Look, I've been having a horrible time trying to come up with any ideas, to the point where it's really depressing. Anyways, here's something I've sort of worked on. It's a cozy detective story, with a few sci-fi twists. No action, but, the best thing I've been able to come up with since June. It's a work in progress, but, I have a lot more done. Please reply. Tell me if I should even bother posting anymore. I feel like I put out some great ideas and get nothing in response. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: You’ll Accomp’ny Me

I look out of the window and to the town as our car cruises up Main Street. Furs standing along the street on the sidewalk stare at our car as we go by. I swear they know that we’re the new family in town. But why they are staring at us I don’t know but I hope to find out soon. We pass through the square and move towards the south side of town, towards our new home.
“Are you excited?” Dad asks me from the driver’s seat.
I turn around and look to him. Dad smiles at me and glances to the road and back, waiting for an answer. I feel my lips clamp up and I look away. I look to all the houses and the shops. As we turn onto a new road, I see a house looming over the town on a hill to the north. The large, southern-style house with large columns stands out like a king’s keep over his land.
“I don’t like this place.” I say as Dad turns onto a new street. “The people here look at us weird, like we’re doing something wrong. Maybe we shouldn’t live here.”
“David, you know we have to live here. I just got a new job at that telecommunication company on the other side of town, near the college.” Dad says to me, his voice telling me that he’s concerned. “I know you don’t like it now, but, you’ll get used to it.”
“What would Mom say?” I ask him and look back to him.
Dad looks to me crossly.
“Don’t try to play that card with me. Your mother would have gone along with this and made the best of it if it meant me keeping my job.” Dad replies.
“I know, but look at this place, Dad!” I say loudly. “We’re in the middle of a shanty town in the middle of the Washington Mountains! We’ve moved across the entire country to come here. How can you say that Mom would have been alright with this?”
“David.” Dad says slowly. “This isn’t a shanty town. Some of the houses are abandoned simply because the Kingsfield Shoe Factory was closed during the nineties.”
I look to him and then quickly away, crossing my arms and legs. I flip my paw around, banging it against the glove box in Dad’s car. I look out of the window and to the street outside. We’ve turned onto a very empty street, lined with empty lots. At the end of the road is the only house, the house we bought.
“David.” Dad says, slowly, in the same tone he did before.
I sigh quietly and look out the windshield to the house at the end of the street.
“I know.” I say and tighten my arms. “But I still don’t like it. And there’s nothing that you can do to change my mind.”
“Alright.” Dad says.
Dad slows the car as we near the house. The car then bumps up as it goes up and over a small bump near the driveway. I look to the old farmhouse we’ve bought and my lips cringe up again. There’s something about this place that just ain’t right. I look to Dad. He smiles. He mustn’t have the feeling I’m having right now. I groan and then unclick my seatbelt.
“Well, the moving truck isn’t here. They must either be late.” Dad says.
“Yeah, that’s just like them.” I say. “Let’s just get on with it.”
I lean to the side and push open the door. Climbing out, I put my sneakers down onto the blacktop and stretch out my body. My tail whips around wildly, thankful to be out from under my body. I throw my arms up and groan as my muscles stretch out. I hear the door on the other side of the car slam.
After finishing stretching, I lower my arms and slam shut the door I’ve just opened. I turn and see Dad walking towards the front door of the new house. I stall entering the house for as long as I can, lingering around this side of the car. I watch and wait until Dad turns around and looks to me.
“Come on, David, let’s get inside!” He says loudly.
I groan and grumble to myself and then put my hands down into my jeans pockets. I sigh and stroll forward, moseying around the front of the car, taking my sweet ole time to get to the front door. As I step off the driveway and onto the sidewalk, Dad begins to climb the stairs up onto the porch of the farmhouse.
I look up at the face of the house as I stroll along the sidewalk. The farmhouse looks extremely old, probably built in the thirties or even twenties. Though, even through it’s age, it’s in very good shape. As I near the stairs leading up to the stoop, I stop and look skywards, up to the roof. Windows line the roof, but, none of them are even open. I mean, there is something blocking each window, like a piece of wood or thick blinds or something.
“David, are you coming?” Dad asks.
