The Past and The Present

The Wind Talks

Authors note:

Hey all. Thanks for waiting for the next chapter to finish. This takes place the same night as the previous chapter.

"Copper! Copper! Get over here!" shouted and whistled Amos Slade, trying to find his missing hound dog. It was not like Copper to disappear in the middle of the night and, like all pet owners, Amos was worried. "Chief! Find 'em boy!" he then commanded his grey Irish wolfhound, who was now old and resting peacefully inside his barrel. He was clearly in no mood to go out looking for his adopted son in the middle of the night but soon realized that his master was not going to do it so he eventually, and rather reluctantly, got up and left in search of Copper.

After the incident where Tod almost sacrificed himself to save Copper and their master by taking on the bear and falling into a dam, Chief could see that the hound dog meant a lot to him. He would never have anticipated Copper saving Tod from being shot but Amos, showing him that they will forever be friends. Since that day, Tod had earned his respect but never showed it around his master. Although he was not entirely happy about the friendship the two sheared, it at least gave him and starting point. He then decided to start his search at the Tweed farm.

Chief took a slow walk to where he presumed Copper was. He soon reached the Tweed farm and found Copper peering through the window near the living room. Chief expected to find him near the house but would have not anticipated him looking through one of the windows. He knew all too well that Copper was unaware that he had now been found. In an effort to give him a small fright, he raised his voice slightly and said, "Hiya sonny. Where yea been. The master has been lookin' everywhere for yea." His half-Southern voice easily recognized by the hound dog.

Although Copper recognized his stepfather's voice, he was still caught in the place Chief disliked most. He jumped away from the window in an attempt to look innocent, unaware of the mutual respect for Tod. "Oh, h-hello Chief," was his only response. His heart slowly increasing its beating. 

"What happened to yea this afternoon? Me and master almost had fits when we couldn't find yea," said Chief, trying to milk as much out of this as he could. 

"Well... I saw Widow Tweed going down the road in a rush, and..." The hound dog came to his senses and realized who he was speaking to, Tod's worst enemy.

Before he could continue, Copper found himself being interrupted by Chief, "It's ok. I understand that yea are worried about your friend." Copper had now been caught, but something seemed off in his mind. Here he was, face to face with the only person who hated Tod more than Amos Slade. His mind was turned upside down. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... hold on! You seem oddly OK with this whole thing. Who are you and what have you done with Chief?" Copper blurted out, unable to understand any of it.

The confused hound dog was struggling to make sense of what had taken place before him. His entire life, he has found Chief to loath the fox, but now found a side of the wolfhound he had never seen before. It had hit him. Chief must have seen or found out about when Tod saved him and his master. Chief sighed saying, "I mighta miss judged that poor fox. I've ain't ever seen a stronger friendship then the one y'all have. He should be back in the mornin'. Come on, we ought to get home, Master's worried." The two stood up and left for home.

..............................................................................................

The stillness of the morning was broken by the sound of a car approaching the Tweed farm. Copper instantly heard and recognized the two-cylinder motorcar. He stood up and ran to the farm, hoping to catch Tod on the way in and see what happened. He dashed up the driveway and the car stopped abruptly just shy of the him. Widow Tweed hooted at the dog, causing Tod to wake up. The distraught fox slowly raised up onto his front paws to investigate what was going on.

Widow Tweed was exhausted and in no mood for any delays. She switched the car off, picked up Tod with both hands and walked to her house in a rush, completely forgetting to close her car doors.

She heard barking and looked to find Copper walking after her and staring at the bewildered fox.

"Tod, what's happening" he called out, trying to get his best friend's attention. Tod had fallen into a deep sleep and was not going to wake up soon after. Widow Tweed opened the door and walked inside, slamming the door behind her. She then gently set Tod's exhausted body in his bed and went to sleep soon after.

Copper stared blankly at the door, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He only understood that Tod was in a bad way. He had known the fox for a considerable amount of time, but not once has he seen his best friend in such and unpleasant state. He rushed to the living room window and peered through it, only to find his best friend sleeping in an uncomfortable position. He could not bear the sight of his friend in a bad way and not being able to do much about it. He then decided to return home and report to Chief.

As Copper arrived, he saw that Amos Slade was bending down and talking to Chief, "Chief ol boy. I'm afraid that that fox ain't gonna be with us much longer." Copper was too far off to hear what was being said but was curios to find out. His walking pace soon became a jog after he saw the unhappy expression of his stepfather. 

Once he arrived to find out what was the problem, Amos stood up and walked inside. Copper couldn't quite tell of it was good or bad time to report to Chief about his best friends return. He approached the wolfhound, who had become seriously disturbed. "Chief? You alright?" asked Copper quietly, trying not to raise an alarm.

Chief slowly raised his head, realizing that he would have to tell his adopted son the news. "Copper? Oh... hiya Copper. I'm ok. Um... look, I kinda got somethin' to tell yea. Yea might wanna sit." Hearing these words, the hound dog sat down, uneasily watching his guardian. 

Chief took a deep breath in and said, "Well, this ain't gonna be easy for me to admit to yea, but I've kinda grown awfully fond of yea friend. Copper, there ain't no easy way for me to tell yea and I know yea ain't gonna like it, but yea have to know. Tod had a stroke last night."

Copper was shocked at the sound of this devastating news. He started shifting around while Chief continued, "He only has a few weeks left in him and will almost no movement in his rear legs." 

"Is... is that what happened last night?" he asked, Chief nodded in agreement. He noticed that Copper was now unsettled by the news. Copper now looked up at the wolfhound, and with a tear forming in the corner of his eye, he asked, "Now what?"

 Chief could only think of one word which, although was small, its meaning went deep into his adopted sons heart. 

"Time."