Strange Outfit: An Avery Barks Dog Mystery (Avery Barks Dog Mysteries Book 2) (3 page)

“Go now and hurry back.”

He’s the boss.

“Okay.”

I left Chevy at the mobile home, so he wouldn’t have the chance to dig up the survival cache again. Ben took all the dogs inside for treats while I headed to the cache spot.  It didn’t take me long to hike back up the hill into the woods and discreetly hang the motion camera.  I was done in about twenty-five minutes.

As I started back down the hill toward the house for the second time this morning, I heard a dog barking non-stop.  It was an agitated and protective sounding bark, which set off an alarm in my head.  My legs moved faster until I found myself jogging down the hill. As I made it to the pasture behind the house, I saw Bullfrog as he stood outside all by himself, barking away. 

I broke into a full blown run, through the pasture and around the home to the front yard.  The door to the mobile home was flung wide open and swinging in the breeze. I called out for Ben and got no answer.  I yelled for Chevy and Princess, and they were nowhere to be found.  I jumped up the steps and looked inside the mobile home and saw no one. 

I fumbled with my cell phone and called Rocky.

“Good morning.” Rocky sounded cheerful.

“It’s Avery, I’m at Ben’s place.”

“You’re an early bird.  You don’t need to show up before nine.  I’m coming up the road now.”

“Rocky,” I interrupted him, “Bullfrog is running loose and I can’t find Ben.  Chevy and Princess are gone too!”  The panic rose as I spoke.

“I’ll be there in thirty seconds.”  He made it in about fifteen.

Rocky burst through the front door of the house and ran from room to room. He flew back out and jumped on one of the four wheelers parked in the shade under one of the maple trees.  “I’m going to look out by the old moonshine shed,” he yelled as he sped off across the pasture. 

Bullfrog alternated between barking, whining and moaning.  It finally registered with me that the old dog stood right next to one of the huge holes on the edge of the yard. I got a sick feeling in my stomach and I bolted over to where the old dog stood. 

I looked over the edge of the hole and saw Ben’s body on the bottom, lying face down.

=+=+=+

I got on my butt and slid down the dirt bank to the bottom of the hole, then crawled over to Ben.  My first responder training kicked in as I looked for any signs of life in my new friend. He was unconscious but breathing. 

Slightly relieved, I called 911 for an ambulance. 

Rocky called back from the empty moonshine shed.  I told him we were in the hole near Bullfrog, and asked him to go out to the road and direct the emergency team.  Bullfrog stood watch over the hole and barked the entire fifteen minutes it took for help to come.

The paramedics that arrived were skilled and I climbed out of the hole to give them room to work.  They lifted Ben out on a backboard and placed him on a stretcher in the ambulance.  Rocky insisted on riding with Ben for the trip to the emergency room.  I was just thankful that my buddy still had a fighting chance at life.

As Rocky headed for the ambulance, I told him, “I’ll look for the dogs.”

He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and handed them to me. “Here are the keys to the house and the ATV.  Do whatever you need to do.”

He jumped in the front passenger seat of the ambulance without asking permission. 

I went to the back of the ambulance and told the paramedic, “If he gains consciousness, make sure he knows that I’m looking after his dogs.  My name is Avery”

The paramedic promised to forward my message.  I huddled with Bullfrog as the ambulance rolled out of the drive and toward the city.   It was a good thirty minute drive to the nearest hospital.

I hugged the dog’s big neck and said a little prayer that Ben would survive.  The fact that the door to the mobile home was left wide open had me more than a little concerned.  I hoped that Chevy and Princess would survive whatever happened to them too.

I wasn’t familiar with the full layout of this property, and needed help finding Chevy and Princess.  My first choice for any type of search was Deputy Don. We had been on several search and rescue missions together and he was in law enforcement.  More importantly for this emergency, he loved dogs almost as much as I did. 

“How’s Ben doing?” Don said over the phone, after I had given him the details.

“I don’t know.  Just hope he pulls through.  His big dog is beside himself.”

“’I’m coming over to help you find Chevy.”  Don just promoted himself to best friend status.  I didn’t even have to ask him to help me search.

