The Chase (20 page)

D
oug pulled the Porsche into the drive to the kennels and parked in the shade of an oak tree. The camp bus was next to the barn, along with a dozen or so other vehicles, but he didn’t see the kids anywhere.

He turned to Mike, the bodyguard who had accompanied him. “They must still be out with the beagles. I’m going to get out and stretch my legs.” Doug popped open the rear of the sunroof, so the car wouldn’t be so hot when they returned, then opened the door and eased out of the driver’s seat. He heard the melancholy cry of the beagles coming from the pasture to the south. “There they are. If we walk to the top of that knoll, we should be able to see them come in.”

Doug’s chest was still sore and he climbed the hill slowly. He glanced sideways at Mike. “You go on ahead. I’ll come at my own pace.”

Mike hesitated. “Mr. Cummings, it’s my job to protect you, sir.”

Doug sighed. “I’m perfectly safe here, Mike. I just brought you along to keep my wife happy.”

“Yes, sir,” Mike said, continuing to match his stride to Doug’s.

They reached the crest of the hill just in time to see the beagle pack emerge from behind a grove of trees, along with a group of a couple dozen kids and a handful of adults. The beagles loped lazily towards home, their long ears flopping and their sterns at half-staff. Some of the kids ran to keep up with the beagles, while others lagged behind doing cartwheels and summersaults in the high grass.

As the group grew nearer, Samantha spotted Doug and scampered up the hill. “Daddy, you’re here.” She rushed towards him with outstretched arms.

Doug knelt on one knee and caught her in his arms as she flung herself at him. “I told you I’d be here waiting for you when you got back, didn’t I?”

“Uh-huh.” She looped her hands around his neck and leaned back so she could see his face. “We had so much fun walking the beagles, Daddy. We took them swimming in the pond, and Mrs. Strump let me walk down in the creek with them. If you feel better by next time, you have to come with us.”

“Wow, that sounds like fun; I’ll take you up on that. I see there are some other kids here, too, besides the camp kids. Did you make any new friends?”

“I guess.” Samantha released her grip around his neck. “Come on, we’re going to feed the beagles now, and then we get to see the puppies.”

Doug grimaced as he rose to his feet. “All right, you go on in with the other kids, and I’ll be there in a minute.”

Samantha frowned at him. “Are you okay, Daddy?”

He ruffled her hair. “I’m perfectly fine, princess. Go on, now. You don’t want to miss anything.”

“I want to stay with you.” Samantha grabbed his hand and buried her face against his thigh.

“Okay then, let’s hurry.” Doug gently pried Samantha loose from his leg and started down the hill. “If beagles are anything like foxhounds, they eat pretty fast.”

“Some of them eat slower than others, so they put them in a different pen. That way, the faster eaters don’t steal all the food from the slower eaters. That’s what Kendall told us.”

“Is that right? That’s pretty smart.”

“Yup.” She reached down to pick a yellow wildflower. “Look, I found a pretty little flower. We can take it home to Mommy.”

“That’s a great idea.”

The beagles were out in their pens by the time they reached the kennel, and Kendall opened the gate to the turnout enclosure for them.

“Come on, Samantha, I reserved a very special group of beagles for you to feed,” Kendall said, holding out her hand.

Samantha looked up at Doug.

“Go on,” he said. “I’ll be right here watching.”

Jake was leaning against a shade tree in the center of the enclosure. Doug walked over to him.

“Good to see you, Jake.”

Jake shook his hand. “Nice to see you, Mr. Cummings. I was surprised when Samantha told me you were going to be here. You must be feeling better.”

“I’m doing all right. Nothing time won’t heal.”

“How’s Chancellor doing? I didn’t have time to go see him today.”

“He’s terrific. Ned said he may be able to come home by the weekend.”

“That’s good news.”

Samantha came out of the nearby kennel lugging a red bucket. “Daddy, watch me. I get to feed Sailor and Rocky. They’re my two favorites.”

“Okay, Sam. I’m watching.” Doug smiled at the sight of her hauling the bucket across the yard.

