Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes

As soon as we got up the next morning, we all got ready to go out for breakfast, but before we left the house I mentioned something to Gramps and Pops. 

“If you want to go to the dog park as dogs, then I’ll have to take a leash and a collar for each of you.”

“That’s not a problem, because we have each of those items for both of us already.”

“And what names do you want me to call you, since I’ve been calling Devin Bear?” 

“I’ll transition into a boxer and you can call me Strider,” Pops replied.  “I got the name from The Lord of the Rings.  It’s what Aragorn, the future king, went by when he was a ranger.”

“Ok, I can remember that because I read the books.”

“And I’ll transition into a Rottweiler,” Gramps added, “and I prefer a simple name, so you can call me Max.”

“Ok, and now I just have to remember who is which dog and what name you want to be called.”

“You’ll do fine,” Gramps assured me.  “You’ve already got Devin’s identity down, so just remember that I’m a simple guy with a simple name and I’m the Rottweiler.  My dad is a boxer that goes by the name used by the handsome, yet imposing Strider.”

“Yeah, that should help.  The dog with the longer breed name has the shortest moniker.”

Gramps and Pops then went to get their collars and leashes and now returned with them in hand.  I’d gone to get Devin’s collar and leash as well, so now we all went out to get into Gramps’ SUV. 

“Shouldn’t we take Devin’s SUV instead, because I’ll have to drive to the dog park and back to the hunting camp afterward?”

“No, I trust you to drive my SUV, so let’s just get going.” 

They left their leashes and collars in the SUV while we went into the restaurant for breakfast, and then Gramps drove us out to the hunting camp when we were done.  I wasn’t transitioning today, so after I unlocked the door to the cabin, they went inside to undress and transition while I stayed outside to make sure that no one snuck up on us.  When I heard them bark, I opened the door and let them out, and then I put their collars on them before letting them get in the SUV.   

 Once they were all inside, I shut the doors behind them, since they could no longer do it for themselves.  Devin sat in the front next to me, while the other two sat in the back.  I drove to the dog park, and when we got there I hooked a leash to each of their collars as they got out of the SUV.  As soon as we were all set, I led them over to the gate, opened it, and we walked inside. 

“Whoa, you’ve been coming here with just Bear, and now you’ve got an entire pack.” Preston said when he saw us. 

“Yes, a friend called last night and offered to pay me if I’d bring his dogs here for a little exercise today.  He and his wife are going to be away until later tonight.”

“Well, I guess being a student means you can use all of the money you can get, so no job is too small or out of the question, as long as it brings in a little cash.” 

“You’ve got that right.”

I then unhooked each of their leashes from their collars and let them run about, and Bailey went with them.  After they’d all taken off, Preston and I began to chat.

“I’m surprised to see you here today, since you don’t usually come here on the weekend.” 

“I’m only here because I promised to bring the other dogs here for a little exercise.”

“I also take it that I don’t have to worry about either of those dogs being around Bailey.”

“No, they’re both very well behaved and neither one is aggressive unless it’s attacked or their owner is threatened.” 

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“How is Bailey doing now?  Has she been acting more like herself again?”

“Yes, she seems to be doing much better, especially after she spent some time with Bear.  Thanks for asking.”

“You’re welcome, and I’m glad there are no lingering ill effects after her little escapade.”

“So am I.  If I may say so, the two dogs you brought with you today seem to be as well trained as Bear.”

“Yes, they all went through the same training.”

“Maybe I should enroll Bailey in that course.  Can you give me the information about how I can do that?”

“I’m sorry, but it was done where I live with my parents, and that’s where the other dogs were trained as well.  I knew their owner in high school, although he was older than me, and his dogs were trained at the same place that Bear was.”

“Ah, so what’s the guy doing here then?  Is he a college student as well?”

“No, but shortly before I enrolled at CSU, he got a job in Fort Collins and moved here.”

“And your parents don’t live close to here?”

“No, unfortunately my parents live quite a ways from here and many miles to the southwest of Denver, and that’s where all of the dogs were trained.  I don’t think you would want to make such a long trip just to have Bailey trained, because I’m certain you can find someone to do the same thing around here.”

“Yes, I suppose I can, so I’ll start inquiring about it with the people at work.  By the way, I also noticed that you’re not driving the same SUV as the other day.”

“You’re right and it’s not the same SUV.  The guy let me use one of his vehicles, since he didn’t want to worry about his dogs accidentally doing any damage to the SUV I drive.”

“That was very considerate of him.”

“Yes, it was.”

