Monstrous Races by K. Jewell Read Free Book Online

crowd a loud bark was heard.
    A black labrador dog-head, wider and older than Rufus but unmistakeably his father appeared at the periphery and the group parted as he walked towards his son. He was dressed smartly with crisp, clean clothes and the fur on his face was grey around the muzzle. His left eye had a slight milky sheen to it, and he was powerfully built. He held up his hands towards Rufus and Elli saw a wide gold ring on his chubby finger. He grabbed Rufus and held his face in his hands.
    ‘My boy everyone, he’s back. He’s come home!’

Chapter Five
A decent cup of tea
     
    Elli lay on the sofa that morning and thought back to the night before, feeling the warmth of the stone against her chest as she always did. There was lots of food she remembered, and weak beer for her as well as fresh water. The neighbours had entered the house in a whirlwind, pinching her cheeks and telling her she needed feeding up. Madam Valencia was her favourite, a large buxom woman with hair dyed black and red cheeks, kissing her with red grease smeared on her lips. There were dog-heads and humans with pale skin and dark, and a smaller spaniel dog-head called Uncle Frankie who lifted Rufus into the air when he saw him. There was a family of four gorgades and some large dogs who were barking and running around wagging their tails.
    Elli began to fall asleep in a corner when suddenly the laughter and excited chatter disappeared and everything was cleared away. In a daze she was kissed on the cheek again and felt warm hands stroke her hair. A deep dog-head voice said, ‘welcome to the family,’ and the next thing she remembered she was lying on the chaise longue, covered with soft blankets.
    She stretched out and opened her eyes, looking around the room. There wasn’t a sign that all those people had come inside the night before, and the surfaces gleamed with polish. The room was large and tasteful, with ornate vases and oil paintings on the crimson walls. She looked for a long time at a religious dog-head picture, smiling at the swirls of colours and richness of shades. It depicted a tall, proud wolfhound dog-head appearing to walk towards her, his arms folded over his chest. His cloak was every rich red shade she could imagine, and he wore a jewelled collar that dazzled her with its shine. The silvers and golds, emerald green and amethyst leapt out at her, the detail as real to her as seeing it in the flesh. She hadn’t expected a room like this to be inside the house as there was no clue from the outside, and she moved closer to the painting, deep in thought.
    ‘St Christophe the wise,’ came a dee p, powerful voice behind her. ‘I t’s one of a kind.’ Elli jumped, shaken as she hadn’t heard Max come in.  ‘I’m sorry,’ he continued, ‘I didn’t mean to scare you. Of course it really belongs in a museum, but I’m so very attached to it.’
    ‘It’s lovely,’ she said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before.’
    ‘No, you wouldn’t have,’ he replied kindly, his gaze lingering on the painting. ‘Can you see how he has captured that look in the eye, somewhere between pride and regret. And see here, he is looking towards the light but the shadows are creeping in around his back. It drove the artist mad you know, for twenty years he worked on it, day and night. You see the necklace? He used real gold and silver, he wanted to capture them exactly so.’
    ‘It’s breathtaking,’ she said. ‘How long have you owned it?’
    ‘Owned?’ he asked, as though a spell had been broken. ‘Let’s just say I’m loaning it. As I said, it really belongs in a museum.’ She turned to see a glint in his eyes, as though he were judging her reaction. ‘Oh don’t worry, the one they have there is perfectly adequate. That took twenty days to paint but nobody even sus pects. The philistines,’ he added , sniffing the air around him.  ‘Didn’t even use real gold, it’s shocking.’ He stretched his hands out