I lower my muzzle and look across the porch and to the open front door. Dad stands in the doorframe, his right hand on the door, and looks at me. His eyebrows are raised. He frowns a bit and cocks his head as his ears twitch around, most likely thinking. That’s what Dad does when he thinks silently, his ears twitch and he acts a little like a dog. Well, that’s hard to say for most furs. The primitive side sounds a bit more scientific, I suppose.
“I knew you didn’t want to move into a new house, but, are you really going to sleep outside to make a statement?” Dad asks me.
I ramble a little bit, trying to say something, but only end up tripping over my words. Dad lets his hand leave the door and then puts both of his hands on his hip. His tail wags around behind him and he smiles a bit, letting a smirk work across his muzzle. I know that look. He’s just being a smartass and he knows it. He also knows that its him that I get that trait from.
“Alright, come on, Dave, let’s get moving. It seems the movers have been here and gone. The boxes are all here in the hallway and all the furniture’s been taken to where I instructed them to be taken.” Dad says. “If we’re lucky, we should be done unpacking everything and getting everything in order by dinnertime.”
Dad turns and walks out of sight, into the living room, the room just off the hallway to the right, the door being right beside the bottom of the stairs. I know the house so well because I’ve been here before. Although I don’t like the town, I do like the house. It was the only one in town that I and Dad both liked mutually.
I begin forward and climb the stairs onto the porch, but as I do, my muzzle goes skywards, up to those windows going into the attic. I swear there’s something odd about this house. And I guess it must have something to do with that attic. It’s almost like there’s something still here, something we can’t see.
I lower my muzzle and walk into the house. Then my muzzle hits the floor as my eyes look over the sea of boxes, most of them full of useless crap my dad couldn’t bring himself to throw out because he’s a packrat, and other things that have been brought to the house by the movers.
Well, I’m sure I’ll get my chance to investigate this odd and old house, as soon as this unpacking gets done. And screw what Dad said, about being done by dinner. I’m sure by the time we get done, they’ll have invented a machine that can do this all by itself. But, unfortunately, we don’t have one of those. Looks like I’ve got work to do.

I look out the window as the sun is setting in the distance. It must have been nearly four, nay, five hours. We’ve finally got most, if not all, things unpacked. I slowly climb the stairs as I hear Dad thrusting dirtied paper plates into a trash can, crushing the trash in order to make it all fit in one bag. I hold onto the railing as I climb the wooden staircase. I sigh as I near the top.
At least here I get a room of my own. I’ve gotten several chances to see it and it’s nice, nice and big too. Back east, I had a tiny room. I didn’t mind it until I turned thirteen. Now I’m really glad to have a lot of room. I round the corner at the top of the stairs and slowly begin up the hallway, rubbing my hands on my white t-shirt and now dirtied jeans.
My room is at the end of the hallway and boy am I glad, too. Dad’s room is all the way in the other direction. Maybe I don’t have to hear him snoring now. Alright, I guess that’s a few things good about this place, but don’t think that I like this place. I still like I’m in redneck central.
I push open the door to my room and slowly walk inside. Immediately upon entering my room, I slam shut the door, almost involuntarily. I then step to my left and plop down onto my bed. I moan as my back and legs ache from carrying all the heavier things up and down the stairs, both onto the second floor and into the basement. Dad doesn’t like lifting all the heavy things. That’s why he has me. Oh brother.
I pull my tail out from beneath my body and sigh with relief when the feeling of it being crushed no longer rushes to my mind. I wag my tail around and then relax my body, letting my left arm and leg dangle off of the bed. I look up at the ceiling for what seems like ever, just wanting to sleep.
My eyes soon fight with me to keep up. I yawn and then lip my lips and nose. I close my eyes, finally giving in to my tiredness. I then roll my head to the side. My fur is crushed into the pillow and my ears fold over, but, not uncomfortably. I pick my arm and leg off of the bed and then roll over, pulling my legs into me. Then I yawn and slowly drift into sleep.

Tink! A loud sound hits my ears and I quickly blink awake. I take a deep breath and cough to clear my throat. I suddenly hear another ‘tink’ sound hit my ears and I sit up. I look down to the alarm clock beside my bed and it reads near eleven o’clock at night. I must have been asleep for about four hours. I rub my head and then prop myself up into a sitting position. Finally, I hear the sound again, the loud tink, like something tapping against glass.
“What . . . what the hell is that?” I ask myself.
