Some Kind of Wonderful (Puffin Island 2)

Why the hell should a perfectly healthy dog be destroyed just because some idiot didn’t see a place for him?

As someone who had always known that if he’d been a kitten he would have been drowned in the river at birth, destroying a living thing for the convenience of others didn’t sit well with Zach.

He wiped his hands on an old rag he kept in the car, closed the door on the dog and walked back to where Grace was standing. Obeying his orders to the letter, she hadn’t moved a muscle and was still clutching Travis’s hand.

“He t-tried to bite you.”

“Because I hurt him taking the wire off. I don’t blame him for that, do you?” Zach hunkered down in front of her. “Are you okay, Grace?”

She gave a tiny nod. “I was scared.”

“You were great.” He spoke firmly and saw the beginnings of a smile. “You stood still. It was the right thing to do.”

“I’ve never met an angry dog before and that dog was very angry.”

A little crowd had gathered around but Zach ignored them and focused on Grace. He took it as a good sign that Travis was still letting her grip his hand. “That would have been my first thought, too, but I’ve learned over the years that the emotion you see on the outside isn’t always the same as the one on the inside.”

Grace looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Zach picked his words carefully. He considered this a more important lesson than anything she’d learned out in the forest. “On the outside that dog was angry, but on the inside he was scared. A thousand times more scared than you. He was hurting and all alone. Someone left him there to die by himself in a horrible way and he was trying to stay alive. To survive. That’s a natural instinct. I’m not going to blame him for that, are you?” He glanced briefly at Travis and saw he was still, his face the color of bone. Zach knew that look. He wondered what the boy had been forced to do to protect himself.

“Someone wanted him to die?” Grace’s eyes filled. “Is that going to happen?”

“No, it’s not. Not now.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m going to see to it that it doesn’t.”

“What will happen to him? Will they punish him for nearly biting you? Will he be all right?” Anxiety flowed along with the questions.

“He’s going to be fine, and no,” Zach rose to his feet. “No one is going to punish him. It might take a while, but we’re going to teach him that some people can be trusted. That not everyone is like the person who did this to him.”

“He won’t have to go back there?” Travis’s question was so quiet it was barely audible. “You’re not going to send him back?”

“No. I wouldn’t send him back somewhere he’s abused.”

Travis licked his lips. “Not even if it’s his home?”

Zach wished they weren’t surrounded by people.

This was the conversation he knew Philip had been hoping Travis might have for weeks and this was neither the time nor the place.

“Home should be a place where he feels safe.” He held Travis’s gaze. “No one should feel threatened, or scared, in their own home.”

“But what will happen to him? Where will he go?” Travis was holding Grace’s hand as tightly as she was holding his. “I mean it’s not like he’s a baby or cute or anything. Who would want him?” His voice was hoarse and scratchy and Zach felt as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart.

“Plenty of folks would want him. Good folks, although it might take him a while to understand that they’re good. Travis, why don’t you take Grace to Philip. He’ll want to know she’s all right. Go and talk to Philip. Tell him the whole story.” He spoke firmly and saw the boy nod slowly.

“Okay. I guess I’ll do that. If you think it’s the right thing.”

A glimmer of trust right there in those words.

“I know it’s the right thing.”

Just a step, but hopefully enough of a step to begin the journey out of the hell Travis was living in.

“I’m going to say goodbye now because I’m taking the dog to the vet. You take care of yourself, Grace. I know you live on the island, so I expect I’ll see you around.”