Ever tried to run with a dog on leash…a dog you don’t know and who, likewise, doesn’t know you? Ever tried to run with said dog away from someone who’s decided that you might look better if you resembled swiss cheese? Let me tell you first hand, it isn’t easy.

Buffy thought it was a game and in true herding dog fashion also thought that maybe she should nip at my heels to hurry me along. It didn’t help.

The only thing we had going for us was the fact that I knew these woods like the back of my hand. Sure there were the unanticipated loose weathered stones that were slightly slippery, but rocket man behind me had to deal with these things too, without the benefit of knowing the trails.

It occurred to me that the safest bet might be to run back to Linc’s house. With the volunteer fire department there, these yahoos were not likely to shoot me there. But then I’d be back in jail.

My brain felt like confetti that just kept wafting away from my fingertips. I was out of ideas and unless I could put enough distance between me and rocket man, I was out of luck.

As I puffed and ran, feeling out of control, “think, think, think, Annie” kept drumming through my brain. And then I knew.

By now the woods were deeper and darker, affording me more cover as I changed direction. I turned north and ran to the creek. Buffy was game for this. We ran through the water and the sound of the waterfall, even one this minor, drowned out our splashes.

I tried to pull her behind the flow. Of course, this would be the time she showed resistance, but finally she followed me to the gap behind the falls where time and water had created an indentation in the rock that was not quite a cave, but could hide a person and hopefully a dog from someone who didn’t know it existed.

I crouched down and held Buffy close to me. She licked my face, but fortunately didn’t make a sound. After a few minutes, I settled back on my butt and waited. I didn’t know how long rocket man would be scouring the woods. I on the other hand had all the time in the world to hide. I thought.

end 5/2/2017

S. Darlington