A Flight of Raptors (Paws & Claws Book 2) Read online

  It was very late in the afternoon when Levi, Sunny and Yoda came to where Naples Avenue crossed over the north-south trolley tracks. It was a narrow two-lane road choked by weeds on both sides. By this time, the paths of the interstate freeway and the trolley tracks had veered apart so now there were buildings that were even more rundown than on the “right” side of the tracks.

  “There it is,” Levi said. “That has to be the place, at least the back of it.”

  “It’s easy to see now why it’s escaped notice,” Sunny observed. “Look at the houses on both sides – empty.”

  “And for quite some time,” Levi agreed. “We need to take a closer look. Come on, but watch for snakes among the weeds.”

  “Oh my poor fur,” Yoda groaned, but he plunged into the overgrowth in support of his friends, after pausing for a wistful Fabio moment. “I will definitely need a brushing after this.”

  It was obvious to all that no one had tended to the vacant lot between the tracks and their goal for years, perhaps decades. A for-sale sign rose from the center of the property but it was faded to the point of illegibility, and all three dogs knew it had been a very long time since GRidley had been a telephone exchange. The weeds towered over the smaller dogs, and even Sunny’s height was not much of an advantage.

  Finally they came to a relatively barren area, where the weeds had been cut back from the fence.

  The weathered and unpainted fence was just over ten feet tall and was topped by a roll of barbed wire.

  “No way over or under than,” Yoda remarked, noticing the metal panels attached to the bottom and extending into the ground.

  “Princess went through there,” Sunny reminded them.”

  “It’s a sure bet that won’t happen again,” Levi said. “Look where those boards have been nailed in place.”

  Suddenly there erupted from behind the ominous fence a series of savage growls and barks. In amid those sounds of fierce cruelty were sharp whimpers and yelps of fear and pain, cries of terror that rose in pitch and loudness until they were silenced completely.

  Yoda shuddered.

  Sunny whimpered softly.

  Levi’s gaze grew hard and cold.

  “Sunny, we need to see the layout beyond the fence,” Levi said to the Golden Retriever. “With your height, if you go about halfway up that embankment over there you should get a good view. I hate to ask this of you…”

  “No, it’s okay, Levi,” she said. “It has to be done; I have the eyes, I have the height. I’ll be right back.”

  “Be careful.”

  Levi and Yoda watched as Sunny made her way along the weed-line, letting her golden fur blend in with the dried stalks. Just over halfway up the nearby embankment she stopped and gazed over the edge of the fence. She suddenly dropped her gaze, trembled, then forced herself to look again. After a few minutes of careful observation, she trotted quickly back.

  “What did you see?” Yoda asked.

  “What’s the layout inside the yard?” Levi questioned.

  “There are two lines of kennels, made from cinder block with steel gates that open outward, and all are very small, not much bigger than the dogs themselves,” Sunny explained. “There are two enclosed runs, several posts with chains attached to them, and some kind of a large box in the center of the yard, open on top.”

  “It’s a fighting arena,” Levi told the others. “Dogs are put into it to fight or to train…usually, only one dog makes it out.”

  “That’s…” Yoda started to say.

  “There’s a gate by the side of the house with a drop latch.”

  “What about the houses on either side?” Levi asked.

  “Both abandoned, as we thought, and we may have caught a break with the house to the north,” she replied.

  “How so?”

  “It’s completely overgrown with shrubbery and weeds, but the fence on that side is chain link,” Sunny said.

  “How overgrown?” Levi asked.

  “Right up to the fence.”

  “Good,” Levi said with satisfaction. “We’ll set up our observation in that yard.”

  “When do we call in the police?” Yoda asked.

  “When we have the evidence they want.” Levi replied.

  “Evidence?” Yoda gasped, astounded. “What about those noises we heard?” He turned to Sunny. “You must have seen?”

  “I saw,” she said in a strangled voice. “At least what was left.”

