AandO A New Adventure Ch1

"So, where should we go next?" Humphrey asked Kate.

"I don't know. Why don't we just jump on the train and go?"

"Sounds good to me," Humphrey said.

"You're already leaving?" Eve asked.

"Yeah, mom. Why shouldn't we?" Kate asked.

"Who will be in charge?" she asked them.

"Garth and Lilly will look after the pack, Mom," Kate said to her.

"Just be careful you two," Eve told them. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"We'll be safe. Remember, we've already gotten out of plenty of tight spots," Humphrey assured her.

Humphrey and Kate ran to the end of the valley and jumped onto the train that was passing by.

"Be safe!" Eve called after them.

They jumped into an open car with just seconds to spare.

"Well, it looks like you won't be a lone adventurer after all. I'm with you now," Kate said.

"I'm glad. I wasn't feeling too happy about leaving you behind. I'm happy we're together," Humphrey said.

The train wound on through the night, occasionally whistling at crossings. Kate and Humphrey lay together, sleeping peacefully.

The next morning, the air was cool and crisp. Kate woke up and looked out the open door of the train car to see meadows full of wildflowers whisking by. She sighed and rolled over to go back to sleep. A little while later, Humphrey woke up. He got up and stretched. Kate woke back up and walked over to him. They both sat looking out over the horizon, wondering where the train could be taking them.

At noon, the train stopped in a little town just north of the Canada-U.S. border. Kate and Humphrey jumped off the train and walked towards the edge of town, looking for something to eat. They walked past several stores that were closed. Finally they found a small diner that was just opening up for lunch. They went to the back of the restaurant, where they smelled the delicious aromas of bacon and sausage. After nosing around, they found the meat in a bowl that was pushed over into a corner. They had just started eating when they heard a gruff voice behind them.

"Who are you and why are you eating my food?" The voice asked. "Turn around and let me see you."

Kate and Humphrey turned around to see a massive German shepherd glaring angrily down at them.

"Oh, this is your food?" Humphrey asked nervously. "Sorry. We didn't know. We haven't eaten in a while."

"Well, go find your own food. I can't have you eatin' all my food. Go on, get!" The dog said.

"Now listen here. We can eat what we want when we want. And we're not going to let some dumb mutt shoo us away like pups. We are WOLVES! We can do what we want to. Now why don't you go along and find some other food, because we aren't about to let you run us off!" Kate roared, backing the dog up against the wall. "You aren't going to get any of this, because it's ours. You. Aren't. Allowed. Do you understand?"

The dog whimpered an affirmative, and then ran off with his tail between his legs.

"Wow, Kate. I knew you were an alpha, but dang. That was impressive."

"It was nothing. At least we can eat now," Kate responded.

Both wolves dug in to the meat, tearing it apart quickly and swallowing some pieces whole.

"It tastes kind of funny. Tastes like something got burned," Humphrey said with his mouth full.

"It's those crazy humans. They burn their meat before they eat it. Don't complain. This might be all that we get for a while," Kate said.

When both of them had finished their meal, they licked each other's faces.

"Thanks for standing up to that dog. I don't know what I would do without you," Humphrey said.

"I know exactly what you would do. You would hang out with your friends and try to get everyone to have fun," Kate said. "You would make sure that everyone was happy. You know, we should probably find a place to sleep tonight."

"We could always sleep in a train car," Humphrey said. "We should keep heading south. I hear there's some pretty good land down there."

"Not a bad idea. But where do we get on the train. The one we were on already left."

"They come every few hours. We'll just hop on whichever one is going south."

They walked back to the train station and sat down to wait for the next train. Kate laid her head on Humphrey's shoulder. "All I know is that wherever we go, I'll be happy as long as I am with you." After this remark, she quickly fell asleep.

It was a few hours before the train came. The blast of the whistle woke both Kate and Humphrey from their slumber. They waited until there was no one looking, and then jumped into an open car. A few minutes later the train pulled out of the little town. Kate and Humphrey looked out of the car and saw the dog that they had run off watching them from the platform of the station. Kate growled at him as they passed.

The train meandered along through the countryside, occasionally stopping at small towns here and there. Humphrey looked out over the horizon, wondering what was going to happen next.