Shadow Dreams Read online

  A warm, dry wind ruffled my hair and I walked on up the black-top path that curved into the night. I was wishing I had brought the canister of mace Barb had given me when Douglas had first moved out. I kept meaning to attach it to my key-ring and kept forgetting to do it.

  “Shadow?” I called nervously but there wasn’t even a distant bark in return. Great, I knew I shouldn’t have let him off the leash. I began to have that itchy, prickly sensation between my shoulder blades you get when you feel like you’re being watched. Just your imagination, I told myself. Stop being so jumpy. But the feeling just wouldn’t go away.

  “Shadow?” I called again but the voice that answered me wasn’t my new pet’s.

  “Hey sweetheart, lookin’ for some company?”

  I turned quickly, feeling my heart pound in my throat to see the large, bulky shape of a man approaching me in the gloom.

  “Actually, I’m calling my dog.” I said it as calmly as I could but my voice still came out high and nervous. “He’s quite large and … and extremely vicious.”

  “That right?” There was a sneer in his voice that said he didn’t believe me for a second.

  “Yeah,” I said, my voice trembling a lot more than I would’ve liked. “He’s trained to attack on command.” As I spoke I realized that I had no idea if Shadow was protective or not. Possibly he was one of those dogs that was just a big softie and wouldn’t hurt a fly.

  A friend of Patty’s had a Doberman like that. To see it, you’d think it would tear you to shreds but it wouldn’t attack anybody—just too lazy and good natured, Patty’s friend insisted. But regardless of whether he was viciously protective or not, at least Shadow was imposing, and I was wishing with all my heart that I hadn’t let him run free off the leash and get away from me.

  “Shadow,” I called again, raising my voice above the chirping crickets. My only answer was the long, liquid howl of a coyote. It was a desolate sound that tore at my insides.

  “Seems like your doggie ain’t here ‘less that was him just now,” remarked the man. He moved closer suddenly and I realized I was just standing there like an idiot in the darkness, watching this stranger advance on me.

  “He’ll be here any minute,” I said, backing up a step, not wanting to take my eyes off the approaching shape. I still couldn’t see his face but the black outline of his body against the night sky was huge and menacing.

  “Stay away from me,” I said, backing up another step.

  He came towards me again, apparently through with talking. I saw something glint silver and sharp in one of his hands.

  I took another step back, a huge, fumbling gesture, what we called a ‘giant’ step when we were kids. My foot landed on a loose stone in the path and suddenly I was on my back, the wind knocked out of me with a harsh gasp.

  The man laughed, a hoarse, eager sound that was somehow greedy. The silver flashed in his hand again, the cold moonlight skating along the edge of a blade and I knew it was a knife. I didn’t even have the breath to scream as he advanced on me, towering over me like an evil ogre in a fairy tale. But this wasn’t a fairy tale, it was a nightmare.

  “Please…” I formed the word with my lips but no sound came out. This wasn’t how they taught you to do things in self-defense class, I reminded myself. You were supposed to scream and make as much noise and trouble for your attacker as possible. But the fall had winded me and I felt like my heart was pounding right between my teeth. I couldn’t breathe past its frantic bulk.

  “This is how it’s gonna be,” he said, kneeling in front of me and placing a rough hand on the inside of my thigh. I had changed into shorts and a t-shirt before taking Shadow to the park. Now I wished I had on long pants, something that offered more protection.

  “Please,” I said again. This time the words were audible, at least to me. I felt frozen in place.

  “You’re gonna come with me and we’ll have a little fun,” he continued as though I hadn’t spoken at all. His breath smelled like stale beer and peanuts. “You keep quiet and maybe I’ll let you go afterwards.” The long silver blade was suddenly inches from my face and the hand on my thigh clamped down in a hard pinch that made me gasp.

  All I could think was, Oh, God, I’m going to die.

  Chapter 6

  “Leave her alone.”

  For a moment I couldn’t figure out where this new voice was coming from and then I realized that someone was looming over my attacker in the darkness. The moon was behind him and I couldn’t see his face but his eyes glinted fiercely in the gloom the way an animal’s eyes will glow in the dark.

  The eyes in the dark seemed to galvanize me, give me strength somehow. I pulled back my leg and punched it forward, catching the man leaning over me with as much force as I could in the throat. His attention had been focused on the voice behind him and I caught him off guard.

  With a strangled curse he tumbled to one side clawing at his neck as though he had a bone stuck in his throat. The man with the glowing eyes caught him neatly and I had a blurred impression of several swift, brutal blows being landed as I scrambled away.

  The back of my t-shirt had rucked up and the loose gravel, still warm from the scorching day-time sun scraped across it mercilessly. I managed to turn and get to my hands and knees and then to my feet. There were tiny pieces of gravel imbedded in my palms. Behind me dull thuds and strangled cries let me know the beating was still going on but I didn’t stop to see who was winning. I stumbled blindly along in the darkness, headed for the dim glow of the parking lot, just wanting to get away.

  The sounds behind me stopped abruptly and I heard someone shouting.

  “Hey, come back! I need to talk to you.”

  The voice sounded vaguely familiar but my world had narrowed to a round black tunnel with the silver shape of my little VW bug at the end of it. I fumbled in the pocket of my shorts for the keys, the breath tearing in my throat and the howls of coyotes in my ears. Far off in the distance there was an angry squeal of a javalina as something startled it.

  I grasped the keys with numb fingers, pressing the locking mechanism and hearing the familiar double beep that let me know I was almost safe. I was scrabbling at the door handle when there was a familiar barking at my side. I turned to see Shadow’s black wolf-like shape bounding up to me, pink tongue lolling out in a breathless pant.

  “Shadow!” I threw my arms around the dog’s neck and buried my face in his black ruff for a long moment, trembling and letting the good, clean scent of his warm fur fill my senses. I drew back for a moment when I felt something wet on his muzzle—blood. It was a sticky, nearly black smear on my fingers in the dark parking lot. He must have caught a rabbit.

  There was a choking gurgle from the path where I had been attacked and I remembered that I had to get the hell away from there.

  “C’mon, boy.” I opened the VW’s door with a shaking hand and gestured him inside.

  Shadow looked at the open door but instead of getting in he moved to get in front of me. The fur all over his body seemed to lift, making him look twice as large and a low, rumbling growl built in his throat.

  “Shadow, come on! We don’t have time for this.” I motioned at the open door and he moved reluctantly to scramble across the seats. I got in behind him and slammed the door, jabbing the key into its slot and shoving the little car into gear. It wasn’t until I had cleared the park’s parking lot and was half way home that I felt safe enough to drive anything approaching the speed limit.

  I turned to see Shadow staring at me, the full moon reflected in his big brown eyes. He looked out the window for a moment and gave a menacing growl.

  “So, now you get all protective. Where were you a minute ago when that man was all over me?” I muttered.

  He looked back at me and voiced a soft whine that sounded almost apologetic.

  “Yeah, well,” I said. “If that other guy hadn’t been there … but for all I know he had the same thing in mind as the first guy.”

  Shadow gav