CHAPTER ELEVEN

     Back in the wood shed, Buster watched over Wiley,

who had fallen asleep. Buster smiled as he realized he had a

real friend for the first time in his life.

     Early the next morning, Wiley wandered out of the

storage shed and headed for the front of the house. As he

rounded the front corner, he saw Maggie sitting in the sun

on the front porch. “Hi Maggie,” he happily greeted her.

     Maggie looked down at Wiley. “Did you get some

sleep?” she asked.

     “I actually slept for a while,” Wiley answered as he
yawned.

     Maggie was determined to get some information.

“Why do all of you have blue collars?” she inquired.

Before Wiley could answer, Maggie fired another question.

“And where did you and the other dogs come from?”

     Wiley could see that Maggie was very interested and

asked a question of his own while smiling. “Is this an
interrogation? Maggie started to reply, “I was just….”

                                           65

     Wiley interrupted, “I'm kidding. All of us were either

picked up off the streets by the county animal control or

left there by our owners. Then in the middle of the night,

blue collars were put on us and we were moved to an

experimental institute for animals and put in a cage.”

     “What kind of experiments?” Maggie asked, her

voice full of concern,

     “I found out from Rollie that all of us blue collar dogs

were going to be Doctor Howl's next guinea pigs,”

responded Wiley.

     Now Maggie was really curious. “Who is Doctor

Howl?”

     “He's the mad scientist who runs the university's

research institute,” Wiley replied.

     “What were his plans for you and your friends?”

Maggie wondered aloud.

     Wiley was uncomfortable telling any more, but knew

that Maggie wouldn’t be satisfied with a half answer. “All I

know is that he is running these horrible experiments on

older dogs in an attempt to extend human lives. Many dogs

have already died.”

                                            66

     “Where is this horrible place?” a sober Maggie asked.

     “Right across the railroad tracks,” Wiley answered.

“We may have been the only dogs to have ever escaped.”

He tried to get in a question of his own. “Where am I? I’ve

never been in this part of town before.”

     “You’re in the Canine Triangle,” chuckled Maggie.

     “The what?” Wiley asked.

     Maggie began to speak in an angry tone. “Thanks to

the media, we have people coming from miles around to

abandon their dogs here, believing their pet will be

mysteriously saved.”

     “Saved by who?” asked Wiley.

     “I don’t know,” said Maggie. “Dogs just vanish. I go

out and try to locate stray dogs for Kate. That’s how I

found you and your friends, but Kate can only save a few.”

     Before Maggie could answer another question, Kate

came out the front door and interrupted the conversation.

“Maggie, I was looking for you,” she said with concern.

She noticed Wiley as he quickly disappeared around the

corner of the house.

                                            67

     Meanwhile Buster and the rest of the dogs had

gathered in the old storage building and were trying to

figure out their next move. Wiley quietly entered and

listened to the blue collar dogs discussing their dilemma.

     “What are we going to do?” asked Bouncer.

     Astro spoke out. “I guess we go our separate ways.”

     Gibraltar, the smallest of the blue collar dogs, was not

interested in hitting the street on his own and asked. “Break

up? I don’t know how to live on my own, and I bet that I’m

not the only one.”

     “Twelve dogs wandering around wouldn’t last a day

before we’re picked up again,” added Duke.

     “Well, we all can't stay here,” said Astro.

     “Some of you are too weak and old to survive on your

own. You’ll have to stay here. Kate will help you,” directed

Buster. “It's very tough on the street. I've been there. It’s

the only option for me because no human is going to

control me anymore.”

     Gibraltar was very concerned and hoping for a better

option. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wiley calmly

                                             68

watching the debate. “What are you going to do, Wiley?”

     “I have some unfinished business.” Wiley stated.

     “What business?” several of he dogs asked.

     Wiley had put two and two together after talking with

Maggie. He now believed that the reason the dogs were

disappearing was because they were victims of Doctor

Howl and the institute. “I really miss my family and believe

I can find my way home, but I’m not going any where until

these dogs abandoned in the Canine Triangle are safe from

Dr. Howl and the institute.”

                                         69

CHAPTER TWELVE

     There was a general buzz and discussion among the

dogs. Buster walked over and stood by Wiley, affirming his

position. “You're going to need some muscle.”

     Astro agreed to join in. “It was starting to get boring

around here. This sounds like fun.”

     “Count us in,” shouted Bouncer and Duke.

