Thanks for reviewing and please continue to read and review further chapters. Onto chapter five.

Chapter 5: All to blame

Dante awoke on the 19th still quite cheerful about how things were going so well. He got dressed, ate and grabbed his tools to get ready to get rid of the new weeds, chop dead wood and get rid of any stony particles that dotted the farm. Dante exited the house to find the police officer, Harris, holding Fable by the scruff of her neck, with a hot headed Rick standing next to him.

"Your…dog…broke into our hen pens and ate our prized chicken, what do you have to say for…it?" Said Rick furiously, waving his hands about madly.

"She wouldn't do it, she only drinks milk and eats what I give her, which is only ever red meat, she isn't old enough to go out and attack a chicken and get the meat off it on her own!" Said Dante steamed at the fact that Fable was getting blamed for this incident.

"You do own this…dog…do you not, this dog ate the Poultry Farm's prized chicken last night. It was found inside the hen pen where it had made a tunnel under the wire and snuck in, it was found with blood on its mouth and sides, standing over the chicken that it ate, I'm sorry Sir, but the facts are there and your pet did eat the chicken" Said the police officer placidly, it wasn't his place to get steamed up, he was only there to return the pup and retrieve some kind of funding for the Poultry Farm's loss.

"This is absurd, she wouldn't…she wouldn't. I don't care for your facts. and unless you can actually prove that she ate that chicken, unless someone actually saw her eat that chicken then she didn't do it!" Said Dante ready to lash out at someone, he never knew he had a short fuse, but obviously he did. But it appears that Rick had an even shorter one.

"Listen you, your new here so I wont charge you for it, but your…dog…did eat my chicken and that's final, now I do want an apology and I want you to formally apologise to my mother, whose hen your pet has killed" Said Rick yet again waving his hands around furiously, spittle forming on the sides of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, and I will apologise to your mother, but not because my pet did it, because I am sorry that your chicken is dead" Said Dante coolly, he would not let his anger get the best of him, he could see what it was doing to Rick.

"Well now that this is sorted I am going to go, here is your dog back, please keep her away from the farm in future" Said Harris before putting Fable down and walking off.

"Oh, and by the way Dante, I'm not usually fused over these things but a crook like you does not deserve someone like Karen, she deserves me and she loves me, so stay away from her!" Said Rick in a low furious voice.

"We will let Karen decide who is worthy of her," Said Dante, but that was obviously enough to make Rick crack, he leaped at Dante and they went down in a heap on the ground. Dante and Rick were fighting for the top, but Dante was much more built and got on top quite easily. Dante was only trying to hold Rick down but that was not the way Karen seen it when she approached unaware of any of the mornings events.

"Get off him!" She yelled furiously at Dante as she hit him in the ribs. He toppled off Rick and fell onto the ground. As Karen helped Rick up Dante got up and dusted himself off.

"I thought you were a nice guy, now I know your just a tough show off, don't expect to see me at Mother's Hill again, I don't want anything to do with you anymore!" Karen shouted stubbornly and helped Rick off the farm. While Karen was looking around the farm for anything she might be able to throw at Dante, Rick flashed Dante an evil smile that suggested that Rick was now Karen's choice of who was worthy of her.

After they left Dante hurled a rock at the side of the barn in frustration. He had no idea how to talk to girls, let alone apologise to them. He had no idea how he was going to get Karen to forgive him for being the reasonable one. He sat miserably and looked at Fable. Fable had caused it all, she had eaten a chicken, she had savagely eaten a chicken, how could she? He fed her all the time, and he made sure she was properly cared for. 'A leopard can't change its spots' he thought and walked towards Fable.

Dante picked Fable up and dumped her into the pond to wash the blood off her fur. After all the blood was washed off he sat her down and looked her in the eye. She had a playful look in her eye, certainly not one of viciousness, but the proof was there and she had killed that chicken, at least that was what the town would believe.

Dante took Fable to the woods below Mother's Hill Peak and left her there to fend for herself. He left his bandana with her so that he knew her if she followed him back. Fable sat as he wished and watched him leave. Even though she was a pup she howled after he was gone, he could hear her cries, they made his heart ache. He didn't want to do it but he could not afford to keep a vicious animal. Tears formed in his eyes as the howls carried his mind back to where he had left her; back to the fun they had had before the incident, back to the playful pup she was. He ran to escape the howls, but he could hear them replaying in his mind.

After returning to the house that night he wrote his diary entry and cried himself to sleep. He was sixteen and crying. He was not ashamed to cry, he had perfect reason too, yet the feeling felt too normal, it felt like he was doing it for the millionth time, yet he had not cried a tear since the 'awakening' what had happened to him before then to make crying feel like an everyday emotion?