CHAPTER 69
"What?" Kida asks in disbelief.
"Ha!" Captain shouts, puffing up his boxy chest. He paces back and forth. "I would never run with wolves! Y'all are wild and turn on your own. You got no laws, no loyalty, no master, and no right to wander these lands and take what ain't yours."
"Ha, nay, yet ah hey!" he wolves continue.
Brutus, Hector, and Achilles start barking to drown out the incessant chanting.
Kiowa does not charge as everyone had expected him to. He just stands still, frozen, waiting. His ears are pricked up. He is on alert, but waits to attack. His eyes study the curious-looking pack of animals that have just refused his offer. He has never been refused, and he has never seen such strangely put together creatures. They don't even look like dogs. Their ears are clipped and pointed, their tails come to an odd, stumpy end, and their noses are smashed into their peculiar flat faces like their masters abused them terribly. But the worst trouble is derived from their broad mouths, which pose an obvious problem in a fight.
Unwilling to accept strangers, Kida takes it upon herself to protect the integrity of the pack. Without the alpha's permission, she charges Hector. They clack teeth and claw at each other's bodies.
With the sudden action, Walpi's hair rises on his neck and spreads across his shoulders. He charges past Kiowa and catches Hector unexpectedly by the throat. His attack is ferocious; he tears through Hector's thin skin and latches on to the jugular. Blood gushes into his mouth and sends him into a blood frenzy. The thought of Kida being attacked fills his heart with rage. His growls unite with hers, and they both cave to the wild, instigating the pack's attack.
In an instant Makes Trouble answers the call. He seizes Brutus's hind leg by the meaty portion, and the pair engage and return blow for blow. Their beastly whirlwind creates a dust cloud that masks the fight.
Paw leaps forward and bites down on the back of Achilles's neck. Achilles arches wildly, shaking off the attack. He flips around and bites Paw's front leg. The crushing pain from the pit bull's jaws make him release and cry out.
To Kiowa's distress, Anoki leaps from the boulder and disappears into the fray. He wants to charge in and join the rumble, but the scars on Captain's face and body give him the distinct impression that this dog will not simply let him skirt by.
Hector puts up a decent defense, but Walpi's death blow is quick and successfully reduces the pit bulls' numbers. Now the wolves have an even greater advantage.
In all the concealed savagery, the yelping, the snarling, the snapping jaws, Kiowa can think only of Anoki, and that is his first mistake.
Captain is the only thing that stands between complete chaos and Kiowa. He waits for the alpha wolf to come to him, and when doesn't, Captain lunges forward in the battle royal. One single ambition drives him "to kill the wolf!"
He sprints toward Kiowa; his bulging cheeks lift from the momentum, exposing his teeth, and then droop once more.
Kiowa waits for the pit bull to lunge at him, then skillfully darts out of the way. He's the first to draw blood with slashing fangs that leave his mark on Captain's shoulder.
"These are not your lands. You should have stayed in Texas, Cap-i-tan," Kiowa shouts, lowering his head, exposing his fangs, and rising to the challenge.
"What do you say just you and I finish this? If I win, your boys leave the Currumpaw and only you die. If you win, the fight ends with me, and the rest of my pack agree to leave the Currumpaw forever."
"Your pack is going to die one at a time. They are lost to the badlands, miles past any water source. The Sun God has withheld his tears for much time. They have no water. No food. And if they aren't soon killing sheep, they will die too." Kiowa lunges forward. "As will you!"
Wild beast collides with tamed canine and at first the fight seems equal.
They charge one another and use their front paws to push one another down, each looking to gain an advantage. The wolf clenching down on one dog's thin, loose skin, then slashing it with ease.
Captain only laughs. "That's it? You are not gonna bite and hold on, just slash and run?"
His taunt has its intended effect. The two quickly resume the fight with a vicious vigor. Try as he might, Kiowa cannot seem to get to the soft underside of the dog's belly. Captain's narrow hindquarters are much like the buffalos' in that he pivots with an unexpected speed and changes direction faster than an animal his size should be able.
