Page 67 of Sheltering Instinct

Mojo backed up and swept the area. He ran this way and that, back over to Kimba, licking his face. “Mojo, help.”

Mojo’s body held stiff with concentration. His ears twisted as he searched for the sound that could assist. He sat and sent three sharp “help me!” barks up and listened again.

Now, he was chuffing the air, looking from Kimba to the tent to Levi. He shot off, rounded the structure, and lifted up to check Tess, who stayed silent as requested.

Levi thought this whole process of Mojo’s fact-gathering was fascinating.

Mojo pushed his nose as far into the twigs as he could force it, sniffing Levi, and then went into the tent.

Disappointment washed over Levi when Mojo reemerged with a tug toy in his mouth and brought it over to Levi, dropped it, and then barked.

Levi was at a loss for what to do here. He knew not to tell Mojo, “No, not that.” The only word he was told to command was “help.”

Biting the ball at the end of the tug toy, Mojo lifted it toward Levi, caught his eye then whined. Obviously, this wasn’t about play. Mojo was too intense for that. He brought “help.”

Mojo stood there waiting while Levi tried to imagine what Mojo had in mind. His gaze traveled from the ball up the rope to the loop at the end. “Good job, Mojo. Good help.”

Levi reached through the space and accepted the toy. It wasn’t easy, but Levi was able to get the rope around the door of his enclosure, slide the ball through the loop, and pull his hands clear.

Immediately, Mojo grabbed the ball and tugged at the door. He settled back into his haunches and pulled harder.

The structure shifted.

Mojo dropped the ball and ran over to check on Tess. He ran back to check on Kimba, licking his face and trying to rouse him. Then, he went back to his task of tugging his ball. And sure enough—sure enough!—the door popped open, and Levi was freed.

“Good job, Mojo. Good help.”

Levi crawled free as Mojo ran around to check Tess, barking his very distinctive “Come here!” bark then peeked around to see what was holding Levi up.

Once Levi helped Tess down, Mojo led them back to Kimba so that he, too, could receive help.

Tess eyes were as bright as her smile. “That was absolutely the best. What a gift to take part in that.”

Levi freely admitted that it was an absolutely magnificent sequence.

Mojo deserved all the pets and scritches that followed.

“The construction is supposed to simulate someone caught in a structure collapse?” Tess asked Kimba while Levi wrestled Mojo as a reward.

“Possibly. During past rainy seasons, there have been flash floods that have swept people along as the rainwater fills the dry riverbeds. When that happens, they’re often tangled in the debris that is cleared by the water flow.”

“Drowned?” Tess whispered.

“Often not. Sometimes, they’re just tired from the swim and tangled in something like this.” Kimba spread his arms to show the hide. “And they could use assistance getting freed up.”

“If the pull toy wasn’t one of them?” Levi asked. “What were the helpful objects in the tent?”

“There was a radio, an ax, and a hammer. We thought the best choice would be the ax to get yourself out, second, the radio, so you’d be in there longer and need someone to assist.”

“Any would work.”

“Any would work, but he’d bypass a first aid kit, the water bottle, and the staged distractions.”

“A pile of steak might have done it.”

“A pile of steak would have called in a lot more interest than Mojo. You might have been in trouble. The guy on overwatch only brought three bullets.” Kimba elbowed Levi.

Enrico’s quad pulled up.

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