Read Online Let Loose by Rae Davies - Free Book Online Page A

into three groups. One
seemed focused on a stone wall that I knew chipmunks and other
furry creatures called home, another was occupied digging a hole
that I could only assume was meant to house the entire team and
perhaps a family of moose if they were to wander by, and the third
had moved down to the gate by my garage where they were howling in
unison to some noise far out of reach of my mere human ears.
    Kiska sat plunked down in the intersection of
the three groups glancing back and forth from one to the other as
if he just couldn’t choose which mayhem to join.
    I made the decision for him, grabbing him by
the collar and tugging him inside. Then I gathered up every leash I
owned, a jump rope I bought during my “box your way thin” craze of
two days, and three bungee cords.
    With my husky-control equipment draped around
my right shoulder like a fireman’s hose, I shut Kiska in my
bedroom, loaded my pockets and hands with treats, and prepared to
face whatever dogs, Mountain Scouts and leaking plumbing the world
could throw at me.
    o0o
    When I pulled into my parking space behind my
shop, it was immediately apparent that all was not normal at Dusty
Deals. First, the back door was open even though, as Betty had
pointed out, the mercury hovered just a bit above zero. Second,
stacks of cardboard boxes with “Mountain Scouts” stamped on their
sides were scattered around the back door.
    And then there were the firemen walking out,
sans hoses, but still looking way too official for my taste.
    I gave Fluff her orders, to keep the crew in
check, and headed inside.
    The scene there was not reassuring. Betty and
Phyllis stood in the middle of the store, faced off like two
heavyweight boxers. Three firemen stood to the side watching them
with a kind of shocked patience on their faces. The door to my
office was open, and I could hear someone inside yelling, “That’s
too many! Keep it small. No more than one every other week, I told
you.”
    And then there were the Mountain Scouts, nine
little girls huddled shivering by the open front door with what
appeared to be a lifetime supply of cookies stacked in front of
them. No doubt as a barricade between them and the crazy that was
my life.
    I separated the combatants first. Stepping
between them, I placed my right hand on Betty’s shoulder and my
left on Phyllis’. “What is going on?” I asked, sounding as official
and grown up as I could.
    “She,” Betty began. “Has turned this place
into one juiced up joint.”
    “You are the one who forgot to call the
plumber,” Phyllis retorted.
    “And you’re the one who turned on the gas
instead of turning off the water!”
    “Gas?” I inhaled. Sure enough there was a
lingering odor of gas. I glanced from the firemen to the Mountain
Scouts and back.
    One of the men in yellow stepped forward.
“It’s fine. We had the kids outside, while we ran some checks,
but—”
    “And it’s 10 below!” Betty bellowed. “Who
expects children to sit outside when it’s 10 below?”
    Last I’d checked, we were a good fifteen
degrees above ten below, but I didn’t think Betty was in the mood
for details.
    “We didn’t—” the fireman began, but Betty cut
him off again.
    “Not you. Her.” She pointed at Phyllis, who
straightened and pulled her shoulders back in an
I’m ready for
a fight
stance. “She was going to set those little oboes up at
a card table outside!” Betty waved her green boa like a cat
slapping its tail.
    Phyllis rolled her eyes. “They’re Mountain
Scouts. Surviving the cold will earn them an endurance badge.”
    “And frostbit basses,” Betty replied.
    “Betty!” Phyllis shook her head and grabbed
me by the arm. “I am glad you are here though. That Daniel from the
paper came by and he was claiming the strangest—”
    “Ma’am?” One of the firemen I’d passed on my
way in stood by the back door with his helmet under his arm. “You
may want to get your dogs out of your car.”
    Betty and Phyllis