NINE.
[image]uddy didn"t want Miss Betty to come, Miss Betty to come, B Btelling her, "You"ll mess up your hair and I"ll get blamed for it."
She came anyway, jumped the fence with Antwan and ran into the trees, Buddy yelling at her to go back home. Miss Betty did stop long enough to tell Buddy, "Look, I"ve been in the woods before, so quit yelling at me."
Now Buddy had to ask, "When were you out here?" in a stern voice, like he was her father.
Antwan already had the cat"s scent in his nose. He said to Buddy, "I brought her here the other day, homes, while you"re falling asleep watching your movies. She"s cool in the wild, knows her way around. You want to stand here arguing? Or find the cat before some coyotes get hold of her?"
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That ended the argument.
They put their noses to the ground and ran this way and that following the scent, sometimes in circles. It told Antwan this cat wasn"t only scared, she didn"t know where she was going. Hey, but Lola was brave just to come out here. You had to give her that. Antwan was thinking he ought to get to know cats more. Talk to "em first.
They came to a hollow choked with brush and Antwan stopped to sniff and look it over. If she wasn"t in there now she was a minute ago.
"Lola"s in there," Miss Betty said, always sure of herself, and started to work her way though the tangle of brush.
Right away Buddy was yelling at her, "Don"t go in there!"
Miss Betty stopped before she was too far in. She looked back saying, "Don"t you remember the story of Brer Rabbit, the part where he wants to get thrown in the thicket? It"s a good place to hide."
"It was a brier patch in the story," Buddy called to her, "just like this one. You"re not a rabbit, Betty. You"re not a cat, either. You"re too big to go in there."
Too late. She was already into the brier patch.
The next thing they heard from her was, "Uh-oh."
"I told you," Buddy said, "didn"t I? Now you"re caught by the thorns and all that p.r.i.c.kly stuff."
They heard her voice say, "How do I get out?" "Oh, now you want my advice," Buddy said. "Turn around and come out the way you went in." He looked at Antwan. "What should she do?"
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"Learn never to go in places like that. You know what her coat"s gonna look like she comes out?"
"It"s why I warned her," Buddy said.
"And you"re gonna catch the blame." Antwan grinning at him now. " "Cause you old and wise to the ways of brier patches and such."
They could hear her moving through the branches snagging her coat, and now she stepped out in the open, poor Miss Betty, covered with burrs and bits of leaves and things, stuck to her topknot to tail.
"You have to get somebody," Antwan said, "to bite all those burrs off you, somebody more devoted to you than I am, "cause they"re p.r.i.c.kly, cut your mouth up and swell your tongue. I did it one time only, for Ramona."
"She"s going home," Buddy said to Antwan. "Now." Like he was too disappointed in Miss Betty to say it to her directly.
"You have some things on your floppy ears," Antwan said. "I can bite them off without hurting myself." He moved close to her and nipped at the vegetation. "Girl, are you in pain or you just feel like a fool?"
"Go home." Buddy telling it to her face now. "They"ll take one look at you and call the Caboose. Or put you in the car and go to the vet"s."
"She ain"t hurt," Antwan said.
"She was in the woods," Buddy said. "They"ll want to know if she picked up anything."
"Like what?"
"Ticks, parasites."
"You serious?" Antwan said. "Bite "em off. Man, I"m in the woods all day long, I"m healthy."
"You"re different," Buddy said. "You"re not anything like us."
It got Antwan to say, "But you think you can join the pack and be like me? Become a coyote?"
He waited, but Buddy didn"t say any more about it. He sent Miss Betty on her way home, and now the dog and the coyote went sniffing after the cat.
[image]retty soon the wind brought the tangy scent of coyotes, Antwan believing it must be the Diablos roaming the land. That way, across the slope and into those trees down there. He stretched his legs now and Buddy came bounding after him. brought the tangy scent of coyotes, Antwan believing it must be the Diablos roaming the land. That way, across the slope and into those trees down there. He stretched his legs now and Buddy came bounding after him.
