The next time Dog met Flash the Barn Cat was in Hare’s meadow. Flash was sitting on a stump talking to Magpie.
“I’ve heard about something like that,” Magpie was saying. “The last time Coriolus passed this way he mentioned something about it. He said he and his vee…that’s Lucky, Spruce, and Bruce…they saw some strange things when they were flying over some territory. It was pretty far from here, though.”
“It’s still far away,” Flash agreed, “but it’s heading in this direction. I’m here to keep the farm safe from it.”
“Hey,” said Dog, “are you talking about that same thing you told me about back in the barn?”
“Yup,” said Flash. “And I’ve changed my mind about something. We have to protect the whole town, not just the farm.”
“You haven’t even said what we’re protecting anything from,” said Dog. “And what about the forest?”
“Nobody in the forest has anything to worry about,” said Flash. “Only people. You know…humans.”
The fur on Dog’s back raised up a bit. “Are you saying my family is in danger?” she asked, her voice getting lower and rougher.”
“Not as long as we keep them safe,” said Flash.
Magpie noticed Flash edging away from Dog just the tiniest bit. Something new occurred to Magpie: Dog could be dangerous when she wanted to be.
“So what are we keeping everybody safe from?” asked Dog.
“It’s hard to say,” said Flash.
“Try anyway,” said Dog. She didn’t like the way Flash didn’t answer some questions.
“I call it the argues,” said Flash.
“The what?” said Dog.
“The argues,” said Flash. “I don’t have any other word for it. It’s something that’s happening to the people, and nobody knows why. One day they’re getting along fine, then the next they’re arguing with each other about every little thing. After that it just gets worse. Fights break out. They use those gun things most of them have. Some of their houses burn down. I’ve heard that it can get even worse.”
“Where does it come from?” asked Magpie.
“Nobody knows,” said Flash. “At least nobody I ever heard of knows.”
Magpie could tell that Dog was getting more upset. “Flash,” said Dog, “you can’t just show up, say my family is in danger, and not tell me how to protect them. Unless maybe I should protect them from you.” She glared at Flash, her eyes narrow.
I’ll know more before the argues get here,” said Flash nervously. “Don’t worry, Dog, we’ll figure it out before then and you’ll know what to do.”
“We’d better,” growled Dog, and she trotted away toward home.
“Why aren’t you telling Dog how to protect her family?” Magpie asked Flash.
“I’d tell her if I knew,” said Flash. “I was sent here — I think — and I know this thing is coming, but I don’t know much more about it. But I find out a little more every day.”
“How?”
“Well that’s the thing,” said Flash, “I don’t really know that either. Sometimes I wake up from a nap and some new ideas are sitting right there in my mind. I don’t know where they come from. But they smell the same way that I know I was sent here.”
This sounded so odd to Magpie that she didn’t say anything for several moments. Finally she said “Flash, what do you really think is going on?”
“Something’s gone wrong with some of the humans,” said Flash, “and they don’t even realize it. If they did they might be able to fix it. After all, they’re pretty good about figuring out some things, like curing diseases and how to make fun toys. But this time it smells more like it’s up to us. We have to protect some of the people until they notice what’s gone wrong and take care of it themselves.”
“Who is ‘we,’ anyway?”
“I think it’s everybody who lives in the forest or on the farm and isn’t a human,” said Flash. At least that’s what I thought of after a nap yesterday. When I take more naps and find out more I’ll let you know, Magpie. In the meantime I came over here to tell Hare about it. Everybody in the barn told me Hare was the one I should tell.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Magpie, “Hare knows everybody in the forest. And he’s pretty good at organizing things. At least when it comes to parties.”
“How do I find him?” asked Flash. “And…he’s not like Dog, is he? Really fierce?”
“No, Hare isn’t fierce at all,” said Magpie. “He lives in that tree right over there. I’ve got to go, Flash, I’ll see you later.”
As Magpie took off, he looked back to see Flash just about to knock on Hare’s door.
