Page 38 of Big Island Sunrise
“Good,” he said fiercely. Masking the guilt with anger.
“That’s no way to teach a dog.”
The scowl slipped, and his eyes filled with tears. “He tried to kill Myrtle.”
Lani sighed and sat down on the muddy grass next to Rory. She patted the ground next to her and, after a moment’s hesitation, Kai joined them.
“I’ve never had a dog before.”
“I know, buddy. That was pretty scary, yeah? When he caught your chicken?”
Kai sniffed. “She’s my favorite one.”
“The thing is, that dog is just a baby. He’s brand new, and he’s still learning. He doesn’t trust most people, but he had just started to trust you. Now, I don’t know. Maybe he’s not so sure.”
He looked stricken. “What should I do?”
“You did a really amazing job yesterday. Why don’t we go get some food, and you can do that again?”
“And then what?”
“Then we use the leash that your mom went to buy, and we hang out with the chickens. If he tries to chase them, we tell him no. When he’s calm with the chickens, we give him treats.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. And you know what?”
“What?”
“This kind of dog is really, really smart. They love to have a job. People buy them just to keep their other animals safe. So as soon as he realizes that the chickens are part of the family, he’ll be their guard dog. He’ll keep the mongooses away.”
“What’s a mongoose?”
Lani bit back a smile. Kai looked so much like his dad that sometimes it gave her a dizzy sense ofdéjà vu. It was difficult to remember that he hadn’t grown up here.
“They’re cute little rats,” Rory said. “Like squirrels.”
“Kind of,” Lani said. “They’re an invasive mammal that eats meat.”
“A carnivore!” Kai shouted like it was the answer to a trivia question.
“That’s right, they’re carnivores that eat baby chickens.”
“Oh no!” Rory pressed her hands to her cheeks in playfully exaggerated horror, but Kai’s expression was serious.
“And our dog will protect the chickens from mongooses?” he asked.
“That’s the idea. He’ll learn quick, you’ll see. But we have to be kind. And he still needs a name.”
He looked thoughtfully at the half-grown dog that was watching them from the bushes. “How about Diogee?”
“Diogee?”
“Yeah. Because dog is D-O-G. We can call him Dio.”
She patted his back. “That’s a great name.”
Rory squeezed herself between them, plopping down on her mama’s lap and crossing her arms. “Why does he get to name the dog?”
