In Your Arms: A Small Town Love Story (Safe Haven Book 1) (31 page)

This time the van I was loaded into was the same as the one Adam and the other man had used to transport me to Dog Haven Sanctuary. I recognized so many things there and I allowed myself to hope that I was going back to Marlo.

It had separate travelling compartments rather than dogs being chained to a rail. The bedding inside the crates was freshly laundered. I put myself into the customary small-curl position and tried to adjust to the nauseous bump and sway of the vehicle.

There was only myself and the driver, and we travelled so long without stopping. My thirst was terrible, my need to pee even worse. The vehicle stopped infrequently and it was another day before I was fed.

At one stage when the driver stopped to let me out, I didn’t want to return to the van. The motion made me feel sick so that when I got out I felt unsteady on my feet. I searched for grass to chew to help with my sickness and although I tried to pull the man toward a nearby patch, he jerked hard on the leash and spoke roughly at me. I refused to jump back into the van and the driver held my collar and gave me a hefty kick.

I’d had enough. Since being rescued from the dog fighting ring it had been my choice on how I would react. I had chosen not to sink my teeth into the arms of anyone until that man threatened Marlo. I felt as though being removed from Marlo had something to do with that incident and without an advocate I had to take care of myself.

When the driver aimed a second kick at me he was too slow. I swung around and sank my teeth into his calf, then gave him two more good bites for measure and took off for the woods that bordered the edge of the area where we had parked.

I ran for a while, until I was certain I wasn’t being pursued, and then I jumped down a bank to a stream and took a drink. My intention was to make my way back to Dog Haven Sanctuary and I needed to get my bearings. I kept to the woods on the border of the parking lot and waited until night came before sneaking in to check over the trash bins for something to eat. My stomach rumbled but I didn’t care. I was free.

A
lthough it was
good to be out of the dog pound I now had to fend for myself. After deciding I would never break the skin of another living creature I had now bitten two humans in as many weeks.

My whole focus was to find my way back to Marlo, and to stay away from people. I would travel by night when my alignment to the earth’s magnetic field suffered the least interference. Through the middle of the day I would sleep undercover. Later, I searched bins for food and always watched for the opportunity to scavenge another predator’s kill.

I travelled for a good part of the first night, and my senses were constantly aroused by other animals that I dodged on the trail. No doubt they could smell and hear me, too.

By daybreak hunger gnawed my insides. I arrived at a large group of buildings where I could smell food cooking. Out the back were trash cans and I waited and watched.

A man appeared outside and put a bag in the trash and the smell of the food it contained had me drooling. I waited a long time to see if he would return before I crept towards the bin. I tried knocking the lid off with my nose but it wouldn’t budge. I lost all caution as I became frantic, driven by my hunger to remove the lid and next thing the bin toppled and I’d knocked the entire thing over.

The lid flew off and the contents spilled across the ground. I ate as fast as I could; vegetable scraps, bread, and the odd piece of meat. A shout came a split second before I was doused in water, the furious man shaking a bucket at me. I snatched wildly at the scraps and tore off out of the yard.

Gripping a bone, saliva pouring from my mouth, I ran fast and deep into the woods. I hid amongst the trees and finished the bone, then slept. Tempting as it was to stay in the area and continue to try and feed out of the bins, I moved on again when I woke later in the night. My drive to find Marlo was stronger than anything.

I continued like this for several days, not always certain I was heading in the right direction when an impassable feature of the landscape would force me off the trail I wanted to follow. Sometimes I came across well-used tracks and I used them confidently at night, less so through the day.

Humans are careless about the amount of noise they make and generally voices, bike tires on gravel, or the stomp of hiking boots alerted me to people.

One day some men on bikes spotted me. They were close enough that I could hear their words.

“That looks like the dog off the posters we saw at the start of the trail,” one of them remarked.

