see what's wrong.'
Deborah nodded agreement, then led her mother inside, locking the door behind them. 'Sit down in here and rest, Mother. I'll go see what's happened.'
Once she had seated her mother on the sofa, Deborah raced through the house, meeting Mazie coming down the stairs.
'What was that screaming all about?' Mazie asked. 'It sounded like Allen.'
'It was,' Deborah said. 'Go see about Mother. She's in the living room.'
Deborah rushed through the kitchen, flung open the back door and ran into the fenced backyard. Roarke stood facing Deborah, but his attention was riveted to the boy and man and dog on the ground. Deborah's heart stopped, her lungs filling with air as she sucked in a terrified breath.
Huckleberry lay on the ground, Allen on his knees beside him, trying to hug the big dog in his arms. Ashe hovered over Allen, his hand on Allen's shoulder as he talked in a low voice.
In the throes of a spasm, Huckleberry jerked. His spine arched, his head leaned backward, his legs twitched.
'What—what happened?' Deborah walked forward slowly.
'Looks like the dog's been poisoned,' Roarke said.
'He's vomited,' Ashe said, nodding toward the foul-smelling evidence. 'If he has been poisoned, vomiting is a good sign. There's hope a vet might save him.'
Tears streamed down Allen's face. He glanced up at Deborah. 'Why would anybody want to hurt Huckleberry?'
Why indeed? Ashe looked at Deborah and she knew. This was another warning from Buck Stansell.
'Come on, Allen.' Ashe pried the boy's arms from around his dog, lifting him to his feet. 'Go inside and get a quilt to wrap Huckleberry in. He's still alive. If we hurry we might be able to help him.'
Allen nodded in numb silence, then flew through the open back door.
'Roarke, get the vet's phone number from Miss Carol and call and tell him to meet us.' Kneeling, Ashe hoisted the big, stiff-legged Lab into his arms. 'Deborah, go get the car started. Allen and I will bring Huckleberry around.'
Deborah had the car ready when Allen opened the door and helped Ashe place Huckleberry on the backseat. Father and son leaped into the backseat beside the dog, Ashe pulling Allen onto his lap.
'Let's go,' he said.
Deborah drove like a madman, running several red lights as she flew down Second Street. She prayed that nothing would prevent them from making it to Dr. Carradine's Pet Hospital in Muscle Shoals. She heard Ashe talking to Allen, reassuring him without giving him false hope.
'Talk to Huckleberry, son. Tell him we're taking care of him. Tell him he's a fine dog.'
Tears gathered in Deborah's eyes. She swatted them away with the back of her left hand while she kept her right hand on the steering wheel. It was so unfair for this to happen to Huckleberry. He was an innocent animal, a child's pet. The rage inside her boiled. If she could have gotten her hands around Buck Stansell's neck, she didn't doubt that, at this precise moment, she had the strength to strangle the man.
When she swerved into Carradine's Pet Hospital, Dr. Carradine rushed out the front door and over to the car. Ashe got out, pulling Allen with him. Dr. Carradine leaned over inside the car.
'I'd say from the looks of Huckleberry that he has been poisoned. My guess is strychnine.' Dr. Carradine lifted Huckleberry, straining himself in the process, his small, slender arms barely able to manage the dog's weight.
Ashe took Huckleberry from the vet the moment he emerged from the car.
'Bring him inside quickly. I'll anesthetize him. It'll stop the spasms.'
Deborah took Allen's hand and they followed Ashe into the veterinary clinic. When they entered the lobby, Ashe turned to Deborah.
'You and Allen stay out here.'
'No, I want to go with Huckleberry,' Allen cried.
'You can help Huckleberry by letting me take care of him,' Dr. Carradine said.
Allen clung to Deborah, tears pouring from his eyes, streaking his face, falling in huge drops from his nose and chin.
Ashe laid the big Lab on the examining table. Huckleberry panted wildly, then went into another spasm. Ashe watched while the doctor filled a syringe and plunged it deep into the dog's body. Poor animal. The veterinarian refilled the syringe and administered a second injection.
'What now?' Ashe wondered if there was any hope of saving Allen's pet.
'Wait and pray,' Dr. Carradine said. 'I've given him enough anesthesia to put him in a deep sleep. If we can keep him this way, he has a slight chance of pulling through. But I have to be honest with you. It doesn't look good.'
'Huckleberry had been vomiting when we found him.' Ashe looked down at the short, slender young veterinarian. 'It's possible he didn't completely digest all the poison.'
'Good. It's the best possible sign, and that's what we'll tell Allen. There's nothing to do now but wait. If Allen and Deborah want to come on back here and be with him, it'll be all right.'
The moment they saw Ashe in the doorway leading to the examining room, Deborah and Allen hurried toward him.
'Huckleberry is resting,' Ashe said. 'He's sound asleep. Dr. Carradine says that since Huckleberry vomited, there's a good chance his body hasn't absorbed enough poison to kill him. We have hope he'll pull through.'
Allen flung his arms around Ashe's waist. Ashe laid his hand on Allen's head, then leaned down and picked him up into his arms and carried him into the examining room. Deborah followed behind them, tears blurring her vision.
'Huckleberry needs to rest,' Dr. Carradine said. 'I'll continue to give him injections to keep him peaceful. We'll hope for the best.'
Ashe set Allen on his feet beside the examining table, keeping his hand on the boy's shoulder. Allen reached out, stroking his pet's back.
'Y'all can go on home and I'll call if there's any change,' the vet said.
'No, I can't leave Huckleberry. What if he wakes up and I'm not here?' Allen threw his arms around the comatose animal.
Ashe pulled Allen away from the dog, turned the child to face him and knelt down on one knee. 'We aren't going anywhere until Huckleberry wakes up. You and Deborah and I will keep watch over him.'
Deborah gulped down the sobs when she saw the tentative little smile trembling on Allen's lips as he nodded his head.
Ashe glanced over at Dr. Carradine. 'I'll bring in some chairs from the waiting room.'
The doctor smiled. 'I'll help you.'
For what seemed like endless hours to Deborah, she and Ashe and Allen waited at Huckleberry's side, rising in fear each time the dog showed signs of going into another spasm. Dr. Carradine kept him medicated, and as the hours wore on, Deborah almost wished she, too, could be given an injection that would ease her pain. Watching the way Allen suffered tore at her heart the way nothing ever had. To watch her child hurting and know she could do nothing to ease his pain became unbearable.
Standing quickly, Deborah paced the floor. Allen had fallen asleep, his head resting in Ashe's lap. Deborah walked into the waiting room and looked out the windows. Evening had turned to night. The bright lights along Woodward Avenue sparkled like Christmas tree decorations. She glanced down at her watch. Ten-thirty.
Turning around, she walked back to the examining room, stopping in the doorway. Ashe was in the process of removing his jacket. He raised his leg just a fraction to give Allen's head a slight incline, then draped his jacket over the sleeping child. Covering her face with one hand, Deborah closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, asking God to save Huckleberry.
Ashe felt a hot fury rising inside him. A killing rage. Buck Stansell had no respect for animal life and little for human life. Buck's kind thought of animals as unfeeling, worthless creatures. Killing a dog would mean no more to him than flicking ashes off his cigarette.
Ashe adjusted his jacket around Allen, amazed how much he'd grown to care about Deborah's young brother. He had never been around children, had never allowed himself to think much about what it would be like to be a
