“C’mon, Rhoda—he’s no bad dog. Lookit him,” said Marty. “Wasn’t his fault he ate the…health food. I was a bad pack leader. If you’re gonna growl at someone, it oughta be me.”
One of the children began rubbing Freckles’ tummy. The dog’s leg began to swim in the air.
“Oooh! Hey, how’re you doing that?” said the spaniel.
Rhoda chuckled. If that dog hasn’t found his forever home, then I don’t know what one is.
Freckles turned to him and barked. “Marty, how’s he doing that?”
“Ahdunno,” said Marty, back up on his paws. “Some kinda reflex left over from when we were puppies. Roll with it.”
Freckles began rolling side to side. This time Marty and Rhoda joined the laughter. Then Rhoda trotted over and licked Freckles on the nose.
“I’m not mad anymore. I’m glad you found your family, Freckles.”
“Really, Rhoda? Gee, thanks!”
“Well, you did save us in the woods,” said Rhoda, as one of the kids began petting her neck. She sighed. “I bet you’ll get to have all kinds of movie nights.”
“What’s a ‘movie night’?” asked Freckles.
While she explained, Marty trotted behind Frank’s legs.
“Hey, Leggo. Why don’t you go talk to her? She’s not mad at anyone.”
“Wasn’t my cat face she was mad at!” said Leggo. “You just took her from—”
He swallowed his next words. Rhoda stood over them. She wagged her tail.
“Hello, Leggo.”
Leggo froze. Her russet fur was even more stunning up close.
“So…like I was saying,” said Marty, “My brother here was the one who figured out what was wrong with us.”
“Yeah,” said Freckles, pausing from another round of play. “And he kept the other dogs from chasing us into the parking lot!”
Rhoda’s ears jumped. “What?!”
“I didn’t do so much,” muttered Leggo.
“You sound like a good dog, Leggo. We should be friends,” said Rhoda.
Leggo lowered his ears in suspicion. “Like…Facebook friends?”
“No, silly! Like yard-friends. In real life.” She swooped around in a circle.
“Oh.” He thought about it. He thought he would have liked it if she’d said boyfriend-girlfriend friends, but on the other paw…well, he’d never been a boyfriend before. Maybe yard-friends would be all right. For now.
He dipped his head in canine agreement. “Yeah. Friends. I’d like that.”
Rhoda smiled. “Good.”
Freckles raced by, then stopped, play bowed, then tapped his nose on Leggo’s head.
“YOU’RE IT!” he said, and whisked away.
Rhoda play bowed to Leggo. “Bet you can’t catch me!” she said, and leapt away.
“What’d I tell ya, bro?” said Marty. “Wasn’t so bad, right?”
Leggo turned to his brother. “Thanks, big brother.”
Marty grinned, tongue lolling. “No prob.”
Leggo started to gallop away, but Marty caught him with a woof.
“Hey, Leggo? Is my zipper up?”
He sat up on his haunches for him to examine the windbreaker.
“Yup,” said Leggo.”
“Great.”
“Marty?”
“Yeah?”
Leggo lunged his nose into Marty’s shoulder.
“YOU’RE IT!”
Their claws skittered over the sidewalk. The game was on.
Chapter 28
While Alanna Lu chased the photo op around the shelter’s front lawn, Vivian sidled up to Tom. But before she could say anything, he took her hand.
“Yes, I asked her out, like you asked me to and yes, she agreed. We’re having dinner out on Friday. She’s already come by the office a couple times to drop off a couple of flash drives with pictures on them.”
“Oh, good! I was hoping…Well, do you think there’s a spark?”
Tom turned red. “Well, uh. It’s, um…”
“Too soon to tell,” said Alanna Lu, startling her aunt. The witch’s heart-manicured hand flew to her chest.
“Alanna Lu! I’m an old woman!”
“Pff—whatever! You’d take over the world if you weren’t so busy with your business!”
“I would not!”
“I know you wouldn’t, love,” said Frank, hugging Vivian from behind. He pecked her on the cheek. “You’d be content ruling central Oregon.”
