Oh Henry! part 3

For a couple of days Henry would slip in and out of the neighborhood to visit the boys. Sometimes the boys would have to hunt for him to see if he was still around and okay. The boys hated it, but they also had to lie several times to avoid others knowing that they had been around Henry. Henry had a slight limp, but he wouldn't let the boys investigate it enough to see what was wrong. They still didn't know if Henry attacked Stephen, but they loved him too much to care. This was their pal, their comrade, their sergeant at arms. Defender of best friends from the other dogs, as well as an avid squirrel, chipmunk, cat, and girl chaser. That was the best part too. Upon command, after much training and practice, Henry would chase "The BOB" away from the club house or the lake. "The BOB" girls would call Henry "That Stupid Dog" and "The Beast of boys". Henry got a few eggs tossed at him now and then. However, most of them missed cause...well because the girls just threw like girls. But Henry didn't care. He didn't take it too personally. The girls talked about selling him or running him off, but secretly they would give him treats when no one was looking. Brush his hair, rub his belly, and once even put clear nail polish on one of his claws. They wondered if the boys would ever notice. They did not. He chased the girls, the girls fought back. And Henry wouldn't have had any respect for them if they didn't fight back sometimes. Henry is a smart dog. If only he could speak that crazy way humans talked. Then he could say what was on his mind. Like 'Instead of me chasing the girls, shouldn't it be you boys' chasing them? Anyway, let’s move on with the story at hand.

Stephen went back to the hospital to get his stitches checked, replaced, and/or removed. He had not been careful as instructed. So there was some further damage showing by way of a slight swelling and evidence of infection. And due to his lack of discipline the Doctor instructed the nurse to put a cast on his arm. This would prevent too much movement of his arm muscles, and allow for a better healing all around. With the cast he had a sling, and the sling would be strapped around his waist to keep him from moving it around. The Doc and Mrs. Meyers made some small talk about the rain that was headed Gruberville’s way, and news of the up and coming local elections. Doc Woc asked Mrs. Meyers if the Dog had all of it's shots. "Well, I think so." She replied. "Why ya askin' Doc?" Stephen inquired. "Because young man, If he didn't have all his shots you might need to get about 21 for yourself? Although that has changed over the years. I’ll have to check the actual count." Doc answered. Stephen's eyes popped open wide. Not liking that prospect very much, he answered quickly. "Henry got all his shots, we have the papers from the vet at the house. Re, remember Mom? You put them in the cookie jar with his license and AKC certificate. Remember? Mom?" He definitely didn't want any shots. Mrs. Meyers remembered, but added. "Honey, we’re still not sure that it was Henry that bit you! We will need to find out soon or the shots will have to happen just in case." Stephen's head and shoulders...well his whole body for that matter, just slumped down in a ‘Aw man this really sucks’ kind of way.

Well...Stephen didn't get the shots. And you could have figured that out later but I wanted to give you a bit of good news in the middle of all this negative uncertainty.

At the same time that Stephen was at the hospital getting his cast put on, Jarred was up in the club house making things a little easier for his one armed pal to reach and get around with. It wasn’t much, but it was something to do. Then just as he was scooting some wooden crates across the floor he heard a few barks come from the bushes. He knew that bark. It was no different than a child calling out to Mom, among 10 other mothers and the correct one replying back. This was Henry...the boys knew his voice. "Henry!?" he said looking out of the south club house window. Some more barking and some growling came out of the bushes. Not seeming to remember what happened last time or just maybe having a major brain malfunction, Jarred slid down the rope to investigate. He approached the bushes slowly though, so maybe he did remember a little. But, he just had to see what Henry was barking and growling about.

It was a very cloudy day. Darker than usual for the middle of any day. The forecast called for rain but that hadn't started yet. Just some heavy wind and thunder heard from the south. With no sun there were no shadows and the bushes were making good camouflage. "Henry, you come out of there. Come here boy." Jarred called out to Henry with a stern yet slightly worrisome voice. With the barking that Henry was doing, and the wind blowing against his ears, it was hard for Jarred to hear his Dad opening the back door asking him what he was doing. Henry jumped out of the bushes and barked at Jarred, then jumped back in barking and growling again. Mr. Crow’s veins were just barely holding the blood his heart was now pumping through them. He could feel his adrenaline like a bad drug. He turned, dashed into the house and out of sight for a minute. Jarred heard the side screen door slam from the wind, turned to look, heard a bark, then turned back around. The wind seemed to pick up some, blowing louder and louder. Jarred heard his Dad yelling something about 'Pet Town', he turned to listen again wondering ‘if they were all trying to keep Henry away, why his dad would be asking if he wanted to go the big pet store over in Trumbull county’. He heard a scuffle in the bushes turned again and heard some more barking. And more barking, and the wind, Mr. Crow yelling, barking, growling, the wind knocking down the boy’s bikes and the lid to the grill banging up against the house. Jarred was getting dizzy from turning his head back and forth so quickly. Henry jumped out facing Jarred barked at him, turned and barked at Mr. Crow, then turned and jumped back now facing the bushes. He stopped barking all of a sudden...the hair on his back went straight up... he turned and lunged at the boy. "HENRY! NOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!" Jarred and his Dad screamed in disbelief. Then “POW"......."Yipe".......and another "POW - POW" and a second "Yipe"......rifle shots, and then silence.

To be continued.