“No!” She knocked his arm away and jumped between him and the animal. “Don’t you dare shoot that dog.”
“It’s vicious! It’s a threat.”
“It’s starving. It’s scared.” The animal’s ribs were visible through the matted brown fur. She glowered at Rok. “Put that away!” she snapped.
Lowering her voice, she inched toward the dog with an extended hand. “It’s okay, puppy. It’s okay. Iwon’t let the mean alien hurt you. Come on, puppy, it’s okay.”
The dog stopped barking.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she murmured.
He crept closer, his tail wagging a little.
“That’s a good boy. Aren’t you a good boy? Yes, you are!”
He sniffed her outstretched hand and then let her pet him. His entire rear end wiggled with his wagging tail, and tears stung her eyes. The poor dog. He’d lost his people, his family. She wondered if he’d lived in the trailer but recalled no signs of a pet. No food, no bed, no toys. No doghouse.
She knelt to cuddle him. He licked her face. A medium-sized dog, he should have weighed maybe twenty-five to thirty pounds, but she guessed he was eighteen at most. He was skin and bones and matted fur. He wore a frayed, dirty collar. She read the tag. KEVIN and a phone number.
“Is your name Kevin?”
His bark sounded like a yes.
“Are you hungry, Kevin? Let’s get you something to eat.” She stood up and walked back to the house. “Come on!”
The dog glanced at Rok then trotted after her.
She retrieved the key, and she and Kevin entered. He sat on the kitchen floor and looked up expectantly. She filled a dish with water and set it down. The dog drank thirstily, drinking half a bowlful.
“Let me see what we’ve got.” She sorted through the canned goods in the cupboard. “Beef stew! You’ll like this.”
The alien entered.
As she cut through the can and pulled off the top, Rok retched.“Pikur zok vinik okum!”He dashed outside, and she spotted him through the window puking over the patio rail.
She sniffed the stew as she emptied it into the bowl. “Smells like stew.” Actually, it smelled like dog food. “You’re going to love it.” She set the bowl on the floor, and Kevin wolfed it down in seconds. After he licked the bowl clean, she washed the dishes, and they rejoined Rok.
He slumped in a patio chair, his silvery skin having taken on a gray pallor. She felt an unexpected and unwelcome stab of concern. “Are you all right?”
“The meat you fed the animal made me sick.”
Could we have kept them out by hanging a steak over the doorway?If smelling meat made them ill, what would happen if they ingested some? Like ifsomeone slipped them a few bacon bits. Would they die an agonizing death like a rat ingesting strychnine?
Did she have it in her to deliberately poison him?
No. No, she didn’t.I guess I lack the killer instinct.
Rok pushed himself to his feet, but he hadn’t fully regained his luminescence. “Can we leave now?”
“Kevin comes, too.” She jutted her chin out, preparing for a challenge.
“I figured as much.”
Chapter Twelve
The dog smelled…doggy—but it didn’t stink nearly as bad as the stuff she’d fed the animal. Lacking the ability to digest meat, Progg were sensitive to meat odors, and Rok was exceptionally so.
Tail wagging, tongue lolling out of its mouth, the dog trotted happily beside Chloe as they walked along the dusty gravel road. The two Earthlings had bonded instantly. The animal had taken to her, and she’d become its protector. Something almost like jealousy curled in the pit of his stomach. What would it be like to be appreciated simply because you existed? To not have to earn acceptance and approval?
