught and taken to the pound. I once made friends with a stray called Bones. One day, he was taken by a dog-catcher. I never saw him again.

"What do we do?" gasped Rose.

"I...I don't know," I panted. Before we could do anything, the man leapt at us. For such a fat man, he was quick. We managed to dodge him, but he wouldn't stop for a few bruises. Ten more men appeared behind him. We were done for. Or so we thought.

Suddenly, a ball of fur knocked us over. I was in so much confusion I couldn't see who it was. We ran for our lives while our saviour growled and bit the dog-catchers. People gasped as we barreled through them. When we cleared the market, the dog appeared behind us.

"Follow me, I know a secret place where we can hide." It was Danger, the greyhound! I was so surprised I almost tripped. "Stop being such a klutz!"she yelled. "You're gonna pay for it!"

We ran after her until we reached a grate behind a building. I howled impatiently. "Come on! Why are you stopping! We'll be caught anytime now!" Danger hissed. "Be patient! I know things around here!"

She tapped it three times and the grate slid open. A scruffy boxer stood at the opening.

"Escort these two into the hideout. I'll keep watch for a while to make sure we aren't being followed. Now, Ripper!" I looked down. A steep flight of stairs descended into darkness. It seemed pretty spooky.

"Are-are you sure?" Rose trembled.

"Do you want to be caught? Now go!" Danger shoved us into the hole.

"AH!!" We screamed as we tumbled down the steps. Ripper, however, was having no problem with the steepness. He bounded down the steps with remarkable ease. Rose and I were simply rolling down like lumps of coal.

"Oof!" We landed on hard, rocky ground. My body was covered with bruises, and we painfully got to our feet.

We were in a dark cavern, lit only by the oil lamps on the walls. Paint was peeling off the ceiling and walls. To prove my word, a chunk of debris landed on my nose.

The stairs seemed to lead an awfully long way up. No wonder we were so bruised if we fell down there! But there was one problem: where were all the dogs?

Ripper seemed to read our mind and chuckled. "Oh, you must be wondering where everyone else is. Come on, I'll show you."

We followed him through a tunnel and emerged in a huge room. I gasped. It was an underground world! Beige walls stretched around us, lights hanging from the ceiling. A rug stretched over the wooden floor. There was a sofa on one side, a mini kitchen in the corner, and shelves lining the walls. Dogs were everywhere, some chatting, some sleeping. A few noticed us, and alerted the others. I smiled shyly at the confused dogs.

Danger popped up behind us."They lost us. Never attract the attention of the dog-catchers again or you'll be sorry. Really, you should thank me for going to all that trouble just for a pair of poochies. So, what do you think?"

I wanted to correct her for calling us 'poochies', but I was lost for words. It was ages since I've been in a proper home like this! It made me almost long for the days of Kai's drama class. Then I remembered the tea, and forgot all about it.

Danger smirked. "Even Ms. Spoiled wants a home, doesn't she?"

"Shut up!"

I was going to soak in the warmth of this place, but Danger was already introducing us to the others.

"Hey! Remember the rats we found in our alleyway yesterday? Well, I found them in a fight, they were hopelessly losing, and I saved them just because I'm a kind, compassionate dog. They'll be staying with us for the next few days, but until they learn to live on the street, you're welcome to torture them as much as you like. You don't have to go easy on them!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Wow. So much for being a kind, compassionate dog."

"Well, I did save you, so be thankful or I'll hand you in to the dog-catchers."

We headed into a corridor lined with doors as the dogs settled down. We had to share a room with two other dogs. It was simple, consisting of a double-decker bed, a desk and a storage area. Rose and I were to share the lower bunk, since we weren't strong enough to jump from the desk to the upper bunk.

Danger also showed us the bathroom (useless), the food supplies (not so useless) and the common room, which was where we started off.

"And that's the end of our tour. Of course, we only stay here occasionally, so that's why we look so scruffy. Plus, if we didn't, people would come looking for our owners." She said 'owners' like it was a bad word. I wondered what was behind Danger's mysterious past.

"Any questions? You should stay here to ask or our buddies might begin their initiation."

Initiation? Uh oh. Initiations are always a bad sign. But Rose didn't seem to care.

"What is this place?"she asked, looking around.

"We think it's an abandoned bomb shelter. Few months ago, I was traveling with a group of dogs when l found this place. Now it's our part-time home,"explained Danger. "Anything else?"

I looked into her eyes. "Why did you really bring us in, huh?"

Her face hardened. "I told you. I'm kind and l pitied you. Now hurry. You should meet your new... friends."