Holiday Homecoming. Pamela Tracy

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СКАЧАТЬ Meredith was already moving through the backyard and toward the sound. “I don’t get why Grandpa would come out here.”

      Jimmy thought for a moment. “Maybe he did what we’re doing. He heard Pepper barking and wondered if something was wrong.”

      Meredith had never acted like a rich girl when her parents had had money. She’d preferred being out here with her grandparents and with him and his brother. And right now, she followed Jimmy and didn’t mind that her shoes were getting dirty or that her hoodie was getting snagged.

      It had been almost a decade since he’d seen her this close. His family, though, had kept him informed a bit. He’d been in Australia doing a crocodile story when the Stones had thrown Ray a big eightieth birthday two years ago. Jimmy hadn’t received an invitation, but his mother had told him about the event. She’d said Meredith looked good and was doing what she loved.

      Mom was wrong. Meredith didn’t look good; she looked great.

      Meredith spoke up. “Maybe I should have kept looking for him.”

      “You did the right thing, coming back for help,” Jimmy reassured her as she stepped around a paloverde tree and almost lost his balance as the terrain started to slope.

      “The right thing is finding him.”

      “If you’d found him injured, you wouldn’t have been able to get him home on your own and even more time would have been wasted.”

      “He might not even be with Pepper,” she muttered. She muttered a lot more than she used to, that’s for sure. “He might be out looking for Rowdy, and Pepper’s just out here playing with us.”

      “Rowdy? He’s been dead for—”

      “Almost ten years,” Meredith finished. “Zack says he had to remind Grandpa of that fact just the other day. Grandpa’s getting forgetful.”

      “Or maybe Pepper’s out here on his own and your grandpa went into town.”

      “Leaving the television on? His breakfast plate still on the kitchen table? Plus, Zack organizes all Grandpa’s trips into town. No, Grandpa’s next doctor’s appointment isn’t for a month, and that’s a specialist in Phoenix, and Zack is taking him.”

      “And he wasn’t expecting you?”

      She shook her head. “We were afraid if he knew I was coming, it would upset him. I’m...” She hesitated. “I’m moving in for a while.”

      “Good. He needs someone.” Jimmy upped his pace, refusing to take the time to consider how having Meredith next door again might affect the balance of his family: Danny getting married; Jimmy home again but intending to leave as soon as the next story, next locale, called.

      He followed the barking as it grew louder, more frantic, and Meredith had been right, it seemed to come from different directions: right, left, straight ahead. It echoed, too, and he overheard Meredith say, “Almost sounds like two dogs.”

      No wonder she’d turned around when she’d been searching by herself.

      “Ray!” he hollered. He followed that by whistling for Pepper.

      Only the dog responded, with a strange echo.

      Jimmy’s cell phone sounded. Instead of a hello, he answered with, “Tell me what’s happening?”

      “There’s a bunch of us in Ray’s living room,” Danny said. “Where are you and what do you want us to do? We’ve called the sheriff, and Dad’s all for organizing a search.”

      Meredith stepped next to him, closer than she’d been in years. Tears shimmered in her eyes, just below the surface. Jimmy wanted to reach out, touch her, but he knew she’d step away, so he didn’t. Instead, he said, “We’re about five minutes north of Bandit Hideaway. We can hear the dog but can’t seem to get to him. I’ve got the first-aid kit with me.”

      Danny said something Jimmy couldn’t hear, and then Zack Stone took the phone. “Doc Thomas is on his way and bringing his dog. Zeus loves Pepper and will lead us right to him.”

      “Hope Doc gets here soon,” Jimmy said, ending the call and then sharing the information with Meredith.

      They spent the next fifteen minutes investigating different paths and trudging through underbrush. Jimmy felt the first inklings of real fear. No way should Ray have come this far alone. The man was a veteran of not one but two wars, had been part of the volunteer fire department and lived alone at age eighty-two. Two days ago he’d showed no signs of poor judgment. He’d been distracted, yes. Almost as if he was expecting someone.

      But Ray wasn’t careless and didn’t take chances.

      “If we don’t find the dog or Ray in five minutes, we’re heading back to the house to regroup—”

      Two things happened then.

      First, they rounded a corner and found Raymond Stone. He lay on the ground, conscious, but obviously in pain.

      Second, Ray wasn’t alone.

      * * *

      “THAT’S A WOLF!” Jimmy stopped so quickly he almost stumbled.

      Meredith stepped in front of him. She didn’t need him to go all heroic, not right now. “It’s a wolf dog. Just stay still. Grandpa, are you all right?”

      “I will be if I can get up without that fool animal attacking me.” Ray held a stick in one hand. Even though he now had two rescuers, he still shook it at the animal.

      “Did he bite you?”

      The wolf dog barked, thinking Grandpa wanted to play.

      “He nipped me on the leg. It was enough to knock me down, but he didn’t break the skin. Pepper lit into him after that.”

      Pretty impressive for an old dog. Glancing around, Meredith found the mutt hovering a few steps behind Grandpa, shivering, limping, but still ready to fight if his owner was threatened.

      “Stop waving the stick,” Meredith said. “He thinks it’s an invitation to play.”

      Grandpa dropped the stick to the ground.

      To Jimmy, Meredith said, “I’m going to deal with the wolf dog, lead him away from Grandpa. You help Grandpa, make sure he’s all right, no broken bones.”

      Jimmy stared at the animal. “Wolf dog? You’re kidding. How did one get way out here?”

      “Since she’s got a collar, I’m thinking she must have escaped from her owner. Let’s hope she’s trained.”

      “How do you know it’s a she?” Jimmy asked.

      “I’m guessing.”

      Walking sideways, Meredith slowly moved closer to the wolf dog. Behind her, Jimmy knelt at Grandpa’s side and helped the elderly man to a sitting position. The wolf dog kept looking at Grandpa, clearing wishing that he would start playing with СКАЧАТЬ