Lifting my chin, we walk across the dirt yard toward the dog. Even from a distance, I can see the rope around his neck has been there for a while and has started to imbed in his fur and skin. “Hey,” I call when I’m close, and notice the dog is not a boy, but a female who has obviously had a few litters of pups. Her tail starts to wag frantically and her head drops toward the ground like she’s ready to play.
“I don’t think we need to call in Paul,” Arney states, referring to our local animal control guy who is also one of the best mechanics in town. Taking a chunk of jerky out of the bag in his hand he holds it out for the dog, and she immediately scarfs it down without chewing.
“She’s friendly,” I say in agreement, petting the top of her head while using my free hand to inspect the rope. “You got your knife on you?”
“Yep.” He pulls out his knife and hands it to me. I cut the rope near the pole, knowing the vet will have to take a look at her neck before removing it completely.
“Do you know who’s living here?” I gesture to the house as I hand him the rope the dog’s attached to and take the two steps up to knock on the door.
“Didn’t answer when I knocked earlier, and the house next door and across haven’t seen anyone in over a week.”
I wait a minute to see if anyone comes to the door. When no one does, I step down from the small porch and take the rope back from him. “I’ll take her over to Lee then meet you back at the station.”
“I’ll see if I can find out who’s been staying here.” He nods towards the house.
Lifting my chin, I lead the dog to the back of my truck and lift her in then shut the gate behind her. Heading around to the cab I climb in before sending a call to dispatch, letting them know I’m going to drop off the dog and will be out of touch.
“She’s gonna need surgery,” Lee says, stepping away from the dog on the table. “The rope is imbedded too deep for me to just cut out.”
“I figured as much.” I run my hand over her head, scratching behind her ears.
“I hate to say this, son,” he says quietly, moving toward me. “The cost of getting this dog healthy and into a good home isn’t something I can take on at this time.” Looking at the dog in question her brown eyes glance between Lee and me. Her head lowers to the table like she knows what’s being said. “I wish I could, but right now, I just can’t afford it. We lost a lot of our funding last year, and I’ve been coming out of pocket for awhile now.”
“I’ll pay her bills. Just let me know the total when the time comes.”
“Zach”—he shakes his head, slips off his glasses, and rubs between his eyes—“it’s not as simple as that, son. I’d still need to find her a home, and that’s not an easy task.”
“I’ll take her home, when the time comes, and work on finding her a home myself.”
“You know Steven and Aubrey aren’t going to let you get rid of her once she’s in your house.”
He’s right about that. The kids have been asking for a dog since the moment they were able to string together a sentence, but Tina hated dogs, and I knew if we got one, I’d be the one taking care of it. I always said no in the past for that reason.
“Then I guess it’s their lucky day.”
He looks at me questioningly. “Are you sure you want to take her on? She needs a lot of care. I can give you a discount, but even with that, the cost will still be substantial.”
“I can’t let her be put down,” I mutter. The cost may be a hit to my savings, but I’ll make it work.
“What are you gonna call her?” he asks, smiling, and I look at the dog, her big brown body down flat out on the table, her head to her paws. Her eyes come to me, and her brows lift.
“Penny,” I state, and her head comes off her paws and tilts to the side.
“Penny it is.” Lee grins, clapping my shoulder. “I’ll be in touch after she gets out of surgery and let you know how she’s doing.
“Appreciate it.” I give his shoulder a squeeze then give Penny a rub before leaving and heading out to my truck.
“Tina, give me a call when you get this. We need to talk,” I say, leaving a voicemail as I pull into the station’s parking lot. I sent her a text this morning, telling her to contact me when she had a minute, but she didn’t call me back. I also called her at lunch, and she didn’t pick up then either. Now, she sent me to voicemail after two rings.
Sighing, I drop my phone into the cup holder and shut down my truck, planning on just running in for a minute before heading back out to check on a few things through town.