Elizabeth unlatched the gate to the pen closest to them and led four girls out. “Hey, Jake, have you seen Todd?”

Jake shook his head. “Not for a while. You need help with something, darling?”

“No, but we’re getting ready to visit the puppies, and I thought he’d like to see them.”

“Maybe Mother Nature called. I’ll keep my eye out for him and send him in your direction when I see him.”

Elizabeth flashed him a bright smile. “Thanks.”

“Come on, Daddy. I’m done feeding.” Samantha opened the gate to the pen she was in and dragged the empty bucket towards him. “We get to go see the puppies now.”

“Can I help you carry that bucket?”

“No, it’s okay. It’s not heavy.”

“How many puppies do we get to see? Do you know?”

“I’m not sure, but Kendall said there are enough for each of us to hold one.”

The puppies were in a separate pen on the other side of the kennel, and as Doug followed Samantha around to the far side of the building, he noticed Mike and Samantha’s guard, Ben, shift their position in the parking lot so they could maintain visual contact.

Deena Strump, the huntsman for the beagle pack, was in the puppy pen with the kids, and she hurried over to Doug and Samantha as soon as they entered.

“Doug, it’s good to see you. I heard you had a terrible accident.”

He glanced at Samantha. “I’m fine. I just got a few scratches.”

She frowned. “That’s more than a scratch you have on your forehead. But, never mind, you’re here and it’s great to see you. Samantha did a very good job walking the beagles today.”

“It was so much fun,” Samantha said.

Deena smiled. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Would you like to hold a puppy?”

Samantha nodded.

Deena looked around the pen at the group of squirming puppies. “Hmm, let me see. I have a very special puppy that I’d like you to meet. Ah, there he is.”

She picked up a beagle that looked larger than the rest and placed him in Samantha’s arms. “This is Rascal.”

“Hi, Rascal,” Samantha whispered, petting the puppy gently on the head.

“Do you know why Rascal is so special?”

“Because his ears are so soft?”

Deena laughed. “That they are, but that’s not the reason. He’s special because he’s bigger than the rest of the litter. The thing of it is, he won’t hunt well with the rest of the pack because his legs are longer, and he’ll run faster than the rest of them. So he won’t be having a job as a hunting beagle. He gets to be adopted by a family as their pet.”

“Have you found a family to adopt him?”

Deena grinned mischievously at Doug. “I’m still working on that.”

Doug smiled and shook his head. “Nice try. The last thing we need right now is a puppy. I’m sure a new baby will keep us plenty busy.”

“Ah, but if you adopt Rascal, he and the baby could grow up together,” Deena said, winking at Samantha.

“That’s a great idea, Daddy.”

Doug glared good-naturedly at Deena. “Samantha, Mrs. Strump is just teasing. She knows that puppies require lots of work, and Mommy and I aren’t going to have time to do that once the baby is born.”

“But I could help.”

Deena nodded. “That’s a very good point, Samantha. Helping take care of animals is a good way for children to learn responsibility.”

Samantha gazed solemnly at Doug. “Please, Daddy? Rascal must be so scared about what will happen if no one wants to adopt him.”

Doug reached down and scratched the puppy behind the ears. “Sam, I don’t think the puppy really knows that Mrs. Strump is looking for someone to adopt him.”

“Yes he does, Daddy. He didn’t look very happy before, and now look at him.” Samantha looked down at Rascal, who had fallen fast asleep in her arms.

“I must say, he sure does look quite content in your arms, Samantha,” Deena said.

“See, Daddy? I think God wants me to adopt Rascal, just like he wanted you and Mommy to adopt me.”

Doug swallowed the lump that formed in his throat and knelt down next to Samantha. “You really like Rascal, don’t you, princess?”

“I love him.”

“And I can see that he loves you, too.”

Samantha hugged the puppy tighter and kissed him on the head.

Doug smiled at her. “What do you think Mommy will say when we come home with Rascal?”

“
You mean I can keep him?”

He nodded and Samantha broke into a wide grin. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Doug stood up. “All right then, we’d better get this show on the road. We’re going to have to stop at Safeway and get some puppy food on the way home.”

