It was certainly something to be someplace new.

The feeling of stumbling with barely any excitement into a fresh new town which was scarily reminiscent to the previous nine towns was hardly a first time experience for Peg. In her youth it had been standard issue alongside her father and Randall and eventually Cliff and Rick as well. There was nothing ever particularly notable about the stop for just that specific reason. All that it ever was, was a brief stop before the never-ending toil through the countryside would continue and she'd be back to listening to crickets before she fell asleep.

There was at least a level of business unmatched by the usual drivel of their travels to be found in each stop. It was pure nostalgia to recall each and every one of her more notable experiences. Against the orders of her father and with Randall acting as a sort of pressure, she would often find herself sneaking into places most dogs would consider "no go" zones. And though she'd gotten into trouble for all of her work more times than it was realistically worth, going out and about was how she'd encountered music to keep her moving, it was how she had met Cliff and Rick and it was what kept her sane when she had nothing humble enough to call home.

Though that was the old way of living. A lifestyle which she had long ago sworn away. Settling down with friends and a family was the greatest thing which she had ever done and still she'd managed to ruin it.

"Ah!" Toughy remarked, taking in a deep whiff of the surrounding air, hot as it might have been. "Can never get tired of this old trail."

His enthusiasm struck her as strange. Yes, they were off their paws at last and free from the confines of a stuffy train, but past a general store, blacksmith, post office and a few cabins, she did not see much to show any enthusiasm over.

"Are you in cahoots with this place?" Peg asked.

"Grew up here he did," Bull answered for the lankier dog. "We met one another when me and Ma Fitz were passing through."

"That we did," Toughy confirmed, nodding happily, "feels like just yesterday I was snoozing away to the sound of the creek until the two of you whisked me away."

"You asked to come," Bull pointed out. "We did warn ya that once we got started on the road, we weren't ever going to stop."

"I got no regrets," Toughy said, scratching behind an ear. "Wonder how the place has changed though. Last I remember there wasn't much of a food chain going around here."

"Let's hope it's stayed that way. Last thing we need is anyone who knows Otto getting wise and speaking up."

At the mere mention of the name, Peg shrunk back in fear though that went unnoticed by the other two. "You think that he would have sent word out that fast?"

"Who knows?" Toughy answered with a shrug. "It's an educated guess is all seeing as how weeks have been weeks. For a dog like Otto, I'd be more surprised if word hasn't gotten around by now."

"We should stay low then, no?"

"You should stay low. Chances are that he hardly knows we're with you, but if what I'm thinking is right, every dog in cahoots with the kid on this side of the country probably has the idea of what you look like."

She had just enough energy in her to appear miffed, "Well you boys aren't just going to leave me on my own are you?"

"Just a few hours is all," Bull said, already beginning to pad away.

"Yeah," Toughy agreed, "all we need is to find a few basics before we head back out. Just keep to yourself and maybe enjoy the scenery a bit. We won't be long."

Though the idea of having to fend for herself, if even only for a few hours did not appeal to her at all, Peg could offer no further complaint before they had turned a corner of one of the few buildings there and taken off to handle what needed to be done. Rather, she simply settled on her haunches and tried to get rid of the feeling that she was being watched.

That was another thing which had come to settle as a regular paranoia of hers. There was always someone with her scent in their nose, always someone who listened for every step which she took. There was always a pair of eyes burning holes in her back.

Here especially, that feeling was more prevalent than it usually was. Where others might have found peace in the still sounds and movement of nature, the flow of the creek and the gentle dancing of bluebells in the breeze, she found nothing but torment in them.

She needed noise, craved it in fact, whether it came from her or someone else. Noise to her was music, a distraction from the everyday crisis of having others depend on her, every choice and action dictated by their needs.

She needed a song.

A song which went like:

I got to keep movin', I got to keep movin'

Blues fallin' down like hail, blues fallin' down like hail

Hmm-mmm, blues fallin' down like hail, blues fallin' down like hail

And the days keeps on worryin' me

There's a hellhound on my trail, hellhound on my trail

Hellhound on my trail

If today was Christmas Eve, if today was Christmas Eve

And tomorrow was Christmas Day

If today was Christmas Eve, and tomorrow was Christmas Day

Aw, wouldn't we have a time, baby?