I lift my muzzle up and look over towards my window. I hear the sound again just after I see a rock tap against the glass and bounce off, disappearing below the window. I scoot across my bed and then put my paws down onto the floor. I stand up and then slowly walk across my room and to the window.
I reach towards my window just as another rock is thrown at my window. I unlock my window and push it upwards. I lean my head out and look down to the ground. I see a girl standing on the lawn behind my house. She is a Welsh Sheepdog dressed in a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, long jeans and sports long brown hair. She stares up at me with brown eyes.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask her quietly, yet loudly at the same time.
“I’m trying to get your attention.” She says.
I look down at this girl and sigh audibly. She must be seventeen, a year older than me, because she’s looks to be that age, if not older. I look to her face and look over her fur. Most of it is black but as the fur nears her eyes, it turns brown. Beneath her chin it is white and finally there is mascara, black fur, around her eyes.
I lean on the windowsill and look down to her, not knowing what to say. She shifts her weight onto her right leg and puts her hands on her hips. She smiles and her tail begins to wag back and forth, happy as can be. I feel my tail begin to wag as well, but, not for the same reason that hers is wagging.
“I’ve never seen a border collie before.” She says. “And I haven’t seen anyone with entirely white fur save for those little speckles on your face.”
My eyes go wide and my head cocks. I don’t really take notice to my fur colorations. Yeah, most of the fur on my body is white, save for most on my back and arms and legs. My face is entirely white except for little ‘paw print’ like black spots on my muzzle and a black ‘fireball’ like black fur over my right eye, which makes little zigzags above my eye and brow, which makes it look like a fireball.
“I didn’t think I was so special.” I say. “What are you doing here.”
“My name’s Jane Porter, I live at that farm out there with my dad and my mom and my two brothers.” Jane says and points away from my house, past a large cornfield.
Out in the distance I see a large farmhouse and barn. Lights shine in the windows, meaning that other furs must be still awake inside. I look down to Jane and see her looking back up to me.
“I saw you move in. I was wondering if you wanted a special tour around Evanston.” Jane says.
I look around and then stand up straight. I look back and to my open door. There aren’t any lights on, meaning Dad must have gone to bed by now. I rub the back of my neck and look back out to Jane.
“I don’t know.” I say. “My Dad might lose it if I get caught.”
“Aw, come on.” Jane says. “You can do it, just climb down that tree.”
I look up and to an old oak tree that sits a little too close to the back of the house. I look to it and then to Jane. I really don’t want to do this, but, a lot of my body tells me to go. I swallow hard and then stand up straight. I put my right paw up onto the windowsill and then lean out, reaching for the branch closest to me.
“That’a boy.” Jane says.
I put both of my arms out towards the branch and finally push off of the windowsill. My fingers grab the branch, my claws digging into the bark as my weight pulls down on the branch as soon as my body drops down. I dangle from the tree for a little bit until I look down. I look to the ground and feel my claws scraping against the bark. Finally, they slide off of the branch.
I yell out as I drop down to the ground. I hit the ground hard, making me yelp out in pain. I quickly roll over onto my side and rub my legs and back and hold my tail. I look down and feel my entire bottom half in pain. I groan and rub my legs and behind. I look up and see Jane walking towards me. She laughs and then offers me a hand.
“Nice fall.” She says.
I take her hand and she helps me get up onto my paws once more. I rub my legs a few more times and frown before looking up to her. She smiles, almost to the point where I know she’s going to start laughing. I can’t help but smile back at her. She shows her teeth and then slaps me on the shoulder.
She then says, “Come on, let’s walk.”

Soon we find ourselves walking up a town on the other side of town. Jane looks at me and then up at all the houses. A lot of them are empty and I don’t understand why. I dig my hands down into my jeans pocket as Jane and I walk along this street, right down the center.
“What’s your name?” Jane asks.
I look over to her.
“Dave, Dave Miller.” I say.
“Cool.” Jane says. “Not a lot of people move to this town, not very often.”
I look away from her and up to an empty house. The place looks like it’s been abandoned for several years, if not more. After looking to the empty house, I turn my head around and look to Jane, who is almost exactly as tall as I am.
“Why are all these houses empty?” I ask. “Dad said something about a shoe factory closing.”
