No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology

by Elizabeth Knox

  When she is not writing, she enjoys the music of all generations and genres, reading, and living in her cabin in the woods. H.J. is an avid traveler who has spent significant time in the Caribbean and Bahamas, meeting amazing people and seeing wondrous sites. Currently landlocked, H.J. dreams of her beach house, salty air, and a life filled with laughter.

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  The Forever Mine Series

  Embracing My Nightmare

  Encircled in Darkness

  Naughty Nights at Amatory Series

  Changing Seasons

  Jewelz Baxter

  Blurb

  Leo Truman is content with the routine of his secluded life in the mountains of North Carolina. Each evening he unwinds on his balcony, watching the valley below, hoping for a night free of terror. All of that changes the day a three-pound ball of fur comes bouncing onto his property. As Leo attempts to resist the Pomeranian and its companion, he’s unable to ignore the changes they bring into his life.

  To all the loved ones of survivors. You may not understand what your loved one survived or what they have endured, but your support may be their rock. The tiniest of gestures from you may be the life changing moments in someone’s life. Stay strong and share your strength.

  Chapter One

  Leo Truman stepped from his truck and strode into the small neighborhood general store. Without hesitation he made his way to the circle of chairs near an old, out of date space heater. It was late summer and there was no need for the heat today, but the small group of men surrounding the black metal block were only there to exchange stories and check in on each other.

  He dropped into a seat as he greeted his fellow veterans already there.

  “Missed you last week,” Sam said. He was nearing his ninety-fifth birthday and had served in WWII.

  “Not a good week. Stayed inside,” Leo told him.

  “That’s when you need to be here most. No one should be alone swimming in their own mind. Not when someone’s here who understands.”

  Leo only nodded. He knew the old man was right, but it was hard for him to leave his comfort zone on the mountain at times.

  “You need company sometimes. Maybe a dog,” Tom commented from where he sat to Leo’s left. “There’s this great group called K9s for Warriors who set me up with my German shepherd. You should check them out.”

  “Don’t need a dog. Too much trouble,” Leo said, shaking his head.

  “Didn’t think I wanted one either, but it brings peace of mind having him around. Just think about it.”

  Leo nodded and turned the conversation toward the changing of seasons.

  The trio continued to sit and relay activities of the past week and hopes for the new week. Two hours later as they went their separate ways, Leo browsed the store for needed groceries before making his way back to his truck. He hated to go any further into town if it could be helped, but today he decided to run a few errands that required the extra drive. Even with the extra stops, he pulled into his garage before sunset.

  Leo lived near the top of a steep drive with few other houses along the way. He considered it a deterrent for unwanted guests. Even those who ventured up the incline would miss his home if not for the brick column holding a mailbox. It was positioned near to the drive that disappeared as it dipped over a hill and curved behind evergreens. He loved the seclusion of his log home. The view was breathtaking when he sat on the back balcony watching the clouds move across the town below, only leaving treetops in view. It was the one place he felt at peace, as if no evil could touch him.

  So it was no wonder Leo was shocked to find company joining him on his balcony that night after dinner. As with any other evening he retired to his usual chair with a beer and an occasional cigar as the weather permitted. This night while he debated whether to light up or not, a tiny furball bounced up the stairs and toward him. Shocked, he watched her scurry to him and drop to sit by his feet. Her tail flipped back and forth as she stared up at him.

  “Where did you come from?” He hesitated before dropping his elbows onto his knees.

  The Pomeranian jumped to her hind legs and pawed at his fingers dangling between his legs.

  “I can’t imagine where you escaped from, but you need to go back there,” he scolded her.

  She wiggled against his hands again before dropping to sit.

  After a timely stare-off, the orange furball ran to the stairs and bounced back to the ground and off to where she came from.

  Odd, he thought. Never had a stray dog venture anywhere near his home, much less up to the second floor. Leo wasn’t an expert, but that dog was no stray. Someone had taken good care of it and would surely be looking for it. But that wasn’t his problem. He stood and stepped through the door, sliding the glass closed and locking it.

  Chapter Two

  The next night as Leo stepped through the door, he was greeted with the tiny dog panting and wagging her tail. “Go. I know you have a home. Go to it.” He shooed it away before dropping into his usual seat overlooking the apple tree near where the mountain began to drastically slope.

  This occurred two more nights within a week. Each time the Pomeranian scurried to Leo and sat as if studying him, then it would run back out of sight.

  On Leo’s usual day to go to the country store, he came home to a scratching sound beyond the dining room table. Expecting to run off a squirrel or some type of critter from his ice chest, he jerked open the blinds only for his focus to drop to the floor. Sitting there as if she was smiling up at him was the same tiny dog from days before. Hesitantly, he slid open the glass and she ran inside.

  “Don’t think you’re staying here. I do perfectly fine on my own.”

  Her whole body wiggled as he spoke to her.

  Noticing her panting, he cocked his head studying her better. “Are you hot? A drink can’t hurt, I guess. Then you can be on your way.”

