Read Online Wild Life by Cynthia DeFelice - Free Book Online Page B

whistled and drove around looking for her, but finally he had to leave.”
    â€œHe just left Quill behind?” Erik asked incredulously.
    â€œWho? Oh, is that what you’re calling her?” Dr. Bob chuckled. “Cute. Anyway, Duvochin said it was getting dark and he couldn’t spend all night looking. He had to get home. He didn’t know anything about the porcupine. He can’t come today, but thinks he’ll be able to get up this way tomorrow or the next day.”
    â€œOh,” Erik said weakly.
    â€œHow’s the dog doing?”
    Erik looked at Quill, who was over in the corner sniffing a pair of Oma’s slippers, and smiled despite himself. “Great,” he said. “She acts like nothing ever happened.”
    â€œThat’s the beauty of dogs,” Dr. Bob said. “They don’t dwell on the past. Any swelling?”
    â€œMaybe just a little.”
    â€œIs she eating?”
    â€œVenison, ham, and eggs, so far,” Erik told him.
    Dr. Bob laughed and said, “Nothing but the best, huh? Well, listen, it’s no problem for me to keep her until Duvochin can come for her. But it doesn’t look as if I’ll be able to get there until maybe six o’clock. Is that going to be soon enough for Big Darrell?”
    Erik thought about the way his grandfather’s cold blue eyes had flattened when he first saw Quill, and the look on his face when he said, “Take that mutt out to the barn.”
    â€œI guess it’ll have to be,” he said.
    â€œAll right, then. I’ll see you tonight.”
    Erik forced himself to say thanks before hanging up. Quill, who was curled on the rug next to the bed, got to her feet and came over to him. Erik took her head in his hands, and they looked into each other’s eyes.
    Dr. Bob’s call made it final. Even if, by some miracle, Big Darrell had relented and let Quill stay another night, she was going back to her owner. He thought about Quill returning to this Duvochin guy, who obviously didn’t care about her anywhere near as much as Erik did, or he’d never have left her behind to contend with a porcupine all on her own.
    He thought about going to school the next day, a prospect daunting in itself. Then he imagined coming home at the end of the day to this sagging, unhappy house. Oma was nice, he had to admit, and he felt how hard she was trying to make him feel at home. But any welcoming warmth she created was blotted out by the dark, ominous presence of Big Darrell.
    He couldn’t stand it.
    And suddenly a plan came to him, breathtaking in its perfection and simplicity. He would leave, and take Quill with him.
    He had a shotgun, and shells. He had Quill. They would live off the land together. After all, they were in a place where one could hardly “swing a dead cat” without hitting a pheasant, a place where birds and deer and jackrabbits were more plentiful than human beings. And while the land was empty of people, it was full of places to hide. No one would ever find them if they didn’t wish to be found.
    Big Darrell would be positively thrilled—if Big Darrell was ever actually thrilled about anything—to find them gone. Erik hesitated when he thought about Oma, remembering her pleased expression when he’d hugged her and the feel of her hands on his back when she had hugged him in return. But he was sure that his being there only made her life with Big Darrell harder.
    He thought of his parents, halfway across the world. They’re the ones who sent me here and said to make the best of it. And that’s what I’m doing, he told himself.
    He glanced at the clock on Oma’s bedside table. It was a few minutes before nine. That gave him plenty of time for a good head start in case anyone came looking for him.
    He thought about what he’d need to take with him. His mother had told him about how crazy and extreme the weather in North Dakota could be.