Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce Read Free Book Online Page A

Achoo shrank back. She feared her own leash. To Achoo it wasn't just a tool of her trade anymore. It was a tool for punishment.
    I saw her cower and decided to wait until later for a word with Pounce. Right now this poor hound had been passed to yet another strange new handler.
    I crouched so our eyes were on a level. "No, it's all right, Achoo." I ran my hands over her as gently as I could. She had welts on her poor body. There would be no combing her fur. Those mats had to be cut off. As she stuck her nose in my ear, I glared at Pounce. "This is your doing." I said it quiet, so as not to frighten the creature under my hands.
    But at least I'll help . Pounce came over and sat at my side. Achoo lowered her nose until it touched his. She took a sniff and sneezed three times.
    You're going to be all right now, as long as you listen to Beka and to me , Pounce told her. Beka growls, but she feeds her animals first. And she'll let you smell whatever you like .
    Achoo looked at me, then nudged Pounce with her nose. He stumbled backward.
    None of that , Pounce warned. Treat me with respect. I'm not an ordinary cat .
    "You're cat meat if you foist any more creatures on me, scent hounds or no," I told him. "I'm not a trained handler. Doubtless they'll just take her from me again." I was trying to decide how I might bathe Achoo without hurting her. And there was still my cousin Philben to find. How do my days get so busy?
    We went home, to begin by getting a meal into the poor starved beast. I was feeding Achoo meat pasties I'd crumbled into a bowl of fresh goat's milk when I heard feet on my stairs.
    Kora looked in. "We missed you at breakfast. What's this – another creature?" she asked, with a nod for the pigeons that fed on corn at my windowsill, as well as at the cat and hound. Then she noted Achoo's condition. "Beka, what happened to this poor animal?"
    Once I told her Achoo's story, Kora ordered me to leave the hound to her. I was glad to do it. Kora has a way with creatures and, unlike her preparations for humans, her animal medicines work. Since Pounce had given Kora Fuzzball, she had collected a second cat, a pup, and a pair of lovebirds. Ersken said he couldn't wait until they moved into the Dancing Dove. There was scarce room in Kora's bed for him. She was a fine one to talk about my creatures! At least the pigeons don't live with me and Pounce.
    "You won't know her when you see her again," Kora told me as I left her with Achoo. "Hempstead, you said her handler's name was?"
    "Kora, don't you go magicking any Guardsmen," I warned her. "No matter how much they might deserve it. It's not the kind of thing I can turn a blind eye to."
    Kora gave me a sidelong look as she rubbed Achoo's ears. "Beka, I would never test you that way."
    I snorted. Then I looked at Pounce. "Are you coming?"
    I will stay with Achoo , he said. Until she knows Kora better. I can translate. You won't need me to talk to your cousin .
    "She has a cousin?" I heard Kora ask as I went out the door.
    Several , Pounce replied. Most of her family on her father's side did not like it that she lived at Provost's House, or that she became a Dog. They prefer that she stay away .
    "Tell all my secrets, why don't you?" I called as I rattled down the stairs. I felt uneasy in my tripes, though not about Pounce speaking to Kora of my family. It was Kora being clever about Hempstead that worried me. I know full well that Kora might do something devious to the handler, if Pounce does not.
    On the other hand, he deserves to be punished somehow. What I don't know won't hurt me.
    I shook those worries off and headed for the Daymarket, listening to the pigeons on the ground and the window ledges as I walked. The ghosts they carried were still quiet. If folk were getting killed, they knew why and accepted it. I loved these calm weeks before the harvesters returned to Corus. They were restful not just for me as a Dog, but for the Beka who heard the pigeons' ghosts. Once folk