Chapter 7

Last Words

Penny looked down at Bolt, her expression a mixture of sadness and weariness. "Hey, you're sure you're okay, boy?" she asked softly, her voice slightly hoarse from all of last night's yelling.

Bolt looked up at her, his face slightly more energetic - as a Shepherd, he was rarely tired - but no less sad. His mood was usually a direct mirror of Penny's. If she was sad, so was he, and vice versa. He panted briefly, tilting his head slightly, seemingly trying to prove that he was fine.

Penny managed to force a smile back at her companion, before leaning forward on the bench she sat on, in the middle of her favourite place, Silverlake Park, and buried her head in her hands. Yesterday had been...eventful, to say the least, and she had not slept well last night at all. And now, in the wake of her nasty fight with her father, she was still fuming, although her spent emotions would no longer allow for blind fury, rather just a dim depression.

Dad has gone too far this time, her mind kept repeating, over and over again. And she believed it, too. She was certain that Richard had done something awful to Bolt, and that he would not tell her, either because of guilt, or because his work would not let him...although Penny firmly believed it was both. But it doesn't matter! Guilt or no guilt...allowed or not, Bolt is my dog, it's my right to know what happened to him! But she knew it would never happen. Richard was far too stubborn when it came to his work's secrecy, and an all-morning search on the Internet for any word on what was going on at Calico Technology had dug up absolutely nothing. Penny knew that she would keep searching...keep prodding her father, until she found some answers, but at the same time knew that the odds of her getting anything more than Bolt's strange behaviour yesterday was zero.

"At the very least," Penny whispered as she stroked Bolt's back, "you're back to normal today." And it was true. When Penny had woken up this morning, Bolt was still fast asleep, obviously a little worn from the big day he had. But when he had woken up, he was his usual, old self. Whatever Richard had done to him didn't seem to be having any lasting effects. This relieved Penny to no end, but it did not ease her anger with her father one bit. This time, she was not going to forgive him lightly...not without an explanation. Penny stopped her stroking of Bolt's back as her hand passed over his mark. Well, not quite back to normal. Penny had hoped that the mark might fade away overnight, at least slightly...but there was no such luck. It was still there, as black and solid as ever, stubbornly refusing to come out. Penny was initially self-conscious when she took Bolt on a walk here to the park just minutes ago, wondering how everyone in town would react to it. But she was spared the tide of questions she expected. Everyone, it seemed, was so used to her presence with Bolt, that no one looked close enough to spot the mark, even after yesterday's episode. Everyone, it seemed, was just glad she had found him in the end.

But even so, the mark continued to disturb Penny. She was beginning to doubt dad's explanation that it was a harmless prank of Larry's. Every time she looked at the mark, she became more and more convinced that it was part of the fur, like a birth mark...only it had not been there beforehand. Once again, Penny's mind could only see one solution...the 'experiment' Richard had performed on Bolt. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was. Another lie, she thought furiously. Why can't I just get the truth...for once! Everyone says I act so mature, so why won't anyone give me the truth?! She checked her watch as she continued to silently fume, noting that it was a little past midday. Still three hours until Richard got back home...at which point she would continue her furious questioning. She was not going to let this one go...she would not betray the ultimate trust Bolt placed in her.

Her thoughts were jarred to a halt when Bolt gave a low growl, trying to get her attention. She looked down at her companion, then followed his gaze, trying to figure what Bolt was getting so worked up over. When she saw the reason for Bolt's alertness, she sighed. "Of course."

Brady was standing there, about sixty yards down the path from where she was sitting on the park bench, looking at her. When he noticed she was looking at him, he made to wave, but something in her face must have scared him slightly, because he stopped waving immediately and walked briskly away, glancing back occasionally.

"Good," Penny whispered after him. "You're learning." She then gave Bolt a thankful scratch behind the ears. "Good boy."

But as she watched Bolt, she froze, amazed. The mark on Bolt's side seemed glow a bright, pale green for a brief moment, before fading away as quickly as it had come. Penny blinked, looking around to make sure no-one else had noticed the spectacle, before rubbing her eyes and turning her attention back to the mark. But it had faded back to its usual, shiny black, giving absolutely no indication that anything had happened.

Bolt however, had definitely felt something. He blinked, his eyes going wide as he stared off into space, obviously as stunned as Penny. He sat there, frozen, for a few seconds, before leaping off the bench and shaking himself off vigorously, as though he was trying to rid himself of some nasty presence. Penny grew worried as she leapt off the bench herself, kneeling beside Bolt as he continued to battle with some inner discomfort. Once shaking himself off seemed to fail, he sat down and proceeded to scratch at every part of his body he could reach. Whatever the mark had done when it had glowed, it was causing Bolt a lot of discomfort, and by the look on the Shepherd's face, it was leaving him terrified, too. It was as if his own body was playing nasty tricks on him, and Bolt did not know how to stop them.

