Chapter 8 #3
“Absolutely fine with him joining you, as I know he’s always raring to go, which is good for him.
A hard pass for me as I don’t have the strength and energy to wheel myself on those paths.
Now Sarge can keep up with you. He is an old man, but, ever since you guys started doing this, he’s forgotten his age. ”
“It is really good for him,” she stated, with a laugh, “and I promise to bring him back in a couple hours.” She walked Sarge back out to the car, and, as soon as he hopped in, the dogs shared a mass greeting, all piled in together.
“Honest to God, if you could start a dog-walking club around town here, you would be full up with people wanting to sign up for the service. So many people just don’t have enough time for their animals.”
He nodded. “I know, and I’ve seen a lot of people around here who are asking for that kind of help,” he shared. “I just never thought that would be something I would start up.”
“What will you do?” she asked curiously.
“No clue.” He shook his head. “First off, I’ll take care of Nan and her house.
So much basic maintenance hasn’t been done for God-only-knows how many years, so I really need to focus on getting her home straightened out again.
And I found out this morning that I’ve got to get her to the doctor because that asshole wouldn’t let her keep up her medications. ”
When Vivian just stared, her mouth agape, he nodded.
“Yeah, there’s no curse words you can think of that I haven’t already muttered this morning,” he told her. “On top of that, she’s not sure that it’s worthwhile going because she’s old and she’ll probably die soon anyway.”
“Good Lord,” she muttered.
“Right? Talk about a lack of self-worth now, all thanks to my dad, but I’m getting that back on track. I was so pissed off, I thought getting out for a walk might be a good idea. Plus, I went to the cops.”
“Any information?”
“Sadly I couldn’t really get anything new. It’s not that they weren’t helpful or forthcoming, just wasn’t anything new to report. Partly because it’s the weekend, and, like everything else, the place shuts down. It’s frustrating, but, once I thought about it, I should have expected as much.”
He took them out of town and headed to an area she thought she knew, but he pulled off the road a little bit before the well-known hike up ahead. “This is a different route that you’ve taken.”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a turn. “It’s a loop up toward that main trail, but this part is almost always empty, which I happen to prefer, in case you didn’t realize that by now.”
She laughed. “No, I think I got that message.” As they parked and got out with the dogs all around them, she smiled, taking in the breathtaking beauty.
“Somehow we end up with four of these guys on a regular basis, which is good for all of them,” he noted, with a smile.
And sure enough, all of them were acting great.
They took them off the leashes, and Sarge headed to the river where he got his paws wet and just sat there lapping up the water out of the creek. Wilden looked at him and smiled. “It’s always nice to see the dogs being dogs.”
They walked for an hour and never saw a soul.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been up here at all,” she noted, as she looked around.
“No, probably not. A couple cabins are up around here,” he shared, “but I’ve never seen many people up here. I’m glad to see it hasn’t changed.”
When they stopped, and he took cups out of his backpack, she realized he had brought a thermos.
“Coffee?” He nodded, and she had to laugh. “I would never think to bring coffee on a hike,” she admitted, “but it’s a very welcome treat, so thank you.”
He just laughed, seeing the happy surprise on her face. “I’ll admit to being a bit of a coffee addict,” he told her, “so you can almost always find it somewhere in my vicinity.”
As they sat here talking, enjoying the fresh air all around them, Sarge growled.
On the heels of that, the other dogs did too.
Wilden hopped to his feet and then climbed onto some rocks to take a closer look, trying to see what had set them off.
She sat still, quietly watching, not sure if she should be concerned about this, but the dogs were definitely certain about something.
Wilden looked around. “I’m not seeing anything, but if the dogs are upset—”
“They’re also dogs,” she pointed out, “so being upset and defensive is absolutely at the top of their priority list.”
“Isn’t that a fact?” he quipped, with a smile, “but we’ll keep our guard up and our eyes open, just in case.”
“Are we going forward or back?”
“How much more do you want to do?”
“I don’t have a ton of time today.”
Just then, Sarge bolted forward, and it was all Wilden could do to call him back. Sarge was definitely not cooperative, which piqued his interest. “Can you stay here for a minute and keep a hold of these three dogs?” He quickly leashed them up.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll take Sarge and scout around, but I want you to just sit right here, okay?”
She frowned at that. “I really don’t like the idea of being left alone. It’s not right.”
He nodded. “It’s not the four-legged you worry about but the two-legged, right?”
She shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Okay,” he replied, then motioned at her. “We’ll all go. But, if I tell you to be quiet or I need you to get back to the car, you’ll do that immediately. Got it?”
She nodded. “That’s fine. As long as I can’t do anything to help.” He nodded at that. She added, “Otherwise I’m not leaving you.” He frowned, and she stared back at him. “You’re not dealing with the same people anymore either,” she pointed out.
His grin flashed. “Good reminder.”
And, with that, they moved forward slowly, with Sarge and Dagger pulling on their leashes and trying hard to lead the way, while Romeo and Juliet followed.