  He walked to the kitchen, searching the cabinets for a small bowl that could be filled with water. Finding one, he filled it and placed it on the floor where he watched her hurry and begin lapping the cool water. When she had her fill, she stepped back and dropped to the floor.

  “Oh, no. Don’t get comfortable. You gotta go,” he told her, staring down with his hands resting on his hips.

  She rolled to her back and lolled her head back where he could see her eyes.

  “Well, now. Don’t you look a pitiful sight. Begging for water first, now a belly rub?”

  Leo lost that staring battle when he dropped to his heels and reached for her. Scratching her stomach, the little dog seemed to melt into the floor. She budged not a hair until he stood and spoke. “You good now?”

  She rolled and sprang to her feet and ran for the door. He followed, pulling it open and watching her disappear down the stairs.

  She didn’t return that night nor the next two, but on the third evening she reappeared. Leo stepped from his room and headed to the couch to switch on the television when he noticed movement through the wide glass door. Sliding it open he stepped across the threshold in time to see the dog back up and sit.

  “I think you’re right. Nothing good on TV anyway. Let’s sit for a spell.” He took his seat next to the door stretching out his legs and, in an instant, the tiny thing hopped on his boots and scrambled up his legs onto his lap. “Whoa, girl. That was not an invitation,” he told the dog with his hands raised next to his head. Slowly, he lowered them as she settled in for the stay. At first his hands rested on the chair arms and he stared at the bundle in his lap. After long moments, his hand rested on her back and he began stroking the softness of her long fur.

  “You’re more hair than dog.” He chuckled as he relaxed and for the first time in mo
nths, if not longer, a genuine smile spread across his face. They sat like this for nearly an hour. The tiny dog draped across Leo’s leg as he mindlessly stroked her back and scratched her ears. When she hopped to the floor and ran for the stairs in her usual getaway, he moved inside the dark house and turned in for the night.

  Chapter Three

  “Well look who’s here early today,” Leo greeted the Pomeranian as he stepped outside with his mug in hand. “I know someone must be missing you girl.” He eased onto the top step. When he was settled, she climbed onto his lap and stretched out. She didn’t move a muscle while he rested his hand on her back scratching her neck as he finished off the coffee. Then, just like every other visit, she jumped and ran away with no looking back.

  As the day went on, he went about his normal routine. Each time he passed the window and glanced outside; the dog seemed to always be in sight. Finally, about noon, he opened the door and she ran inside the house and straight to the couch. Jumping onto the cushion, she turned and flopped onto her belly.

  “Come get a drink, then we need to find your home. You can’t stay here. I live alone and that’s not going to change.”

  He set a small bowl of water on the floor in the kitchen as he had done before. While she lapped up the water, he searched for something he thought appropriate to feed her. Finding nothing much, he decided on a slice of lunchmeat. He squatted next to the water bowl and pinching off pieces, he fed them to her one by one until she devoured it all and sat looking up at him.

  Leo stood staring down at the excited furball, weighing his options as what to do. Suddenly he nodded and walked to his bedroom closet. Coming back to the kitchen moments later with a backpack, he scooped up the dog and placed her inside. Zipping it closed enough to keep her inside but leaving a hole large enough she could see through, he slung it over his back and grabbed his keys and motorcycle helmet.

  Locking the house door, he raised the garage door and threw a leg over his motorcycle. The ride to the store to meet his friends usually took only eight minutes. Today it lasted nearly twenty minutes as he stopped at each house on the way. He despised small talk with people he didn’t know, but luckily most he encountered today knew enough about him they didn’t attempt to stall his venture to find the owner. There was a total of seven houses on the road. His and six others. Only one sat further up the mountain past his home and he knew it was empty. Had been for some few months now. So, he stopped at each of the remaining five homes and learned no one had seen the tiny creature before.

  Reaching the store, Leo parked his bike and strolled into the building. The front of the store hosted a small seating area to the left of the door. Moving past that, customers reached the counter where they made their purchases. The back two-thirds of the store held shelves filled with grocery items and necessities. He entered no further than the chairs where he and his friends met weekly. They were an odd bunch to anyone outside the group. Sam as the oldest, who walked with a cane and at times needed assistance. Henry, at the age of sixty-eight was beginning to gray around the edges to match his gray beard. That left Tom and Ryan. They were each in their forties, same as Leo.

  Carefully taking off the backpack, he placed it next to his feet as he dropped into his chair.

  “What ya got in there?” Tom asked from across the heater.

  Leo chuckled and reached down, unzipping the bag completely. The little pale orange head popped from the bag igniting gasps and laughs from the five other men.

  “So, you did get a pet. Good for you,” Tom congratulated.

  “Oh no. She’s not mine. I’m hoping someone here knows where she belongs.”

  “Looks like she belongs to you,” Ryan noted when she wiggled from the bag and jumped into Leo’s lap.

  “She keeps showing up at the house, but no one on the road knows where she came from,” he was explaining when a young woman walked up.

