CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

    

     “It was a very hot summer day and John was charging

around in the back yard clipping some tall bushes and

hedges. He had been working at this for some time. John’s

project involved moving a tall ladder, climbing to the top

and clipping off the top branches of some bushes. I

watched him and noticed that he almost fell off the ladder

as he reached out to cut another branch. John was very tired

and grabbed hold of the ladder, trying to steady himself as

the ladder swayed back and forth. I had enough and ran

over,” Wiley said, his eyes full of concern.

     Maggie was intently listening and asked, “What did

you do?”

     “The only thing I could. I barked, moaned, and

whined,” explained Wiley. “John stopped, stared down at

me and asked me what I wanted. I wanted him down, so I

continued making noise and pawing the ground at the

bottom of the ladder,” said Wiley. “Finally, he climbed

down the ladder because he realized he needed to take a

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break, gave me a pat on the head, and said, ‘You’re right,

Wiley.’”

     Upon arriving at Maggie’s rear yard, Wiley ended his

story and looked at Maggie. “You know, you have to take

care of them, even though they believe they're in control,”

he said.

     “I know. You’re right,” agreed Maggie, who had an

inquisitive look on her face and looked with concern at

Wiley. “Buster said you became lost after falling out of a

car. What happened?”

     “That's a long story,” declared Wiley.

     Maggie brushed up against Wiley and gave him a lick

on the nose and said, “Good. There will be plenty of time to

tell me tomorrow when you show me where the institute is.

Good night, Wiley.”

     Later that night, even though several days had

passed, John and Nancy still believed that they would find

Wiley. They were sitting at the kitchen table after dinner.

“John, I just sense that Wiley's hanging in there,” Nancy

said firmly.

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     “That's what keeps me going. He is surviving

somehow,” agreed John.

 

     Nancy shook her head in dismay. “It’s like he has

vanished. We have no response from our newspaper ads,

flyers, or the shelters. Nothing.”

     “The animal control center is overwhelmed with cats

and dogs. I know that dogs are disappearing over there,”

John said.

     Early the next morning, Wiley and Maggie were

sitting on the front porch of the old house, and Wiley was

becoming a little anxious. “We have to get going. I can’t be

away very long because we have something big planned for

later today.”

     “What’s happening?” asked Maggie.

     “I can’t really talk about it,” Wiley answered. “Why

do you want to see where the institute is located?’

     “So I can try to take Kate there and maybe she can do

something,” explained Maggie.

     Wiley jumped down off the porch and headed for the

front gate. “We're wasting time talking. Let's go,” called

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Wiley, starting off on a jog. Maggie quickly caught up, and

the two dogs ran down the main street, zigzagging their

way to the railroad tracks. They both halted on the tracks

and gazed across the field at the complex of buildings that

made up the institute. Maggie was startled by what she saw.

     “That's where you and the gang were held?” she

asked.

     “Yes, that’s the house of horrors,” Wiley confirmed.

     All a sudden, Maggie decided she had to have a closer

look of the institute and bolted out across the field. Wiley

couldn’t believe his eyes as he tried to catch up with her.

“Maggie, come back,” he shouted. But it was too late.

Maggie was already in the middle of the field before Wiley

could catch up to her. “Maggie stop!” he shouted but had to

bump her sideways to slow her down.

     “What are you doing?” she asked, anxious to be on

her way.

  

   Wiley pointed to the institute. “Maggie, the people

inside are constantly watching this field. We have to get out

of here.”

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     Suddenly, a gate opened at the institute and out

charged five ferocious attack dogs, making a beeline

toward Wiley and Maggie who saw the dogs at the same

time. “Follow me,” hollered Wiley. The two spun around

and took off at top speed, but the attack dogs were gaining

on them.

     Maggie glanced back. “They're catching up,” she

cried out to Wiley. As they neared the railroad tracks, a

freight train passed through and they were cut off.

     “We're trapped!” Wiley shouted. He quickly realized

their only chance was to board the train. “You ready for a

train ride?” With that, Wiley led Maggie in a race to catch

up with the train with the attack dogs right on their heels.

Wiley noticed a flatbed train car and jumped up on it, but

Maggie came up short as the attack dogs closed in. “You

can make it,” hollered Wiley.

     “I have to,” shouted a winded Maggie. As the attack

dogs were about to pounce on her, Maggie gathered all her

strength for another attempt. She jumped but only managed

to get the front part of her body onto the flatbed. She began

to fall back, but Wiley reached down at the last second and

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grabbed hold of her collar with his teeth and pulled her

aboard.

     “We made it,” Wiley shouted, but their celebration

was short lived as the first of three attack dogs jumped onto

the flatbed. “This way,” Wiley motioned.

Wiley and Maggie fled, jumping from flatbed to

flatbed, but soon ran out of flatbeds. They climbed onto a

lumber car and managed to make their way over a number

of rail cars but the attack dogs remained on their tails.

“We’re going to run out of rail cars. What can we do?”

Maggie screamed. She was right. They were stopped in

their tracks by a huge oil tanker car.

     The attack dogs moved in on Wiley and Maggie. “Get

behind me. I'll hold them off,” Wiley directed, but he

realized he was out gunned. As the attack dogs moved in

for the kill, Wiley noticed that the train was starting to go

over a trestle bridge crossing a river. He looked at Maggie

and asked, “Can you swim?”

     “Not really,” Maggie confessed.

     “We have to jump,” Wiley ordered. He nudged

Maggie to run with him. The two dogs raced to the side of

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the ore car, and jumped, sailed through the air, and

splashed into the river. The attack dogs stood nearby flat

footed, watching in amazement.

After a long minute, two dog heads popped up in the

middle of the river. Maggie was having trouble staying

afloat but made it to the river bank with Wiley’s help. The

two exhausted swimmers collapsed on the river bank

catching their breath. Maggie smiled at Wiley. “Boy,

you’re a terrific swimmer. Thanks for saving me.”

Suddenly Wiley’s big ears shot up and he listened

intently. He was picking up sounds of dogs barking and

coming in their direction. “Who are those dogs?” he

wondered aloud.

“Where did they come from?” asked Maggie with

alarm.

“Stay by my side. I have one last idea that I think will

work,” said Wiley

“I hope so,” Maggie replied as she got to her feet and

shook off more water. The two friends abandoned the river

bank just as a pack of five attack dogs broke into the

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clearing, and watched Wiley and Maggie disappear into the

bushes. “Why did you let them see us,” Maggie questioned.

“Just stay close to me,” Wiley said with concern.

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