The Travels of Zoe, the Wonder Dog
By Carrie Jacobson
Chapter 13
The story so far:
Zoe, a mostly blind lhasa apso, ended up at the Pike County shelter when her owner lost his job. Kaja, a big red dog, has helped Zoe leave the shelter and set out toward Middletown, looking for her home. On the way, they have encountered Samantha and Ashton Morrone, who live in Barryville, and whose parents own a hotel there. Sam and Ash have prevailed on their parents to let the dogs in for the night, but in the morning, Pete Morrone, their father, made the dogs leave.
Zoe and Kaja walk along the riverbank in the crisp morning air. Spending the night in the children’s house has made Zoe a little sad. It’s made her remember the life she used to have, and remember how much she had loved it. She had had a house with rugs, and a soft sofa, and a fenced-in yard. She had had fresh water, and food on a schedule, and dog cookies pretty much whenever she wanted.
She longs for her home and her humans, and so she trots quickly beside Kaja, following the river along.
It’s not a good day in the Morrone house.
Samantha comes downstairs first.
“Where’s Foxy? Where’s Peanut? Mom, where ARE they?” Samantha wails, looking under the table, out the door, everywhere.
Ashton is there, too, suddenly, howling and crying.
Angie looks at Pete, and he can tell she’s angry. She’s as angry as he’s seen her, and he knows then, knows somehow deep inside, that this was a mistake, making the dogs go. It was wrong, and he feels it in his heart. He looks at Angie, pleads with his eyes.
“Kids,” he says, “I told your mother the dogs had to go.”
“NO!” Samantha shouts, crying, too, like her heart’s breaking. He bets it is. His is.
“Honey, we really can’t have two dogs. We have a -”
“Hotel to run here!” she wails. “I know. I know. But we have a family, too, and those dogs were our family, they were. They WERE our family! And now they’re GONE!”
She is out of control now, and Pete knows he should shut this down, but he can’t. Guilt sears him, and he tries to pull her close and shush her, but she pushes him away and runs to Angie, who drops to a crouch and hugs Sam, and then Ashton is with them, and he’s crying, too, and Pete is just standing there in the kitchen, feeling as bad as a father can feel.
“Kids,” he says, “I made a mistake. I should have let you keep those dogs.” Even as he’s saying this, even as he knows it’s right, he can’t believe he’s hearing his own voice say the words. What will this mean for the hotel? How will he handle it with the state? He doesn’t know. All he knows is that kids need dogs, and those dogs were sent here for his kids, he’s sure of it, as sure as he can be – and he sent those dogs away.
“Kids, I was wrong. Come on, now. Those dogs haven’t been gone long. I bet we can find them.”
And so, they pile out the door, and start walking, calling for “Foxy” and “Peanut.”
They search the front yard and the back. Nothing. They scramble down the bank to the Delaware. Nothing.
They walk up to Route 97, and carefully, carefully, walk up the shoulder of the southbound lane, then cross and walk the shoulder of the northbound lane, passing the hotel, then crossing again and walking back.
Nothing. No dogs, no tracks, even.
In the kitchen, the mood is muted. Sad. Pete heats the coffee. He and Angie pour cups for themselves, and Angie makes toast and gets cereal for the kids. They eat a mournful, silent breakfast.
Afterwards, Pete pushes the chair back.
“Come on, kids. We’re going to get in the car and go look,” he says, and they nearly race out the door. Angie says she will stay, clean up, deal with guests. And maybe, she thinks, the dogs will come back.
“I’m sorry, Ange,” Pete says. “I’m sorry.”
“Get going,” she says, and though her words are harsh, her voice is not. She sees his anguish, his contrition. “Get going. Find them.”
Carrie can be reached at carrie@zestoforange.com
Tags: Carrie Jacobson
