Clem's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

The beagle pup stopped digging and barked once. Clem paused, his paws covered in loose dirt. The young dog had already taught him something important—packed earth needed help to break through. Clem sniffed the hole they'd made together. It wasn't deep enough yet. Clem trotted to the side of the house where a metal dish sat filled with water. He dragged it carefully across the yard to their digging spot. The water sloshed over the edges and soaked into the hard-packed dirt. The ground turned dark and soft. The beagle pup sniffed the wet earth, then started digging again. His small paws moved faster now, pulling up clumps of mud. Clem joined in, and the hole grew deeper with each scrape. The sun dropped behind the ridge. Shadows stretched across the yard. Clem could barely see the bottom of their hole anymore. He stopped digging and looked around. Near the collapsed doghouse, patches of sand glowed with a soft blue light. Clem had never seen sand do that before. He pushed some of the glowing grains toward their hole with his nose. The strange light showed him where to dig next. But the collar wasn't there. Clem sat back and stared at the empty hole. Maybe he'd remembered the wrong spot. Maybe the yard had changed too much. He needed to know for sure where his first friend's family had lived all those years ago. Tomorrow he would find the old museum in town. Someone there might have answers about this place and where the collar really waited.