  “Then we should get Officers Antony and Arnold in on this,” Yoda persisted. “When we tell them…”

  “They will want more than sounds heard and remnants seen,” Levi cut in sharply. “For them to call in the K9 Unit and lead the regular police here, it will take much more than that.”

  Yoda started to protest, but Sunny nudged him with her muzzle. “You know Levi is right, Yoda. Officer Arnold is decent and easy going enough, but that Officer Antony – strictly by the book…and he wrote the book.”

  Yoda would have argued his case further, but he knew his friends were right. He did not fear any danger they themselves might encounter, but the sounds they had heard had hit him harder than he wanted to let on. Though he was much larger than the average Pomeranian, he was still a small dog, and for many toy-sized dogs the world was a terrifying place. He looked at Levi, and frowned – Levi, too, was near his own size but he somehow doubted that the fire and rage he sensed within the Dachshund-mix stemmed from any issue of size. Before he could consider further the source of Levi’s wrath (or the scars hidden by his collar) he had to run to catch up with the others.

  So intent were they on getting to their observation point, none noticed the gentle rustling in the tall weeds behind them.

  It was no problem at all getting into the yard behind the deserted house. A side gate hung askew on one hinge. At one time the house had been surrounded by well-tended gardens and neatly trimmed shrubbery, but all the vegetation had grown wild with neglect. A narrow path led to the side gate and into the backyard. It was even more overgrown than Sunny had given them to believe, virtually a jungle in these forgotten suburbs.

  “We can observe without ourselves being observed,” Levi said. “We’ll get all the evidence the K9 Unit needs.”

  “What about the fighting dogs on the other side?” Yoda asked. “Won’t they give us away.”

  “Wind is the wrong direction,” Sunny pointed out.

  “Besides,” Levi added, “most of those dogs are so desensitized to anything but fighting or eating they won’t care about us, even if the wind changes.”

  “They’re all chained or penned,” Sunny said. “They have troubles enough without looking for more.”

  As the sun started to slide westward, harsh security lighting popped on in the compound on the other side of the fence. The three dogs noticed it was almost the only house on the street with any lights showing. Obviously, they realized, the neighborhood was more blighted than was first apparent, and the houses on either side of the gladiatorial school were hardly the only abandoned structures. It was no wonder the police had never been called here.

  As they watched, dogs were taken from the kennels and put through their training. Some were put in the runs and allowed to chase smaller animals, while others were chained to stakes and dogs were brought in to attack them; those who did not attack with enough ferocity were beat savagely. The sounds rising from the compound were harrowing, and those few residents still in the area should have notified the police, but they did not; instead, they remained behind tightly pulled curtains and turned their television sets louder.

  Sunny turned away. “We’ve seen enough.”

  “I know I have,” Yoda gasped softly. His lower jaw trembled and his eyes were moist.

  “We all have,” Levi agreed. “We’re going to see Officers Antony and Arnold right now! They wanted witnesses before they could do anything – they got them. Let’s go!”

  As they made their way out of the brush and away from the fence, there was a sudde
n change in the noises on the other side. They returned to their positions. The fighting dogs growled menacingly, and two of them were leaping by the back fence.

  “What’s up?” Yoda asked. “What are they on about?”

  “Great Anubis!” Sunny gasped.

  A moment later, Levi and Yoda saw what Sunny had seen with her keener vision. Carefully treading atop the back fence, picking its way cautiously through the tangle of barbed wire was a small pale shape, a trembling form.

  “Stacker!” Yoda gasped. “He must have followed us.”

  Suddenly, the little Parson Russell Terrier lost his balance. He tried to hold on, but there was nothing to grasp but the barbed wire. He fell heavily down the fence and into the gladiatorial compound.

  “Levi, what shall we do?” Sunny cried.

  But she and Yoda were alone in the shrubbery by the fence. Levi had vanished, and the some of the fighting dogs were starting to turn their way, those who were not already distracted by the new morsel landing in their midst.