Preston and I then watched as the dogs raced around chasing one another for a while, and Bailey seemed to be enjoying doing this with the other three.  After they finished doing that, Bear, Max, and Strider seemed to be working with Bailey as they used the agility equipment that was set up at the far end of the dog park.  There was a flexible nylon tunnel that they could run, walk, or crawl through, along with a seesaw they could walk up one side and then wait for it to tilt before carefully going down the other side without falling or jumping off. 

There was also a hoop attached to a metal pole that they could jump through, and there was a series of twelve additional poles set into the ground at various intervals.  These poles were alternating yellow and blue in color, and the dogs were supposed to weave their way through them.  There was also a narrow bridge that was about three feet (1 m) above the ground with ramps set at either end so the dogs could walk or run over it, and the final item was a series of doggy hurdles that could be adjusted in height for them to jump over. 

“It appears the dogs you brought today are working with Bailey on how to navigate the agility course, just like Bear has been doing,” Preston stated.   

“Yes, it’s a fun activity they’ve been trained to do and they seem to enjoy it, so they’ve been going through each activity and Bailey has been following whatever they do.”

“And Bailey seems to enjoy doing those things, just like the others, even though she’s smaller than they are, well except for maybe the boxer.”

“Yes, and she seems to be doing very well on each activity.”

We’d been watching the dogs doing these things for about an hour when Preston announced that he had to leave.  “We’ve already been here longer than I planned on staying today, because I’ve got other duties to perform before this week’s classes get underway.” 

“I understand, and I won’t be staying much longer either, since I’ve got assignments to complete.  I just wanted to make sure my friend’s dogs get plenty of exercise and he gets what he’s paying for.”

Preston then called Bailey so they could go, but she didn’t seem to want to leave.  “I guess she’s having so much fun playing with the other dogs that she doesn’t want to go with you,” I said.

“Yes, but I can’t afford to stay here any longer.”   

Eventually, I had to call the other dogs in temporarily so Bailey would follow them, and then Preston gave each of them a dog treat from a bag that he keeps with him when he comes here.  Once they’d all been given a treat, Preston picked Bailey up and carried her out to the car so they could return home.  She still didn’t appear very happy as she looked out the rear window at us as they were driving away.  I wondered if she was going to be a problem for Preston for the rest of the day. 

The others went back out to get in one more run before we left, and then they all let me know they’d had enough.  I merely had to put their leashes on them so I could lead them out to the SUV.  

After the dogs were sitting in the SUV again, I made sure no one followed us as I drove back to the hunting camp.  When we arrived there, I got out of the SUV and looked around briefly, just to be certain we were alone, and then I let the other three out of the SUV.  As soon as I unlocked the door of the cabin, I let them inside so they could transition and get dressed. 

“I’m glad we went to the dog park with you, because that was a blast,” Gramps said when we were ready to leave. 

“And we got some good exercise in the process,” Pops added. 

“Yes, it looked as if you were enjoying yourselves, but I have a question for you before we leave here.  Do you still want to hunt the coyotes before we go back to the house?”

“Yes, because coyotes have become a problem in many localities and I’m convinced our friend wouldn’t want them hanging around the hunting camp and killing the other animals that have been thriving out here.”

They then got their rifles out of the back of the SUV and loaded them, and then we made our way back to the clearing.  We approached it as quietly as possible while also keeping out of sight, and eventually we discovered the coyotes were still there.  They appeared to be wailing for another animal to enter the clearing so they could attack it, but Gramps and Pops weren’t going to wait for them to do that. 

After using hand signals to indicate which coyote they were going to aim at, they prepared to shoot.  They each killed one of the coyotes before the others ran into the woods and out of sight, so they decided there was no sense waiting around any longer. 

“We reduced the problem slightly, but you’ll still have to be careful when you come out here.”

“Yes, and we’re both prepared to transition into bears if we have a problem with them,” Devin replied.  

“Are you just going to leave the dead coyotes laying there?”

“Yes, the others will eventually return and use them for food instead of killing another animal” Pops said.

“They’ll do that?  They’ll eat their own family members?”  I knew coyotes didn’t form packs, so if there were others with them then they were most likely all related. 

“Yes, they are not selective and will devour whatever carrion they run across.  They’re not human either and don’t look at it as if they’re eating their relatives.  It’s just food to them.”

Now that we were ready to leave, I told Gramps to drive and Pops sat in the front next to him, while Devin and I sat in the backseat.  As we were heading back to the house, I made a comment. 

“I was surprised when you guys all ate the dog treats that Preston gave you.  How did they taste?”

“Once we take another form, we do everything that animal would normally do,” Pops answered.  “In a way, we completely become that animal for as long as we’re in that form, so eating the dog treats wasn’t a big deal and they didn’t really taste that bad.”

