Since his introduction to Mrs. Stevens, the mercenaries, and their kids, the dog had received some much-needed food and water, as well as frequent pets and belly-rubs from the children. He also had his injured paw tended to by Dietrich, which he was by no means excited about. After two escape attempts and an exasperating twenty-minute hunt around the base, Mikhail and Tavish had to hold the struggling dog down while Dietrich prepared his Medi-gun and moved it into position over the dog's paw.
As soon as his paw was healed and the men released him, the dog wasted no time jumping off the cold metal table in Dietrich's examining room and dashing up the stairs to safety. For the rest of the morning and early afternoon he remained in his room, except for times when one of the children would let him outdoors to do his business.
Later that day, Jeremy and Susan returned from their trip to town with several bags, most of them containing food and items meant for humans to use, but one bag contained items the dog was sure were meant for him. He wagged his tail with excitement when he saw some cans of dog food, a box of dog treats, an orange ball and a few other toys being removed from the bag; however, he also noticed a bottle of soap, a strange-looking collar, a small box of pills, a can of funny-smelling powder, and an item called a 'leash' that he remembered from his days at the pound.
"I take it zese are for ze fleas?" asked Maurice, holding up the collar and the pills for inspection.
"Yeah, I thought I'd get more than one thing so if one doesn't work, we could try another," Jeremy replied. "I figured we could try the collar after the kids give him a bath."
"Did you get a chance to stop by the pound?" Susan asked her husband. "My meeting with the Administrator took up more time than I expected, so I couldn't do it myself."
Jeremy nodded. "The lady there told me there haven't been any missing dog reports in the Badlands area so far this month; however, when I described the dog we found to her she told me that a dog escaped from the pound in Albuquerque a few days ago who looked just like him."
"Was anyone in Albuquerque looking for him?"
"She said not that she knew of, but she'd give them a call just to be sure."
Susan then turned to Maurice. "I take it the kids and the dog didn't give you any trouble while we were gone?"
"Oh, zat reminds me," Maurice replied, "While you were gone I caught your daughter throwing my cigarettes in ze trash. When I asked her where she found zem, she confessed to having entered my smoking room, as vell as ze bushman's van, without either of our permission."
Susan and Jeremy exchanged uneasy glances.
"Where is she now?" Jeremy asked.
"I sent her upstairs to wait in ze girls' rooms for your return." The Frenchman reached into his jacket and pulled out an unlit cigarette, then added as he prepared to light it, "I'd thank you to teach your children about respecting other people's personal space in ze future."
Susan sighed. "I'll go talk to her about that. Does Sniper know Emma was in his van?"
Maurice shook his head. "As far as I know, he does not."
Jeremy shrugged. "Might as well tell him, then, just so he knows where his cigs ran off to." He turned and headed for the door. "In the meantime, I'm gonna get that pool down from the roof of the van and hook up the hose so the kids can give the dog a bath. I'll let ya know when everything's ready."
Susan nodded as she headed upstairs to speak with Emma. "Okay, then. See you in a bit."
Later that afternoon, the dog found himself standing in the center of a small plastic kiddie pool filled with cool, soapy water. Ryan, Emma, Nikolai, and Mia were in the pool with him, clad in colorful swimwear and rubbing strange-smelling soap into his soaking wet fur. Audrey, Violet and Nelson sat just outside the pool in front of the dog, armed with dog treats to keep him calm and towels to dry him off once his bath was finished. Henry stood next to the pool holding the nozzle of a long green hose connected to a spigot just off the rear entrance to the base. Positioned next to the spigot was Kevin, ready to turn the water flow on or off when called upon.
Only Damien was not taking part in washing the dog. He was lying face-down upon a foldable chaise lounge across the yard from the other children, sporting a pair of navy blue swim trunks.
"The heck's his deal?" Ryan sneered.
"Ryan, please leave him alone," said Violet.
"Yes, mother," Ryan replied mockingly. Violet, however, acted like she didn't hear him.
"You have the patience of a saint, lass," Audrey remarked.
"Vell, my brother Max did give me plenty of practice in dealing vith boys," Violet explained, and both girls giggled.
"Hey!" Nelson protested, but the girls ignored him.
Much to everyone's surprise, the dog held still for most of his bath, except for when he shook himself right after Henry wet him down with the hose the first time. After one final rub of her soapy hand into the dog's shoulder, Mia stood up to admire her handiwork. She was soon followed by Nikolai, then Ryan, then Emma.
"Okay, mates, looks like he's ready for rinsing," Mia announced.
"Da," Nikolai agreed. He then bellowed in Kevin's direction, "Water! Now!"
Kevin mumbled something in reply, then turned the spigot to activate the flow. The dog flinched at the sudden sound of gushing water, but remained where he was while Henry rinsed the suds from his fur. However, as soon as the water was turned off again, the dog sprang out of the pool and shook himself a second time, spraying the kids surrounding him with water.
"Ahhhhkppt! He's getting water everywhere!"
"No, bad dog! Make him stop!"
"Oh no! Now the towels are all soggy!"
Damien lifted his head from the chair he was resting on and smirked when he saw the other children screaming and waving their arms about as the dog shook himself all over them.
Now they're going to smell like wet dog and need a bath themselves, he thought. He carefully lifted himself from the chair and stood up. All this lying in the sun has made me thirsty; I wonder if we have any orange juice…
As he started toward the base, a raccoon emerged from under the chair Damien just left and began to follow him. By now the other children had stopped screaming and were now beginning to clean up the mess left from the dog's bath. Ryan and Mia were drying the dog off with some old towels, Henry and Kevin were winding up the hose, and Violet was handing out dry towels to Audrey, Nelson, Nikolai, and Emma.