“Yeah, The Kingsfield Shoe Factory.” Jane replies. “My uncle and aunt used to work there. Worked there for thirty years until the place went under. It’s on the other side of town. The thing closed down just after the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
“Did it hit bankruptcy or something?” I ask.
“Yeah, but that isn’t what most people think.” Jane replies.
She puts her hands into her pocket and swings her tail around as she looks to the ground.
“What d’ya mean?” I ask and look to her.
She frowns and looks down at the ground. Then she smiles again and looks to me.
“There are a lot of stories about Evanston.” Jane says.
She slowly steps towards the edge of the street. I follow her as she moves to the edge of the street. She hops up onto the edge of the sidewalk and spreads her arms out, balancing herself as she does a high wire act on the side of the street. I follow her down in the street and look up to her. She smiles happily and then looks up to the sky.
Finally she comes to a telephone pole and swings around it. She stops swinging around the pole and holds onto the pole. I stop walking and step up onto the sidewalk with her. She looks out to the mountains east of town. Jane sighs and then leans against the telephone pole.
“Daddy doesn’t like to tell me about what happened in this town all those years ago, but, I found out from my brothers when they managed to pull it out of him.” Jane begins.
I pull my hands out of my pockets and look to her. She continues to look into the hills east of town which are covered with a thick forest, save for in a few spots where you can almost see the ground from here. After a bit of silence she continues to speak.
“Back during the final decade of the Cold War . . . these men came to town.” Jane says. “They set up some kind of . . . military base up there in those mountains. They conducted some freaky experiments on people, furs of all ages, species and everything.” Jane sighs and looks to me. “They say that the spirits of the tortured souls that those evil men experimented on still linger around that place, trying to find their mutilated bodies before going to Heaven.”
“They did experiments here?” I ask. “You must be joking.”
“No.” Jane says frankly and looks up to the mountains. “Nobody really knows if those stories are true, but, nobody is willing to go investigate. The stories are good at keeping people away. But it isn’t just the Hills that are hot spots for spooks and spirits.”
Jane steps away from the telephone pole and out into the sidewalk. She then turns to the right and looks to me, beckoning me over with a flip of her head. I step up onto the sidewalk and stand beside her. She looks to the north of town, to that huge estate that sits up on that bald hill.
“You see that house up there?” Jane asks.
“Yeah.” I say.
“That’s Kingsfield Manor.” Jane says. “You remember I said about the shoe factory? That’s where they used to live. They say that somebody hanged themselves in the attic of that mansion and that their spirit still walks the grounds.”
“Come on.” I say. “Ghosts and shades and wraiths?”
“You don’t believe me?” Jane asks and looks to me.
She puts her hands onto her hips and her tail stops wagging. I look up to the Manor and sigh, rolling my eyes.
“I don’t know.” I reply. “I don’t really believe in all that paranormal stuff. I mean, come on, experiments in the hills and ghosts of a fur that hanged himself? That seems a bit farfetched.”
“Well, I hope you find out real soon what’s crap and what’s not.” Jane says. “Because the house you just moved into, was owned by one of the scientists that tortured those poor furs back in the eighties.”
Jane turns to me and holds her hands up in the air. I turn my body towards her and take a step back. She takes a step forward, her boots clicking against the sidewalk. She smiles and steps towards me, making me a bit uneasy. She suddenly has an aura of malevolence to her.
“They say he cut up all the bodies and stuffed them in the walls so that nobody would find them. They say he was thrown out by the government with his companions, but they wouldn’t stop killing, they wouldn’t stop until their Frankenstein was perfected.” Jane says. “Even in death, I’m sure his spirit will continue to walk through that house . . . looking for another victim. You!”
I suddenly take a step back as all the muscles in my body clamp up. My tail even stops moving around and the fur all over my body seems to stand up. I gasp and look to Jane. Jane drops her hands and begins to laugh, holding her stomach and turning away from me, showing me that it was all just a joke to her.
“Hey, that isn’t funny!” I say, indignantly.
“I know, but, did you see your face?” She cackles. “It was priceless . . . priceless!”
“Shut up. It isn’t funny.” I say and cross my arms and look down to the sidewalk.
Jane stops laughing and looks to me. She cocks her head to the side and then smiles. She puts her left hand up onto my shoulder. I lift my head and look to her. She smiles a bit wider and then takes her hand from me. I lower my hands and then sigh. I feel really tired still from all that work I did today.