“You might understand it better,” Gramps added, “if I told you that eating the dog treats is similar to a human eating hardtack or biscotti, which are both a type of hard biscuit.  And eating hard dog treats and chewing bones will also help to clean the plaque off of a dog’s teeth and help stimulate its gums.  That can be important to know if you intend to remain a dog for a long period of time.”

“Oh, ok.  I’ll have to remember that.”

When we arrived at the house, we all cleaned up quickly, and then Gramps asked a question. 

“Do you boys want to go to the same café for lunch?”

“Yes, that will be fine because they had some other items on the menu that I thought I’d like to try,” Devin replied. 

“Yeah, I’m with Devin on this.  I’d also like to try some of the other things they have to offer,” I agreed. 

We all went outside and got back in the SUV so Gramps could drive us over to the café.  Devin and I got to try something different this time, and the food was even better than the day before, because we weren’t merely eating soup, salad, and sandwiches this time. 

“Thank you, I enjoyed that,” I said after we left the café.

“Yeah, me too,” Devin added. 

“We’re glad, because we enjoying it as well,” Gramps responded

After they dropped us off at the house, Devin and I said goodbye and then they drove away.  It had been a very interesting and informative visit.

Devin and I then went into the house and hit the books until we were ready to walk to the dining hall for super, and then it was back to the house to continue studying.  When we stopped this time, we went upstairs and made love first, and then we went through our nightly ritual before we turned in. 

On Monday evening as we were walking back to the house after eating supper at the dining hall, a car pulled up beside us and stopped.  We recognized it immediately and then the passenger side window was slowly lowered and the driver spoke. 

“I see the older gentlemen have been showing up here more often than usual.  It must be that they don’t trust you any more than I do.”

“If you must know, they come here to watch the CSU football games with us and then we just spend a little more time doing other things together,” Devin replied in as civil a voice as he could manage. 

She then raised the passenger window and continued driving to her place, and we walked the rest of the way and entered the house. 

“What do you think she meant when she said she didn’t trust us?” I asked. 

“Who knows and who cares.  She probably doesn’t trust Gramps and Pops either.” 

“She’s going to be trouble, I just know it.”

“Then we’ll just cause her even more trouble.”

“But Gramps and Pops said we can’t do anything to make matters worse.”

“I think they’d agree with me, if she started it.”

I wasn’t as certain as Devin was about that, but I tried to put it out of my mind as we hit the books again.

Nothing more happened over the next few days as we completed another grueling week of classes.  That was partially due to the fact that we’d spent so much time with Gramps and Pops that we’d neglected our studies more than we would have if they hadn’t been here.  Anyway, we were relieved when the week ended, and while we were at the dining hall eating supper, I asked Devin a question. 

“It’s almost Halloween, so are we going to buy candy to hand out to the trick-or-treaters?”

“Actually, I hadn’t thought about it, but we’d better do that, since we’ll be home that night and the kids will see the lights on inside.”

“Ok, but how are they going to get through the fence to get to the house, since the gate is always locked?”

“I’ll just prop the gate open so they’ll be able to come up to the front door.  I’ll also leave the porch light on so they’ll know we’re expecting them.”

“Ok, that sounds good, because I enjoy seeing the kids in their costumes.”

On Saturday, we went to the hunting camp after breakfast, and then we cleaned up and did some studying until we took a break for lunch.  After walking back to the house, we decided to make a run to the store to pick up the candy we’d need for the trick-or-treaters, since this was the team’s bye week.  Along with the candy, we considered buying a decoration we could attach to the front door to indicate we were in the Halloween spirit. 

“Why don’t you drive today,” Devin said as he handed me the key.

“Is something wrong?”

“Not wrong, but I’m more comfortable driving on the highway or in the country, because I don’t like to deal with city traffic, and I suspect that today there will probably be more traffic than usual.  Not only that, but we don’t usually go to the store this late on Saturday, so the traffic is going to be much worse than I like to deal with.”

“It’s fine with me, because I’m use to navigating on busy streets.” 

As I was driving down the main drag on the way to the store, I heard the blare of a siren, but I wasn’t able to pinpoint where it was coming from.  I could only tell that it seemed to be getting closer, because the sound seemed to be getting louder.  We happened to be approaching a four-way intersection at the time, so in order to avoid any problems I pulled over to the side of the road to make room for it.  However, not everyone was doing the same thing and many of the cars behind us passed by.  