“Are you off work today?”

“I am now.” Don was in rescue mode.

“I’ll start to look, call me when you get here.  And, thanks.” I hung up and got to work.

I took Bullfrog back in the house and offered him a dog treat.  He wouldn’t eat it, so I laid it on his dog bed and gave him another big hug.   I wondered if he witnessed Ben’s fall down the hole.

“Bullfrog, you stay here and watch the house, I’m going to go find little Princess, Okay?” I often talked to dogs like they were people. 

I shut the door behind me and ran across the property calling out their names.  Each hole was checked to make sure they hadn’t fallen like Ben.  I continued on at full speed, my adrenaline carrying me along.  My sweat mixed with the dust I kicked up as I searched from hole to hole.  I didn’t feel my feet moving under me, they just carried me across the land. 

My search route continued to the back corner of the yard near the woods, the soft buzzing sound of bees caused me to stop and check my surroundings.  There were no hives in my direct line of sight, but some slight movement ten feet in front of me gave away the location of a huge ground wasp nest hidden by the natural ground cover. As I slowly backed off in an attempt to stay sting-free, my cell phone rang.

“Avery, I’m down the road about a mile.” Don was on the line.  “Chevy was out in the middle of the road, pacing.  I stopped but he wouldn’t get in my truck and ran into the woods.”

“Is Princess with him?” I asked.

“No.”

I turned and bolted toward the drive as I hung up the phone.  My foot hit the gas so hard that the truck’s tires spun as I sped down the drive.  I raced down the country road toward Don, and noticed a big black monster truck blocking the roadway.  It looked like the one I saw earlier at the neighbor’s house.

I barely noticed the small group of people in the roadway and called out for Chevy before I even got out of my truck.  Chevy ran out of the woods, his belly and sides covered in mud and briars.  His tongue hung out of the side of his mouth and he was panting heavily.  My dog raced up to me and knocked into my legs, covering the bottom of my jeans with mud.  He looked straight into my eyes and gave an exhausted bark, then turned around and ran back into the thick undergrowth.  Obviously, he wanted me to follow him.  Good thing I was wearing old clothes and my hiking boots.

I jumped over the narrow ditch and followed Chevy through the woods.  The briars left red bloody stripes down my arms as we made our way through the prickly bushes.  The big guy from the monster truck followed in behind me.  His large frame was slowed by the briars, so he beat them away with his homemade machete.  He looked like a giant weed-eater.  The big guy’s black t-shirt was completely soaked with sweat, and I hoped he wouldn’t end up with a heart attack.  The guy’s breathing was so loud that I almost missed the sound of a dog whimpering. 

When I heard the soft noise, I fully understood why Chevy was so frantic.  His little friend was in trouble. I kept up with my dog as best I could through the tangled mess, but it was slow going.  It took at least ten minutes to force our way through the briar wall before we found Princess in a clearing.  The poor thing was completely stuck in a briar bush.  Her long hair was tangled around the thorny branches and she was caked in mud.

The little dog didn’t move, but when she saw us her whimpers gave way to a couple of energetic barks.  Chevy plopped down in the mud next to her, panting heavily. His work was done. 

The large guy eventually reached us and used his machete in a softer manner to free Ben’s dog from nature’s trap.  Princess seemed very calm, even though there was a strange guy chopping briars with a machete right next to her.

“Hey Princess, Big T. is here.  You’re okay now,” the over-size man said as he focused on the job in front of him.  I guess he wasn’t a stranger to her after all.

“You know Princess?”  I was surprised.

“We’ve been neighbors for a while now.  I know all my neighbors. By the way, I’m Big T.” He turned to me and stuck out a hand that was as oversized as he was.

He took out his pocket knife and cut the last few briars out of Princess’s fur.  Big T. picked her up and placed her in my arms as a big smile lit up his round face.  As I carried Princess back out toward the road, I tried to hold her the same way Ben did so she would be comfortable.

“From all the tracks in this mud, it looks like your dog paced in circles around her for a long time.“  Big T. continued, “He saved Princess’s life.  There’s no way she would have freed herself.”

