Angel On Earth- A Dog Novel

11🐾 Confession

"Ouch!" Gypsy jumped up painfully as one of her puppies nipped her. "Watch it!" She scolded down at the pups, who had previously been suckling.

The youngsters were growing their puppy-teeth in, which meant Gypsy would only have more of that occurring until she switched them onto solid foods. With a sigh, she sat down again.

"Sorry, Mother. We-" Star broke off as Kiwi burst into another bought of coughing. This time, they wracked her whole body and sounded as if they ripped out part of her throat.

The mother-dog stiffened with fright. It was unnatural for dogs to cough more than once or twice a month. This had been going on for days, despite the weather growing hearty with the heat of mid-summer.

"Is she okay?" Ace's voice rang out through the lush forest. Gypsy searched for the source until her eyes fell upon a black-and-cream husky between the greenery.

Ace hurried closer, his ears flattened with distress. However, his reaction further drove Gypsy into a fearful frenzy.

"I don't know. It hasn't gotten better, and now the coughs sound both dry and wet at the same time." Her eyes were shimmering with worry as she looked up at Ace.

"It'll be alright. Perhaps it's time for them to try dry food. Perhaps she's inhaling the milk and that's why she keeps sputtering."

Privately, she wasn't so sure...

Kiwi hadn't been eating consistently for the past three days. She drank almost half as much milk as her brothers did, and played less. Gypsy saw a faint sheen of fatigue over her daughter's tired eyes as she looked lazily around.

A pups eyes shouldn't look like that. And how would she get all four puppies to the neighborhoods? They'd be many times as slow getting there than an adult dog.

"I've been feeding Obelisk every day." Startled, Gypsy looked up into her friends striking blue eyes.

If...he even is my friend anymore.

"I know how to bring the plate here without dropping any. I'll be back soon with some dry food for the pups to try." Ace looked knowingly down at the white mother-dog.

She could tell by his eyes what he was trying to convey.

Food isn't going to cure Kiwi. Only a stroke of luck and good health will. She scooped the tan-and-white she-pup closer with a paw, and then barked after Ace as he retreated.

"Wait, Ace! There's something I haven't had the chance to tell you. And, if you leave now I won't have the chance to again for who-knows-how-long."

Ace looked somehow hopeful as he bounded back to Gypsy. I hope he already knows what I'm going to ask, then.

"Since you came here, Bronx has kept you busy with patrolling the western border, and feeding Obelisk... and I've been busy with my pups- or sleeping in Bronx's den at night."

Ace nodded, as Gypsy tried not to think about how Bronx had complained of his puppies sleeping in the den. He'd heaved them off, and even snarled at Copper once as Copper had tried to cuddle with him.

"But what's important is that I never stopped caring about you." She held Ace's stare as the woods grew darker around them. Somewhere far off, a squirrel chittered up in the trees, preparing itself for an early night.

"Please forgive me. Please be my friend again," the female let a bit of desperation creep into her voice. "Im sorry I left you alone in that shelter. It was selfish... I know you'd never have left me there to die." She winced at the harsh truth of her own words, but Gypsy had finally owned up to it. Her eyes welled with tears as she realized how much she truly needed Ace back. How much she had messed up.