Page 75 of Torn
Tanner and I are both pretty big guys, so we don’t have much trouble holding up our one-hundred-eighty-pound little brother, but the weather is stormy today with strong gusts of winds that keep blowing him around.
“Tris is Mom’s favorite, ya know. If we lose him, she’s gonna kill us,” Tanner teases.
“I’m Mom’s favorite, asshole,” I joke back. “If we lose him, I’m telling her you pushed him in.”
“Grab the dog, you wuss! I got shit to do!” Tanner yells down at him.
“Don’t make him nervous, man.”
He gives me his evil grin. “It’s good for him. Too bad Ty’s not here. He’d jump right the fuck off this bridge and grab that dog in about two seconds flat. We wouldn’t need this rope bullshit.”
Tris reaches for the dog, tries to grab him, misses, and tries again.
“Let’s lower him a little more.”
A few more inches of rope give him enough slack to grab the dog, but he’s struggling trying to hang on to the rope with one hand and holding the dog with the other.
“This wasn’t our best plan,” Tanner observes.
“Probably not.”
“Grab him and haul his ass up!” Tanner yells.
“He’s stuck!” Tris yells back.
“What the fuck? I should have done this myself.” I lean over the bridge to see what’s going on.
“Relax, man. He’s trying.”
Finally Tris grabs the dog’s collar and yanks him up, hoisting him under his arm. The dog is soaking wet and obviously scared out of its mind, clawing at his chest.
“Pull me up before I drop his ass!” he yells up to us.
We haul him up the slippery hill and I grab the dog when he’s at the top edge of the embankment, looping a slip lead around his neck. I kneel and check him over while Tanner gets Tristan untied from the rope. The dog seems fine, despite being very thin and malnourished. I’m pretty sure this is the dog we’ve been trying to trap for months. I can’t wait to tell Kenzi since she was getting so frustrated about him not going into the traps to eat the meat we kept leaving for him.
The dog is trembling but still wagging his tail, probably feeling somewhat triumphant for eluding us for so long but now happy to be safe. My favorite part of dog rescue is how happy most of them are to finally have a person touch them gently and treat them with care. Their appreciation is evident in their eyes as they brave making eye contact with us, hoping we’re someone they can trust.
“All right,” I say. “I’m going to drop him off at the vet. I think he’s okay but who knows if he’s got internal injuries.” I fist-bump my younger brother. “You did good, Tris.”
“I wasn’t expecting him to be so heavy. He was like dead weight.”
“They usually are when they’re scared like this. They just freeze up, or even worse, they try to bite us or run off.”
“I’m glad he’s okay.”
Tanner punches him playfully on the arm. “You better start lifting some more, little bro.”
Tris laughs and heads back toward the truck they came in. “Whatever, old man. Let’s go.”
By the time I take the river dog to the vet, get home, shower, and eat, it’s after nine and I’m beat from running around all day. Diogee and the kitten join me on my king bed as I get comfortable on what has become my side and put something mindless on Netflix until my brain settles down enough for me to fall asleep.
I’m just dozing off when a melodic chime sounds from my nightstand, making my eyes snap open. It’s the new tone I programmed for Kenzi’s messages. I fumble for the phone and squint at it in the dark.
Kenzi
I wanted to say hi and let you know I’m thinking about you
I’m instantly awake and smiling as I type back.