Dare – Book II » Chapter 2

It was morning and I washed myself in the small tiled area that served as the bath for us. It had a deep sink mounted on the floor with a hose running from the faucet. A lip around the tiles kept water from spilling out. An old wooden rack held different things; brushes and soaps for the dogs, strong and made for removing fleas. Some mild ivory soap for me, which was tolerable to our noses at least, and unscented baby shampoo which was hardly unscented at all and a smell I actually enjoyed.

Mostly I washed myself with the smooth, round stones I found in the stream and the sandy mud along its banks. I’d wash myself with mud first and then rinse myself clean using a stone to slough off the dirty skin. I felt good and clean, and afterwards I smelled like the water, which was a pleasing smell and soon gave way to the scent that was just me.

Today I washed inside though. I peed down the drain and washed myself slowly, enjoying the water from the tap which was cold, but nothing like the chill of the spring melt which filled the stream. I liked the way cold water woke me up all over. I had a little hair under my arms, but none on my sex yet, and I’d never had hair on my legs or anything, not so it was noticeable. I was going to miss my Master very much.

I spent some time washing my hair, which was very long and thick and coarse. It reached to the middle of my back now as my Master had never cut it. My brothers watched me. Barley lay on our bed, Bush on the floor chewing a leather toy, and Bandy sitting very near me, occasionally sticking his nose close and taking a lick of my wet skin. I splashed him playfully; flicking water in his face and making him shake his head. I would give them a bath later, I thought, before dinner when the water was warm. The tank was outside and it caught the heat of the sun nicely during the long afternoons.

The door opened slowly, perking our sudden interest, and it was one of the boys, the younger one, Mike. This confused and angered the dogs, of course, since it should have been our Master. He was carrying a large bowl of food, however, and the smell was immediate to our noses. My brothers were barking and so the boy moved slowly, talking to them the way a human will, trying to sound like what he what he was, harmless. The dogs wouldn’t really hurt him anyway. He was no threat to us, it was just that him and the other boy weren’t supposed to be there.

Of course, he was carrying food so that changed my brothers’ opinion of him, but only slightly. He set the bowl down on the floor and went back to the open door he’d come through Apparently he’d left the other bowl on the floor there, probably so he could open the door. He picked that one up as well and brought it into the room and set it down quickly as Bush was right there and ready to eat. Bandy and Barley were already digging into the other one and I didn’t bother turning off the water as I hastened to get my fair share.

There was a lot of friendly growling; some small snapping of teeth, but this was how we ate. I shared with Bush, getting my face next to his and digging into the food eagerly. The boys had made it a little differently than we were used to, adding hot water to make the gravy rather than just cool water the way our Master did, and they’d sort of mixed two or three different kinds of dog food all together, as if they weren’t sure which we were supposed to get. It didn’t matter and it actually tasted very good. We ate like pigs.

Mike had moved back to the doorway, but he hadn’t left us right away. I knew he was there, watching me eat dog food, naked and wet and still soapy in my hair probably. I hadn’t rinsed myself very well at all, but if I’d taken time to do that I would have starved. Dogs are pretty selfish when it comes to food normally, although they can be surprisingly considerate at times as well. We’d been two days without anything though, so this wasn’t one of those times.

“Do you want more?” the boy asked as I sat up on my knees, licking my lips while Bush licked the bowl clean so that it slid across the floor in little jerks.

I nodded eagerly, like what dog wouldn’t? It was just about the silliest question I’d ever heard maybe and I smiled. Our Master had never fed us until we were full, not because he didn’t want to, but just because it wasn’t necessary. Some part of me understood that, but most of me wanted to eat as much as I could get my hands on. At least my brothers’ tolerance for the boy was growing. Bringing us food was a good way to get acceptance and he only received soft growls when Mike reached for the empty bowls, promising me that he’d be right back.

While he was gone, I finished my bath.