As Penny knelt there, helpless to do anything but stay at Bolt's side and wait for it to end, her anger welled up once more. "Dad!" she roared. "What have you done!" Now, there was no question in her mind. Richard was up to something, and if it was leaving Bolt this uncomfortable, and this frightened of his own body, she was going to find out what he had done...any way she could.

After what seemed like hours to Penny, Bolt finally seemed to get over his discomfort, finally sitting still, although he continued to shake terribly, whimpering up at Penny, his face awash with terror. Penny pulled herself, and Bolt, back up onto the bench, cuddling Bolt close as he continued to shake, lying on her lap. "It's okay, Bolt," she whispered softly. "I'm here. You're okay, I got you." Bolt seemed to take some comfort from Penny, as his shaking eased slightly, although it did not fade entirely. "Don't worry, boy. I'll find out what dad did to you, I promise. I won't let him get away with this."

But her thoughts were once again thrown off course as the mobile phone in her pocket beeped and buzzed...someone had sent her a message. Perplexed, Penny reached for the phone. She only ever used this phone to talk to her dad when he was at work, and even then, they'd never used it. It was mostly for emergencies. Penny had never been close enough to any of her schoolmates to ever forge a friendship with them outside of school. She just could not relate to any of them like she could Bolt. No-one seemed to properly understand her. She finally got her phone, flipping it open and inspecting the message, only it was not a message. It was a whole series of sizable files, all of them from her dad. "What?" Penny was perplexed. Why would he send her something now...and so soon after yesterday? She flipped the phone closed once more, ignoring the message. It could wait until after she had dealt with him.

But then her phone flared to life again, this time wailing at an incoming call. "Now what?" Penny demanded, flipping open the phone and pressing it to her ear. "Hello?"

A heavy panting came from the other side. "Penny!" It was Richard. "Listen, Penny, I don't have much time!"

But Penny ignored him, her anger welling up once more. "Dad, what have you done to Bolt? Now - "

"Penny, not now!" Richard cried, his voice desperate. "Please, Penny, just listen! I need to tell you something...it's very important!"

Richard's sudden interruption startled Penny. He definitely was desperate. "Dad? Is...is everything okay?"

"No, it's not! But I don't have time to explain! It's time, Penny. It's time I told you the truth...everything."

"What's going on?" Penny was slightly scared now. Richard's heavy panting continued to come through the connection, and Penny was sure she could hear footsteps. Her father was running from something...or someone.

"Please, Penny, please just listen! Something's come up at work. Honey, I don't...I don't think I'm going to be coming home for a while."

"What?" Now things were happening a little to fast for Penny to comprehend. But before she could begin to try and make sense of it all, Richard continued.

"I'm so sorry about yesterday, Penny. I've told you for so long that I can't talk about work...but now I can. I..." he seemed to hate what he was about to say next. "I lied to you, Penny. I...did things...to Bolt. I altered him."

"Dad, what are you - "

"Don't talk, Penny!" Richard cried, seeming to progress from desperation to all-out panic. "Just listen! I've spent the last five years working on a project that involves Bolt, at my boss' request. But I've learned things...I've learned the things my boss intends to do, and I know that I'm the only one that can stop him. I've started putting things together, I've hidden everything to do with my experiments on Bolt from him, and now he's coming after me. Penny, my boss is an evil man, and now you're the only one who can stop him from getting what he wants!"

"What? Me? I - "

"My boss will come after you, Penny! Do you understand? The house...it's not safe any more. If you're there, get out now! Just run, find somewhere safe! You have to avoid Calico's men at all costs! The file I just sent to your phone should help you, just stay hidden!"

"Dad, I..." Penny was completely baffled. Her dad was not making any sense, it was all happening too fast. "I don't understand." Bolt looked up at her, knowing that something was amiss.

"It's alright, Penny. I know you don't understand everything right now, but you won't be alone. You have Bolt. As I said before, I've altered him. He can protect you now, but please, Penny - " a muffled noise came through the phone, and Richard gasped. "Damn it, they found me! Penny, I'm out of time, just look at the things I sent you, they'll explain everything! Just stay hidden! I'm so sorry this had to happen to you, Penny, I really am!"

Only now did Penny realise that her father was in danger. "Dad?! Dad, wait!"

"I love you, Penny...goodbye!" And with that, the line went dead.