The two coyotes came back the next day. One carried a tattered dog head by the ear. The other carried a collar with the name Buford stamped on a plastic tag. He left the collar on the ground in front of the pen.
Max did not say a word and the coyotes did not say anything to Max. One of the coyotes bared his teeth at him and Max slunk back to his doghouse.
Mike currently lives out West and worked in nonprofits, fish farms, feedmills, and overseas. He enjoys lebkuchen and reads Cormac McCarthy.