A Pack Divided by Erin Hunter Page B

ball, trying to sink back into unawareness, but it was useless. A damp nose nudged her flank and a friendly voice teased her.
    â€œAre you ever going to get up, young Storm?”
    She kept her eyes shut tight. The affectionate growl was Mickey’s, but she couldn’t face even the kind Farm Dog. Focusing on making the rise and fall of her flanks regular and slow, she heard his gruff, fond laughter.
    â€œLazy pup, I know you’re not asleep.” He nuzzled her. “All right, stay there for a bit.”
    I really need to, she thought guiltily. It’s tiring going for walks in the night. Walks I don’t even remember . . .
    It was impossible to go back to sleep now, though. Throughthe underbrush she could hear the low voices of dogs arguing. Again! What was it now?
    Probably the same thing , she realized with a heavy sigh. The voices belonged to, among others, Thorn and Breeze, so no doubt it was another quarrel about the patrol dogs failing to respect Moon’s orders.
    It all seemed so very ordinary, so everyday compared to last night. Her frantic dash-and-stumble back to camp in the darkness was like a vague and distant memory now; she could even convince herself it hadn’t been real. Except that she remembered vividly the terror she’d felt, running blindly, convinced that the Fear-Dog was stalking her, that at any moment she’d feel his red claws in her hide. She’d have sworn she could hear the echoing thud of his paws on the earth as he hunted her down.
    It had been easy enough to sneak past Daisy and Dart, who had been on night patrol, but she couldn’t help the bite of worry in her gut. If this was going to happen again, she couldn’t rely on every dog being unwary. Sooner or later one of the Pack would catch her as she tried to creep back into the camp. What if the dreams never left her in peace?
    It’s not something I want to have to explain to any dog.
    There were other voices around her; she could hear themclearly with her eyes shut. Lucky and Alpha were murmuring to each other. It was a much more friendly, reassuring sound than the argument. She felt safer with her Alpha and her Beta watching over the Pack—at least while the Sun-Dog shone overhead.
    Night could be a different nest of rats. But I can’t worry about that just now.
    â€œMy Mother-Dog used to tell me stories of the Spirit Dogs,” Lucky was telling Alpha, his rumbling voice fond. “Stories about Lightning, and the Forest-Dog, and the Sky-Dogs. Did your Mother-Dog tell you about the Wind-Dogs?”
    â€œShe did, Lucky.” Storm heard Alpha’s small grunt as she rolled over in the grass and wriggled into a more comfortable position. “She told us a Wind-Dog story every night.”
    â€œAnd what stories will you tell our pups, Sweet?” There was lazy amusement in Lucky’s voice.
    â€œI’ll tell them about all the Spirit Dogs, yours and mine.” Alpha laughed. “And so will you, I expect.”
    Storm felt a pang of envy. Her own Mother-Dog had never had the chance to tell her any stories.
    â€œI’ll tell you one of my Mother-Dog’s stories, shall I?” murmured Alpha.
    â€œGo on.” Lucky sounded more alert. Storm could visualize his ears pricking up, the light of interest sparking in his brown eyes.
    â€œAll right.” Alpha sighed contentedly. “Long ago, Lucky, at the time of the First Dogs, it’s said that the Sun-Dog never slept at all.”
    â€œWhat, never?” Lucky had made his voice as innocent as a pup’s, and Alpha huffed a laugh.
    â€œNever. The Sun-Dog was too possessive of the sky, you see. He liked to run and play and bask in that great blue field all the time. The Sky-Dogs tried to persuade him to rest, and to give the Moon-Dog a chance to run and hunt, but he wouldn’t listen. He ordered the Sky-Dogs to go away, because he had more power than they did, and he said he would never yield