Keeping the Tarnished by Bradon Nave

startled.
    “Well, let’s not let them out just yet, but if you two would like to go check on them, I think that would be a good idea,” Graye said as she looked down at her daughter. She gently kissed the little girl on the forehead and began to stand up from the couch.
    Johnny was standing at the bottom of the staircase. He was looking at the floor and had placed his hands in his shorts pockets.
    Graye walked toward him and gave him a hug.
    “Are you okay?” she asked lovingly.
    Johnny imagined that Jackson had shared what little information he had gathered that morning about the boy’s painful past with his wife while Johnny had been asleep.
    “Yea, it was just a bad dream, I think.” Johnny looked at the concerned woman as she pulled away and placed her hand behind his head, lowering his head to hers. She kissed him on the forehead, the same way she kissed her own children. Johnny smiled and instantly he felt better.
    As he pulled his hands from his pockets, he looked over at Bryce.
    “Let’s go check on them dogs, little buddy,” Johnny said to the messy haired little girl. She jumped off the couch with an enthusiastic smile and ran across the living room to Johnny and her mother.
    “Well, let’s go, buddy!” the little girl shrieked and laughed. The two began for the front door.
    Hand in hand, Johnny and Bryce walked down the porch stairs and headed in the direction of the big red barn. Johnny turned to see Graye watching from the open screen door. The large door was still open on the side of the big red barn. Jackson’s truck was gone, Johnny believed he must have been called out again. Johnny looked down at the little girl and smiled.
    “You know these dogs smell real gross?” Johnny asked with a huge smile as they approached the barn.
    Bryce suddenly stopped walking and began pulling back on Johnny’s hand. Johnny, watching the small girl, noticed her facial expression change rapidly.
    “That’s not one of our puppies!” Bryce yelled loudly. As Johnny looked up, he saw a most horrific sight as a ravenous-looking coyote had exited the barn and was attempting to run toward them. The animal was having extreme difficulty as it would stagger a few feet and then nearly fall down. Its mouth was gaping as if it were choking on something. It would randomly snap at the air as if it were biting at invisible flies, and was making high pitched yipping sounds as it attempted to get closer to Johnny and Bryce. Its eyes appeared to be unable to focus on the two, and its mouth had bloody saliva dripping from it.
    Johnny heard Graye scream from the front porch, “Run! It’s rabid!” He saw the woman come running down the porch stairs frantically and hoped she would reach Bryce before the crazed coyote did. Bryce was now crying as the animal was almost upon them.
    “Run, Bryce! Run to your mom!” Johnny yelled as he ran in the direction of the coyote. He watched her run to her mother screaming as Johnny ran toward the animal, waving his hands and yelling loudly.
    The coyote lowered its head and had a death-lock stare on the boy with its bloodshot, sunken eyes. It was filthy, covered in feces and dirt, and the front of its mouth was badly injured, as if it had been smashing its muzzle into rocks or cement.
    Johnny was relieved to see Bryce reach the safety of her mother as he saw Jared, startled by the commotion, running out the front door of the house in his pajama bottoms.
    As the animal found its footing, it attempted to lunge at Johnny, but it merely fell to its side, snapping at the grass and weeds. The coyote was obviously weakened by the disease, but it was still capable of inflicting deadly damage as it managed to find its footing again. It snarled and snapped at the air, concentrating on Johnny once more.
    Johnny turned and ran in the direction of the barn in an effort to divert the animal from the family. As he raced inside the open door with the clumsy coyote in pursuit, he could hear Jared yelling