All I would need my little sweet rider just

To pass the time away, huh-huh

To pass the time away

You sprinkled hot foot powder, mmm

Mmm, around my door, all around my door

You sprinkled hot foot powder

All around your daddy's door, hmm-hmm-hmm

It keep me with ramblin' mind, rider

Every old place I go, every old place I go

I can tell the wind is risin', the leaves tremblin' on the tree

Tremblin' on the tree

I can tell the wind is risin', leaves tremblin' on the tree

Hmm-hmm, hmm-mmm

All I need's my little sweet woman

And to keep my company, hey, hey, hey

My company

She was standing by the creek then, staring hard into her reflection. The picture of herself brought about reminisce. Life had moved too quickly and youth had stayed only for a quick visit. That was not meant to infer that she no longer had the appearance of a dog privileged enough to have been pampered by either human hands or under a dog's tongue. What it did mean was that for the first time which she could ever recall, the bags under her eyes seemed natural, as though they had always been hanging there. Her dirtied fur did nothing to dispel the implication that life had been hard and was started to feel more like a burden than a gift.

Perhaps that was all which life was ever destined to be: a never-ending cascade of ups and downs, each one carving its mark on her like the passage of time etched into her fur. The thought was not an easy one, but then, she rarely was graced by easy thoughts in her age. All that was there as a quantum of solace was song and rhythm that echoed the cadence of her own struggles.

The constant pursuit.

The blues falling like hail.

The ever present hellhound on her trail.

Her paw ran through the water, at first rippling her reflection into untidy pieces of white and then causing it a great deal of murkiness when her paw brought up sediment from the very bottom of the shallow waters. It was as if she sought to disrupt the moments of her past, stirring up the memories that clung to her and the little whines and whimpers which she had felt so protective over up until the last of a lullaby had left her lips.

Distorted as it was, there was still a peculiar beauty staring back at her. Something akin to resilience, a testament to the strength that lied somewhere beneath her struggles. It was just about the only place where she could safely be immersed and satisfied in the symphony of her own existence.

Upon her return to the spot where Bull and Toughy had left her, Peg felt better. Not exponentially so, but better all the same. Her tail could hold itself up, her fur no longer clung to her like a desperate parasite and there was a small touch of confidence in her step.

"Get down!"

A hushed whisper and collision stopped her from taking that confidence any further than a few steps. Before she could so much as open her mouth, Toughy slammed a paw down and let out a soft shush.

When he was confident enough that she got the message, he let his hold loosen.

"What's going on?" she whispered from her spot on the ground.

"We may have run into some trouble on the way back," Toughy explained before quickly adding: "Not a lot of trouble, just some trouble is all and if I'm right Bull should be here any moment no-"

"Okay!" the bulldog in question remarked loudly upon coming to a stop by them both. "I think I lost them."

"You took them all around the old loop?" Toughy asked, moving to get off of Peg.

"All around it," Bull confirmed, nodding his head. "Twice in fact. Then I found me some road apples and got a little cozy with the stuff. No way they sniff me out now."

Peg's nose screwed up in disgust, the smell suddenly becoming all too prevalent, "Yup. Unless they like the smell of horse dung." When her nose had gotten over it's overpowering scent, she suddenly remembered to ask: "Who is they by the way?"

"Well..." Toughy drawled. "... it's a long story."

"One which all started when Toughy here's eyes got a little too big for his mouth," Bull started.

"Here we go," the other relented with a sigh.

"We was at the gen'ral store, doin' our usual bit to nab all we needed, right? Everything's goin' to plan, the shopkeeper's baffled by a dog whinin' on his doorstep, givin' me plenty of time to help meself to his shelves. Got jerky, kibble, even the belly of a pig, enough to keep us goin', ya know? So we scarper and check out our loot, reckonin' you'd be chuffed, and then Toughy looks back at the store, sayin' we should nip back in for more. I tell 'im it's someone's turf, bad enough takin' food once, doin' it twice is unthinkable. But he's dead set, so I hang back, watch 'im do his thing. Next thing, an old vulture lands next to me. Thought he'd be a bother, but he turns out to be a friendly bloke, says, 'Mutton's the best meat.' Naturally, we chat a bit, and he warns us not to leave food lyin' about, else Gavin and Clive will show up."

"Who are Gavin and Clive?" Peg asked, her head turning with the question.

"Getting there," Bull insisted. "I ask the fellow that same question and he's about to answer but before he can his beak suddenly closes and he flies right off. I found it strange I did, but then again, there are plenty of strangers in this world. So I look back over at Toughy and he's trotting toward me like he was just knighted by the queen, the biggest piece of butcher's meat I have ever seen hanging from his jowls."

"And then Gavin and Clive show up?"

"They do and at first they seemed quite unassuming."

"Unassuming?" Toughy questioned looking at him in disbelief. "You found Gavin and Clive to be quite unassuming?"

"Friendly too," Bull added.

"Two dogs the size of a small horse that immediately looked like they wanted to bite our heads off and you thought they looked unassuming?"

"They didn't bite our heads off is what's important."

"Okay well where are Gavin and Clive now?" Peg interjected before they could go on for any longer.