As we emerged from the woods as a muddy group, a young lady wearing cowboy boots and tight jeans shorts flew into Big T.’s arms.  Her long brown hair fell across her face as she ran to him. She was so small and he was so big that she almost disappeared when he hugged her.  He picked her up with one arm and said, “Give Big T. some sugar.”  She giggled and gave him a kiss.

Big T. set her back down again and, he said with pride, “This is my girl, Misty.” He pulled her close to him as he gave Don a long look. “It can be tough having such a beautiful woman.  More guys to protect her from.”

Big T. broke out in a big laugh, but even so, I noticed Don made sure not to look at Big T.’s girl after that.  I chuckled and was glad the big guy was on our side.

“Say thanks to Big T. for helping us,” I said to the dogs, as I loaded them in the truck for the ride back to Ben’s place.

Big T. offered, “I can drop Princess off at Ben’s on my way back home if you want.  I’m driving right past there.”

Don and I filled him in on Ben’s accident. “I’m watching her for now,” I assured him.

“If you need any help over there, you come get Big T.  Me and Misty are going to the hospital to see Ben.”  He lifted Misty into his big truck, did a U-turn, and roared down the road toward the hospital.

Princess snuggled on my lap for the short ride and Chevy collapsed in the back of the truck.

On the way back to Ben’s place, I called Rocky.

“Hey Rocky, we found Princess and she’s safe with me.”

“She is?”  He sounded surprised. “Okay, I’ll let Ben know when he wakes up.  I’m still at the hospital”

Back at Ben’s house, I found a garden hose and quickly rinsed the mud off the dogs, and used some old towels from the truck to wrap them up.  The sun was out and it was a nice warm day, but I didn’t want the small dog to get chilled. 

As I washed the mud off of Princess, I noticed her jeweled collar was missing.

“Want to have some lunch?”  Don put down a couple of paper bags on Ben’s table. 

The mobile home had a small but comfortable kitchen, and the delicious aroma of homemade fried chicken wings filled the room.  Don sat down and said, “I stopped by Millie’s Diner on the way over.  She wouldn’t let me leave without bringing you some lunch.  She even sent something for Chevy.”

“That’s just like Millie.  If I were to have a living Grandma, she would be my first pick.” I spoke the truth.

Don passed out the homemade dog treats while I searched through some of Ben’s kitchen cabinets to find us a couple of plates.  The first door I opened revealed only a couple of drinking glasses, so I continued looking.  When I cracked open the next cabinet door, I was surprised to see a complete surveillance system unit operating and hidden inside.

“What in the world?  Hey Don, check this out!” I was watching surveillance TV. “Ben has cameras all over this property!”

“Let’s see if I can find out what happened to him this morning.” Don worked his law enforcement magic on the surveillance system while snacking on the fried chicken wings.  “Miss Millie makes the best wings this side of Kansas.”

“You’ve got that right; best chocolate cake in town too.” I had already started in on my dessert.

“Whoa, check this out.”  Don found some recorded evidence.

We got together in front of the kitchen cabinet and watched the grainy black and white recorded video.  As we focused on the screen, an overly skinny man wearing a ball cap appeared in the picture, walked up and knocked on Ben’s front door.  Ben opened the door with little Princess in his arms.  The man in the ball cap instantly yanked Princess right out of Ben’s hands and knocked him down.  As I watched the TV, my face flushed with anger.

Don switched the view to a different camera angle to see the rest of the scene play out. The dog thief ran across the yard as Ben struggled to chase after him.  The old man staggered briefly and dropped out of sight into the hole.  Chevy appeared from off screen and ran directly toward the man as he attempted his escape.  My dog ran under the man’s legs, which caused the thief to trip and sent both of them rolling across the dirt.  It appeared that the thief had a strong grip on Princess’s collar, and she was able to pull backwards and slip out as he rolled on the ground.  Princess ran off into the woods and Chevy followed behind her.  The thief looked at the collar, put it in his pants pocket, and then stood up and walked calmly into the woods.  The jerk gave no regard to Ben what-so-ever.