Street-Bred

Chapter Ten - Harvey

     Captain led the pack into an alley at the back of the restaurant. There, Captain calmly said, "Wait here..." The dogs proceeded to sit down in front of a few, silver trash cans. They watched Captain walk up to a door that had a dog door at the bottom. The elderly dog picked up one of his paws and scratched the doors three times, and then turned around and kicked the door with his back paw. Proudly, he made his way back to the others, "He'll be out in a second," he woofed.

"Captain?" The old male turned around at the voice.

"Harvey!"

"I can't believe it! I thought you were never coming back! How are you?"

"Great, great. I'd like you to meet my pack," Captain replied. The male stepped out of the way to reveal a plump black, brown, and white beagle with a black collar with silver, bone-shaped tags. Harvey trotted up to the pack, collar tags jingling, "Hey! The names Harvey!" He introduced.

"Harvey!" April and Ace barked at the same time, crowding the smaller dog.

"April, Ace! Is that really you?" He yipped.

"Yup, it's us!" April wagged her tail.

"Wow, last time I saw you guys, you were just little puppies!"

"I'm Alpha now! And April is Beta!" Ace boasted.

"Oh, really? Well, congrats! I see your pack has grown last time I saw you, may I meet them?"

"Of course!" April barked happily, "That's Paisly, the Puggle. Mei is the puppy, and over there is Fawn, our newest member!"

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, and what a great surprise to see my old friends show up. What's the occasion?" The entire pack looked at Fawn, and then Ace cleared his throat, "There's this other pack that we're rivals with, and I'm pretty sure they're out to get us..." Ace sighed.

"Oh, well, I suppose you aren't here to stay, huh?" Harvey whined.

"We can stay the night, we've walked all day!" Paisley groaned.

"Really? You must be starving!"
Harvey exclaimed.

"Boy, are we ever!" Mei blurted.
"Well, I hope you guys like steak, because that's the special tonight!" Fawn felt her mouth water when she heard the word, 'steak'. She, like the rest of her pack, was famished. Fawn looked over to her side to see Mei and Paisley drooling a little, "I'll get it out!" Harvey barked cheerfully, walking over to the trash cans. With ease, he knocked over one bin, sending the trash bag to spill out of it. He pushed over the second trash can, allowing a black bag to come out. Finally, the third can fell to the ground. The smell of leftover meals filled the air, making Fawn's stomach growl. One by one, Harvey tore a large hole into the bags with his teeth, sending the odor of garbage into the atmosphere. Then, Harvey turned to the pack and said, "Dig in!"

     The dogs charged the bags, sticking their muzzles into the trash to find something edible. Fawn found a meatball and leftover pasta in the mix, and greedily chomped it away. Fawn dug through the trash with her pink nose until she found the jackpot.  The scent of bread, mashed potatoes, and the fat off of a steak filled her nostrils. She filled her stomach with all of it, and after that she heard Paisley behind her, "Uhhh, Fawn? Aren't you gonna share?" Fawn whipped around to see Paisley waiting behind her. Fawn glanced to her side to see the other trash cans being occupied by Ace, April, Mei, and Captain. Fawn gulped, "Sorry Paisley. I totally forgot, I hope there's some left for you," Fawn whined.

"It's okay! I'm smaller, so I don't have to eat as much!" She yipped happily, then pushing past Fawn to eat her fill. She looked over to Mei to see her surprisingly sharing a bag with April. Suddenly, April tore a large, juicy steak out of the bag, with Mei staring after her with pleading eyes, "Aw man! I was just about to grab that!" She whimpered, lowering her tail.

"We can share, if you want, Mei," April suggested. Mei's face lit up, "Yes please!" April held the steak down and pulled off half of it, and pushed half to Mei. Mei's tail was wagging wildly, and Fawn's tail wagged to, seeing the pup and the lab bonding.

     Harvey walked over to Fawn to ask, "So you're the new member, huh?"

"Yep," Fawn answered.

"Why'd you join?"

"Ace asked me. He said he wanted to help me, since I'm running away from another pack."

"Who's the leader?"

"His name is Cash."

"Ugh, I hate that dog!" Harvey growled.

"You know him?"

"Heck yeah, I know him alright. He attacked my owner and I on a walk one day. He said I was, 'on his turf'."

"Yeah, he kinda wants to kill me," Fawn sighed.

"Hey, I know where you could potentially get some great info on Cash. There's a dog park around here somewhere. If the sun's out, Marshmallow is out."

"Who?"

"Marshmallow and her posse. The greatest source of the latest dog gossip in the whole city. I bet she knows a thing or two about Cash and his plans," Harvey paused, "she may be an annoying snob, but she'll help you," he added.

"Where's the dog park?" Fawn inquired.

"Only a few blocks away. Trust me, you'll see it," he answered.

"Thanks, Harvey. You're a massive help."

"Don't mention it, Fawn. I'll be right here if you need me," Harvey padded back into the restaurant, leaving the pack to their own devices once again. Fawn walked up to Ace, "Harvey suggests we go to the dog park. He says there's some dogs that can help us out," Fawn spoke. Ace gave his response through a long yawn, "Sounds good to me. In that case, we should probably get some shut eye," he said, blinking slowly. Fawn nodded in agreement. Quietly, Ace beckoned the pack out of the alley and into another one, assuring the fact that they wouldn't be awakened by an angry restaurant owner. There, the pack curled up together and dozed off.