Rules for Werewolves by Kirk Lynn Read Free Book Online Page B

of planet, in what sort of solar system, in what sort of galaxy, in what sort of universe.

15
Malcolm is the first one back. Bobert, Tom, and Anquille are tied for second, then some others .
    —Welcome home.
    —Who is that?
    —I’m over by the garage.
    —I can’t see you.
    —It’s Malcolm. I was the first one back.
    —It’s Bobert.
    —And Tom and Anquille.
    —We didn’t see anything.
    —It’s dark.
    —What are you doing?
    —I’m spray-painting our mark on the driveway of this house.
    —That’s our mark?
    —What is it?
    —It’s a wolf.
    —Are you sure.
    —Stand over here. Look at it from this angle.
    —I see it.
    —Where?
    —That’s the nose and that’s the ears—
    —What’s that?
    —That’s the teeth.
    —All right.
    —What time is it, Malcolm?
    —I think it’s a little after eleven. It could be earlier.
    —You want us to keep looking?
    —No.
    —I’m cold.
    —I like a night like this.
    —It’s so dark.
    —Not much wind.
    —Just the sound of the highway.
    —The highway sounds like wind.
    —We didn’t see anything.
    —You said.
    —What about you, Malcolm? Did you find anything?
    —Just this guy.
    —What the fuck is that thing?
    —That’s my dog.
    —I didn’t see him there.
    —It’s dark and he’s black. Almost black. He’s chocolate-colored.
    —Does he bite?
    —I guess if you kicked him or something you could get him to bite, but I’ve only been nice to him and he seems to want to be nice to me. He seems to want to be nice to all of us.
    —Where’d you find him?
    —I think he found me.
    —Where?
    —Well, just like you guys, I was out looking for the Peugeot and I went a little north, I sorta scooted by the edge of the elementary school.
    —We were around that way, too.
    —Rich people always want to live by nice schools. You see that in the movies. When rich people talk about buying a house they ask what school district it’s in, and where the nearest school is, and what the test scores are.
    —Well, that school is a nice school.
    —But there’s no Peugeots around, right?
    —We didn’t see any.
    —I thought I would go down around toward the Speedy Stop and maybe stake out the parking lot for an hour, see if the Peugeot came by there. Gas stations are tar pits for dino-cars. The fossil fuels bring them in and the high prices bring them down. Haha. I’m being stupid.
    —We didn’t have a real plan. We just sat in the swings and watched cars drive by. But we didn’t see any Peugeots.
    —But on the way to the Speedy Stop I saw this mutt. He was wearing my belt so I thought I would follow him.
    —I don’t get it.
    —This is the dog I was walking when I got hit by that car.
    —Why were you walking a dog?
    —I do it to fit in.
    —He’s a good dog.
    —He likes you, Bobert. He trusts you.
    —I like him, too.
    —Why don’t you hold on to his leash for a while. So he doesn’t run away again in all the confusion that’s gonna happen as everybody comes back.
    —What confusion?
    —Hey guys.
    —Hey.
    —See? Everybody’s coming back already.
    —Did you find anything?
    —Look at this.
    —Malcolm has a dog.
    —Everybody go in and get packed up.
    —Did you find the Peugeot?
    —This dog found us a mansion.
    —I don’t get it.
    —Dogs are domesticated. That means safe. Nobody dangerous walks a dog. Walking a dog is a real Norman Rockwell activity. I do it when I want to case a new neighborhood.
    —Where do you get the dog?
    —Some yard. This one was a couple blocks over that way.
    —I hate dog-walking. Walking the dog was one of my chores I had to do when I lived at home. I was supposed to walk the dog before and after school.
    —Did you?
    —No one was ever home after school so I just said I did. I never really did. But when my mother would ask me, “Did you really?” I would just smile and say, “Ask Riley.”
    —I use my belt as a leash and then I just wave at the neighbors as I try to guess how robust their canned good supply is