They all stood next to Buster and Wiley. Gibraltar

was left standing by himself. “You're not leaving me

behind,” stated Gibraltar, who joined the gang.

     Buster smiled over at Wiley, “So this is the Blue

Collar Gang.”

    Wiley observed the other dogs who were too old and

infirm to join them. Sadly he told them, “You guys will

always be part of the Blue Collar Gang.”

     Then all the dogs mingled and said good bye. Slowly

Buster, Astro, Duke, Bouncer and Gibraltar left the shed

and headed across the yard and squeezed through a hole in

the fence to a rear alley. As Wiley cleared the fence, he

                                             70

hesitated and looked back, but the yard was empty. He

disappeared through the hole in the fence.

    It was mid-morning at the institute and Doctor Howl

was addressing all the staff, shouting at them as usual. “I

want every one of the blue collar dogs back,” he ordered.

“There are twelve of them, they’re old and slow, and

they’re across the tracks somewhere in the triangle.”

     Several staff members responded, “We’ll find them.”

     Doctor Howl issued a specific order. “If you get your

hands on any blue collar dog, bring that dog to me

immediately.” Then he waved his hand, pointed at the door

and shouted, “Pick up every dog that's moving in the

triangle. Now get out of here.”

     It was mid-day back at the Triangle. Six dogs were in

single file: Duke, Buster, Wiley, Astro, Bouncer and

Gibraltar all slowly wandering down a dusty debris-filled

alley. The hot sun had all of them moving at a slow pace

past vacant lots, small modest homes and boarded up

abandoned houses. Gibraltar had fallen behind and Bouncer

reminded him, “Gibraltar, come on. We’re not stopping.”

     A hot and thirsty Gibraltar whispered under his

                                          71

breath, “Yea, yea.” Duke was up front on point looking for

a shelter and on guard for any sign of Doctor Howl's

people.

     Wiley caught up to Buster and asked, “What are we

looking for?”

     “We need to find a vacant house that’s open or a large

garage and it has to have water. It should be fenced for

security and a large shade tree would be great,” said Buster.

     Up front, Duke stopped and pointed at an old run

down abandoned house. All of the dogs caught up with

Duke. “What do you think?” Duke asked.

     “Let's take a look,” Wiley encouraged. The dogs all

left the alley and entered the property which was partially

fenced. Spreading out, they covered the grounds and

arrived at an open rear door. The house was a small, old

bungalow, partially boarded up. At the rear of the

bungalow there was a dripping faucet and a puddle of

water.

     Astro hollered, “Hey, let’s check it out.”

     Buster stepped up on the battered back porch, pushed

the door open and warned, “Follow me, but watch

                                            72

yourself.” The dogs surged through the open door and

checked out all the rooms. The house was a mess and had

obviously been occupied by homeless people. There were

holes in the walls, dirty mattresses in the two bedrooms and

piles of old clothes lying around. The bathroom reeked

with foul odors, and the kitchen was like a garbage pit.

Wiley doubtfully asked, “What do you think?”

     They all hollered back, “This is our new home.”

Wiley looked over at Buster, who nodded approval.

                                            73

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

     Brad was at the rear of the county animal control

building and was just finishing transferring the last dog he

and Earl had captured during the day. It was a small older

dog, very scared and was trembling as Brad set him on the

floor in the large holding pen among the other dogs. He

tried to assure the dog, “You're safe. Your owner will find

you.” But Brad now knew that unless the owner walked

through the door immediately this older dog would be

tagged for a trip to Dr. Howl’s institute.

     At that moment, Earl caught up with Brad and

updated him. “There you are. George wants to move these

dogs out tonight.”

     Tonight?” questioned Brad.

     “Don't you understand?” asked Earl. “These dogs

will be useful to society and the center stays out of trouble.

There's no room here. Dr. Howl wants as many dogs as we

can deliver. I told you this was a win, win program for

everybody”

                                            74

     Brad pointed out at the dogs in the pen. “Except for

these dogs and their owners,” he said in dejected voice.

     Earl tried to keep Brad in line. “Look Brad, don't

flake out on me. You are in to this up to your eye balls. We

have to get the dog population down or we could all be out

of a job.”

     It was late afternoon and the blue collar gang had

been doing some cleaning up at their hideout. Buster could

see that Duke, Gibraltar and Wiley had never seen or been

near a pigsty like this. He gave them a bad time as they

tiptoed around the garbage. Buster laughed, “You up town

dogs are just going to have to adjust.”

