Brotherband 4: Slaves of Socorro Read Online Free PDF Page B

pretty scruffy,’ Thorn said and Hal nodded.
    ‘Needs a brushing. I’ll get onto that.’
    Kloof had finished the meat and was sniffing around experimentally, hoping that another piece might have materialised out of thin air. Hal clicked his fingers and she looked up instantly.
    ‘Come on, Kloof,’ he said and started to walk towards the back of the building, where he and Karina had their living quarters. Thorn, of course, still lived in his small lean-to against the side of the building.
    ‘What did you call her?’ Thorn asked, tagging along with Hal and the dog.
    ‘Kloof,’ Hal said.
    Thorn frowned. ‘Kloof?’
    The dog reared her forepaws off the ground again. Kloof! she barked.
    Thorn made a moue with his mouth. ‘Forget I asked. Well, I’ve got work to do. I was varnishing some benches when you came in and started bellowing for your mam. Better get back to it. Oh, and good luck with Karina,’ he added, as he turned away.
    ‘Why would I need good luck?’ Hal asked. He had a vague feeling that pretending not to know what Thorn was alluding to would make it less likely to happen.
    ‘You’ll need it when you ask her if you can keep Choof there,’ Thorn said.
    Kloof! said the dog.
    Thorn bowed in her direction. ‘I stand corrected.’
    ‘I don’t need to ask my mam if I can keep her. I don’t need anyone’s permission. I’m a skirl. I have my own ship and my own crew. I don’t ask permission. I give it. And I hereby give it to myself. I may keep the dog.’
    Thorn grinned. ‘Let me run a few possible reactions past you,’ he said. He thought for a few seconds, then quoted, in a reasonably accurate imitation of Karina’s voice:
    ‘I won’t have it here. It’ll get hair all over the place. And it’ll smell. And it’s too big. It’ll eat us out of house and home. Take it back where you found it.’ He paused. ‘How’s that for starters?’
    ‘She’ll be a great watchdog,’ Hal said in reply. ‘She’ll keep thieves away from the house and the restaurant. And she’ll keep pests away too.’
    ‘All excellent arguments,’ Thorn said, turning to go.
    Hal caught his sleeve, betraying his underlying anxiety about Karina’s reaction to the dog. ‘Do you think they’ll convince her?’
    ‘Not for a second.’
    Hal pursed his lips as his friend strolled back to the front of the building, where he had been working. He looked critically at Kloof.
    ‘Maybe I should tidy you up. If you’re brushed and shining, she’ll see what a good dog you are.’
    He went into their living quarters, looking for something to brush the dog with. Needless to say, he found nothing in his own room, but in Karina’s dressing room he came upon an old hairbrush and a carved wooden comb. He nodded to himself.
    ‘She’s had these for ages,’ he said. ‘She won’t mind my borrowing them.’
    He went back outside and set to work on Kloof’s coat, dragging the comb and brush through her matted fur, gradually clearing the tangles and brambles that she had collected, and stripping out the old, dead hair. She grunted with pleasure at the touch of the brush, only complaining when he attacked the thick tangles around her ears, pulling her head sideways as he did. Being an alpine dog, she had a double coat, and there was twice as much work to do. But after a good hour of brushing and combing, when his arms were aching from the effort, her black coat was shining and lustrous. He looked at the pile of loose hair growing around her, marvelling at the sheer volume.
    ‘I’ve nearly got enough for another dog here,’ he muttered.
    Kloof grunted at him.
    ‘Where in the name of Boh-Raka did you find that? And what is it?’
    Karina’s voice cracked like a whip. Hal turned nervously and rose from the low stool where he had been sitting. His mother was a diminutive woman by Skandian standards, and she was still beautiful by any standards. She could also be extremely intimidating when she chose to be.
    She was choosing to be