Logan did not see, hear, or feel anything during the ultrasonic transport. The world went black for a split second, then he was somewhere else. He would have preferred some special effects: flashing lights, whooshing or zinging sounds, a twirling or flying or falling sensation.
“Logan!” Aggy was calling from somewhere.
He quickly ducked behind a low bush. “Over here, Aggy!” he called. “Over here!”
“Where?” Aggy asked, peddling her bike closer. She saw the alien standing beside the bush, pointing to where Logan was hiding.
“Throw me the clothes!” Logan said.
Aggy removed the wad of clothes from her basket and lobbed them over the bush. Logan put them on, then stood and handed the alien his mom’s skirt and sweatshirt. The alien merely stared at them.
“Help her, will you, Aggy?” Logan asked. “She doesn’t know how to put them on.”
“I don’t need to put them on,” the alien said. ” We don’t wear clothes on my planet.”
“You’re not cold?” Aggy asked.”
“No,” the alien said.
Logan shrugged. “Then forget it.” He tossed the clothes back to Aggy.
“Why doesn’t her mouth move when she talks?” Aggy asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” Logan said, then turned to the alien. “The dogs are in there, ma’am,” he said, indicating the white, wooden, one-story building beside them. Barking and whining could be heard coming from inside.
“There are twenty-two of them. Ten are female.”
“How does she know that?” Aggy asked.
“The aliens can hear higher frequencies than us,” Logan explained. “Like dogs.”
“Why are we here?” Aggy asked. “Is Festus in there?”
“No,” Logan said. “I talked the alien into swapping shelter dogs for the stolen dogs.”
Aggy looked at the alien. “You stole my dog?”
“Not her,” Logan said. “She took care of the dogs aboard the spaceship. Her boss stole them.”
“I’m sorry,” the alien said to Aggy. “Which is yours?”
“Black with a white belly,” Logan said. “Short legs. Old.”
“White at the tip of his tail?” the alien asked.
“That’s him! “ Aggy said, her eyes tearing. “Can you get him back?”
The alien was about to answer, but suddenly she pivoted her head, as if she had heard something.
“I have to go,” she said, and opened her mouth. Her tongue tightened.
“Go? You can’t go!” Logan pleaded.
But she was gone.
“No!” Logan shrieked, shaking his fists at the sky. “You can’t leave! Come back! Come back!”
“Why did she do that?” Aggy asked. “Isn’t she going to help us?”
“He must have ordered her back to the space-ship!” Logan said, then again addressed the night sky. “You promised!”
And the alien returned.
“She’s back!” Aggy said.
Logan’s fury subsided. He squinted at the alien. It was grinning, but only on one side of its mouth.
“It’s not her. It’s him,” Logan said.
“Very good,” the alien said. “You can tell us apart.”
“Only by your expressions,” Logan said. “Yours is either angry or sneaky.”
“This is the boss?” Aggy asked. “The dognapper?”
“Pleased to meet you,” the alien said. “Though actually I’ve seen and heard you many times before.”
“You stole Festus!” she said. “Give him back!”
“Easy now,” the alien said. “One thing at a time.”
“Why are you here, sir?” Logan asked. “That wasn’t in our plan. You were supposed to stay on the ship and send the dogs to my house.”
“Yes, after I was certain of the existence of this animal shelter you spoke of, and after it was established it held more dogs than I stole.”
“Well, this is it,” Logan said, waving a hand at the shelter. “I’m sure you can count the dogs inside by their voices. Twenty-two.”
“Quite right,” the alien said. “Twenty-two. Which is more than the eleven we have on board the ship.”
“Right,” Logan said. “But before you transport them up, sir, we have to go to my house and you have to return the dogs, like you promised.”
“How will we get there?” the alien said. “Your little friend here has the transmitter.”
Aggy patted her pants pocket, the one with the rusty nail in it. “I still have it,” she said.
“That’s true, sir,” Logan said, thinking quickly. “Aggy will bike back to my house.”
“I’m afraid we cannot go to your house before I transport the dogs to the ship,” the alien said.
“Why not?” Logan asked.
“Because I’m going to transport them to the ship now.” The alien opened his mouth wide.
“No!” Logan screamed. “You promised, sir! We shook hands and tapped noses….”
The alien vanished, as did the barking from the shelter.