Page 105 of Tell No One
Ahsan put his paw out and Norbury shook it, then fed him a piece of biscuit, and stroked his head.
“Want a biscuit, Tag?” Norbury asked. “Sit up and beg.”
Fuck off.Tag had told himself not to be awkward. He’d been good so far but push him too far and he kicked back. He wasn’t that desperate for a biscuit. He stayed where he was.
“Sonny!” Norbury snapped.
Ahsan crouched down, then came up on his knees and put his paws in front of him as if he was begging.
“Good boy.” Norbury gave him another piece, then went over to Tag. He unfastened the mouthpiece and Tag sucked in a breath.
“Lincoln says you struggled with the headgear. What do you want, pup?”
“To go to bed,” Tag muttered. “Please. I’m overwhelmed.” That wasn’t quite true, but he wanted to curl up somewhere safe. Except was bed going to be a safe place?
Norbury turned to Lincoln. “End of play now. Feed them, bathe them, then put them to bed. Make sure Tag eats and drinks.”
Tag was relieved to be out of all the gear but he wasn’t allowed to put his clothes back on. Nor was Ahsan. Ahsan was beautiful. He didn’t look as old as Tag. He had huge brown eyes with thick lashes and very white teeth. He was smaller than Tag both in height and build. A meal arrived and they sat at the table at the end of the room to eat it.
“You may talk if you want to,” Lincoln said.
“Hi.” Tag managed a smile across the table to Ahsan.
“Hi.” Ahsan smiled back.
Tag didn’t need to be encouraged to eat. He was hungry and thirsty. If he was going to have to run for his life, the more energy he had, the better. They’d been given chicken curry, rice and naan bread and it tasted good. What wasn’t so good was Lincoln sitting there watching them. Listening.
“Have you been a puppy for long?” Tag asked.
“No.”
“Are you allowed to swim in the pool?”
Ahsan looked at Lincoln.
“Would you like to?” Lincoln asked.
Ahsan nodded. “Yes please, sir.”
“Tomorrow then.”
“Thank you, sir,” Tag said.
Lincoln smiled. “Why did Kareem say you were trouble?”
“He didn’t like my singing.”
Lincoln laughed.
“And I might have taken exception to someone cheating in a pony race and attacked him, and I tried to bite the Master.”
“Not so good then.”
“No, and I ran away,” Tag added.
“Nowhere to run to here.”
“How far away is the nearest village?” Tag asked.
