Laura was surprised to hear a knock on her door at 7:00 am.

Abby was asleep on Laura's bed.  Laura had dragged the matress from Abby's room and slept on it for what was left of the night.  Katrina, Demitri and Tomo had gone back to their apartment.  Laura had used what was left of the clean towels and hot water to get the blood out of Cee's fur.  Cee wasn't happy about it and had spent conciderable time rewashing himself. Now he and Liz were curled up under the radiator.

Laura got up sluggishly and opened the door a crack.  She could see a police officer. And behind the police officer was Ku'uaki.

The police office was a young man with dark hair and friendly features.  Ku'uaki's wide frame dominated the young man's in every direction.  Ku'uaki did not look well. He had several bandages and looked pale. His face still had his beaming smile.

Laura blinked and tried to rouse herself.

"What can I do for you?" Laura's mind raced over the various reasons a police officer might be at her door.  Noise complaint?

"Nothing really, miss.  I just wanted to me sure that Mr Ku'uaki had someplace to go.  He'll deny it, but he had a close call last night.  I dropped by the hospital this morning and he was ready to be released.  I thought I would give him a lift."

"See Officer Tanaka, I'm in good hands."  Ku'uaki's smile warmed the trio at the door way.

Cee emerged from under the radiator.  He bowed his front end down in a big stretch which travelled down his body like a tsunami and finished at his back paws.  His grooming was imaculate.  His paws were once again a glowing white.  He walked over to the doorway and sat down with the cat attidude of "Admire me".

Officer Tanaka kneeled down and gave Cee and affectionate scritch behind the ear.

"I'm glad you found somewhere warm and safe to stay Cee.  I was worried about you."

"You know Cee?"

"Yes, I know most of the outdoor cats on my beat. And who is this little lady?"

Laura turned around and saw Liz also coming out from behind the radiator.  She stopped and looked a little stunned with so many people looking at her.  She lowered her head and looked like she was going to bolt back to the safety of the radiator.  She lifted a paw and started to turn. Cee let out a big yawn and Liz changed her mind.  She kame up and sniffed Tanaka's fingers.

"Wow.  Liz is definately getting braver."

"So your name is Liz.  Pleasure to meet you." Officer Tanaka bowed his head. "We had better get Ku'uaki inside and sitting down."

Ku'uaki refused the arm and went in and sat on one of the two chairs.

"What happened Ku'uaki? Oh, I'm forgetting my manners, would you like to come in for some tea Officer Tanaka?  I'm afrai I don't have any coffee."

"Thank you for the offer, but I have to get home to a warm shower.  It has been a long night."

"Thank you for bringing Ku'uaki over."

"Is it ok if I stop by later to see if he is alright?"

"Oh sure!" Laura grabbed a peice of printer paper from her computer desk. She got her pen and jotted down her name, address, and phone number. "Here, now you can call ahead." She handed him the paper.

"Thank you again."  He folded the paper carefully in six and put it in his breast pocket. He then backed into the hallway. "Have a good day." Laura watched him as he went down the stairs.  Then she closed the door.

"Very nice young man, don't you think Laura?"

"Yes, he is." Laura said distractedly.

Cee jumped up on the table to allow Ku'uaki to pet him.

"I'm glad to see you are in good spirits my furry warrior."

"So, you going to explain the bandages?"

"I had a run in with the shadow wolves.  There was a pack of them in Odell park.  They have been banished.  And what happened to you? "

"We defeated the Boogeyman.  There was a dog named Midge that jumped into the rift after him.  She was trying to get her boy back.  Is it possible for her to return? Everyone here is worried about her and her boy.  I can tell because nobody talks about her."

"Get me a bowl of water and I will check. What happened to Abby?"

"She ran into a swamp vampire.  She has gashes on her back that were infected and cursed, but that has been taken care of.  She has been sleeping soundly for the past couple of hours.  Do you need bottled water, or is tap water ok?"

"Tap water is fine."

Laura got one of her white corningware bowls from the cupboard and filled it in the sink.  She placed it in front of Ku'uaki and sat beside him on the other chair.

"Laura, you have to think about Midge.  Everything about her.  Her colour, the texture of her hair, her personality.  I will use those thoughts to track were she went."

Ku'uaki closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.  He held his hands over the bowl of water and concentrated on the thoughts Laura was sending him.  He opened his eye and looked into the bowl of water.

"O gentle spirits of water.  One of our warriors of light has dissapeared from this realm.  We are worried about her. O spirits, can you track where she went and if she and her charge are able to return?"

Circular ripples eminated from the center of the bowl.  They settled down and Ku'uaki looked deep into the bowl.

"Midge and her boy are in the land of childhood dreams. It is ruled in tandem by the Boogeyman and the Good Fairy.  It is possible for them to return, but they need to find the key."

"Can we go help them?"

"They are in a world where only children can go."

"I wouldn't want to send Demitri or Tomo there.  Why was Midge able to go?  She's a mature dog?"

"Midge's love for her boy would allowed her to go.  And animals very rarely lose their innocence."

"What can we do in the mean time?"