"Oh, hi, Damien," Henry greeted the older boy as he approached. Damien merely snorted in reply.
At first, no one said anything about the raccoon that had followed Damien to the base. Then Nelson, having recognized the raccoon as his father's pet, Lieutenant Bites, slowly raised his hand.
"Um, Damien …?"
Damien huffed, then turned to face Nelson. "What?"
Having spotted the raccoon, the dog gave a sudden lunge forward and let out a yelp, startling not only the children, but Lieutenant Bites as well. The raccoon screeched in surprise and scrambled up the nearest thing he could find, which unfortunately happened to be Damien.
The French boy screamed as the raccoon climbed on to his head.
"Sacrè bleu!" Damien cried, stumbling around and trying to pry Lieutenant Bites off him. "I can't see! Get him off!"
"Watch out, lad!" Audrey yelled, but she was too late. As Nikolai was getting ready to dump out the pool, Damien tripped over the edge of the pool and fell in, splashing cool, soapy water all over himself and Lieutenant Bites.
The children burst into peals of laughter at the sight of the normally impeccably dressed Damien lying in a sprawled-out position in a plastic kiddie pool, hair soaked and full of bits of dog fur, while an equally drenched Lieutenant Bites climbed out of the pool chattering angrily. The dog stood a few feet from the group, panting and wagging his tail.
"Don't just stand there, imbeciles!" Damien cried. "Get me out of this!"
"Say please," Ryan taunted, and some of the other children continued laughing.
"Enough!" Nikolai shouted. "Show is over, now it is time to help."
The other children immediately quieted down.
After being helped out of the pool by Nikolai, Damien wrapped himself in the towel Violet offered him. As if to apologize for his part in the prank, the dog approached the dark-haired French boy and sat down before him, head lowered and eyes pleading for mercy. An uncomfortable silence spread among the children as Damien glared at the dog for a few seconds.
"You are all imbeciles," Damien proclaimed in his usual arrogant manner. Then a gentle smile began to creep across his face. "However, because you are my imbeciles, I am willing to forgive you, and especially you-" His gaze rested upon the dog "-for this horrendous prank. But please, do not let it happen again."
The boy knelt to the ground and held out his hand before the dog. When the dog responded by placing his paw in Damien's hand as if in a handshake, the other children burst into a chorus of cheers.
"Yee-haw!"
"Wunderbar!"
"Aces!"
"Very good! Now we dump out pool!"
The children stepped back and the dog jumped aside as Nikolai heaved the pool into an upright position, spilling its contents into the dry desert ground. A few of the kids squealed as the cool, soapy water came into contact with their bare toes.
Luke and Jeremy, having just returned from disposing of a deer carcass the Medic's doves were found playing in, noticed the kids gathered around the back door in their bathing suits and decided to see what they were up to. The dog, spotting the two men approaching, bounded up to them and eagerly jumped all over Jeremy, almost knocking the man over.
"Whoa! Easy, boy!" Jeremy gently shoved the dog off him.
"Rowdy little bloke, ain't he?" Luke remarked. "Remind you of anyone?"
Jeremy shook his head. "No; why?"
Luke crossed his arms and smiled mysteriously. "Just a thought, mate."
Jeremy looked puzzled for a few seconds; then it suddenly dawned on him what the older man was getting at. "Hey, wait a minute -!"
"Hi, Daddy."
Jeremy paused his outburst when Emma's greeting caught his attention. Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his, as well as his teammates', kids, he immediately calmed down.
"Oh; hey, toots. What's up?"
Mia, having noticed Luke, greeted her father as well. "Hey, Dad."
"We washed Target like you and Mama asked," Emma answered, gesturing toward the clean but still damp dog.
Ryan looked at his sister as if she'd just spat on him. "Wait, you named him?"
"Yeah, 'cause that ring of spots on his shoulder looks a little like a target," Emma replied.
Ryan examined the dog to see the ring of spots for himself. "Yeah, it kinda does," he agreed, "but I still don't think it's a good idea to give him a name when we don't even know for sure if we'll get to keep him."
"So ve should just keep calling him 'dog', zhen?" Violet asked.
"Touchè," Ryan replied.
Emma looked hopefully at her father. "Did you find out if someone lost him and is looking for him?"
"I talked to the people at the pound," Jeremy answered. "They said no one around here is missing a dog, but one lady said that a dog escaped from the pound in Albuquerque, and she thinks it might have been Target."
"We aren't gonna take him back there, are we?"
Jeremy knelt to his daughter's level and pulled her close to him.
"We'll see, toots. The lady said she'd check if anyone's missing a dog over there, but all we can do now is wait and see."
Emma nodded. "Okay, Dad." She was about to return to the other children when she remembered something. "Did you tell Mr. Mundy about… you know..?"
"Yeah," Jeremy replied, "but he says he'll forgive you if you promise not to do it again, okay?"
"I promise," said Emma. "But he and Mr. Renault really should stop smoking 'cause it's bad for them."
Jeremy chuckled. "Maybe they will one day, Ems. But for now, let's stay out of their personal spaces, got it?"
"Got it!" Emma replied, grinning.
Jeremy smiled and stood up. "Good. Now let's catch up with the others."
As father and daughter proceeded to join Luke and the other kids, who were gathered around Target giving him head-pats and behind-the-ear scratches, the unmistakable voice of the Soldier thundered over the base's PA system, causing everyone to drop what they were doing and freeze.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU MAGGOTS GOT LIEUTENANT BITES WET?!"