     The three responded, “Don’t worry about us.”

     Bouncer entered the room and announced, “I’m

hungry.”

     “You and Astro go out and scour around. Keep your

eyes open,” suggested Buster.

     Wiley volunteered, “I’ll go with them,” so Astro,

Bouncer and Wiley left the hideout and started down the

back alley. As they walked along, Astro said, “Boy, we’re

                                           75

lucky old Buster is with us. He’s seen it all.” The other two

nodded in agreement.

     After searching a while, Wiley stopped and told the

other two, “Go ahead without me. I have to go back to

Kate’s.” He trotted at a rapid pace down an alley, around a

corner and then back onto another filthy alley. After a short

distance, he arrived at the rear of Kate’s rescue house and

entered the yard. He quickly hid behind a compost pile and

watched.

     The back yard was full on activity. Jan, Kate’s

associate, was busy putting two of the blue collar dogs into

her van and Kate was caring for another of the blue collar

dogs. Wiley scanned the rest of the yard but couldn’t find

Maggie. Jan closed the door to her van with the two dogs

inside and was ready to leave. She caught up with Kate and

said, “I’m ready to roll.”

     Kate looked up from the dog she was treating.

“Thanks for taking in two of them. I’m down to four now. I

don’t understand. The other six dogs just took off, but I

have put out some food and water out for them.”

     As Wiley intently watched, he failed to notice a dog

                                       76

quietly walking through the grass behind him. He was

caught off guard when he head Maggie’s voice. “What are

you doing?” she asked.

     Wiley knew he had been spotted and kidded, “Well,

I’m not taking a sun bath.”

     Maggie informed Wiley, “For your information, my

job is to guard the back yard and no one gets past me.”

     “I believe you,” said Wiley seriously.

     “Why are you here?” asked Maggie.

     “I was checking on the other blue collar dogs,” said

Wiley.

     “They’re well cared for,” responded Maggie proudly.

     “You’re right,” agreed Wiley. “Kate is very caring.”

     Maggie continued suspiciously, “Is that all you

wanted?”

     Wiley stammered, “The dogs are hungry and I …..”

     Maggie interrupted, “You heard Kate say she was

going to leave food and water behind the old shed for you

guys.”

                                           77

     “I did. That’s great,” smiled Wiley, “I’m off to tell the

gang.”

     But Maggie still had questions. “Where are you

hiding? What are you up to?” she asked quietly.

     As Wiley slipped through a gap in the old fence

leading to the alley, he turned with a kidding look on his

face and said, “You will be the first to know.”

                                         78





                                            77

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

     Back at the hideout, Astro and Bouncer had returned

and told Buster they found no food. “Where’s Wiley?”

Buster asked.

     At that moment, Wiley entered the rear door of the

hideout and informed the gang that if they were hungry,

there was food back at Kate’s. As soon as he got the words

out of his mouth, Wiley found himself standing all alone.

So he quickly returned to Kate’s to fill his very empty

stomach as Maggie watched from a distance.

     After the Blue Collar Gang had their fill at Kate’s,

they returned to the hideout. A cool evening breeze made it

very comfortable and the gang relaxed in the back yard.

Wiley approached Buster as he rested and made a

suggestion. “Tomorrow we’ll work up our game plan. I

want to get this show on the road,” said Wiley.

     Buster, who was almost asleep, grunted, “Yea,

tomorrow.”

     The next day, an older car rounded a corner and came

                                          79

down the street. As the car slowed to a stop, a door opened

and suddenly an older Golden Retriever was pushed out on

the street as the car took off. The bewildered dog was left at

the side of the street completely helpless. Within a couple

of minutes, a white van appeared, driven by an institute

driver with his co-worker and slowly approached the

abandoned dog. The driver barked instructions. “That's an

old dog. This will be easy. I'll just go by him and stop. You

get out and get his attention and I'll come around from

behind him and grab him.”

     “No problem,” affirmed the co-worker. The van

passed the old dog and came to a stop. The co-worker got

out and approached the dog who was still so dazed he just

stood there looking around. “Easy boy, I have a biscuit,” he

said calmly.

     While he waved the biscuit in the air, the driver crept

around the van with a noose at the end of a long handle and

began to slip it over the terrified dog. At that very moment,

Wiley hollered out a command to the gang, “Go get him!”