  “Oh, how cute is that. She’s adorable.”

  Leo glanced at the woman then returned his focus back to his friends, not acknowledging what the woman was saying. After a hesitation, she turned away and left the general store.

  “You do realize that woman was hitting on you, don’t you? That little powder puff could help get you women,” Ryan teased him.

  Leo sobered and looked around the faces. “Don’t need a woman either.”

  “Just like you don’t need a dog?” Henry corrected. “You know, I believe this is the first time I’ve witnessed you arriving here without that scowl you keep.”

  “What would I do with a woman around?” Leo asked.

  “Son, if you’ve forgotten that, you have a bigger problem than any of us can help you with,” Sam said with a chuckle.

  “You know what I mean,” he snapped. “How do you know you won’t wake up in a nightmare and attack the person beside you? What happens when they sneak up on you and something triggers?”

  “Well, for me, my wife is very understanding. It’s something you have to work on. I admit at times it’s not easy, but we’ve all been through tougher times than that,” Ryan explained.

  “Plus, my canine therapy has helped tremendously,” Tom added. “I actually have fewer episodes.”

  “I do just fine,” he told the group and averted the subject away from himself.

  Before heading back home, he scanned the aisles for dog food. This small store was more of an old fashion general store. It had a variety of necessities one may need but no one thing was supplied in abundance. He happened into this place when he moved here only to keep from the larger chain stores in town. He hated the crowds of the larger stores and avoided them at all costs. One day the veterans were meeting and invited him to join them. His visits had been clockwork ever since with rare trips missed.

  With the unnamed dog in the backpack along with cans of dog food, he returned to his bike and headed back up his mountain.

  Chapter Four

  “Come on. Let’s see who’s at the door,” Leo told the little dog he only called “girl”. She had not strayed from Leo’s house, nor his side for that matter since the day before when they returned from the store. So, he had allowed her inside and he imagined she slept on the couch. He didn’t know for sure once he closed his bedroom door.

  Pulling the front door open, he came face to face with a woman. A woman so breathtaking, he only stared. Her chestnut hair framed perfect porcelain skin. Her hands were dainty as one held her sweater tightly in her grip and the other swatted strands away from her face. Even the worried look she had took nothing from her beauty.

  “Hello, by any chance have you seen a small dog around?” she asked.

  Before she could explain any further, the dog darted past Leo and into the woman’s arms as she dropped to her knees.

  “I was so worried when you never came home last night,” she told the dog, hugging and stroking her long orange fur.

  Glancing up to Leo, she rose still cradling the dog in her arms. “I hope she wasn’t much trouble. I was worried sick. It was so hard waiting till daylight to begin knocking on doors searching. Thank you so much for taking care of her.”

  “Need to keep her inside.” His voice was deep and rough as he scolded the pretty woman.

  “I do, but when she uses the doggie door, she finds some way to escape the yard that I haven’t found yet.”

  Leo only grunted, watching the wiggling pile of fur in her hands.

  “I’m Hanna. I’m staying at the house just up from yours.” Juggling the dog to one arm, she stretched the other toward Leo.

  He only glanced at her offered hand before crossing his arms and speaking. “Didn’t know anyone bought that shack.”

  Her smile was sweet when she answered. “I admit it’s much more run down than I expected. I inherited it, but I’m beginning to believe it’s a hopeless cause. Sorry if she has been bothering you. Mr.—”

  “No mister. Just Leo,” he told her after a short hesitation.

  “Thank you,” she said again and turned, carry
ing the dog with her up the driveway and disappearing over the hill.

  Leo watched until she was out of sight. Pushing the door closed, he turned and moved straight to the kitchen, then picked up the dishes he had put down for the dog. He carried them to the sink where he stood washing them in silence. Finally, things will be normal. As long as that woman keeps her dog away.

  And that is exactly what happened. The remainder of his day was a normal, quiet day. No one to talk to. No one to listen to. Just the way he liked it. Although it didn’t deter him from glancing toward the stairs occasionally as he unwound on the balcony that night.

  Two days later as he nursed a beer before bedtime, his visitor returned. This time was a short visit. She ran to him and melted under his scratches as he held a one-sided conversation. Then she disappeared as fast as she had appeared.

  Staring at the scattered lights flickering through the darkness, he debated if he should pay the woman a visit. He could mend the fence so she could keep her dog at home. He was convinced she wouldn’t make the repair herself even if she knew where it needed repairing. Nodding to himself, that’s what he decided to do as he pushed up from his chair and stepped into his house. Switching off all the lights, he closed himself up in his room.

  For long minutes, he sat on the edge of his bed. With his hands dangling between his knees, he stared at the floor. An uneasiness had begun to settle in. Rarely did the darkness overcome him as he sat on the balcony at night. But as his mind was filled with the new neighbor tonight, it had raised its ugly head reminding him why he must avoid becoming friendly with her. Eventually exhaustion took over and Leo fell into his bed and slept.

  Chapter Five