I’d just come to a complete stop when I spotted a speeding black pickup truck approaching the intersection from the cross street on our left.  It ran the red light and crashed into a two-door sedan that was traveling in the same direction that we’d been going.  The truck made contact with the car on the driver’s side and impacted the front wheel and the front half of the driver’s door.  The force of the impact caused the car to skid sideways and rotate slightly before it was driven into large metal light pole that was located on the opposite corner.  During this time, the truck managed to completely rip off the front fender before coming to a stop, and it left the car badly damaged on both sides, with the driver trapped inside. 

The police cruiser that had been chasing the speeding driver in the pickup entered the intersection more cautiously and pulled up behind the truck.  The officer then jumped out of his vehicle and raced to the door of the truck so he could nab the driver he’d been chasing, but that guy wasn’t about to go anywhere.  He’d been stunned when the airbag released during the accident and slammed into his head and chest just as his body was lurching forward.  The airbag might have saved his life, but it also left him slightly dazed and gave the cop a chance to get to him before he could get away. 

Devin and I got out of the SUV and went over to see if we could be of assistance, but there was already a group of people trying to assist the driver of the car that had been damaged so badly.  As we were watching what was taking place, we heard one of the would-be rescuers call out to the others there. 

“Both of the doors are jammed and we can’t get to the driver.  The truck smashed in one side of the car and the light pole did a job on the other side.  The driver appears to be unconscious and trapped in his seat belt, so we’ll have to wait until the fire trucks and paramedics get here.”

After Devin heard this, he wandered between the police car and rear of the truck so he could go over to the opposite side of the truck, away from where everyone else was gathering.  He got down on the ground to look under the vehicles, and when he stood up again, he was now well over six feet tall, probably closer to six feet four inches (193 cm), and extremely muscular.  In fact, he now had roughly the same general appearance as the guy who’d caught the rapist. 

“At least neither of the fuel lines appears to be ruptured,” he said as he walked around the truck so he could get to the driver’s door on the car.  As he made his way through the crowd, he continued speaking.  “Please let me through so I can see what I can do to help.”

The others looked at him strangely as they wondered who he was, but they did as he suggested.  After studying the situation briefly, Devin grabbed the door handle with one of his hands and part of the bent door frame with his other hand and yanked.  When nothing happened, he found a spot on the car where he could place his foot for leverage and tried again.  The door gave a little on the second attempt, so he tried one more time and was able to pull the door open.  As soon as that happened, a woman approached him and spoke. 

“I’m a nurse, so please let me have a chance to check the driver over for injuries and see if I can find a pulse.”  After grabbing the driver’s wrist and checking for a pulse, she did the same thing using the carotid artery in his neck.  “Well, he has a pulse and appears to be breathing, but neither of those functions is nearly as strong as they should be.  Please don’t move him and wait until the paramedics get here.  Let them have a chance to check him over for any serious injuries first, and then they’ll probably place him on a backboard and secure him to it before they put him in the ambulance.  They’ll have to do that in order to keep from injuring him further during transport.”

Devin nodded and turned to walk away, and about the same time the emergency vehicles began to arrive.  They came from the same direction we’d been traveling and there was a fire truck and an ambulance, and they pulled up side-by-side behind the police car.  Devin waited until the area was clear and then he walked between the two vehicles. 

The open passenger door on the ambulance helped to partially shield him, so he was now blocked from view on three sides, but it proved to be enough, since everyone else was focused on other things.  They were busy watching the cop, the paramedics, or the firemen as they went about their duties, or they were gawking at the driver of the truck.  He was currently sitting in the back of the patrol car waiting to be checked over as well before being transported to jail.  Since no one was looking at Devin, he bent forward as if he was looking into the ambulance for something, and then he transitioned back into his own form again before he walked over beside me. 

“What’s going on?” he asked. 

“Quite a few things at the moment.  The cop is directing traffic and trying to keep it moving, while the paramedics are taking care of the driver of the car.  The firemen are checking out the damage on both vehicles and looking for potential hazards, and the fireman in charge is looking at the phones of the people who’d videoed much of what they saw.  He appears to be amazed by how some guy was able to open the car door.” 

“It’s impossible,” the fireman-in-charge shouted after viewing the videos again.  “We would’ve had to use the ‘Jaws of Life’ to open the driver’s door, because it was far too badly mangled to be opened any other way.”

“Obviously not, because that guy did it,” someone from the crowd countered.

“Where’s that guy now, because I want to speak with him?” 

A group of people began looking for the guy, and after a few minutes one of them reported back to the fireman. 

“It seems he took off after you arrived.  I guess he felt he wasn’t needed any longer.”

“He may not be needed, but I’d sure as hell like to know how he managed to open the driver’s door.  He’d have to be as strong as Hercules or Sampson to do what I saw him pull off on the videos.”