The coyotes were in a clearing where shafts of sunlight came through the trees: six Howling Diablos in a loose circle, with Lola, back arched in her snowy coat, in the middle.
The first thing Antwan did was yip "Wa.s.sup" and go around brushing noses, the coyote style of giving high fives. They asked Antwan what was up and he told them, "Same old same old." Now it was time to come to the point and he kept it simple. He said, "This is Buddy, the movie star. Understand? Buddy from the Buddy movies. Buddy and the Kidnappers? Buddy and the Kidnappers? We saw it every night it was playing at the drive-in. Saves this little dog name of Pedro from the bad guys. This is Buddy, and this is Buddy"s cat, Lola. Understand what I"m saying to you? Buddy don"t want you messing with his cat." We saw it every night it was playing at the drive-in. Saves this little dog name of Pedro from the bad guys. This is Buddy, and this is Buddy"s cat, Lola. Understand what I"m saying to you? Buddy don"t want you messing with his cat."
He spoke to them this way when there was no time to explain and they"d have to take his word for whatever it was. And they would, they"d say cool, because Antwan was cool and always had a good reason for what he did.
[image]he dog, the coyote and now the cat continued on toward the canyon where Lola lived. Antwan asked her if she knew the way. Lola seemed to think about it before saying, "That way," pointing her precious little face in the wrong direction. and now the cat continued on toward the canyon where Lola lived. Antwan asked her if she knew the way. Lola seemed to think about it before saying, "That way," pointing her precious little face in the wrong direction.
Antwan said to Buddy, "She don"t even know where she lives."
"How could I see where I was going," Lola said, "with you dragging me?"
They went on and before long Lola was lagging behind.
Antwan looked back to tell her, "I"ll take you by the collar if you want."
Lola was sitting down now. She said, "Just wait."
"For what?"
She said, "You"ll be sorry." Acting snippy now.
"I save her," Antwan said, "from being what"s for dinner and she talks to me like that?"
"She"s a movie star," Buddy said.
He walked over to Lola and put his nose in her pug face as she stood up ready to run, but didn"t move, held there by Buddy"s size. He said to her, "Honey, I saw your picture, the Slime Creatures Slime Creatures? The contrast was there, your white fluff against the slime, but you know what? You weren"t that good. Now tell Antwan what he"s gonna be sorry about."
Lola was timid now, Buddy"s low growl having put her in her place. She said, "I meant he"d have to be careful that he doesn"t get shot."
"Yeah, with Lola missing they"ll be hunters out there with guns," Buddy said, "thinking a coyote might"ve got her. I"ve been listening for gunshots."
"I heard one," Antwan said, "just a minute ago."
Buddy said, "Where"s the house from here?"
"The next canyon over," Antwan said. "On the shady side this time of day. It looks like part of the rocks."
"You"ve come far enough," Buddy said to him. "The hunters will shoot you on sight."
Antwan believed it; he"d been shot at before. He said to Buddy, "What about you? They"ll think you"re a wolf."
"I was offered a wolf part once. I turned it down. They put that black stuff on your face so you look mean. Uhunh," Buddy said, "I would never play a wolf. They"re always bad guys."
"The same way humans see us," Antwan said. "But you want to join the pack and become a coyote."
"I"ll give it a try," Buddy said. "It"s hard to explain, but I think of coyotes having more fun than wolves."
"We eat the same animals."
"Yeah, but you don"t eat humans."
Antwan let that pa.s.s. And now both Antwan and Buddy raised their faces at the sound of a gunshot and its echo, far away. "They sure like to fire their guns," Antwan said. "I wish I had one."
He saw Buddy and Lola were ready to leave, Buddy saying, "Don"t worry, I"ll get the little girl home."
Antwan stood watching as they ran off, Buddy loping through the brush, Lola scurrying after him.
It wasn"t Lola Antwan was worried about.
