Calvin could tell the dog was a male by the position it was in and could also see the animal had not been neutered. He didn’t comment on it, but seeing an unneutered dog in California nowadays was downright rare. “Asked you to bring home a pet, did he?” Calvin mused.
“Yep,” Devon answered in the same monotone as before.
“He got a name?” Calvin asked, shifting the subject away from what John had asked of the teen.
“Crank.”
“You named him Crank?” Calvin said, his face wrinkled in skepticism.
“No, it’s on his collar. His name is Crank—there’s a number on the tag.” Devon said, shrugging his thin shoulders. “Not that it matters.”
“Well, let’s get you back to the house and get some food into you.” Calvin glanced at Crank, who was now trotting around, sniffing at all the many ground squirrel holes in the area. “Will he come with us?”
In answer, Devon clapped the side of his leg with a palm and headed off toward the house, with Crank hot on his heels.
Inside the house, the two children fell head over heels for Crank. It was magical to see the two so happy. Crank must have been raised around children based on his lack of nervousness around Essie and Salvador. The dog nuzzled both kids, allowing them to scratch his head and ears for several minutes before he tore off down the hall to inspect the rest of the house. Shannon looked up at Calvin with a quizzical look as Crank scurried off with Devon following him.
“Don’t we have enough mouths to feed without Devon bringing home stray dogs?”
Calvin smiled at Shannon, a smile that said I agree, but there’s more. “Oh, I agree, but John asked him to do it.”
From outside, Shannon and Calvin heard the sound of Jared, John and Carlos returning from the creek. Shannon shot a sharp look at Calvin, who just sighed and took a seat in the kitchen, a front-row seat, in his opinion, to whatever show Shannon was going to put on when John came through the door. With no television or radio, it was little things like these Calvin was able to find entertainment in.
The door opened and Jared stepped through, dropping his rifle against the wall. Carlos was next, and then John appeared. Calvin almost smiled visibly, but held back; he wanted the show to take its own natural course with no spectator interference. John scanned the room, seeing Devon was back as he stowed his rifle next to the others. He was about to step deeper into the room when his eyes locked on Shannon’s.
John drew a breath and looked like he might turn and just leave, but he caught himself, straightened, and walked confidently into the house, where he took a seat at the kitchen table next to Calvin. Jared was about to walk back to his room, when he sensed the disturbance, stopping short.
“John, did you ask Devon to bring you home a pet?” Shannon demanded accusatorily.
John’s mouth dropped open an eighth of an inch before he clamped it shut and looked directly back at Shannon. “Yeah, I did. Why?”
“Don’t you think we have enough mouths to feed as it is?” Shannon pressed.
John grimaced. “We do. We are short on food for the long haul, but what we are also short on is sleep, and if the kid brought home a dog and we give the mutt table scraps, it’ll get protective of this place and bark if any strangers come meandering into camp,” John finished with a smug smile.
Just then Crank came bounding out of the hall and into the living room, where he stopped and stared at the three newcomers for a moment before sensing they weren’t a threat, at which time he set about sniffing each man thoroughly, storing their scent in his little memory banks. Shannon stared hard at John, not fully happy with his answer, which did make some sense in regard to everyone getting a little more sleep. Over the next few minutes, the group relaxed, and soon everyone was taking turns petting Crank.
The little terrier had so much energy, everyone was tired and ready to eat before Crank was anywhere near finished being petted and scratched behind his ears. Slowly the group settled in, and Jared joined Stephani in the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone. Shannon sat with the kids, toying with Crank and chatting with the children. After dinner was served, every member of the group gave Crank some of their dinner. The children would have given the dog their entire dinner if Shannon had allowed it.
Two days after Devon’s return, Calvin and John finished rigging the horses to tow the VW down to the U-Haul location. The plan was for Jared and Barry to take two horses, towing the VW to Solar Green, and wait for John and Calvin, who would be guided by Devon to the U-Haul place, where they would fetch a trailer. Devon would head back to the ranch house as soon as he’d shown John, Carlos and Calvin to the U-Haul business, while Crank was to stay at the ranch house with the women and children in order to assist with security.
When the men saddled up and moved out, Crank made no effort to follow. He was smart enough to know a good thing when he saw it. He ran about the horses, curious about what the men were doing, but when they left, he sat at Shannon’s feet and watched them go. When the men were out of sight, Shannon took the children inside and began their studies. Stephani and Claire were starting to put together a gardening area behind the ranch house, which was backbreaking work that kept them busy.
The women would stay busy while the
