Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
We had floodlights in the trees out back or I would have never seen the dog sort of squint at me like I was crazy.
“Get down!” I repeated the command. I could just see me having to tell Ian Doyle, who I had grown quite fond of, that his dog died falling out of a tree in my backyard.
Chickie huffed like I was really putting him out and then did this weird scramble thing where he turned so he was facing the ground and raced down the tree as quickly as he’d gone up. When he was close to the bottom, he leaped and landed perfectly, trotting over to the deck and then taking a seat in front of me.
“Such a good boy,” I praised him, scratching his ears and petting him.
The guy took that moment to start for the ground.
“Chickie, guard the tree,” I said, and he bolted over and would have gone up again, but I said no.
He did the head-tip thing that dogs do when you’ve confused them.
“Guard the tree, but stay on the ground.”
I was sure that command made little sense, but he stood there and then looked up at the guy, who stayed right where he was.
Minutes later, I was sitting on the stairs, not having called anyone because really, Sam would be back in just a bit. The guy wasn’t about to descend, not with a wolf at the base of the tree, and if he’d had a gun, he would have shot at either me or Chickie by then.
“Please, sir, let me down,” he lamented. “I’m really sorry I went into your neighbor’s yard and then came into yours.”
I had to wonder what Chickie was doing in the neighbor’s yard when I heard my doorbell ring. I got up, went out my side gate, and stepped into my gravel drive. I walked down it until I reached the side of my house and could see Carla Johnson, our neighbor in the back, standing at my front door.
“Carla,” I called over to her.
“Oh, Jory,” she said, rushing to the edge of my porch where she could look down at me. “Edward and I just got home from the movies and there was a man in our house. He ran out the back and Ed went after him and I called the police.”
“Good, are the police coming?”
“Yes, but Ed said there was a wolf in the backyard when he started yelling, and I think he might be having a stroke!”
“He’s not having a stroke,” I assured her. “We’re watching a friend’s dog who looks like a wolf.”
“Your friend looks like a wolf?”
“No, dear, my friend’s dog looks like a wolf, and he was in your backyard. He probably heard Ed yelling and went to see what was wrong.”
“He does that?”
“He’s a weird dog.”
“Okay.”
“Tell Ed the man who he was chasing is trapped in our white oak.”
She gasped. “Is he really?”
“Really-really.”
“Oh, that’s marvelous! He took the good silverware and my mother’s Tiffany brooch.”
“Well, tell the police to come to my house, because I’ve got him.”
“Oh, Jory, thank you so much. I was just telling Ed the other day how much I love your family, especially that daughter of yours.”
“I appreciate that.”
“What happened to her arm?”
“Why don’t I tell you when you come back with Ed and the police.”
“Oh, that’s a lovely idea. I have some banana bread. Maybe you could make some tea.”
“Okay,” I said, remembering how much Ed liked Key lime pie. Hopefully Sam had bought more than one piece. I was going to call, but I would only worry him.
When I walked back, Chickie was sitting at the base of the tree, looking up at the man, who I could hear softly moaning.
“Did you hurt something climbing up the tree?”
“No,” he replied miserably. “There was a giant rubber spider up here, and it scared the crap out of me, and I peed a little.”
“Sorry,” I called back. “We decorate for the holidays, and it’s hard to get everything.”
“The green eyes glow in the dark.”
“Green?” I thought a moment. “That’s crazy. That was two Halloweens ago.”
“You know, I cased these houses two weeks ago and there was no monster dog here.”
“Maybe don’t tell anybody that you cased our neighborhood,” I reminded him as I heard sirens. “That information is not designed to help you.”
“Yeah, okay.”
I went in and put on the water for a pot of tea, and when I came out, I heard people walking up the drive. At my side gate appeared Ed and Carla and four police officers. Carla had a plate with tinfoil over it in her hands.
“You see, Carla,” Ed said, pointing at Chickie, “I told you I saw a wolf.”
“That’s not a wolf,” one of the officers said, “that’s a husky. They get big like that sometimes.”
I agreed with her.