Crossing the road (open)

She'd yet to meet the newcomer on the farm, who'd been sleeping in the barn as he'd been wandering off during the day, but she'd spoken to Peg about him. After all, the greyhound was the one who'd brought him by. She'd finally managed to convince the greyhound to stay in the barn for the winter too.

Currently, she was trapped under one of the broken trucks parked on the road that connected the highway and the farmhouse, due to the rain that had begun to pour down. She'd hoped it would be a quick shower, but it had only gotten worse and now she was trapped. She was gathering herself to sprint for the barn (Melanie, the farmer's wife, wouldn't let her in the house if she was soaked) when she caught sight of an unfamiliar little dog who fit the description of their current guest. Looked like he was heading for the barn as well. Now was a good a time as any to introduce herself, even if it was running through the rain and back to the barn.

She took a deep breath and pelted out from her hiding spot and raced through the mud, the rain soaking her fur, the wind chilling her to the bone. Good thing it would be warm in the barn. "Hurry! Before we catch our death!" She shouted to the pup in front of her as she ran pat him, running to the side and slipping in through one of the loose boards.

They hay of the barn floor stuck to her wet paws as she padded into the interior. It was warm, if not a little bit muggy in the barn, but one or two of the fans overhead were turned on and she could hear one of the humans in the back, probably milking one of the cows.

"Hey there short stuff. You must be Basil. I'm Jenna, Peg's friend. Heard you're looking for your dad and what not. How's it going?" She asked, her demeanor ever friendly. He was just a little pup after all, and if shy Peg had befriended him, he had to be nice.

Jenna shook her head sadly. She'd never seen a dog quite like him, and she knew she'd have remembered if she'd met his father. His pelt itself was kind of stunning, since she usually only saw that color of grey, like a blue, on cats. Never on a dog. "No, I'm sorry. But I'll ask around the Village and see if anyone there has seen him." She knew she didn't sound all that helpful so she gave the pup a small grin.

"Don't worry kid, he's your dad. If word gets to him that you're looking for him, he'll come running. I'd pick a spot and hunker down for now."

Jenna sensed the change in attitude and she felt bad. She'd never experienced the feelings the younger dog was obviously feeling. She'd never seen such a helpless look or that sense of true feelings of being lost that she could see clearly on Basil's face and in his eyes.

"Who's Verk?" She asked. If this dog was threatening the pup, her and her family would do everything in their power to help him. No one deserved to feel this alone or threatened. She felt determined suddenly. They'd help the pup find his father and keep himsafe from whatever or whoever it was he was running from.

Jenna froze at the pup's words. She'd heard some stories about the City from the strays, like Peg, who had come from there, but she'd never thought the dogs themselves would be as cruel as all that. She had to put an effort into keeping her fur from bristling in anger. How could they do that to a mother and her pup?

"You know, you can stay here. If that guy comes poking around, he won't stand a chance against all of us," she barked, an edge to her voice, "We don't stand for bullies and jerks around here and if he comes round we'll take his ears and tail off and then send him running for the hills."

Jenna frowned at the shout, but not out of annoyance. No one should fear someone else that much. The border collie slowly lowered herself onto the hay of the barn floor in front of Basil, her blue and brown eyes staring at him intently. "Hey Basil, there might be a pack of them, but look at us," She smirked. It was no lie the Coulson Clan had a lot of dogs working on the farm, and more than a few close friends who lived in the Village.

"I have three brothers, you know, but that's not it. I have four cousins and all their parents, plus my grandparents, they still got some kick. And none of the strays in the village would take kindly to a new pack coming in and making trouble. Dogs come here to escape trouble, in a way, we're all one big pack. We take care of our own," She explained, extending her head and giving the blue-grey dog a comforting lick on the top of his head.

"You stay here as long as you need. Ain't no one gonna hurt you."

Clearly, there was no point in reasoning with the pup. It was clear to Jenna that Basil's old pack had liked and cared for their old Alpha. Could they really be so cruel as to try to kill his son? Especially if it was clear that there would be a rallying force to protect him?

She doubted, but Basil didn't seem to think much of himself, while thinking the world of his father. "Well, then we'll keep looking, but don't you go running off if you think we're in trouble," she said, her voice playfully scolding, "You city dogs may have your pack, but we farm dogs work hard all day long and we got plenty of muscle under these pretty coats. Ain't no way to take us down easy."

Jenna gave the pup a long look with a shake of her head. Yeah, she wasn't going to be able to calm his fears, but at least she tried. She cocked her head and listened to the pounding of the rain on the roof as it came to a slower beat. Well, maybe they could make it to the farmhouse and get some scraps.

She pushed herself to her paws and stretched, giving a great yawn and then wagged her tail happily. "Come on, let's run on over to the farmhouse and dry off on the porch. Maybe Alex or Julie will throw up a towel to roll in so we can head inside and get cozy. There's sure to be some food and a fire."

Jenna paused at the little flap that the farmer had installed in the side of the barn recently soe that the dogs and cats could slip in and out, but it was too small for any of the livestock to escape, and the flap kept the elements out. It wasn't raining quite so harsly anymore, and Jenna slipped through it, running to the farm house, her nails clicking on the wooden porch. She shook her fur wildly and scratched at the door, sure that Basil as right behind her. One of the older girls, Poppy's human, Mary, came to the door and crinkled her nose at the smell of wet dog. "Jenna, what are you doing out in the rain?" As she opened the screen door, she caught sight of the other dog and tilted her head to the side.

Jenna barked loudly, "Friend, Mary, he's our friend!" She know humans could never understand them, as they didn't know the Common Tongue and no matter how well the canines understood then, they never seemed to get the sounds down for the human language right. But Mary seemed, as humans often did, to get the point and grinned, grabbing two towels from the linen closest, hurrying back outside to flop them over on both dogs before stretching out her hand to the funny looking grey and white dog. She'd never seen a dog like him before. He almost looked like a husky, but it was clear that's not what he was.

Jenna raised a paw in a friendly manned and touched Mary's knee. "See, Basil, they're nice."