They called out to me using my name and I approached them carefully. When I realized I didn’t know them I kept my distance in the trees. They dismounted from their bikes and sat down in a clearing to eat. I hadn’t had much success scavenging for some time and I was hungry so I waited close by.

They tossed pieces of food to me, trying to entice me over but I wouldn’t run in and get the food until they took their attention off me. The men really tried to encourage me to come close to them but I needed another dog, or a person I knew, to tell me it was okay. My instincts insisted I kept my distance.

Before they left, they placed more food for me on the ground and filled a small dish with water. I rushed to the water, first. My tongue was sticky and my throat sore from my terrible thirst. It hadn’t rained in some time and I’d also not come across any natural water features for two days.

Although I’d kept my distance, I decided to wait around the area for a couple of days in case more people came to feed me.

The loneliness I experienced surprised me. Having spent the first part of my life with little social interaction with humans, I’d quickly become accustomed to the company of people since I’d been at Dog Haven Sanctuary.

I thought I was safe there and relied on them for everything, including my emotional wellbeing, but, as it turned out they couldn’t save me. The prospect of living the rest of my life on the run brought back the feeling that used to make me curl up and hide in the corner of my kennel.

After a couple of days I moved on. It seemed I had entered an area of the National Park that was used frequently by people and even if they didn’t see me, many of them dropped food and wrappers along the tracks.

Then came the day I was certain I’d picked up the scent of Marlo and Adam. It was late in the afternoon. As usual, hunger had brought me out of hiding and I’d returned to the clearing where I had met with the cyclists. Another dog had marked near the path where I left the trees and when I sniffed I was certain it was Fala. I followed her trail right into the open clearing and came across a pile of dog food.

I wolfed it down, snatching large mouthfuls and swallowing in gulps that stuck in my throat. I lapped frantically at the water, all the time keeping a keen watch on my surroundings. I finished quickly, not bothering to search for the inevitable crumbs, and returned to the scent.

After a short time I was convinced it was Marlo, Adam and Fala and I nearly went crazy as their trail went in and out of the bush and along various paths so that I seemed to be back-tracking a lot of the time. Voices I didn’t recognize came from behind me and I lost time, ducking into the bushes until the strangers passed.

Finally the trail opened to a wide path. I’d tracked them to a parking lot at the entrance to the park. People and dogs milled about the dogs and cars, so I circled on the outskirts looking for Marlo. I thought I’d spotted her some distance away, getting into Adam’s car but I hesitated about going to them. I’d been avoiding people for so long and there were so many people, so much activity between us to navigate that, for a moment, I froze.

My spirit sank as I heard the sound of a car engine, and in the distance I saw the car my friends were in, head out of the lot. I bolted after them.

N
ow I was
oblivious to all the strange people, my one need to catch Adam’s car. It drew further away, turning onto the road and I summoned an extra burst of speed as it disappeared from my sight. Seconds later I heard a car horn, the screech of tires and frantic yelling. I hesitated and immediately felt the impact of a car fender striking my shoulder, the force of the blow sending me rolling across the ground. In my panic to chase Adam’s car I’d run directly in the path of another vehicle, and now filled with fear and vulnerable from the injury, I bolted back into forest. People came looking for me, calling out for me to come, so I took myself deeper into the dense brush and lay down.

The instinct of an injured animal is to hide and I was determined to stay out of reach from anyone except Marlo and Adam.

I couldn’t stop shaking. My shoulder was raw, all the fur scraped off and it ached. Worse was my despair at having been so close to my friends, yet I’d missed the connection. I tried to send them mental images of where I was, hoping to connect with them that way, but after some time I knew I had to return to my plan of making my own way back to the Sanctuary.

I didn’t travel so quickly, now. My shoulder burned on the outside and ached around the joint and being wounded made me even more reluctant to be anywhere near populated areas. When I became too hungry I had to let go of my decision to not harm any living creature and I hunted rats and squirrels and other small prey.

