Wiley

Wiley

Thursday, December 2, 2010

CHAPTER FIFTEEN





     It was early morning and Doctor Howl had just heard

the news that some dogs with blue collars had attacked one

of his dog catching teams, rescued a dog from them, and

caused the institute’s truck to crash. He was not a happy

camper as he talked to two dejected employees in his

office. “How could this happen?” he asked. “Do you realize

people will stop abandoning their dogs in the triangle if

they’re rescued and returned to them?”

     The two men tried to explain their situation, but

Doctor Howl just wouldn’t accept any excuses, instead

assigning them to new jobs. “You two are lucky you’re not

fired. Report to the dog kennel clean up crew

immediately,” demanded Doctor Howl.

     “Yes sir,” said the two terrorized workers.

     As the workers left the office, Doctor Howl ranted,

“No way is a motley bunch of old blue collar dogs going to

shut down my operation.”

     In the middle of the night, the gang relocated to an

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old house down the street from the bungalow. It was in

very dilapidated condition, but had a basement. Now it was

morning and the gang was down in the basement where

there was still a strong skunk odor in the air. “I still smell

like a skunk,” complained Astro.

     “You and everyone else,” said Wiley with a wrinkled

nose. Wiley, the only one who didn’t look like he had taken

a mud bath, was attempting to get everyone’s attention.

“All right, we had to move, but this is a better place.”

     “Hey, the basement is great,” agreed Duke.

     Gibraltar, who was nosing around in one corner of the

basement, shouted, “Over here there’s an entrance to a

hidden tunnel.”

     Buster noticed that Wiley was unsuccessfully trying

to get everyone’s attention, and said loudly, “Listen up. We

need to get on with the program.” Immediately, the gang

stopped milling around and was quiet. “Bouncer, you had

some military training, and I’m putting you in charge of a

sentry system so we have no more visitors, including

skunks,” ordered Buster.

     Wiley then took over the meeting. “Yesterday Rex

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was our first rescue,” he said proudly. “We have many dogs

to save before our work is done,” he proclaimed.

     “You can bet on that,” agreed Astro.

     The next day, a lone stray dog, a pint-sized

Chihuahua named Moose, was strutting down the middle of

the Canine Triangle with a very determined look on his

face. He appeared to know where he was going. A short

distance away, a white van was sitting under a tree with

two dog catchers watching Moose. “Let's scoop the little

guy up,” said the driver.

     “I'll get him,” answered the determined co-worker.

     At the same moment, the Blue Collar gang was

observing the white van from their vantage point behind an

old broken down bus, and realized the little Chihuahua was

walking into a trap. “Cocky little guy,” noted Bouncer.

     As the white van slowly approached the Chihuahua,

Wiley gave the attack command. “Go get him.” Suddenly

out of nowhere, the Blue Collar gang swooped onto the

street and encircled the little dog.

     “Friend, we're here to help you,” yelled Gibraltar

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     “Hurry! Follow us,” hollered Duke and Astro.

     Moose, who was not about to run off with a pack of

dogs at the drop of a hat, snapped, “Hey, man, I don't need

your help. I know where I'm going.”

     Wiley quickly pointed out Moose’s dilemma. “You're

not going far. See those guys in that van coming down the

street? They're about to pick you up.”

     Moose looked up at the two dog catchers in the van

headed for him with angry expressions on their faces and

back at the gang of blue collar dogs protecting him. It was a

no-brainer. “Let's vamoose,” shouted Moose. The gang

surrounded Moose and moved quickly down the street to

the amazement of the dog catchers. “I can’t believe what

I’m seeing,” said the driver.

     At the same time, the other dog catcher checked in his

rear view mirror and saw Buster urinating on the van's rear

tire, then walking off. “I can’t either,” he said with disgust.

     When the gang rendezvoused at Kate’s New Life

rescue home, Moose went up to Wiley and said matter-offactly,

“Hey, I'm Moose. My family will be looking for me.

So I need to be out on the street so they can see me.”

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     The gang, which had gathered around Moose, had

heard this line before and they looked at each other

skeptically. “I know Moose. But if they're going find you,

you have to stay here,” explained Wiley.

     “I can take care of myself,” Moose said confidently.

     Buster stared down at Moose. “Have you ever been

out on your own?” he asked. “Well, ahh, no I haven’t,”

Moose stammered.

     “You can take off if you want,” said Wiley. “But I see

you have dog tags. Kate, the rescue lady here, would be

able to call your family.”

     Just then Kate saw the gathering in the rear yard and

came out of the house to find out what was happening.

When she caught up with the gang, she finally saw Moose

in the middle. “I see we have a new guest,” she declared.

     Moose took a serious look at Kate and he could tell

that she was interested in his welfare. He also realized

everyone wanted to help him. “Ok, ok. I'll give her a

chance. Thanks, you guys.”

     The gang left the restless but pleased Moose and

headed down the alley for the hideout. Meanwhile, Maggie,

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from a distance, had kept a keen eye on the situation. She


caught-up with Wiley and asked, “Where is your new

hideout?”

     “Come on, I’ll show you,” said Wiley.

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