  Then, through the branches and fronds they saw Levi in the center of the yard, running in the direction of the fence so swiftly he almost seemed a blur. Just before the jungle of shrubbery Levi launched himself skyward with those improbably long legs of his, beating at the thick branches and leaves to keep above the vegetation, his momentum carrying him to the top of the chain-link fence, where he firmly planted his back paws against the top tube and executed another prodigious leap, one that propelled him above the dogs ranged about the terrified Stacker.

  Chapter Fourteen

  So startling was Levi’s arrival between Stacker and the fighting dogs that they paused in their approach, and a few even stepped back. A dozen hard glittery eyes took in the sight of the new dog, an elderly dog by the standards of dogs whose life spans were a couple of years at best, a dog of no great size but with a snarl more than a match for their own.

  That Levi was an alpha was clear to every single dog before him, and in some that was enough to make them cringe. Most of the dogs, however, had become so cut off from the civility of canine society, or had never known it to begin with, that they knew no master but a whip. They had been so brutalized and emotionally damaged they would never again fit into any pack. In a couple of the younger dogs, though, there was a glimmer of recognition, of acknowledgement, even of hope, just as Levi had seen in Princess’ eyes the moment they had pulled her from the tracks.

  “I’m sorry, Levi!” Stacker called out. “I just wanted to…”

  “Save it!” Levi ordered, not shifting his gaze from the danger before him. “Stay behind me.”

  “You picked a good day to die!” growled a huge Rottweiler as he surged toward Levi and Stacker.

  Whatever the Rottweiler had expected from a dog a fourth his size, it was definitely not what he got. Teeth ripped the flesh at his sensitive ear and jowl. He leaped back as he felt powerful jaws closing in on his throat. He had been attacked by a single dog, but it had felt as if a whole pack had tore into him. He had been at the fighting school a full six months, but he was totally unprepared for the skills demonstrated by this old Dachshund-mix.

  Seeing the massive Rottweiler so easily repulsed by the stranger made the others hesitate before attacking. But the hesitation was brief, and in less than a minute Levi was at the center of a snapping, snarling, growling, biting mass of canine fury.

  A golden blur crashed through the side gate, Sunny hitting it with all her weight so hard that the latch popped up. She was followed by Yoda whose wild barks more than matched his wild fur, They rushed to Levi’s aid, throwing themselves into the tangle even though their fighting skills were not nearly as honed as Levi’s.

  Lost in the tumult was the little Parson Russell whose untimely entry had started the fray.

  “Stacker, go get help!” Levi commanded. “You two, go with him.”

  “We can’t leave you!” Sunny protested.

  “No way!” Yoda added as he ripped into an ear that had come within reach.

  Stacker stood, terrified and appalled by the sound and the fury and the blood.

  “Go!” Levi yelled.

  Stacker ran. A few of the fighting dogs tried to stop the Parson Russell, but Stacker was too small and too fast for the larger slower dogs. He ran out the now-open side gate and vanished into the encroaching twilight.

  For several long minutes, the three dog-detectives seemed to hold their own against the fighting dogs, but that was mostly due to two factors – Levi’s own mad fighting skills, the likes of which none of the others had ever seen, and the fighting dogs’ own fear. This was a level of resistance for which they had never been trained. And in their dark hearts they were cowards.

  Despite their best efforts, however, the friends knew it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. Escape was cut off. There were too many foes, and even Levi’s skills could not make up for Yoda’s and Sunny’s lack of fighting experience; they were valiant in spirit but not much more skilled in the arts of war and combat than the average house pet. Levi did his best to create a chance for his friends to try to escape, but they would not leave him.

  Just as bitter defeat seemed nigh, the evening erupted with angry voices and loud bangs. The fighting dogs retreated, thrown aside, beat away or herded back to their kennels. A few, the most vicious of the lot, remained to exercise control.

  A lasso looped around Levi’s neck and was immediately cinched tight. A long metal pole kept him at bay.

  Yoda and Sunny were likewise captured and secured to stakes driven into the ground with thick leather thongs.

  Levi was driven to the center of the yard.