My shoulder healed over time, though it remained stiff. As my strength returned I adapted my plan and started staying close to the highways. I was mindful to stay away from moving vehicles, but I found a reasonable supply of food scraps to keep me fed. Truck stops could be fruitful so long as I remained vigilant and read human body language carefully.

I’d been on the run for so long the season had changed to shorter days, and the leaves began to fall from the trees. My dream of making it back to Dog Haven Sanctuary ebbed and I’d all but given up hope.

It wasn’t an easy life I was living, but I was more savvy now than at the start of my journey and I had a reasonable system that kept me fed. However, having once experienced the companionship of people and other dogs, I was now lonely.

After a particularly violent incident at a roadhouse where a bunch of youths, smelling of alcohol decided to use me for target practice with their slingshots and stones, I once again raised my guard.

I went back to travelling only at night, and was surprised one sunrise to come across what appeared to be a familiar track. Perhaps it was from a sense of deep hope that I attributed specific landmarks around me to ones I’d seen before. But, even on the less-familiar far side of the mountain, I was certain I was looking at Halo Peak—a familiar view for anyone who has spent time at Dog Haven Sanctuary.

I still had some way to go but decided to continue rather than nap as I usually did just after dawn. Hours later, hungry and with the cuts on my paws that never quite healed now raw, I believed the track I followed was one I’d travelled along with Adam.

A new burst of energy overcame me as I started to receive scents on the breeze from the Sanctuary. It kept me moving, and helped me to ignore my aches and hunger. By the time I reached the Sanctuary’s bottom barn everything was closed up for the night. I paused at a water bowl for a long drink and headed up towards Marlo’s house. I heard a couple of rapid alerting barks and a soft whine, and then the dogs settled and were quiet. There was no sign of any staff.

I ran up the drive, then approached the house with caution. I’d been away for a long time and I couldn’t be sure if things were the same here. I could see Marlo’s car but I had no sense of her presence or of Fala.

When I heard the approach of another car, one whose sound I didn’t recognize, my instincts from being on the road made me duck into the bushes. I crouched low so that I was completely concealed. The car stopped and I heard the car door open and close.

I could smell Adam.

In my hurry to free myself from the bushes I became entangled and my heart raced when I thought of missing Adam, of him climbing back into the car and driving away.

Finally I was free and as I made my way towards him, so filled with emotion, I stayed in a low crawl. I was unsure whether having been away for so long needed my appeasement.

I could tell by his face and his words he was just as overwhelmed, but, still he seemed preoccupied. His scent was a little different and he was hurrying in and out of the house, searching for something. I followed and looked everywhere for Marlo and Fala, but they weren’t there. Adam called me over and lifted me into the back of his car and we made a short journey to the veterinarian’s surgery.

I expected this was for my benefit but as we reached the door I knew what was on the other side. I scratched and pawed despite my bruised and cut feet and Adam finally got the door open.

I didn’t know what to do first. Marlo stood in the waiting room and I ran at her, skidded on the flooring and crashed into her legs. I wanted to reach every part of her, and tried to jump up to lick her face, but my back legs gave out and I collapsed. Fala was in a bed in the waiting room and I ran to her and tumbled again. Everyone was laughing and crying and Fala lay in her bed and welcomed me with soft eyes and the gentle wag of a tail.

Physically she was low but her spirit felt strong and she made it to her feet to greet me, then follow me to be with Marlo and Adam, who seemed to be having their own sort of reunion.

W
e returned
to the house and Fala came with us. She was slow and tired but improved over the following days. She had to take medication which she was given wrapped in soft cheese and I sat very still and stared hard at Marlo so that I got a piece of soft cheese, too.

Marlo and Adam took care of my wounds and once I returned to a regular diet of good meals I soon gained weight.

It took me some time to sleep properly because when I woke in the night I’d sometimes think I was back there, alone in the wilderness trying to make my way home. In those moments Fala would snuffle and move closer to me and I’d realize I was safe.