Waggit's Tale Read Online Free Page A

boss?”
    â€œWho’d you see?”
    â€œAre you okay?”
    â€œDid they follow you?”
    â€œEverybody relax,” said Tazar. “I think we lost them. Well, I think we lost the first two groups anyway.”
    â€œWho were they?”
    â€œRuzelas, but Ruzelas like you’ve never seen before. As tall as trees they were, with green faces, and red beams of burning light coming out of their eyes. They had long claws, and they carried sticks with silver hooks on them.”
    As Tazar told his tall story each dog backed away from him. Eyes wide and hackles up, they edged toward one another, packing together for protection.
    â€œAs they walked,” Tazar continued, warming to his fantasy, “the ground shook and the sky grew dark. I tellyou, they were awesome.”
    There was total silence as the dogs tried to imagine such monsters. Suddenly Lowdown cocked his head to one side and looked inquisitively at Waggit.
    â€œâ€™Scuse me for saying this, boss, but if they was that awesome, how come this skinny little white thing, who ain’t the bravest animal I’ve ever met, is sitting all calm and relaxed, when by rights he should be halfway up this tree calling for his mama?”
    â€œMaybe this skinny little white thing’s braver than you think,” Tazar replied.
    â€œWell, maybe he is, and maybe he ain’t, but I’ve got an itch”—and he scratched himself as if to prove the point—“and my itch tells me that maybe them Ruzelas wasn’t quite as scary as you said. In fact maybe they wasn’t Ruzelas at all. In fact maybe they wasn’t anything at all.”
    Tazar (who had been looking quite awesome himself during the telling of the tale) sat down and grinned at the scruffy little dog.
    â€œThere are times, Lowdown, when I reckon you’re the smartest one on the team.”
    The Lady Alicia’s screech shattered the air.
    â€œWhat are you two talking about? Are we going tobe murdered in our beds or ain’t we? I mean, I’d like to know.”
    â€œMy dear lady,” Tazar said in his most reassuring tone, “while I’m here you will be murdered neither in your bed nor out of it. This morning’s actions were a test, just to see if the system was working; and I tell you, it worked perfectly. The story I added to make life more interesting.”
    â€œA test!” Gruff grumbled. “You got me out of my bed, with the aches I’ve got in my bones; you make me climb this mountain, with a chest like I’ve got; you expose me to the cold and then scare me half to death with some cockamamie tale. You do all this for a test!”
    â€œWe saw you scampering up that hill, didn’t we, little brother?” Tazar asked Waggit. “And you were up there with the best of them. Those aching old bones did you a service when you thought your life depended upon it.”
    â€œWell, I’m with Gruff,” said Alicia. “You’ve got no right to go around scaring folks like that. As it was I had a terrible night, and I’d only just got off to sleep. I’m going to go back now and see if I can snatch a few more minutes of rest before something else disturbs me.”
    Since Alicia was famous for being able to sleep anywhere and at any time, this last statement produced muffled snorts and woofs from the rest of the team, which she haughtily ignored. With her beautiful head held high she delicately picked her way down the hill on her long, elegant legs.
    â€œYou mean there never was any danger, Tazar?” Lady Magica asked.
    â€œThe only danger was that you would sleep too long and miss the beauty of this day,” said Tazar.
    â€œOh, Tazar, you are naughty. We were all so scared. But it was a good story!” Magica giggled.
    Tazar shrugged his shoulders and huffed a bit in an attempt to be modest, which was never easy for him.
    â€œI’d have protected you, Magica; if