The property is much bigger than it looks from the outside, and there are lush gardens between us and the house. We walk past a vegetable garden covered in chicken-wire fencing, then a flower garden with rainbows of color, then small groves of fruit trees in neat rows. The air is thick with the smell of ripe and rotting citrus fruit.
There’s life all around us, but no dogs. Not that I can smell at least.
Are we in the right place?
Far back on the property is a large Spanish-style home with big windows. As we approach, the front door opens, and a skinny woman with short-cropped black hair peeks out.
“You’re just children,” she says.
“Young adults,” Junebug says.
“Are you Dr. Pao?” Chance asks.
“She’s not on a leash,” the doctor says, glaring at me.
“She doesn’t need a leash,” Chance says. “She’s well-behaved.”
“If she makes a move toward me—”
“She won’t. I promise,” Chance says.
Dr. Pao cautiously steps out of the house and closes the door firmly behind her. She stands on the stoop looking down at us.
“Approach slowly so I can get a good look at her,” she says.
We take a few steps toward the doctor, and she holds up her hand.
“Close enough.”
She studies my face and body for a long moment. Then she shakes her head.
“She’s not one of mine. Sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
“I thought you didn’t breed any dogs,” Junebug says.
The doctor stops, and her face turns red with anger. “Do you believe everything you read on the internet?”
“Tell her about the chip,” I say.
“We found a chip inside of her,” Junebug says. “It had BreedX printed on it.”
“Prove it,” Dr. Pao says. “Show it to me.”
“We had to throw it away,” Chance says. “We were being tracked.”
“I don’t believe you,” the doctor says, but her face tells a different story. She’s flushed with fear.
“We’re telling the truth!” Chance says. “She still has a big hole in her leg.”
I turn to the side, and Chance points to the place where Junebug sewed me up at the 7-Eleven. I look back to find the skin has healed, and the stitches have fallen out.
“It’s gone!” Chance says. “That’s impossible.”
Junebug looks, too. “How could it heal so quickly?”
“The chip was right here,” Chance says. “I swear.”
The doctor looks upset, her eyes darting from Junebug to me and back again.
“What do we do now?” Chance asks me.
“Tell her we just want to sit down with her and—”
“Were you talking to the dog?” the doctor asks, her voice on the edge of panic.
Chance is too slow with his denial, and without warning, Dr. Pao jumps off the stairs and disappears around the back of the house.
“Follow her!” I shout, and we take off after her.
The doctor is faster than she looks, and the yard is like a maze that thickens as we move deeper into it. We run through paths overgrown with trees, scraping past branches and leaping over thick roots that grow up out of the soil.
I only want to question the doctor, but she’s running from us like her life depends on it. We nearly catch up with her when she leaps over a hedge, racing toward a barn hidden in the rear of the property.
I speed up, outpacing Chance and Junebug and gaining on the doctor. She makes it to the barn a split second before me.
She flings open the door and races inside. I leap from twenty feet away and hit the door, pushing it open and tumbling inside after her.
The scent of dogs hits me full in the face, and my eyes instantly adjust to the low light inside the barn. The interior of the building is a kennel, and there are more than two dozen labradoodle dogs staring at me. They seem nearly identical, crossbreeds with big friendly faces and curly hair.
Dr. Pao wades into the center of the pack, and the dogs shift to let her through, then close in around her like they’re trained to protect her.
What kinds of dogs are these, and how are they communicating?
I edge forward and sniff at the pack. They react instantly, tightening the circle around the doctor.
My heart quickens with excitement at the idea I might have found my pack. “Are you the BreedX dogs? I’m not here to hurt you or the doctor.”
They don’t respond.
“Can you understand what I’m saying?” I ask, still hopeful.
They bark at one another, passing messages in a language more sophisticated than normal dogs’, but far less sophisticated than human language. I hear barked warnings to be cautious and reminders to protect the doctor from outsiders.
It’s obvious they can communicate with one another, but they can’t speak to me.
I turn away, disappointed.
The barn door flies open, and Chance and Junebug run in, breathless.
“Whoa,” Chance says. “They all look alike.”
“And they’re cute!” Junebug says.
“Stay back,” I warn them. “These aren’t regular dogs.”
“Are they like you?” Chance asks.
“Not like me, but not normal. They’re protecting Dr. Pao. She’s hiding behind them in the shadows.”
“Dr. Pao!” Chance shouts. “We’re not trying to hurt you.”
“We just want to talk,” Junebug says.
Dr. Pao shouts a command from somewhere in the barn, and the formation of dogs separates and splits down the middle. Dr. Pao walks forward, and we approach through the pack to join her.
The doctor looks up. I see tears glistening on her cheeks.
Why is she crying?
“I thought you were them,” she says.
“Who?” Chance asks.
“Maelstrom.”
“Are they after you, too?” Junebug asks.
“I need to know what Maelstrom is,” I tell Chance.
“We heard the word Maelstrom before, but we don’t—”
The doctor cuts him off. “You talked to the dog again, didn’t you?”
“Tell her the truth,” I say.
“Her name is Wild,” Chance says. “She told me to ask you about Maelstrom.”
Dr. Pao’s eyes widen. “In human language?”
Chance nods.
“Oh my gosh. They’ve done it. They’ve broken the language barrier.”
Dr. Pao comes toward us with the natural curiosity of a scientist overcoming her fear.
“I only heard barking,” Dr. Pao says. “How can you understand her?”
“There’s a translator in her collar,” Chance says, “and I can hear her through a special device in my ear.”
“Don’t leave me out,” Junebug says. “I’ve got a device, too.”
Dr. Pao looks from Junebug to Chance and then to my collar.
“Come to the house with me,” she says. “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”