"Certain that I lost them on the way over, but not so certain whether I lost Gavin first or Clive first," Bull explained. "We never did get to the introductory part of the meeting."

"Well so long as you lost them and we don't have to deal with... is that someone's stomach I hear?" he asked hopefully. When both Peg and Bull shook their heads, he steeled himself to turn around, coming face to face with two unassuming dogs growling bitterly at the three of them.

"Gavin!" Bull addressed one of them. "Clive!" And then the other. "I was just looking for the two of you."

"I'm Clive," the ever so slightly larger of the two said, voice gruff with his growl. "That's Gavin."

"Never would have guessed."

"Fellas," Toughy stepped forward with as disarming a chuckle as he could form. "We meant no harm. We were just passing through this lovely place which you call home. You two brothers?"

"Twins," Gavin clarified for him. "And we ain't too fond of strays like you wondering into our town and helping yourselves to our meat."

"Now like I said before, we meant no harm. It's just that in this world food can be so hard to come by and so we supposed that we should just do whatever it takes to survive seeing as we care for each other as much as we do. You can understand that can't you? Me and Bull here," he said whilst gesturing at his friend, "are basically like brothers. Couldn't stand to see him starve. Could you see your own twin starve?"

"No... I suppose not," Clive said, some of the hostility leaving him. "Just like how I couldn't stand to see my brother die."

"There was another."

"We were triplets," Gavin confirmed. "It was the three of us against the world when mama left and all was going well, the townsfolk liked us and kept us close to plump, then one day a dirty stray wandered into town while we were separated and only the lord knows how that stray got a hold of poor Owen's throat and tore it clean out. Ever since then, we've sworn to do the same to any stray that's dumb enough to get too close." He said the last bits with his teeth brandished especially sharp.

Toughy chuckled again, nervously bidding their options with what little time he had left to do so. "Not all strays is the same. That's the old way of thinking and you're never gonna move forward with the old ways. We're honorable, the most honorable kind of strays. Whatever you want for whatever you feel wronged for, we will satisfy."

"Mhm," what started as another growl softened into a hum as Clive considered this proposition. His mind too hollow to come up with anything, he let his eyes do the work, allowing them to carelessly bore into Peg. "Well it has been quite a while since we last had a woman in this place."

"A wo- oh you mean Peggy over here," Toughy said, turning his focus to her. "Well ya see Peg's not really up for talks cause she's with us and all..."

When it was apparent that the matter was not up for discussion, he stopped himself and cleared his throat.

"One second fellas."

With Peg and Bull in his tight little circle, he opened his mouth to discuss their next move, Peg beating him to the punch.

"No."

"I wasn't gonna-"

"No."

"Just as a little distraction is all!" he was at last able to get out. "C'mon work with me here Peg, we've gotten ourselves in a rut and the only way we're getting out of it is to play a long for a little bit."

Though she seemed somewhat receptive to his words, there was still an air of defiance about her, "Do you see those two? I'm getting sick just imagining being with them physically."

"That's why ya don't have to be with them physically. Ya don't have to do anything with them," Toughy insisted. "Just distract 'em and we'll take care of the rest."

"Fine," Peg huffed after enough deliberation led her to see his reasoning.

"Boys!" Toughy called back. "We have a deal!"

Does it involve the woman or no?" Clive asked.

"It involves the woman all right."

"Can we get a better look at her?"

"Sure. If that's what you want."

Toughy spared her just one wary look before Peg stumbled forth, doing her best not to feel too disgusted with herself. She stopped a few paces away from the twins, Gavin looking on curiously while Clive licked his lips in anticipation. Their gazes were somehow heavier than than the unseen presence which followed her at every step. It was unnerving just how much more they put her on edge.

"Well go on," they jeered. "Do something. Something sweet."

Without much grace, she spun in a clumsy circle.

"Something sweeter!" Gavin called on her.

Ignoring the way in which her heckles involuntarily raised at that, she spun once more and took a few steps closer in their direction.

"Oh yeah," Clive praised, "that's the stuff. This is almost exactly how mama said it was gonna be. A woman to call our own forever and ever who's gonna be exactly who we tell her to be."

Those words were the last straw and before long she had marched right up to their faces with a nasty curl on her lips.

"Yours' forever and ever? Peg scoffed, her tone laced with defiance. "You two are living in a fantasy if you think you can just claim someone like property. I don't belong to anyone, and I sure as heck won't be dictated by the likes of you."

Clive's smile faltered, replaced by a glower. "You'll learn some manners, girl."

"You all will," Gavin joined his brother in glowering. "Filthy strays. I knew you were all the same."

Bull cleared his throat in the tense pause which followed, "I know these two have the ability to look quite unassuming, but I suppose that now might be a good time to run."

Run they did. Further south, but never west.