Both defend their necks by twisting their jaws back and forth with lightning speed. Kiowa slashes at Captain's face, then rips a piece out of his shoulder. All the time they are fighting, Kiowa can't help but worry about Anoki. This constant distraction saps his energy. Lost in that thought, he gives Captain an advantage that the seasoned warrior does not miss. Captain finds a vulnerable spot on Kiowa's shoulder and bites harder than the warrior had expected. Between the two, Captain bleeds far worse than Kiowa. But Captain has a tight grip, and his determination to go for the death blow blazes in his dilated brown eyes.
Captain's short tail wags enthusiastically, convincing Kiowa that he's actually having fun. The dog swings his agile hind legs here and there. He bounces back and forth, both biting and thrashing, which causes Kiowa to thrust forward and expose more of his chest. Captain successfully sifts through Kiowa's thick fur and sinks his teeth deep into Kiowa's chest. The pain is excruciating. With a mouthful of fur and flesh, Captain is forced to breathe out of his nose in trembling huffs.
Captain squats low and works his stout body like an anchor. Kiowa tries to return pain for pain, but Captain expertly darts his body back and forth so that the wolf's snapping fangs miss with each bite. Every wasted effort is followed by a paralyzing tug from the canine's locked jaws. Between his worry for Anoki and this yanking, tugging weight, Kiowa's ability to maneuver is clipped.
"Ever hear of lockjaw, wolf?" Captain grumbles through blood-soaked lips.
Kiowa can feel the pit bull's jaws reposition and strengthen their grip. They expand and contract over and over again in a chewing motion that never loses strength and never seems to tire. Captain's agonizing determination forces Kiowa to cry out, which frightens his otherwise victorious wolf pack. Never in all of the time they have known Kiowa have any of them heard their war chief yelp as he does now.
The sound tortures Anoki and forces her into action. She leaps out of the dust cloud and rushes over to join her lover's fight, only to be detained by Kida.
Tater and Chili appear off in the distance. They have finally answered Captain's call. They are late, but they have answered.
Makes Trouble and Walpi run up to higher elevation and allow the pit bulls' reinforcements to charge into the canyon.
"Captain!" Tater shouts, sprinting toward the bloody engagement. The fresh pit bulls bark and rush in like crazed matadors as Anoki and Kida sit down and stare at them.
Chili nears the fight but neither he nor Tater get very far.
Walpi and Makes Trouble strain and work together to push boulders off the cliff and start a landslide. Tumbling rocks smash against the pit bulls' bodies and pin the dogs beneath their hulking weight. Kida and Anoki are quick to end Chili. All four of the wolves turn on Tater.
Feeling the wolf's strength fade, Captain is immensely satisfied. He tenses up, hoping to finish the attack. "Ain't nothing gonna make me let go, wolf! I'm just gonna keep walking this bite up your chest and hang, like a weight, on your neck till you…"
As the dust cloud starts to settle, Kiowa finally gets eyes on Anoki and finds she is safe, to his tremendous relief. The overwhelming pain in his chest pulls him out of his savage and wild mind-set, allowing Kiowa to fall back on his human strategy. He puts his paws on the pit bull's head and uses his claws to gouge Captain's eyes.
Captain winces from the pain. He renews his determination and tries hopping and tugging at Kiowa's throat in an effort to subdue the wolf leader.
The pit bull makes the mistake of hopping in a pattern. Kiowa waits for him to set his feet on the ground and expertly executes an Indian wrestling move to trip up Captain's legs.
It works. The pit bull falls down and exposes an ear, mangled from previous fights. With all the strength he has left, Kiowa snaps down with his molars. The pit bull yipes in agonizing pain, yet refuses to let go.
Kiowa latches down repeatedly, chomping and tearing pieces of Captain's ear off. With each successful bite, Captain jerks and exposes a little of his face. He endures the pain magnificently, but when Kiowa starts tearing pieces of his cheeks off, his determination wanes.
Kiowa manages to get a lower fang in Captain's eye. Jaws that were once locked finally release.