Chapter 6 Mr. Grouch
SIX
Mr. Grouch
Mabel
I was back up at the cabin, groceries in, brownies baking, sitting at my writer’s desk, staring out the window, willing a bearded dude to show his face so I could call the sheriff and tell him stuff was no longer alleged.
Then perhaps, with Rus Lazurus’s connections, maybe they could get the FBI involved (but perhaps not the ATF), go in with an army of law enforcement to make a point, and they’d leave me alone.
Wishful thinking.
I glanced down at my laptop in front of me.
On my screen, it had the photo array of dogs currently available at Stony Bluff Animal Rescue and Wildlife Sanctuary, an organization that was only about seven miles from my house, south down CR 10.
I’d already decided, because I’d fallen in love from afar with a red husky named Tonks.
The name didn’t thrill me, but to my shock, the dog looked like a purebred.
She was gorgeous, with those blue, blue eyes in a white face, with white inside her ears and coppery red over her forehead and down her back.
The site said she was a year old, and they listed no other breed but “red Siberian husky.”
I wondered why someone would surrender such a gorgeous dog.
Then I looked around her to the other pups on the array and knew I could wonder about each and every one of them too.
I couldn’t think on it.
To me, unless you were an old lady who was suffering from dementia and couldn’t remember to feed your pet, and you had no other family, so it had been surrendered for you, I wasn’t sure there was a single excuse someone could give that was acceptable to surrender a dog.
I wasn’t so judgy I didn’t know that some animals didn’t like babies, and if you suddenly had one (a baby, that was), you had to make tough choices.
Or you got a new pet, and it didn’t get along with your other animals, so again, a tough choice had to be made.
Ditto with say, you lost your job, and were worried about how to feed yourself, much less your animal.
In those cases, though, you did the legwork to find them safe and happy homes.
You didn’t put them in a cage.
So…yeah.
Before that put me back in a bad mood, I looked out the window to see if I could spot a trespasser, something I wasn’t a fan that my neighbors (allegedly) had given me the uncontrollable urge to do.
(I probably looked like a lunatic, gazing this way and that every time I went back and forth to get the groceries, even if I was in my own truck port.)
And, of course, remembering this put me in a bad mood.
Why couldn’t people just let people be people?
I was absolutely certain they wouldn’t want anyone to judge them for the way they decided to live their lives.
How on earth did they feel they had the right to do that to me?
Topping that, obviously, they were watching me, which wasn’t only creepy, and criminal, it was rude.
I looked down beside my laptop and saw the paper Harry Moran gave me lying on my desk.
I picked it up, then picked up my phone.
I dialed the number and put it to my ear.
It rang so long, I thought it’d go to voicemail, before I heard a deep voice grunt, “Hutchison.”
“Hutch Hutchison?” I asked.
“Did you not hear me?” he shot back.
His response made me shoot straight in my chair.
“Hello?” he prompted when I said nothing.
“Are you the guard dog breeder?”
“Yup.”
“Harry Moran gave me your number,” I told him.
“Got no dogs available now.”
Yeesh, this guy was unfriendly.
But there was something I couldn’t put my finger on about his voice, outside of it communicating I was bothering him, which wasn’t very nice.
“Right, but you train dogs,” I said.
“Yup.”
“I’m considering rescuing a dog—”
“Go to the shelter.”
“I know, but—”
“Pick one. Spend time with it while you’re there.
Make sure you bond. With a dog, you’ll know.
They don’t hold secrets. Get the breed or mix of breeds the shelter thinks they are, go home and look them up.
Dive deep. Each dog is its own dog, but each breed will have its own characteristics.
Know what you’re getting before you get it so you don’t turn around and surrender it in a week. ”
“I would never surrender a dog,” I snapped.
This time, he was silent.
“And thank you for that advice,” I kept snapping, making it clear I didn’t need it because I would have done that anyway.
“Why I’m calling is, first, to see if you had any dogs ready for homing.
But since you answered that already, then I’d like to understand if you can fit me in your schedule for training.
I need a dog that has some capacity to provide protection. ”
“All dogs have a capacity to provide protection. I’ve seen chihuahuas fuck a man up.”
And boy, someone didn’t worry too much about sprinkling their language with profanities while talking to a stranger.
Seriously.
Who was this guy?
“All right, more than its normal capacity, and one I can control,” I amended.
“You got time to wait for a dog, I got a litter of Cane Corsos coming in a few weeks. They’re loyal, friendly, family-oriented dogs.
Social. And don’t need a ton of exercise, though all dogs need regular exercise.
A fully trained guard dog costs fifteen thousand dollars.
Since that includes identifying threats and obeying specific commands, that’ll take six months.
You want more, training can last up to a year, and the cost will increase by what you’re looking for. ”
Fifteen thousand dollars?!
“If you want just training,” he continued, “I’m one hundred and fifty an hour.”
One hundred and fifty an hour!?
He wasn’t done.
“And I don’t do basic shit, unless I got them from pups, like ‘sit,’ ‘down,’ ‘stay.’ I do specialized protection training.
You could get away with me working an hour with them a week, if you sign a contract that you’ll continue daily training for at least an hour a day in between.
You don’t do that, I’m out. But I recommend three times a week with me.
And depending on the level you want to achieve, that will last minimum, two months, more like four to six.
Though, all that depends on the dog and its ability to be trained. ”
I did the mathematic gymnastics and found that was almost as much as paying for a fully trained dog.
“I have to get a dog first,” I pointed out.
“Right. What’s your name so I’ll remember when you call back?”
I nearly rolled my eyes.
He couldn’t remember this conversation?
I wasn’t going to get into it.
“Mabel,” I said.
After I said my name, there was so much silence coming from the other end of the line, I feared it’d suck me into its black vortex, and I’d be lost forever.
Eventually, he said so quietly I almost didn’t make out the words. “Say again?”
“Mabel. My name is Mabel.”
More silence, just not as intense, before, “And you need a guard dog?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Was this intrusive, or did he need to know for training purposes?
“Why do you need a guard dog, Mabel?” There was a definite bite to his question.
And again, my back got straight at his tone.
“I’m not sure that’s your business,” I decided to say.
“You want me to train the damned dog, I need to know what I’m training it to do,” he returned.
So it was for training purposes.
Whatever.
“I’m not sure I want you to train her. For one, you cost a lot, and I’m sure you’re worth it, but sadly, I’m not made of money. And two, I hope you aren’t insulted when I say, you don’t seem like a very nice person.”
The bite was back with, “How is that not supposed to insult me?”
“I thought you knew you were surly,” I stated blithely.
“I’m not surly,” he clipped.
“Well, you’d have to be on my end of the conversation to make that call, and trust me, you’re surly.” Before he could say anything, I said, “I’m really thankful for your time. But I think we’re done here. Goodbye, Mr. Hutchison.”
And with that, I hung up on him.
“What a dick,” I said to my phone.
I dropped it on the desk and looked back at my laptop.
“Guess what, Tonks. If we bond, as Mr. Grouch says we need to do, you’re coming home soon.”
I slapped my laptop down.
And the oven timer dinged.
Excellent.
Just what I needed after that call.
Brownies.
I took them out and poured the Mars bar frosting I’d already made on top of them.
It oozed over the hot brownies, but I helped it with a spatula (better to be able to have something to lick afterwards).
That sorted, instead of going to the bureau I should be sanding, I went back to my laptop and did a deep dive on red Siberian huskies while my sweet treats cooled.