     As the Blue Collar gang charged out of the yard of a

nearby house, the men were caught by surprise, alarmed by

                                             80

the fierce barking and howling. The van driver yelled,

“Forget the dog. Back to the truck.”

     “Cut them off,” demanded Buster, and the gang

swarmed around the two dog catchers, stopping them from

reaching the truck.

     Inspired by memories of riding beside John over the

years Wiley shouted, “I’ll try to move the truck.” He

jumped into the van with the motor still running and tried

to get the truck to move.

     Then Buster, Bouncer and Astro surrounded the van

driver and his assistant, and the men began backing away

from the barking dogs. “Bouncer, Astro and I will keep

these bozos busy,” Buster shouted. Gibraltar and Duke then

rushed to the aid of the disoriented retriever and guided him

away from the truck on down the street.

     “Just stay with us,” Duke advised.

     At that moment, Wiley managed to get the truck in

gear, and as it began to move down the street, he jumped

out. The van driver couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“My truck,” he screamed with horror.

                                         81

     The gang watched as the men ran after the truck,

which slowly rolled down the street with two dog catchers

in pursuit, until it hit a tree. Then the dogs broke loose with

a massive victory bark of woofs, howls and roars heard

throughout the Canine Triangle. They had completed their

first raid and joyfully began to make their way to Kate’s

with their first rescued dog.

     Duke introduced himself and the gang to the

abandoned dog. “We're the "Blue Collar Gang. This is

Wiley, Buster, Gibraltar, Bouncer, Astro and I'm Duke.”

     “I'm Rex. I don't understand why,” the lost dog said

sadly, “my owner just dumped me on the street.”

     Buster approached Rex and assured him. “Rex, we'll

take you to a lady who will help you.”

     The Blue Collar gang arrived at the yellow house,

went around to the alley, and helped Rex into the rear yard.

Rex tried to put up a brave front, but he was still in shock.

“Where am I?” he asked.

     “You’re safe here, Rex,” said Gibraltar, looking up at

him. “You’re at Kate’s New Life Rescue Home.”

     “You guys are great,” said a thankful Rex.

                                         82

     Kate came out of the house to see what was

happening. The gang stood in a circle around Rex. She

quickly realized that the lost dog needed attention and

guided him over to a shaded area. As she examined him she

said, “Poor guy. You need to rest.” Then she addressed the

Blue Collar gang. “I'll do what I can for him and any dogs

you bring me.” Kate then pointed to the rear of the yard

where there were six bowls. “There will always be food

and water for you,” she said softly.

     It was evening when the gang began to return to the

hideout. Maggie had been observing from a distance what

had happened and decided she must talk with Wiley. She

cut him off before he went through the hole in the fence.

“Wait a minute. We need to talk,” she said.

     “Why don’t you walk with me as we go back to the

hideout,” asked Wiley. So Maggie began walking side by

side with Wiley down the rear alley behind her home. They

found themselves engaged in a serious discussion as they

trailed behind the other blue collar dogs.

     Maggie was worried and needed some answers.

“Wiley, what’s happening? There is this secret hideout

                                            83

your Blue Collar gang is rescuing dogs off the streets, I see

dog catchers driving around in white vans chasing dogs up

and down the triangle.”

     Wiley interrupted. “Maggie, Maggie, hold on. The

gang has decided, with your and Kate’s help, to rescue as

many of the abandoned dogs as we can. You know what

will happen if we don’t.”

     “I know, I know but….” fussed Maggie.

     “Maggie, we know the odds are stacked against us,”

conceded Wiley.

     Maggie thought for a moment and with an

encouraging smile looked Wiley straight in the eyes and

said, “Forget the odds. We can win. We have to.”

     Wiley and Maggie had fallen back from the gang as

they talked, so when they arrived at the hideout, the other

dogs had gone inside the old bungalow. As they entered the

rear yard of the hideout, Wiley stopped and pointed at the

old run-down bungalow, “Well, This is it. Now you know.”

     Maggie began to comment, “So this is……”

     At that moment, out of the old bungalow’s back door

                                          84

burst Gibraltar shouting, “Clear out! Skunks!”

     Bouncer, Buster, Astro, and Duke scrambled out

right behind him, all coughing and choking with watering

eyes. Gibraltar sprinted over to the muddy water hole and

dove in. Soon all the other dogs were rolling around in the

mud and water. Bouncer shouted, “We’ll have to leave a

guard here.”

     “If the skunks want this place they can have it,”

yelled Duke.

