Oh, I see,Henry thought, smiling to himself.Not so above it all after all, are we?
You be quiet,his hellhound whuffed indignantly.That is not just any cheese.That is premium cheddar, the likes of which you have never bought me. Let me have this.
Internally shaking his head, Henry decided he would. Despite the fact his hellhound had been even more huffy and ornery than usual lately, hedidfeel it deserved something. The last couple of weeks had been hard on them both, not just him – even thoughhewas the one who was suffering most of the consequences.
Whateverhethought, however, it was clear the hellhound’s mind was already made up. Before he knew it, Henry found himself on his feet again, tail wagging, looking hopefully at Luna as she cut off a minute piece of cheese for Fillmore, who gobbled it up gratefully from the palm of her hand, licking his chops with great relish.
Clearly, the cheese wasreallygood.
“Oh – do you want some too?” Luna asked as she stood, noticing Henry standing there – obviously, the hellhound was giving her its best pathetic, doe-eyed,please, won’t some kind person feed a starving hellhoundlook.
“Well, I guess if… uh,youdon’t object,” she said, laughing. “If you’re not allowed to have cheese, just shake your head.”
No, it’s okay, let him have some,Henry thought, hoping somehow his reassurance would psychically reach her. Apparently, she did understand, because she cut another bit of cheese from the block – a hellhound-sized piece, as opposed to the tiny little… whatever kind of dog Fillmore was anyway-sized piece.
“Here you go,” she murmured, reaching out a hand. “Or should I just put this on the ground for you?”
But the hellhound hardly gave her the chance – it had snaffled it up from her hand almost before she’d finished talking.
Oh. Oh. This is heaven.
Henry couldn’t help but smile. His hellhound reallydidsound blissful – and it was good to know there was at leastonething that was guaranteed to make it happy.
And besides which, that is somereallygood cheese.
And it was – tangy and sharp and creamy. It wasperfect.
Henry had to admit, itwasprobably better cheese than he’d ever provided for his hellhound. Sure, it usuallylikedthe cheap and nasty stuff, butthischeese was on a whole other level!
And there’s a whole block more of it right there,his hellhound said, eyeing it hungrily as Luna put it away in the minifridge.
Andthereis right where you’ll leave it,Henry told the hellhound sternly.That is Luna’s cheese. It’s for her to offer, not for you to take.
The hellhound did actually accept that without any complaint – clearly, it respected Luna, even if it didn’t respecthim. And it seemed satiated for the moment at least – though Henry didn’t see how it couldn’t be, having just eaten a morsel of the world’s most delicious cheese right from the palm of their mate’s hand.
“Well – should we sleep then?”
Luna crossed the room into the bedroom, and Henry followed, before curling up on the rug that lay on the floor at the end of the bed.
Luna closed the curtains, detouring for a moment to give him a quick, only slightly awkward pat on the head that sent his hellhound delirious with joy and which was over far too quickly. She then plonked Fillmore on the bed, before sliding under the covers and awkwardly wedging herself around Fillmore, who was somehow taking up at least seventy percent of the bed despite being about one percent of its size.
“Well, good night,” Luna said after a moment. There was a long pause, and then, almost inaudibly, she added, “Thank you.”
Henry thought that he had never been so happy in all his life as he felt right now. Certainly, his hellhound was about to vibrate out of its skin with pure ecstasy… although it was still somehow managing to be annoyed that the rug in this room wasn’t as nice as the one in the sitting room that it had seen earlier.
… Had that really only been earlier today? It felt like weeks had passed. His entire life had been turned on its head in a matter of hours.
He listened as Luna’s breathing slowed down and evened out, until she dropped off into a deep, peaceful sleep less than a minute later.
She must have been absolutely exhausted. I can’t say I blame her.
Henry continued to lie there in the near-dark for some time, listening with his excellent hellhound hearing to the rustling sounds of the woodlands outside, the muted voices of the other B&B guests in the corridor. All seemed as it should have been: no threats, no dangerous animals at the window, no fiendish scoundrels tapping threatening messages into their phones and twirling their mustaches.
My mate. I can’t believe I found her. And she wants to be with me, despite everything that happened.
He yawned.
Perhaps I’m more tired than I realized, too.