“And a collar and name tag, too,” Samantha said. “That way, he’ll know that we adopted him.”

“I have a collar here that you can have,” Deena said. “Come with me and I’ll put it on him and make the adoption official.”

“Is that okay, Daddy?”

“Sure. You go with Mrs. Strump. I’ll let Kendall know that you’ll be riding home with me and not on the camp bus.”

By the time he’d finished speaking with Kendall, Samantha had already reached the car.

“Daddy!” she yelled from across the parking lot. “Can I use the lead rope in your car to see if Rascal knows how to walk on a leash?”

“I don’t have a lead rope, Sam,” he called. “We’ll buy him a leash at the store.”

“Yes you do, Daddy. There’s one on the seat.” Samantha balanced the puppy in one arm and opened the passenger door. She reached towards the seat, then let out a shriek and stumbled backwards. “Daddy!
Help.”

Doug ignored the pain that shot through his side as he ran towards the car. “Sam, what’s the matter?”

Mike and Ben sprinted past him, and by the time Doug reached the car, Ben had grabbed Samantha and pulled her to the side; Mike stood by the open door, his gun drawn.

“What the hell is going on?” Doug gasped when he reached Mike’s side.

“There’s a snake in the car, sir,” Mike replied, motioning with his gun towards the passenger seat.

Doug looked inside and saw a black snake curled up on the seat. He reached up and snapped the end of a branch off the oak tree, slowly lowering it towards the snake. “Put your gun away,” he said, giving Mike a sideways glance.

“Daddy, don’t!” Samantha screamed. “It might bite you.”

“It’s not poisonous, Samantha.” Doug used the branch to pin the snake’s head to the seat, then grabbed the writhing snake just behind the head and lifted it out of the car.

Samantha struggled to get out of Ben’s grasp. “Watch out, Daddy. It’s hissing at you.”

“Sam, it’s all right. It’s not going to hurt me.” Doug carried the snake to the edge of the nearby woods and released it.

Ben let go of Samantha and she ran to Doug, tears streaming down her face. “Are you okay, Daddy?”

“I’m fine.” He knelt and wrapped his arms around her.

Samantha buried her face against his shoulder, still clutching Rascal to her chest. “I thought it was going to kill you.”

“Oh, come on, Sam. I’m bigger and stronger than any old snake. Besides, black snakes are our friends.”

“But it hissed at you and looked like it wanted to bite you.”

“It was just scared.” Doug eased her away from him. “Hey, let’s not squish Rascal. How did he react to seeing the snake?”

Samantha stroked the puppy’s head. “I think he tried to protect me. I thought the snake was a lead rope, and I was about to pick it up to use it as a leash for Rascal, but when Rascal saw it was a snake, he squirmed a lot and tried to jump out of my arms. I held him tight, though, so the snake wouldn’t hurt him.”

Doug smiled at her. “That’s my girl.”

He rose and put his arm around Samantha’s shoulder, steering her back to the car. “Come on, let’s take Rascal home so he can meet Mommy.”

Samantha sniffled. “But I’m scared. What if there’s another snake in the car?”

“There aren’t any more snakes in the car, Sam.”

“But how do you know?”

“Because snakes usually don’t get in cars. That was just a fluke.”

“What’s a fluke?”

“That means it hardly ever happens.”

“But it
could
happen again.”

Doug sighed. “How about if I check under the seats and make sure there are no more snakes? Will you feel safe getting in the car then?”

Samantha nodded.

“Okay.” Doug stifled a groan as he stooped so he could see under the passenger seat.

“How did the snake get in the car anyway, Daddy?”

Good question
, Doug thought. “I don’t know, Sam. I left the sunroof open. Maybe it crawled in that way.”

A
nne tucked Samantha in bed and went back downstairs to the study, where Doug and Patrick Talbot, the head of Manse Security, were talking.

Doug motioned for her to sit next to him on the couch. “Did Samantha go to sleep all right?”

“She’s out like a light, with the puppy by her side.”