     The skunk odor hit Wiley and Maggie like a tidal

wave and they both backed away from the bungalow and

the dogs. Both of them began to cough and their eyes

watered. Maggie couldn’t contain herself and began to

laugh and teased Wiley, “You sure have a fragrant

hideout.”

     The other dogs milled around, resembling walking

mud balls. Astro complained, “My coat will never smell the

same.”

     “Maybe all my fleas bailed out,” said Bouncer,

looking on the bright side of the dilemma. The dogs then

wandered toward Wiley and Maggie, “Keep your distance

                                              85

You guys stink,” warned Wiley.

     Buster said firmly, “We have to move on. There’s a

junker up the street I’ve had my eye on.”

     Maggie had seen enough and knew Kate would be

concerned if she didn’t get home. “I have get back,” she

said, still coughing on the skunk fumes.

     Embarrassed, Wiley muttered, “I’ll let you know

when we have a new place.” The gang watched as Maggie

leaned forward, nuzzled Wiley, and headed for home,

leaving Wiley frozen like a statue with a big smile on his

face.

                                    86

    

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

                                          87

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

                                         88

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

                                        89

     “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.”

                                           90

     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,

                                            91

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.

                                         92

                      

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

     It was afternoon the same day. Doctor Howl had just

found out about Moose’s rescue by the Blue Collar Gang

and was pacing back and forth in front of his staff. “I've

had it,” he shouted. “What is happening? Dogs are

rescuing dogs, our vans are running into trees, and there

have been no new dogs from the triangle. I will not stand

for a pack of mongrels delaying my experiments.”

     “What can we do?” asked the staff.

Doctor Howl cried out, “What can you do? Run them

down, shoot them with tranquilizer guns, and capture

them.”

     “I can’t understand how they are surviving,” said one

of the staff with concern.

     “Someone is helping them,” said Doctor Howl. “We

have to find that person. Capture a Blue Collar dog and I'll

do the rest. Now get out of here,” ordered the doctor.

     It was the end of day and the gang was in the shade of

an old oak tree in the rear yard of the hideout. They were

                                        93

kicking back, enjoying their recent successful rescues of

Rex and Moose.

     “Rex and Moose had no idea that they were going to

be experimental guinea pigs,” said Astro seriously.

     “Neither did their owners who abandoned them,”

stated Bouncer. “They thought the Canine Triangle was

some magical place that would save their dogs.”

     Bouncer looked over at Astro. “How did you end up

on the street?”

     “I was in the middle of a very ugly divorce between

my owners,” said Astro. “They couldn't agree who I should

stay with. It was tearing me up, so I finally just took off.”

     Duke broke into the conversation. “When your family

loses their home, there's no place for a dog. I guess I was

the odd dog out.”

     “I just outlived my owners,” chipped in Gibraltar.

     Maggie and Wiley were listening to the gang with

interest when Gibraltar asked, “Maggie, how did you meet

Kate?”

     “I was just a pup when I was left on Kate’s doorstep.

                                         94
 

She adopted me. I was very lucky,” said a thankful Maggie.

     Wiley knew he was next, so he volunteered, “I was

born under a crumbling little shack like our hideout. My

brothers, sisters, mom and I were abandoned there by our

owner. We ventured out to look for food and were

discovered by two men, Don and John, who were building

a house next door. They found a home for all of us,

including Whisky my mom. John adopted me.”

     Buster had been listening to the gang and stared at

Wiley and began to laugh. “And now you're here because

you fell out of a car. I can’t believe it.”

     “I jumped out. There's a difference,” snapped Wiley.

     Maggie didn’t want the two to argue so she stood up

and announced, “I have to go.” Wiley got up and left with

Maggie. The gang all watched and Buster had a big smile

on his face.

     As Wiley and Maggie walked down the moonlit alley,

Maggie thought about how the Blue Collar dogs had ended

up without homes. “I know how fortunate I am to be with

Kate. You must miss your family,” she said to Wiley

wistfully.

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“I do. I was part of a family. I had jobs to do every

day,” answered Wiley.

“What did you do?” asked Maggie.

“I'm a herder. So that's what I did, even though there

were only two people to herd.”

“Just two?” laughed Maggie.

“Well, mainly one. John. I had to wake him up every

morning and then see that he made it to the kitchen so I

would be fed. You had to keep an eye on him. He was

always pushing the envelope, working on all his projects,”

Wiley said, recalling one day that almost ended tragically.

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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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