Coyote

Chapter 9: The Tug-Of-Fates

In retrospect, I should have known that Lulu and her gang weren't human. Humans didn't smile that much. But even I miss things on occasion. The important thing was that I knew the truth now. She wasn't just not human; she was one of those jerks who claimed that that they alone were wolves simply because they were bigger than the rest of us. How dare she call us coyotes? We were the true wolves! And I would have told her that too if she hadn't been so tall and muscular.

"I'll tell you what, little friends," Lulu drawled, clearly enjoying herself as she looked down at the five of us. "I don't really care about you all. You just aren't worth my time I'm afraid. If you leave us alone, and you leave those humans to us, then we'll let you get back to whatever it is you all do with your lives, and we can get back to our business, okay?"

The train continued chugging along, moving at speeds beyond anything I could reach on my own. Trees flew by at the edges of my vision and disappeared in the distance. If only there was a way to get these wolves off of the train.

Behind me, the door opened, and a human (at least, I think it was a human, but it's hard to be sure of anything anymore) peered outside. If he was surprised to see the ten of us standing there, it didn't show on his face. He wiped his forehead and motioned to the opposite door where the wolves were standing. "Mind if I get by you a moment? Gotta get to the snack car. Heard there was a ruckus."

"Oh, no ruckus," said Lulu, putting on her most innocent smile. "There's really no need to come over here. Thank you for your concern though. Have a good day, sir."

The man shrugged his shoulders and began retreating back the car he emerged from.

"Wait a moment, sir!" exclaimed Eli. "Don't you think you should check the snack car? Just in case? I for one certainly saw a ruckus unfolding in there just a moment ago."

The man paused. "A ruckus you say?"

Before the mean wolves could interject, I came to my brother's aid. "Absolutely! There was a big ruckus."

"The biggest ruckus. I've never seen a ruckus like it! Wouldn't your superiors want you to check it out?" Kai said, and she pointed to the window of the snack car door.

Hesitantly, the man stepped forward, squinting to try to see the ruckus. "Well, I suppose if there really is a ruckus..." He took another step out of the door. Asher grabbed the edge of the door, keeping it open so that we could escape through it the moment it was clear.

Reader, I have never seen a more malleable man. Much like the mice in our forest who listened with the utmost devotion to Carl the Fox's daily newscast (which was of course filled with lies), this man simply believed the very last thing he heard. Without us in his life telling him what to do and believe, it was a wonder he managed to lead any sort of life at all.

"Believe me, there is no ruckus," suggested Lulu, her smile fading.

The man began to walk away again.

I grabbed his shirt and tugged him back outside. "There is a ruckus! Right in there!"

And so, our game of tug-of-war over this poor man continued. For the next three hours we vied back and forth for control over his impressionable soul. Humans, am I right? One moment he would be concerned about the ruckus and wanted to check it out, and the next he believed everything was alright. Frankly, it was exhausting. I leaned against the side of the car for a moment to catch my breath.

There was a loud thunk. I had accidently leaned on a lever that had caused the train cars to separate. I looked at the wolves, and they began to slowly move further away as the distance between our two cars increased. Fortunately, Lulu and her Trench-Coats hadn't noticed; they were far too busy trying to control the man who continued to move back and forth in the doorframe. Now that I and I alone knew that the end was near, the frustration in Lulu's face was so much more enjoyable to watch. In the greatest case of the tables being turned, I began to smile.

It wasn't too long before Lulu noticed. She growled, and clenched her fists, shaking them to relieve some of the tension she surely must have felt. She looked around at all of us, and locked onto me when she realized I was smiling. "YOU!" she exclaimed. "What are YOU smiling at?"

I merely waved my little paw at her.

"Umm, is it me, or did these two train cars just detach?" asked the man in the doorway.

Proudly, I declared, "It's just you."

Lulu looked down at the widening gap. The momentum kept her train car moving forward, but there was now a gap of a few meters between us. She howled in anger. "You won't get away with this! You dare defy your superiors? You could have just left us to our business, but you just had to get involved, didn't you? Well, when we catch up with you, you will feel our wrath! Do you hear me, Little One? You will feel the wrath of me! Lupu W. Lykos, matriarch of the hunt, agent of the moon and all her glory, bane of the moose clans, and renowned sharpclaw!"

Hearing her fume at us was hysterical. I raised my head, along with Eli, Kai, Asher, and Mr. Rodgers, and we cackled maniacally. "Aiyeeee!" We wagged our tails at her, and entered the train car, marshalling the man who was too empty to be confused down along the aisle.

"We did it!" said Asher, nuzzling up to me now that we were safely away from the wolf imposters. I blushed a little bit. Asher was so soft. They quickly stopped and stepped away. "Oh, I was...well we did a great job."

"We did."

"I was just excited."

"As am I. Was. As was I."

"It's normal to celebrate by embracing."

"Absolutely."

"Certainly."

"Undoubtedly."

"Undeniably."

"Assuredly."

"Unquestionably."

"Brother," said Eli, glancing back at the door from which we had entered, "is it just me, or are the humans we're following now stuck on the half of the train that we just trapped the Trench-Coats on?"

"Indisputably."