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Karma jumped again at the black shepherd, play-growling and feinting at Shadow’s big paws. He pulled one paw away, and then the other, and then stood to get out of reach. Shadow growled, but Karma could tell he didn’t mean it by the way his tail moved from side to side and his ears followed her movement.
She looked around, startled when Lia tossed something on the desk, and stood up with an exclamation. “Dammit. Should have known.”
The girl’s frustration and anger made Karma whine. She loped across the room to Lia, and without prompting, grabbed the girl’s pant leg in her teeth and shook her head, hard. As expected, Lia laughed.
She’d figured out all by herself that making Lia laugh made them both feel better. Her short tail quivered and she rolled onto her back to ask for a tummy rub. Karma had become very fond of tummy rubs. The girl obliged, but had to sit in the chair before she could bend over and stroke Karma’s chest.
Shadow ambled over, but instead of asking for attention from Lia, he cold nosed all of Karma’s tender spots. That was his right, since he was bigger and older than she was. Karma managed to hold still a few seconds before she just had to snap at Shadow’s muzzle so that he’d let her up. She might be young, but Karma was brave and in charge, and she let Shadow sniff because . . . Well, because he was Shadow. He’d even let her sniff him. Once. She licked the bigger dog’s face.
“Grandfather has put us on a deadline, so it’s game on.” Lia levered herself upright with a groan, and limped from the office into the kennel area.
Karma liked the game word, but she followed only a few steps. She whined at the door, leery of the scary place where trees fell through roofs and bad men made Lia cry. Karma remembered biting the bad man. It hadn’t been as much fun as she thought.
Hearing good-dog was the best. When Lia called her good-dog it made Karma hungry to learn more, and more, and more. Maybe she’d learn as much as Shadow! Wouldn’t that be fine?
At the happy thought, Karma bounced around the small room, chased her tail for three turns, and then looked up at Shadow. He wagged his tail again, then moved into a sudden forward bow, dancing each foreleg back and forth in clear invitation to play. His hurts had started to heal and his legs weren’t shaky anymore.
Delighted, Karma agreed to join the game—dog games were as good as people games, even without treats—and the black shepherd leaped away, dodging her advances. He stumbled into the wooden step stool holding the broken door closed. It jarred a few inches, and the door cracked wider to allow cold wind to whistle inside.
Karma remembered the big yard with lots more room to run and sniff grass and play chase. Outside sniffs painted pictures inside her head of hidden furry creatures that promised contests Karma wanted to win. She yapped and pranced forward, sticking her blunt muzzle into the gap and levered the door open. Karma liked opening doors. She’d gotten very good at it. She trotted outside, head up to drink in the breeze, and noticed the fence didn’t reach this far. With no barriers, the entire world of sounds and smells beckoned.
Lia came back into the room, and gasped when she saw Karma outside. “Wait!”
Shadow flinched like the word was a slap, but he pushed his way through the opening to join Karma. They stood shoulder to shoulder, and when Shadow walked toward the road, Karma couldn’t resist following for a few paces.
“Please, wait.” Lia stood in the doorway. She took a limping step toward them but didn’t come any further.
Karma wished the girl would chase them. Dogs could outrun people with their pitiful two legs, and Lia still limped from her hurts. Even so, Karma never tired of the game. She looked back at Lia, and barked, tail quivering at the thought of the chase game to come.
But the shepherd kept walking. Even with his injuries, Karma knew Shadow could outrun her. She took two steps after him, but sudden thunder made Karma yelp. She remembered the snakes, the sky flashes, and the hungry flood, and outside adventure lost its appeal. She wanted to squat-and-pee, but didn’t.
Because she was Karma! A brave good-dog. So she squared her shoulders, like Shadow, and ignored the prickled sensation of raised hackles she couldn’t control. She wanted to be with him, to follow him.
She didn’t want Shadow to go. Karma barked again. She grabbed up her lamb-toy, and offered it to him.
He paused. Karma wriggled with delight when he padded back toward her. She dropped the toy, and they nose-touched and she licked his chin. And then he grasped Karma in his massive jaws, and push-carried her back to Lia’s feet, and left her there.
Karma let him, relaxed and trusting. Because he was Shadow.
Lia knelt and gathered Karma to her with her uninjured arm.
No! Shadow couldn’t leave her behind. Karma struggled, and yelped, wanting to reach him.
The girl held out her injured hand to him. An invitation.
Shadow stared into Lia’s face for a long moment. Her eyes widened, and she half smiled with sad recognition as if hearing a whispered farewell. Then he moved forward for one more nose-touch with Karma. Shadow whirled, dashed to the muddy, flooded road, and limped away.
Lia stood for a long moment in the doorway, staring after the mysterious warrior dog. She called into the night, “Aloha `oe. Safe journey home, and mahalo.” She grabbed up the lamb-toy, sat down in the doorway and pulled Karma onto her lap with soft whispered words and gentle touches. “My brave Karma-girl, I’m so sorry. But Shadow doesn’t need us anymore. He has someone waiting for him, and has to find his own way home. And so do we.”
Karma licked the girl’s face, tasting salty wet that rained from Lia’s eyes. She whimpered, and licked Lia again. It didn’t hurt so bad once she realized they shared the same hurt. Because they were together.
This time she didn’t struggle. Karma welcomed the girl’s embrace. She sniffed the stuffy and felt comforted by the lingering scent of Shadow. People were confusing, but she’d figured out what hugs meant, when they came from a good-dog’s person. Love.
