Rose had opted to stay in my truck while we sorted out Marshall’s things, but Bucky had been all too eager to get out. I was now regretting that decision.
“Bucky, come here, boy,” I called, patting my thigh. I wasn’t too worried about Bucky causing mischief, as he was a well-trained dog, but I didn’t know how Kajir would react, being the eternal grump that he was.
“Leave him,” Kajir said almost kindly, much to my surprise. He leaned down from his great height and dangled his large hand in front of Bucky’s nose so he could scent him. Once Bucky’s tongue lolled out, Kajir scratched his ears. “He’s fine.”
In a state of shock, I blinked, then turned to look at Marshall, who shrugged in response. He looked as amazed as I did at Kajir’s change in attitude. “Okay….” I trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. “We’ll… um….” I pointed over to the Jeep. “Yeah….”
Who knew that the way to Kajir’s softer side was through a pet? The world was full of surprises.
As Marshall and I walked toward his Jeep, he leaned over to nudge my shoulder with his. “That was weird, right?”
“Very weird,” I agreed as I snuck a glance over my shoulder to see Bucky now on his back with his bent legs in the air. Kajir was crouched down next to him and rubbing his belly while Bucky’s tail swung madly from side to side. “Who knew the town grump was a dog lover?”
We left them to it as we grabbed everything out of the Jeep before hauling it over to my truck and dumping it all in the rear tray. It didn’t take long, and I was waiting for Marshall to finish his final search before we left when I saw Bucky sniffing at a wheel of something massive that had been covered by multiple tarps.
“Bucky?” He ignored me, preferring to continue pawing at the wheel. Sighing, I headed in his direction before he decided to pee on it. I didn’t want to chance Kajir yelling at me, so I called for him again. “Bucky, come on.”
I had just grabbed Bucky by the collar and was trying to tug him away from what looked like a trailer of some description when Kajir came out of the shop. “Hey, fucker! Get away from there!”
“Thanks for that, Bucky,” I muttered as I rolled my eyes. I looked down at my oblivious dog, who was now softly growling at whatever he’d been pawing at before. “Sorry, Kajir. Just trying to get Bucky back to my truck.”
By the time I’d finished speaking, Kajir was by my side and glaring down at Bucky with his arms crossed. Except, no…. He wasn’t glaring at Bucky so much as focusing on what Bucky had been pawing at. “What you got there, boy?” He crouched down beside the monstrosity before placing one hand on it and theother on the phone he’d dug out of a pocket so he could peer underneath with a makeshift flashlight.
He unhooked the tarp from the wheel and lifted it to the side, and that’s when we both heard it.
The faint sounds of a kitten mewling.
“Oh fuck.” Immediately, I hauled Bucky back by his collar as Kajir threw the tarps aside to reveal the well of a fifth-wheel camper and scrambled underneath. I was pretty sure Bucky wouldn’t hurt it, but I also didn’t want to traumatize a kitten that had possibly never seen a dog before.
The mewling got louder the further in Kajir went, until only his legs were visible. Bucky started barking as he strained against my hold, enough to gain Marshall’s attention.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he joined me with what looked like a college sweater in his hands that we must have missed when we were clearing his Jeep.
“Kitten.” I dragged Bucky back when I saw Kajir making his way out.
When he emerged, he held a tiny black kitten in one hand. The poor thing was covered in dust and cobwebs and was small enough to sit comfortably within his palm with his fingers loosely raised to create a bit of a cage. Given how tiny the kitten looked in his hand, it could have been anywhere from four to six weeks old, but with Kajir’s massive height and breadth, it could easily be a couple of weeks older. It was hard to judge.
Either way, it was far too young to be out and about like this on its own.
“Any sign of its mother?” I asked from a few feet away, still holding a curious Bucky back. He really wanted to investigate the small void critter that was mewling up a storm in Kajir’s gentle hold, but it was too risky.
“No.” Kajir softly ran a thick knuckle along the kitten’s head as he stared down at it in what almost looked like sadness.“Couldn’t see any tracks except for this little guy’s. Doesn’t look like it’s been there that long, judging by the disturbances in the dirt. Maybe a day? If that.” He lifted the kitten to his eye level and peered at it. “People are giant fuck-knuckles, aren’t they?”
The kitten stared back at him and mewled loudly once in response.
“Yeah, I knew you’d agree with me.” He stroked his knuckle against the kitten’s ears again before he jolted slightly and looked up to see both me and Marshall staring at him, our mouths wide open in shock. His eyes narrowed immediately. “Fucking what?”
“Nothing,” I quickly responded, trying very hard to stifle a grin. “Nothing at all.”
“Damn fucking straight.” He turned away from the fifth wheeler and us, and strode back to his garage, the kitten still in his hand. “You can both fuck off now.”
Swallowing a laugh, I glanced at Marshall, who had a giant grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear. “Okay, then.”
Now that the kitten was out of Bucky’s immediate sphere of interest, it didn’t take long at all to get him moving back to my truck. Thankfully, we were both able to hold off on our laughter until we’d climbed into the cab and strapped in.
“What?” Rose asked curiously, leaning forward between the front seats. “What’d I miss?”
Still chuckling, I shook my head as I started the truck and made our way out of the garage’s parking lot and toward Malone’s. “We’ll tell you over dinner.”
