Page 26 of Noble Neighbor
The dog was down, lying on its side.
Without second-guessing her actions this time, she was up and out the kitchen door, only slowing her pace as she neared the animal.
A tiny grey streak shot past her and butted his head against the face of the dog. Sunny snatched Lucifer away. “No. You can get sick, little one.” Who knew what disease the poor dog carried?
Holding the struggling kitten in one hand, Sunnyplaced a second on the dog’s emaciated ribcage, letting out a breath of relief at the faint movement beneathher fingers.
Dirt and sores coated the pointed face, his eyes half-open and staring at her. Begging for help. “Hey there,” she crooned. “You’re going to be just fine.”
Have you no shame, Sunny?Now she was even lying to animals.
Sunny glanced farther down. The hound was a male. The poor boy’s underbelly and legs were filthy, coated in dried mud, and she preferred not knowing what else. Flies settled on a grimy wound on his lower thigh. And he stank. “Poor boy.” The dog groaned and moved his tail. A small, feeble move, but it gave her hope.
“I need to get a blanket, boy, and call the clinic to warn them I’m bringing you in. You just lie right here, and I’ll be back lickety-split. Yeah?”
The dog closed his eyes and sighed. For a moment, Sunny thought the hound had died on her, but to her relief his chest moved with a shallow inhale.
Hurrying back into the house, she squeezed the now quiet kitten. “You did good today, Lucifer. Very good. Now you need to go to your mama, and I’ll take care of your friend.” She placed the kitten on the kitchen floor, watching for a second as he swaggered away, meowing. The answering cry came from nearby, and Lucifer picked up his pace to find his mama.
Sunny swiped at the tears trickling down her face while collecting her keys, purse, and a blanket.
Maybe it was time to believe in miracles again.
*
“The vet wasn’t very encouraging.” Sunny sniffled, stirring her tea. She never drank tea, but Bella seemed to think she needed tea today. Strong and sweet, her friend insisted. After leaving the veterinary clinic, Sunny opted to stay in town and wait for the girls to finish school.
Feeling down, she paid Books ’n Bakes a visit.
“It’s not the malnourishment or dehydration she’s worried about.He’s on a drip to take care of that. It’s the infection from the wound — it’s spread. Hooch may lose his leg, Bella,” she whispered and sipped some tea, dismayed at the lump forming in her throat.
Placing the cup down, Sunny continued, “The next twenty-four hours will give an indication on his chances.”
Her mind went back to her frantic trip to the veterinary clinic earlier.
“It’s Hooch,” the veterinarian had exclaimed whenSunny carefully laid the wrapped dog on the metal table.She thought she’d become used to the stench, but when the woman removed the top layer of blanket …
Sunny gagged and briefly turned her head to suck in some clean air. “You know the poor animal?” she uttered a few breaths later.
“He belonged to Martin Turner who passed aboutthree weeks ago. It was just the two of them. Turner and Hooch.” She shot Sunny a half-amused, half-regretful look.“Martin named all his Coonhounds Hooch. He always had a good laugh at his joke. But this one took off when Beau’s guys tried to catch him. We’ve a lot of people on the lookout for him.”
“Seems he found me.” Sunny winced as the vet prodded around the infected wound. She smoothed her hand above the dog's eyes, despite the odor. Poor creature. “Didn’t you, boy?” Hooch’s brows moved, and he half-lifted his lids to stare at her while she relayed the earlier events to the doctor.
“You’re collecting yourself quite a menagerie, Ms. Jones.”
“Don’t seem to have a choice. They find us. But I’m not keeping the kittens,” Sunny added, then sighed. “Well, okay, maybe we’ll keep Lucifer.”
The boy had shown a redeeming quality today. And everyone needed a second chance.
“You want to add Hooch to it?” the vet asked. The hope in her voice wasn’t hard to discern.
“Is there nobody else to claim him?”
The vet shook her head. “That’s why Beau was trying to catch him.To get him to the shelter.”
Sunny scanned the filthy, almost skeletal animal. Getting a dog — someday — had been on her mind. The girls would be ecstatic. And sending this animal to a shelter was plain wrong.
“Guess we can add Hooch to our family.” She bent forward. “Hey, Hooch,” Sunny crooned, stroking over his nape. His ear twitched, and he lifted his one eyelid for a second. “You okay to come live with me and my girls?”