“Ah! I never!” said Vivian in mock scandal. He leaned into her ear and spoke into it. “They’ll be fine, Viv. Let nature take its course. It works with dogs,” said Frank, gesturing to the rollercoaster of canines and children flying around them.
Seeing Rhoda and Leggo playing tug-of-war over a stick made the witch smile.
Dogs are so much easier than people, she thought.
Mrs. Winfield touched her on the arm.
“Don’t feel like you have to wait for us. It takes us an hour just to get ready to leave the house!”
Vivian turned to her. “Looks like everyone will be taking good naps today!”
“I know, right?” said Mrs. Winfield.
“If Freckles tuckers ’em out like this every day, I’ll grill him a steak every week!” said Mr. Winfield.
Vivian grinned. “Be careful what you promise! They understand more than you think.”
They watched the animals play for a while. Freckles often paused to look over the toddler. He licked Bradley’s ear, and the boy hugged the spaniel.
The mother smiled. “We just wanted to thank you again before we leave. And if you ever want to visit, let us know! Your niece has our number.”
The Winfield parents hugged Vivian and Alanna Lu, then shook hands with Frank and Tom.
“Ki-ids!” said the dad. “Come on! Time for lunch!”
The flock of beasts swirled to a stop around him. After separating out Freckles from Marty, Leggo, and Rhoda, the parents began leading their children to their van.
Freckles began to follow, but stopped at the gate. He began looking back and forth between Mrs. Winfield and Vivian.
The witch bent down and he trotted to her, whining.
She rubbed his jowls. “You’re a good boy, Freckles. Remember the rules and be gentle with those kids. They’re your forever family now.”
He seemed to frown at the ground for a moment. Then he lifted his head and wuffed.
Vivian stood up, then the other dogs gathered around.
“Bye, Freckles! Congrats!”
“See you at the dog park!”
“Bye, guys.”
Mrs. Winfield whistled. After a last doggy smile at his foster family, Freckles trotted out of the gate and into his travel kennel. The father carefully lifted it into the van and buckled it in.
As he climbed into the driver’s seat, the mother leaned in for one more hug with Vivian.
“We’ll take good care of him.”
Vivian swallowed hard. “I know you will.”
At last, the mother climbed into the van and it drove off.
Vivian pinched her eyes shut, trying to stem a tear. Freckles was a good boy, and now he’d get the wonderful, loving home he deserved. But it was always hard to let the good ones go. She sighed one last time, then bent to pick up Marty, dancing on his hind legs.
She straightened, holding her dog.
“What is it, you wobble-doggy, you?”
Marty licked the tear from her face.
Tom leaned over. “Is she like this with every one?” he whispered to Alanna Lu.
“Pretty much,” she said.
“Alanna Lu!” said Vivian suddenly.
“Yes, Auntie!”
“Do you have enough pictures?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Then let’s go home. Our work here is done.”
Special Thanks…
…to Sean C., for explaining real life search and rescue procedures. While artistic lic
ense was used in that scene, rest assured that any outright inaccuracies are the author’s fault alone!
…to Kristin G., for once again loaning me her eagle eye (and rounding up all of Marty’s errant apostrophes!). Any errors left in are due to my stubbornness.
…to my dad, for reading Dave Barry books with me as a kid, so that I could remember the Bad Song Survey in my time of need.
Also by Danielle Williams
WONDER Out Where the Sun Always Shines
HORROR The Bureaucrat
What the Cat Brought Back
HUMOR The Purrfect Christmas
FORTHCOMING Steel City, Veiled Kingdom
A Gingersnap Cat Christmas
Magic Fashion Frenchies #2: Salute a Pooch!
For new story announcements, sign up for Danielle's newsletter at Pixelvania Publishing.
About the Author
Danielle Williams has always loved talking animal stories. Some of her favorites include Watership Down, the Ratha series, and the tales of Rick Raccoon and Scarlett Fox in Ranger Rick magazine.
She graduated from Brigham Young University in 2006 and currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and his cat, who was kind enough to adopt her.
Hints of fantasy and science fiction always sneak into whatever she’s writing.
For more info about Danielle and her upcoming ebooks, visit PixelvaniaPublishing.com.
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