Free Best Friends by Samantha Glen Page A

air was still, without a whisper of a breeze. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a wind ripped, hard. The builders watched helplessly as the wall leaned, shuddered once, and slowly tumbled away down the hill.
    â€œOh, Steven,” Mariko comforted.
    But Steven and the rest had already collapsed with laughter.
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    Word of the sanctuary in the canyon was getting around. The trickle of animals was picking up momentum: litters of kittens; dogs dropped off with the repeated refrain, “We’ll shoot them if you don’t take them.” One day rangers from the Grand Canyon stopped by with a pup that had been dumped at the lodge. “It’s part coyote,” they said. The little dog looked more like a chubby shepherd mix than a wild predator, but Michael named him Coyote—what else? So it was a good day when Diana Asher left Arizona and moved into the bunkhouse. There were just too many critters to care for while the men were busy building.
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    Everybody was happy when seventeen-year-old Judah Nasr came for a visit and decided to stay. Francis Battista’s son had inherited his father’s love of all creatures great and small, especially cats. He built his own dwelling, and became invaluable to Diana.
    Faith’s son David Maloney had naturally adopted her love for animals and the environment. The teenager shared his mother’s passion for dogs, and loved nothing better than to hike in the wilderness. After spending the summer in Angel Canyon, he declared that, he too, would stay on the land.
    Judah and David were the first of family and friends to make the trek to the sanctuary. People discovered that exploring the golden circle of National Parks—Zion, Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon—was somehow more satisfying when they could spend a few days scooping the poop, feeding, or just socializing with the animals.
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    Early one Saturday, the crunch of car tires and the infectious peal of a woman’s laughter disturbed the breakfast rituals in the bunkhouse.
    â€œThat’s got to be Jana and Raphael,” Virgil Barstad exclaimed, opening the door so the dogs could check out the visitors. The men smiled and followed their animals outside. A woman was bent over the passel of dogs that had gone wild in greeting her. Beside her a tall man, blond hair waving to his shoulders, smiled indulgently at the show.
    â€œHi, guys,” Jana called.
    Jana and Raphael de Peyer had moved to Nevada earlier in the year from Atlanta, Georgia. Jana wanted badly to be closer to the fledgling sanctuary, but at the same time she and her husband needed a place to continue their photography business. Las Vegas was the logical choice.
    Jana had an idea for the sanctuary this weekend. “Raphael and I brought our cameras with us,” she told Michael and Francis. “We thought we’d take photos of the adoptables and see if any of our contacts in Vegas might be interested. If we can find good homes, we’ll take the animals back with us on our next trip.”
    â€œAbsolutely. That’s a great idea,” Michael said.
    â€œAnd you might as well tell me what supplies you need, Francis,” Jana continued. “Raphael and I can bring the stuff back on our next visit. By the way, we haven’t checked in yet. Is there anywhere besides the Parry Lodge that’s halfway decent to stay?”
    Francis laughed. “There isn’t much choice.”
    The men walked out of the bunkhouse the next morning to see Jana on her knees, planting desert flowers. “You got up too soon,” she chided. “I wanted to surprise you.” She leaned back and studied her handiwork. “I picked them up at a roadside stand on the way here,” she said. “Makes the bunkhouse more livable—a bit of color, don’t you think?”
    Jana and Raphael took photos of the animals and went back to Las Vegas the next day. Two Sundays later, Jana had another surprise for the people of