  “What are they going to do to Levi?” Yoda asked

  “They’re taking him to that fighting arena,” Sunny replied. “They are going to make him fight one of the other dogs.”

  Yoda tried to chew his way through the leather.

  “You won’t be able to chew through it in time to do any good,” Sunny said. “And the stake is driven in too deep for me to pull out.”

  “And what could we do anyway?”

  “Nothing, I’m afraid,” Sunny said with grim resignation. “This time we may have bit off more than we can chew. Levi is on his own.”

  “But Stacker…”

  “Stacker is just a pup,” Sunny said bitterly. “We’re miles from home, it’s becoming night, he doesn’t know the area – what can the little fellow do?”

  “Don’t count us little dogs out!” Yoda snapped, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “We’re full of surprises.”

  Sunny sighed doubtfully.

  Levi was indeed being led to the fighting arena. Attempts to lift him over the wall by means of the lasso failed because he thrashed about too wildly; likewise, efforts made to put him over manually resulted in bit and bloody hands. Ultimately, Levi was forced in through a door that slid up and the lasso was thrown in after, By catching the rope with his paws and wiggling his head about, Levi was able to extricate himself from the noose. Levi was alone in the fighting area, a box twelve feet to a side surrounded by a wall just over six feet high, with a step running around the outside of the box.

  Levi’s solitude did not last for long. A panel opposite slid up and in rushed a Rottweiler, the same one who had been the first to attack. One ear was missing, his throat and jowl were gashed, and blood streaked his face. The panel slid back into place immediately and the two dogs faced each other across the arena.

  “You’re gonna regret comin’ here, for sure,” the big Rottweiler proclaimed. “Time for payback, and payback is my mother.”

  “We don’t have to fight,” Levi told the larger dog.

  “Sure we do,” the Rottweiler replied as he started to circle. “That is what I do. Killin’ – that’s why I live.”

  “That’s no way to live,” Levi persisted.

  “No, it’s the way you die.”

  “What is your name?”

  “My name?” The Rottweiler paused, utterly confused. “My
name? Why you want to know my name?”

  “My name is Levi.”

  “Why should I care about your name?” the Rottweiler demanded. “You’re prey, that’s all you are. I don’t care about your name. I don’t wanna know your name! Don’t tell me your name!”

  “We all have names,” Levi said. “Even the animals you tear apart have names, just as they have families, dams and sires who yearn to see their pups, companions who weep for their loss.”

  “Shut up!” the Rottweiler screamed, charging Levi in a blind fury. “Shut up and die!”

  Levi easily avoided the bigger, more clumsy dog, leaping to the other side of the area even before the Rottweiler managed to turn himself about.

  “Come on, big fellow, tell me your name,” Levi chided.

  The Rottweiler again charged Levi, unsuccessfully.

  “If you don’t tell me your name,” Levi called loudly, “I’ll have to give you one, like Fifi…or Sally.”

  The Rottweiler bristled as he heard the dogs outside the arena laughing at him.

  “Caesar,” the Rottweiler said. “That’s my name – Caesar.”

  “That’s a fine name for a big dog like you,” Levi said. “Too bad it’s too good for a cowardly cur.”

  Flames leaped in the Rottweiler’s eyes as he charged in a mad rage. Levi took advantage of Caesar’s blind rush, leaping through the air and removing most of the dog’s other ear in passing. Caesar howled in pain. Unable to stop in time, Caesar crashed into the wall, jarring the entire arena.

  “You rotten little mutt!” Caesar yelled. “You don’t fight fair!”

  “Fair like you?” Levi challenged. “Attacking small dogs.”

  “Fair, like muzzle to muzzle,” Caesar replied. “Fighting is life!”

  “There is no life in this place, only death,” Levi explained. “If you had an ounce of decency in you, you would run away from this place.”

  “There’s no way out.”

  “Princess found a way out.”

  “Princess?” Caesar cocked his head. “You know Princess?”

  “We found her a new home, my friends and I,” Levi said. “Now she knows only peace and love, the warmth of a companion caring for her.”