He scrambled behind a large rock, managed to get to his feet, and faced the gleaming eyes of the oncoming dogs. Something that Quiz once had read to him out of a sports magazine flashed through his mind: “If attacked by vicious dogs, hold out some object, such as your hat, at waist height. They will hesitate while they decide whether to leap over it or under it, thus giving you an advantage.”
His left arm was numb from the shock of the bullet, but he managed to use it to rip the dog skin from around his waist and hold it forward. As the dogs whined and tried to make up their minds as to the best method of attack, he tore the board on which the “ear” was mounted from his chest with his good hand. Thank heaven, one end of the plank had been whittled down into a sort of handle, for easier carrying.
Then he charged, swinging the improvised club like a demon.
Luckily, his first blow landed squarely on the snout of a leaping dog!
Sparks flashed. Pieces of equipment flew in all directions. The animal howled and rolled on the ground, holding its nose with both paws. Its companions backed away.
Sandy followed up his advantage. He struck again and again. The dogs fled, howling, to a safe distance.
To the right of him, the boy now heard the pounding of human feet. Cavanaugh had abandoned a frontal attack for the moment and was sprinting to cut him off from the road leading back to the village.
“Don’t kill him, Red,” Pepper was shouting. “It would be murder.”
“Nobody’s going to kill anybody—yet,” Cavanaugh yelled as he ran. “But we can’t let him get away, after what he may have heard. Rig another floodlight. Then come over here and help me.”
Forgetful of the thorns that tore his skin and the rocks that cut his knees, Sandy wriggled, Indian fashion, into a darker spot. In his bare feet, he had no chance of reaching the road ahead of Cavanaugh, or even of staying out of his way. Keeping a wary eye on the dogs that still followed, whining with uncertainty, he ripped Maisie’s hide into pieces and bound them under his feet. There. That would be better!