"Keep our eyes and ears open for other creatures that have crossed into this world.  The hole is bigger now and larger things can get through."

 

 

 

Midge tracks Nicholas

 

Midge's world was gone.  She was drifting in space.  There was no up or down or sideways. She could not see anything and had no point of refrence.  She didn't know if she was even moving. She trashed her legs like a drowning dog but she could not sense any form of movement.  She started to bark.  The barking was extra loud in her ears because it was the only sound. She stopped moving and stopped barking.  She gazed around her but she could not even tell if her eyes were open and closed.

But then she could smell it.  The smell of grass wet with dew.  The smell of the night breeze.  She used the smell as a lifeline.  It gave her an anchor to hold onto. She aimed herself towards the smell.  It was getting stronger, or was she just getting closer?

Eventually she began to feel the effects of gravity, and of the air going past her ears. She wriggled until her feet were under her. The ground came up and touched the bottom of her feet.  Just like that she was standing somewhere.  She could smell and feel the wet grass beneith her paws.  She could smell a nearby wood.  And she could smell woodsmoke.Woodsmoke meant fire and fire meant people. But she could not see.  This disturbed her.  She rubbed her face with her front paws to see if she could get what ever was blinding her off.  But there was nothing on her face.

She lay down a moment to think.

Something abut this place wasn't letting her see.  She could tell there were things nearby with her nose and ears.  Maybe there will be someone who could fix her eyesight.

She go up again and started walking towards the woodsmoke smell.  Her nose was right down to the ground trying to sense  what was coming up.  She could hear talking and the smell of fresh cooked fish. She was getting close to the edge of the wood.

"So wa' brings a bonnie doggie to our camp?"

Midge sat and tilted her head. Usually she could only understand part of what humans said.  What ever was out there was speaking human, but she was able to understand it all.

Midge scented the air.  She could make out the scent of two humans.  One was the dark musky scent of a man and the other the lighter scent of a woman.  They had an open air smell to them.  There was a horse nearby.  She could hear it munching on some grain.

# Have you seen my boy ?#

"Ey dearing, I don't think we have seen any young'uns around," the man said.

"There be a time when this land was filled with young'uns.  Come for a visit they would.  Hear stories of make up their own. Nowadays most of the young'uns don't bother to come.  The Boogeyman catches the rest and turns them inta monsters."

# Why can't I see? #

"You be comin' fra the real world.  Only childrun can pass through."

# I followed the Boogeyman here.  He stole my boy. #

"That would explain it.  The love of a dog is terrible strong. Now ta be able ta see you need ta look at the world like a wee puppy.  When everything was new and magical. Di'ya think ye can do it?"

Midge tried to think back to her puppy days.  It was difficult.  Her puppyhood was not a happy one.  She was left in a shed and fed when her owners remembered. She started to whimper.

The woman came over and held Midge.  "Could it be tha you didn't have a happy puppyhood?  Did ya owners be mean to ya?  Your new owners canna be like tha.  Not with you havin' such a strong bond with your boy. Canna you remeber what it was like when you were first wit them."

Midge remembered the SPCA kennels.  All the dogs would get excited and start barking whenever anyone would come by.  She just sat quietly.  She had no hope.  Then Susan and Andrew came.  They like that she was quiet.  They took her for a walk and didn't complain when she pulled. They brough her home and introduced her to a world filled with petting and treats and sitting on the couch and just being together.  She remembered that time.  For the first time in her life, the living was easy.  She was given challenges that were not too difficult, but did give Midge a sense of accomplishment.  She had toys that were hers and a bed that was hers.  Everything was magical.

And her eyes became unclouded.

The people in front of her were smiling.  The woman still had her arm around Midge.  The man was tending to the fish on the fire.  They were dressed in brightly embroidered clothing.  They had a wagon that was a little house on wheels.  It was yellow with painted leaves along the edges.  They had set up camp in an orderly manner.  A pile of cut deadwood was neatly stacked by the wagon.  The horse was picketed under a tree and had a feed bag on its nose.

Midge was overcome with emotion.  She licked the woman's face and got up and cut capers around the camp fire.  She begged for some fish then went and sniffed noses with the horse.  How could she have forgotten how wonderful the world was.

"Now sit down and have a peice of fish.  Ye'll be wantin' to go and look for yar boy."

# Where should I start? #

"The boogeyman is only the co ruler here. The Good Fairy also rules, by there hasn't been hide nor hair of her fur years.  The boogeyman has a palace with a high tower.  At night ye can see a twinklin' from tha high window.  People round here say that it is the Good Fairy.  She is being held there by the fears of children.  But nabady has been able to get up to the tower ta check things out. It be said that the Boogeyman used a magic book to enter that tower.  If ye can find the book, ye can get to the tower to free the Good Fairy."

"The Boogeyman's library is deep in his palace. You'll have ta be as sneaky as a coyote to get in.  It be over in tha direction.  It's best to travel by day, the monsters around here are verry terrible. You are welcome to a spot under our wagon.  We would be appriciating the extra warmth."

They ate up the remaining fish and settled together for a good nights sleep.