|
Kennessys'
Cabin Coast
Range, Oregon Friday,
1:59 P.M.
Before Scully could
answer or question Dorman further, a black shape like a rocket-propelled
battering ram bounded from the underbrush and launched itself toward the
man threatening Jody.
In a flash Scully
recognized the dog, the black Lab that had somehow survived being struck
by a car, that had escaped from the veterinarian's office and gone on
the run with Patrice and Jody.
"Vader!" Jody
cried.
The dog lunged. Black
Labradors were not normally used as attack dogs, but Vader must have
been able to sense the fear and tension in the air. He knew who the
enemy was, and he fought back.
The burly man whirled,
raised his gun and gripped the trigger with the sudden unexpected
threat--but the dog crashed into him, growling and snarling, spoiling
his aim. The man cried out, threw up his free hand to ward off the attack--and
his finger squeezed the trigger.
The explosion roared
through the quiet isolation far from the main road.
Instead of taking off
Jody's head, the .38-caliber shell slammed into the boy's chest before
he could hurl himself out of the way. The impact sprayed blood behind
him, knocking the boy's lean frame back against the fallen tree, as if
someone with an invisible piano wire has just jerked him backward. Jody
cried out, and slid down the rain-slick bole of the tree.
Vader bore the gunman to
the ground. The man tried to fight the dog off, but the suddenly vicious
black Lab bit at his face, his throat.
Scully raced over to the
wounded boy, dropped to her knees, and cradled Jody's head. "Oh my
God!"
|
