Chapter 30
After signing the contracts to buy the house, he let Frog run around in an open lot downtown before loading him up in the van and heading to his rental.
He passed by the street the guy from the truck lived on, and he slowed, wondering if he should stop.
“What do you think, Frog?”
Frog whimpered, then barked. That was enough to make him think Frog wanted to look, too.
He circled back and stopped in front of the man's house. Thario got out, and Frog followed. There wasn't another car in the driveway.
The windows were closed, but he could see in because the blinds were up. Thario rang the bell and then knocked.
He heard nothing, so he glanced in. It didn't seem like anyone was inside. Thario was about to turn and leave, but Frog moved to the fence and sat, looking at him like he wanted him to come over. That was when he heard a dog whimpering, but it wasn't Frog.
“What did you find, Frog?” Thario asked as he approached. Frog stood and backed up, giving Thario room to open the gate.
He unlatched the gate and pulled it open a few inches, seeing a small German Shepherd dog.
“Sit,” Thario commanded. Frog obeyed, but the puppy blinked at him before slowly lowering his rump to the ground.
The dog looked a little malnourished and very dirty, like he wasn’t allowed inside. The dog also seemed to have some patchy fur. This wasn’t the type of dog he was looking for.
Frog had been well taken care of when he got him. The dog had picked up on cues and taken care of tasks without too much prompting.
This dog was a mess. The last thing he wanted was a puppy who would bring chaos to his life.
“Is there only one of you?” Thario asked as he glanced around.
After a moment, he pushed the gate open more and blocked the dog from running out. Frog followed him in and stared at the dog, but didn't growl. The scruffy little dog reacted to Frog, wagging her tail and dropping low like she was submitting to Frog.
Thario would be lying if he said seeing Frog and this dog together didn’t affect him. Frog sniffed the dog twice and then moved to another area of the yard.
After a second, Frog barked and then sat like he'd found something. A sliver of dread slid down his spine.
“What’s up?” Thario asked as he stepped a little closer.
At first, he couldn't make out what he was seeing, then disgust ran through him, and he stopped cold.
He whistled then yelled, “Frog, get over here.”
Frog didn’t hesitate and ran over, which made the little girl dog run over and wag her tail furiously. The dog was enthusiastic and seemed to like Frog a lot.
Thario didn't know what was wrong with the guy who lived here, but there was no way he would leave this puppy here.
It looked like two dogs had been chained up on short chains and didn't make it.
No way would he leave this puppy to the same fate.
It pissed Thario off so much, and he wished he had found this situation a few weeks earlier.
Hell, if the guy wasn’t in the hospital, he would find him and beat the shit out of him. Treating animals like crap was the worst. There were a lot of things he could let slide, but animal abuse wasn’t one of them.
“Well, pup, you’re coming with us. Not sure what your name will be, but you’re now Frog’s new sister.”
The dog seemed happy to have attention paid to her. Thario bent and picked the puppy up, carrying her out to the van.
“Okay, Frog, you need to teach this pup how to behave, and I’m going to need some help.”
He hated having to ask for help, but there was no way he could get everything he needed and take care of this puppy. He dialed Griz, glad his buddy answered on the first ring.
“Hey, Thario, what’s up?”
“So I need some help.”
“Where are you?”
"I'm headed to the place I'm staying. It's a long story, but I have a new dog. She's young, so puppy, and I need a crate for her."
“Oh, hey, we have a crate. Let me bring that, and I’ll bring some other dog stuff we have.” Someone spoke to Griz, and it sounded like he pulled the phone away from his head before he started speaking again. “Calla is coming with me.”
A tingle spread through him. “Good. That’s good.”
“See you in a few.”
He had a little time before Griz and Calla showed up. Once back at the place where he was staying, he took the new dog inside and found a rope he could use as a leash, then took the dog outside.
Frog seemed to be there to keep the new dog in line by grumbling when the dog tried to pull at the leash or bite the leash. It was interesting to see how the puppy reacted to Frog. Maybe this would be a great thing because having a dog trained by Frog would be good.
The new dog peed, and Thario told her she was a good girl. Frog peed, too, and Thario praised him also, hoping the new dog would get the idea that she was supposed to pee outside.
While he waited for his friends to show up, he searched for a vet, recalling one of the names from a magnet he’d seen on the side of Elowen’s refrigerator.
He called the office and set up an appointment for his new dog. They could see them in the morning. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
A knock sounded at the door, and he opened it, making sure the pup didn't run out. He was glad his buddy was there to help him.
The new dog was hesitant at first, but then approached Calla and Griz, licking each of them. Having Frog around to show her the ropes probably helped.
“Wow, what a sweet dog. Where did you find her?” Calla asked.
"So this guy in a truck almost rear-ended me, but I avoided getting hit. He had some kind of medical emergency, and I heard where he lived, so I went over to deliver the news to his family, if anyone lived with him. But there was no one."
“So the dog,” Griz said.
Thario nodded. “Yes. And he can’t have her back. I found evidence that he’d chained up two other dogs and let them die. They hadn’t been dead for long, but this girl was still alive.”
“Shit,” Griz said.
“Exactly. I won’t give her back. The man killed two dogs in a horrible way. He can’t have her because I don’t want her to suffer the same fate.”
“Poor baby,” Calla said.
“Now I need to name her.”
Calla scratched the dog’s head as she stared at her. He liked how Calla turned her head to the side to study the dog.
“So you rescued her from a terrible situation. She needs a name that is hopeful.”
Thario nodded. “I like the name Hope. It’s short, succinct. A great name for a dog who has been through as much as she has.”
Calla turned to the dog and cupped her face. “Do you like the name Hope?”
The dog licked Calla, then barked. Thario appreciated the dog's response. She seemed to like them. Hope really liked Frog and Calla. That was good enough for him for now.
Thario reached down and scratched the dog’s head. “Okay, Hope, it’s time to get cleaned up.”
“I brought dog shampoo, and I can help you bathe her,” Griz said.
“Thank you. That would be great.”
They wrangled Hope into the shower. He was glad there was a sprayer in the shower that had a flexible hose long enough to get the spray right on Hope’s body.
She wasn’t in love with the idea of a bath, but she didn’t complain too much. They got her clean and got the fleas off her. That was enough for now.
After drying Hope, she ran around the room like a wild dog. Frog was excited, and Thario realized he was in for some in-depth training with Hope to get her to calm down enough to obey him. But she needed time, too. Frog had been older when they met. Hope was very young.
Griz headed to the pet store in town to pick up some supplies for the new dog. At least his new house had a backyard, and the dog would have room to run around.
Calla sat next to him on the small couch and took his hand. “That’s great that you rescued Hope.”
"I wish I had gotten there before the other two dogs died. I hate that they suffered."
“Yeah. There are a lot of shitty people out there.”
"You know firsthand how crappy people can be." He squeezed her hand and then turned, planting a kiss on her cheek.
Hope lifted her head and looked at both of them with sleepy eyes.
He didn’t like that Calla had lived through hell.
He wanted to find Brent and take care of him.
The same with Hope. He had no idea if the guy from the wreck would make it or not, but Thario wasn’t rooting for him.
Maybe they could both heal some together.
“What are you thinking?” Calla asked.
"That Hope would be good for you, too. She needs healing, and so do you."
Calla nodded. "We both dealt with crap. I want to help her, and I know she'll help me."
Thario wanted to pull Calla into his arms, but he needed to go slower. If he pushed too much, he might overwhelm her, and that was the last thing he wanted.