Page 37 of Big Island Sunrise
“No!” Kai shouted. “No! Bad dog!”
“Cujo!” Emma rounded a corner of the house and popped out in front of the pup, who was startled into dropping the hen. “No!”
He ran off with his tail between his legs.
“Myrtle!” Kai cried, dropping to his knees next to the chicken. He looked up at his mother, eyes filled with tears. “Is she dead?”
“I think she’s just in shock.” Emma picked the bird up gently. Myrtle roused herself and flapped her wings in a panic, but Kai was able to pin them to her sides and calm her. Rory crept closer, hands pressed to her face in fascinated horror.
“Is she injured?” Lani asked.
“I’m not sure.” Emma gently shifted a wing to show a patch of bare skin. “When I found him, he had her pinned and he was pulling out mouthfuls of feathers with his teeth.”
“Why is he so mean?” Kai asked tearfully.
“Oh, honey, he wasn’t trying to be mean. He’s just a puppy.” She parted a patch of damp feathers on the other side to reveal a small flesh wound. “Would you run next door and ask to borrow that blue spray they used on the rooster?”
He ran off, and Emma looked at Lani.
“Farm life,” she said with a sigh. “It’s never boring.”
Kai was back a minute later with a lanky girl of about eight. Her red hair was cut close to her head. Judging from the varying lengths and blunt lines, she had cropped it herself.
“I brought the blue spray,” she announced.
“Thank you…” Emma paused, and the girl made a sour face.
“Piper.” She pointed violently to her sheared hair for emphasis.
“Thank you, Piper.” She accepted the little spray bottle and applied the antiseptic to the open wound, then covered the bald spot for good measure.
“Will that make her better?” Kai asked.
“It will help her heal, yes. She’ll be okay.”
“It also keeps the other chickens from eating her,” Piper said matter-of-factly. Kai gave her a horrified look, and she shrugged. “It does.”
Emma pressed her lips together. “She’ll be fine, Kai.”
“Do you want to help me find her some worms?” he asked Piper.
She blew out a noisy breath. “I wish. My dad says I have to do multiplication tables.” She looked at Emma and held out a hand for the spray bottle. “We need that one. You can buy some at the farm store.”
“I’ll do that.” She handed the bottle back, and Piper ran home.
“Can I help find worms?” Rory asked.
Kai shrugged, his expression grave. “Sure.”
“I’m going to run to the store and pick up some of that spray,” Emma said. “It’s past time for me to get a collar and leash for that dog, too. And we’re getting low on feed. Okay if I leave Kai here with you? Ten to one he’ll still be digging in the mud when I get back.”
Lani grinned. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
She finished unpacking and then went back out to check on the kids who, sure enough, were still digging in the mud. Kai had gathered an assortment of gardening tools, and they had about a dozen hens on standby waiting for worms.
As she watched, the puppy slunk towards them. Kai jumped up and brandished a trowel with a shout, and the dog shot off into the bushes.
“Kai!” she exclaimed. He dropped the trowel in surprise and turned to her with a guilty expression. “You scared him.”
