خون هیولا فصل پانزدهم

Monster Blood Chapter 15

“Your dog seems to be quite healthy for his age.” Dr. Forrest scratched Trigger gently under the chin. “Look at all the white hairs,” he said, bringing his face down close to the dog’s. “You’re a good old dog, aren’t you?”

Trigger licked the doctor’s hand appreciatively.

Dr. Forrest grinned, pushing his black eyeglasses up on his narrow nose, the ceiling light reflecting off his shiny forehead. He wiped his hand on the front of his white lab coat.

Evan and Andy stood across from Trigger in the small, brightly lit office. They had both been tense during the long examination the vet had given the dog. But now, hearing the doctor’s verdict, they had relaxed expressions on their faces.

“So you think it’s just a late growth spurt?” Evan repeated.

Dr. Forrest nodded, returning to his desk in the corner. “Highly unusual,” he said softly, leaning over the desk to write a note on a pad. “Highly unusual. We’ll get a lab report in three or four days. It may tell us more. But the dog seems very healthy to me. I really wouldn’t be alarmed.”

“But do cocker spaniels usually get this big?” Evan asked, leaning down to scratch Trigger under the chin, the leash looped loosely in his hand.

Trigger wanted to leave. He pulled toward the door. Evan stood up and tugged hard at the leash to keep the dog in place. It took all of his strength. Trigger was not only bigger; he was much stronger than he had been a few days before.

“No. Not usually,” the vet replied. “That’s why I took the hormone tests and the blood and glandular samples. Maybe the lab will have an answer for us.”

He finished writing and tore the sheet off the pad. “Here,” he said, handing the paper to Evan. “I wrote down the name of a good dog food. Put Trigger on this, and see that he cuts down on his between-meal snacks.” He chuckled at his own joke.

Evan thanked the doctor and allowed Trigger to pull him out of the office. Andy jogged after them. In the waiting room outside, a tiny Chihuahua cowered behind the couch, whimpering at the sight of the big cocker spaniel.

“I’m glad to be out of there,” Evan exclaimed as they stepped out to the sidewalk.

“Trigger got a very good report,” Andy said reassuringly, petting Trigger’s head. “Hey, look—his head is wider than my hand!”

“He’s nearly as big as a sheepdog!” Evan said miserably. “And Dr. Forrest says he’s perfectly okay.”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Andy scolded. She glanced at her watch. “Oh, no! I don’t believe it. Late for my piano lesson. Again! Mom’ll kill me!”

She waved good-bye, turned, and ran full speed down the sidewalk, nearly colliding with an elderly couple coming slowly out of the small grocery store on the corner.

“Let’s go, boy,” Evan said, thinking about what Dr. Forrest had said. Tugging the leash, he headed out of the small, three-block town. Despite the vet’s assurances, Evan was still plenty worried about Trigger.

He stopped outside the grocery. “Maybe an ice cream pop will help cheer me up.” He tied Trigger’s leash to the red fire hydrant across from the grocery’s door. “Stay,” he instructed.

Trigger, ignoring Evan, struggled to pull free.

“I’ll only be a second,” Evan said, and hurried into the store.

There were three or four people in the store, and it took a bit longer than Evan had expected. When he returned to the sidewalk ten minutes later, he discovered the Beymer twins busily untying Trigger.

“Hey—let go!” he cried angrily.

They both turned toward him, identical grins on their beefy faces. “Look what we found,” one of them teased. The other one successfully untied the leash from the hydrant.

“Hand me that,” Evan insisted, holding his chocolate ice cream bar in one hand, reaching for the leash handle with the other.

The Beymer twin held the leash handle out to Evan—then quickly snapped it back out of his reach. “Gotcha!”

The brothers laughed gleefully and slapped each other a high five.

“Stop fooling around,” Evan insisted. “Hand me the leash.”

“Finders, keepers,” one of them said. “Isn’t that right, Tony?”

“Yeah,” Tony replied, grinning. “It’s an ugly dog. But it’s our ugly dog now.”

“Get your own dog, wimp,” Rick said nastily. He stepped forward and punched the ice cream bar out of Evan’s hand. It landed on the sidewalk with a plop.

The brothers started to laugh, but their laughter was cut short as Trigger suddenly uttered a low, warning growl. Pulling back his lips, he bared his teeth, and his growl became a snarl.

“Hey—” Rick cried, dropping the leash.

With a loud, angry roar, Trigger reared up and pounced on Rick, forcing him to stagger backward to the curb.

Tony had already started to run, his sneakers pounding the pavement noisily as he headed at full speed past the vet’s office, past the post office, and kept going.

“Wait up! Hey, Tony—wait up!” Rick stumbled, stood up, and took off after his brother.

Evan grabbed for Trigger’s leash—and missed.

“Trigger—whoa! Stop!”

The dog took off after the fleeing twins, barking angrily, his enormous paws thudding loudly on the pavement, picking up speed as he closed in on them.

No, Evan thought, finding himself frozen there on the corner in front of the grocery.

No. No. No.

This can’t be happening!

It’s my dream.

Is it coming true?

Evan shuddered, remembering the rest of his dream, remembering how he, too, grew until he was twice his size.

Would that part of the dream also come true?