Boone watched helplessly as Kakashi practically flew away from him, carrying his mistress off. Again.
The old cur let out a whooping howl in pure frustration. Mari was right. What kind of weird place was this? Humans weren't supposed to run faster than dogs. Dogs weren't supposed to speak human language.
Backwards Town. That's what it was.
He huffed and shuffled back toward the village. Sholpan could take care of herself. It smelled like a safe place anyway. He lifted his head into the breeze, catching the scents drifting in. At least a thousand new trees for him to mark, restaurants to mooch from, a geriatric cat with a bladder infection a quarter mile to the east, the bloody footprints Mari left in the street...
There.
Kakashi and Mari were upwind, to the northeast. Boone dragged himself up and into a weary trot. His paws were sore. He was hungry again and tempted to stay with Sholpan, at least for the night.
But, he'd promised Papa Cochon. He'd failed once today already, and Mari almost died because of it. Suddenly thirsty, he paused. The taste of those people's blood lingered in his mouth. Hogs were one thing. He'd put his teeth into hundreds, pinning them down by the ears or snout so Papa Cochon could catch up and finish them off with his knife. But humans? He'd never bit one before, much less killed one.
Boone traveled down the street. He found some discarded barbecue pork and took time for an evening snack. Kakashi's smell moved again, but Mari wasn't with him. It stopped nearby. Boone detoured out of sheer curiosity.
Normally strangers were held apart in high suspicion for a lengthy period, but after everything that had happened he trusted the man not to leave her in any danger. Besides, Pakkun thought very highly of him. It didn't seem like the sort of blind trust he saw in some younger dogs. It was more like the kind of respect he had for Papa Cochon. The kind earned when you were out hunting together, and your master fought and risked his life right alongside you.
Kakashi was inside some apartment building now. Boone passed through the area, lifted his leg and marked several bushes around the building before continuing on to the hospital.
The doors were locked tight. His nostrils quivered. So many new smells. Layers and layers of them, especially on the threshold of the hospital. But Kakashi hadn't brought her through this way.
He lifted his head. They'd gone up the side, and through a window. But how?
Boone paced underneath the side of the building. He scrambled at the sides and pulled himself up onto a first floor windowsill, but that was as high as he could go.
How did the people around here fly like that? He dropped back down, the grass cool and soothing to his aching paws. There was a lot of hurt people in the hospital, most of them hurt by other people. If humans around here could outrun dogs, he was going to have to find a way to catch up. And fast. Otherwise Mari would be in danger until they found a way back home.