[image]uddy was confident he"d find the way to Lola"s house. They"d keep to high ground, look both ways crossing roads, listen for cars and the sounds of humans, and stay clear of houses dotting the hillsides. The only problem, Lola kept falling behind and Buddy would have to wait each time for her to catch up, her little pink tongue hanging out. He wouldn"t scold, though, yell at the poor thing. No, he was patient and would ask if she was okay. the way to Lola"s house. They"d keep to high ground, look both ways crossing roads, listen for cars and the sounds of humans, and stay clear of houses dotting the hillsides. The only problem, Lola kept falling behind and Buddy would have to wait each time for her to catch up, her little pink tongue hanging out. He wouldn"t scold, though, yell at the poor thing. No, he was patient and would ask if she was okay.
They stopped to rest in the shade of trees on a high ridge. Lola spied the canyon across the way and became excited, frisky, knowing she was almost home. Buddy poked her with his nose and she turned to him, her expression for a moment fearful.
"I didn"t mean it when I said you weren"t that good in the slime movie."
"You hurt my feelings," Lola said.
"You were acting like a spoiled brat," Buddy said. "I got mad and I shouldn"t have. That part where the slime creatures grab you? I thought you played it beautifully."
"I hated that scene. I end up in the slime pit."
"But you fought hard, hissed and clawed at them. Really, you were great."
"Well, thank you," Lola said. "Coming from a fellow actor it means a lot to me."
"I was thinking," Buddy said, "I could come visit sometime if you like, talk about s...o...b..z?"
"I"d like that very much," Lola said, "just don"t bring the coyote. He makes me nervous."
All they had to do now was make their way down the slope, cross the road, go up the canyon a little way and Lola would be home.
They were part of the way down, Lola so anxious she was keeping up with him, even getting a little ahead, when Buddy spotted the hunters: a line of them spread out across the slope. He knew that at any moment the hunters would spot Lola, snowy white against the dusty green of the brush.
"Keep going," Buddy told her. "Get out in the open where they can see you."
Lola stopped. "Are you coming?"
"I"m right behind you," Buddy said, but cautious now, watching the line of hunters not a hundred yards away coming toward them. Now he heard shouts from the hunters and stopped in his tracks.
"There she is!"
"What"s that after her?"
"It"s a wolf-shoot it!"
TEN.
[image]he Pooch Caboose was in the drive, mean- was in the drive, mean-Ting Miss Betty was having her burrs removed.
There was no way of telling how long she"d been in there. Antwan imagined the groomer biting off the burrs and saying "Ouch" a lot.
He went into the kitchen for a drink of water. The dad came in and said something to the maid that had Buddy"s name in it, sounding like he was asking if Buddy had come home. The maid said no, shaking her head. The dad started in on Antwan then, calling him Timmy and saying Buddy and Miss Betty"s names. Now the dad was stroking Antwan and calling him fella. Antwan got tired of it, started to walk away and the dad said, "Stay." Antwan knew that one, so he had to stop and stand there like a fool, wait for the dad to let him go. The mom came in and the dad started on her, raising his voice like he was blaming her, but the mom let him talk, not saying a word. She went to the refrigerator and got herself a beverage. Antwan pushed through the dog door and went outside thinking about Buddy.
Buddy the hero in movies so many times he believed there was nothing to it. But now this was real life and the gunshots were real, hunters out there in their suits-all different patterns of green and black, some tan-Cletus said they wore those suits so you couldn"t see them. Antwan said that time, "But if I know what colors the suits are I must"ve seen "em." Old Cletus said, "Even if you couldn"t you can smell the ketchup they had on their hamburgers." Smell, man, was what kept you out of trouble. Buddy had it. Antwan hoped he was using it.
What was strange, here he was the first time in his life worrying about a dog.
The kids were on the patio now watching TV, Antwan still in the backyard when Buddy came over the fence. He looked the same, all dog, but serious and maybe tired from running. Courtney came over and talked to him for a minute and went back to the TV.
"What"d she say?"
"I"m gonna get it," Buddy said. "How"s Betty?"
"Been in the Caboose since I got here. How you doing?"
Buddy looked up at the house and then at Antwan again.
"Lola saved my life."