“Hey, maybe we should be getting home.” I say. “I’m sure my Dad will wonder why he doesn’t hear any noise coming from my room.”
“Yeah and my brothers will wonder why I’m not there to play pranks on.” Jane says. “Until they remember I beat their asses after I find out.”
“Then let’s get going, before the cops show up and take us home for us.” I say.
Jane laughs.
“Sure.” She says.

We slowly walk back towards both my house and hers as well. Thankfully, when I near my house, I see that all the lights are still out, meaning Dad hasn’t woken up and found me missing. I guess for once I’m glad that Dad snores like a weed whacker and sleeps like a rock. Jane and I walk quietly and quickly around the right side of my house and into the backyard, beside that tree I fell out of earlier tonight.
As we near the tree, Jane stops me. She steps around in front of me and then puts her right hand on my chest. Her ears fold around and she frowns a little bit, her eyes looking away. Then she clears her throat, seeing that I’ve stopped walking, and lowers her hand.
“The reason I brought you out here is . . . well, to find out who the new neighbors were . . . and because I need your help.” Jane says.
I put up my hand and lean against the side of the oak tree. I look to her as she clears her throat and thinks, trying to get together what she wants to ask me. Finally she turns her muzzle towards me and sighs audibly.
“I have this . . . report thing. The teacher told me that I need to find some kind of thing to study and then I had to write some report on it. The thing is, she never said anything about length or what it had to be about and . . . and I was wondering if you could help me with that, even if it’s just coming up with some idea.” Jane says.
She sighs and then looks to me, putting the pads on her hands together, waiting for an answer. I sigh and the look to the ground. I reach up and rub the underside of my muzzle. I then look up and shrug, shaking my head slightly back and forth.
“I really don’t know.” I say. “I’d suggest reading a book like A Tale of Two Cities or The Red Badge of Courage or Nineteen Eighty-Four and then writing a report on that. I really don’t know. Maybe you could come up with a report about all the hauntings around town. You seem to have a knack for scaring the hell out of people with them.”
Jane laughs. She then crosses her arms and then looks away. I stop leaning against the tree and stand straight, putting my hands down into my pocket, almost fumbling with doing something simple. I seem to do that around women. Honestly, in my eyes, Jane’s beautiful. But, unfortunately, if I say something stupid like that, well, it never really goes well. So, I’ll just keep that to myself for as long as I possibly can.
“Well, maybe I should get back into my house and get some sleep. I’ve been doing a lot of work today and my body’s aching really badly. I should really get some sleep.” I say and kick at the dirt with my paw. “But I’ll think about some ideas during the night. If I come up with something, I’ll let you know.”
Jane smiles and her tail begins to wag. I feel my tail begin to wag as soon as hers begins to wag. I look to her and see her smiling at me.
“Then I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Don’t come over to my house. Trust me. My brothers will beat the living hell out of you and leave you with your ass redder than a cherry.” Jane says. “I’ll come here tomorrow morning. Maybe you can lead me through your house, search for all the . . .” Jane suddenly begins to act like it’s a scary story or something, “scary and haunted crap in the house. Ooh!”
Jane laughs and then holds her stomach. I chuckle and then paw at the dirt once more. Jane stops laughing and then I look up to her. She quickly sighs and then turns in the other direction.
“So, I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” I ask.
“Definitely. Just don’t let the evil scientist get you until after we meet again.” Jane replies, talking over her shoulder.
I laugh.
“Alright, just don’t let your brothers get the best of you!” I say.
She steps into the first line of corn rows and then disappears into the greenery.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got plans for them!” Jane says.
I laugh and turn in the other direction. I listen as Jane gets farther and farther away from me, walking through the cornfield. I then look up to my window and to the tree. I frown and step up to the tree. I always hated climbing trees. I’m a dog for Christ’s sake. Climbing trees is for the cats.
But, I am happy that I went out. I’m really glad that I met Jane, even if she is a bit quirky and that she’s a tomboy, even if she doesn’t know it, or not, I don’t really know. As I climb the tree, the only thing I can think about is how I can keep Dad from meeting Jane and ruining everything. Hopefully that old dog’s got some plans for tomorrow.