“Maybe he just got lucky.  He was really big and had lots of muscles, but it still took him multiple tries.”

“I don’t care how many tries it took him, because he shouldn’t have been able to do it at all.  He would have needed the strength of a gorilla to pull it open.” 

“Maybe he did,” I whispered to Devin, and he gave me a devilish grin in return. 

We decided to go back to the SUV, and then we waited until enough of the area was clear so we could continue on to the store.  While we were waiting for that to happen, Devin made a comment.

“I’m glad you were driving, because that could have been us the truck crashed into.  I probably would have kept going until I actually saw the flashing lights of the cop car before I pulled over, but that would have been too late.”

“My dad taught me to slow down and pull off the road whenever I heard a siren, especially when coming to an intersection.  He said that way I wouldn’t hinder the police or emergency vehicles, and I also wouldn’t accidentally get involved in whatever was going on.”

“That was good advice and something I was never told.  I’m really glad I let you drive this time.”

“Me too.”

When we finally reached the store, it turned out that the shopping experience was nearly as daunting as what had happened at the accident scene.  Neither of us was used to navigating this particular store, although we found the candy quickly, but then it took us quite a while to decide which candy to purchase.  We wanted to make sure it was something we liked as well, since we didn’t know how many kids to expect and knew we would probably end up eating whatever was left over. 

After discussing the situation, we decided to plan on a lot of children stopping by, since we live in the city, and we ended up buying quite a lot of candy.  Once we had made our selections, we went to look for something we might be able to hang up on the front door to make it appear as if we were expecting trick-or-treaters.  We finally settled on a cardboard decoration that depicted three pumpkins lined up in a row, from smallest to largest, and it also had a witch standing behind them. 

By the time we got up to the registers, there were so many other customers in line that we immediately realized this was going to take a while.  The other customers were also impatiently waiting for their chance to cash out, and it took us nearly as long to do that as it had to select the items in the first place. 

When we finally got back to the house, we carried everything inside, and then we prepared to hang the cardboard decoration we’d just selected on the front door.  Fortunately, there was a screw near the top of the door that they most likely had used to hang a wreath from at Christmastime, so we merely attached the cardboard decoration to that, which saved us a lot of time. 

Before we finished, however, the neighbor’s car pulled up in front of the gate and stopped.  She lowered the passenger side window again and spoke.  “That’s cute, but you should also make a string spider’s web to hang up as well, and then below it you can place a sign that reads ‘Will you walk into my parlor?’ said the spider to the fly.’  It will be very appropriate.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked sharply, but she merely laughed and raised the window as she drove away.    

We then went into the house and I asked Devin the same question.  “What do you think she meant by her comment?”  

“I don’t have any idea, unless she thinks we molest children.” 

“I hope that isn’t what she meant, but I can’t think of anything else.”

“Maybe she’s just trying to upset us.”

“If that’s the case, then she succeeded.  Maybe we should make that string spider web and put it on her place, because she reminds me of the old witch from Hansel and Gretel.” 

“Yeah, and we could also decorate her place to look like a ginger bread house before she gets home,” Devin added.

“I was just joking.  We can’t do either of those things because she’d know we did it and then things would get even worse.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, but I still thought that was a great idea.”

After we finished our discussion, we went into the living room and basically collapsed on the couch, totally exhausted. 

As we were lying there, instead of continuing talking about the neighbor, I mentioned our earlier experience at the accident instead.  “Don’t you think it was a little risky for you to transition like you did at the accident scene?”

“Not really.  No one was on that side of the truck and everyone was so focused on the accident that none of them was paying attention to me.”

“But the first time you were just on the other side of the pickup truck.  What if someone was walking toward it and saw a guy get down to inspect the truck and then another guy several inches taller and more muscular stood up afterward?”

“I looked around to make sure no one else was approaching the area before I got down on the payment, and then I made sure no one was paying any attention to me when I stood up.”

“But some of them got you on video as you were opening the car door.”

“No, they got a video of another guy doing that.  He was much bigger and stronger and didn’t look anything like me.”

“What about when you transitioned back again?”

“I was blocked off on three sides and I made sure everyone else was watching what was going on around the accident and not paying any attention to me before I did it.”

“Even the firemen and paramedics?”

“Yes, and I bent over while I was transitioning back so the change in height and build wouldn’t be as noticeable, in case someone glanced in my direction.” 

“I hope you’re right or else Gramps and Pops will go ballistic.” 

“We just won’t tell them about it then.”

When we finished our discussion, we went out to the kitchen to get a drink, and a short time after that we felt up to walking to the dining hall for supper,