Free Lost Howl by Zenina Masters

Chapter One
     
     
    Dorine Newark was hiking with her daughter when the sound echoed through the hills.
    “Mommy, what is that?”
    Dorine looked around and saw tendrils of smoke coming from one of the access roads. She took out her phone and encouraged Lianna to come with her. “Let’s find out. Someone could be in trouble. It sounds like there is a puppy involved.”
    The small howl sounded again, raw and broken.
    It took them twenty minutes to walk over the ragged ground to the still-smoking vehicle. Dorine took one look at the scorched arm hanging out of the upside-down car and whispered to her daughter. “Call 911 and tell them that there is an accident. Do you remember how to use the GPS?”
    Lianna looked at her with wide eyes. “Yes, Mommy. Where is the puppy?”
    The broken howl continued.
    “I think it is behind the car. I will go and get it, baby. You stay here and call.” Dorine took her walking stick and moved wide around the car. The howl stopped suddenly.
    A scrabbling noise behind the car didn’t sound canine, and when she made it around the car, she was staring into pale blue eyes and sandy brown hair. A young girl, not much older than her daughter was crouching near the car.
    There was no dog in sight.
    “Sweetie, are you all right?”
    The girl shifted closer to the car and hid behind the open rear door. The tumble of hair moved as she shook her head.
    Dorine noted that the girl’s leg was not quite at the correct angle from the knee downward. She unhooked a water bottle from her belt and offered it to the girl. “Drink this, sweetie.”
    The girl reached forward and took the bottle, her dirt and blood-stained hands shaking as she opened it before she gulped at the liquid.
    “Will you come out?”
    Dorine pulled her jacket from around her waist and held it out to the girl. To her surprise, the girl took it and sniffed at it for a moment. She felt relief when the girl put it on and crawled out from behind the car door.
    “My daughter is over there. She is about your age. Can I carry you away from the car and sit you down on that rock?”
    The girl looked toward Lianna and nodded. She whispered softly, “My leg doesn’t work.”
    “We will get it fixed, sweetie.”
    The wide blue eyes blinked slowly. “My mom and dad are dead. I kept them safe, but I am so tired.”
    Dorine swallowed as she looked past the girl to see a pile of fur and feathers against the rocks displaying marks of a collision. “You don’t need to worry about them anymore. We will watch over them until someone comes to get them out.”
    The little girl nodded.
    As carefully as she could, Dorine lifted the child up and carried to over to Lianna.
    Lianna was speaking earnestly into the phone. “My mommy has her. She is coming now.”
    The little hand held out the phone. “The lady wants to talk to you.”
    Dorine set the little girl down and smiled. “Wait here. I will be right back.”
    She walked away from the girls and lowered her voice. “Hello?”
    “This is the 911 operator, are you at the scene of a vehicular incident?”
    “Yes. There are two dead bodies that seem to have been there for a minimum of four days and a child who is alive and appears to be around seven years old.”
    “Ma’am, did you say the child was alive?”
    “Yes. She is injured and needs medical attention. Did my daughter provide the coordinates?”
    “Yes, ma’am. Remain on the line.”
    Dorine turned toward the girls and noted Lianna working with a bottle of water to clean the other little girl’s face. The survivor was trying to dodge the clumsy efforts, but she couldn’t get away.
    “My name is Amira Raider. My mom and dad were Jennifer and Laurence Raider.” Her hoarse voice called out and Dorine waited until the operator resumed contact before passing that information along.
    “I will make a note of it. The ambulance is on the way. You should be able to hear it by now.”
    Amira perked up. “It is coming. It is over