Special Offers see all
More at Powell'sPets
|
Fup. Store Cat.
The Trip to Kahani
|
Bear
|
Zooey
|
On the near side of the river, the water looks calm as a pond at dawn. Twenty feet out, however, the current starts rushing by at quite a clip, and it doesn't appear to let up until the far bank, sixty or seventy feet away.
The disastrous crossing, Fup will argue later, is entirely her fault. If she hadn't been preoccupied with her own worries, surely she'd have vetoed Bear's plan. Wiggums and Fup crossing atop the horse — maybe. But Bear riding Zooey? It's right up there with wandering away from the van in Philly while Clara was still stuck inside.
Joe enters the rough water and quickly steadies himself. Easy enough for a big, strong horse. "Giddyap!" Wiggums shouts.
Zooey follows a safe distance behind with Bear on his back, holding onto his collar. The current, once he enters it, pushes him downriver, but he's spent too much of his life in water to be bothered. Faced forward, aimed at the opposite bank, he paddles after Joe. "Yee-haw!" Bear exclaims, raising a paw in the air.
"Hold on!" Zooey warns him, but water floods his open mouth as he speaks. He coughs, and Bear grabs tighter, digging claws into Zooey's back. Zooey yelps, swallowing more water. He's half-choking, fighting to regain his breath, when an eddy turns him backwards in the water. Now the current rushes up his nose and over his snout. By the time he's able to clear his throat and breathe (it seems like forever to Fup, who's trying frantically to watch without falling off the horse and into the river, herself), they're hundreds of feet downriver and rushing toward a massive jam of logs and branches. A beaver dam.
They're headed straight for it, while the beavers madly slap their tails in the water, screaming, "No!"
|
|
1 · 2 · 2.5 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41 · 42 · 43 · 44 · 45 · 46 · 47 · 48
Read the press release.
|
|
|
|
|
|
That Cat That Changed My Life: 50 Cats Talk About How They Became Who They Are
Unleashed:
Poems by Writers' Dogs