Free Chihuawolf by Charlee Ganny Page A

running board. “I can’t make it,” he whimpered.
    â€œHang on!” B-Boy leaped back out. He got behind Paco and pushed. Teddy reached down and grabbed Paco’s collar with his teeth. With a heave and a ho, Paco found himself inside the truck. B-Boy came in right behind him just as a tall man wearing bib overalls and a red-and-black plaid jacket shouted, “Hey! The truck door’s open! Teddy! Stay!”
    His face turning white, his heavy boots going thud on the pavement, Jim the truck driver rushed to his vehicle and slammed the cab door shut. It narrowly missed Paco’s tail.
    Jim peered up at Teddy, whose head poked over the window ledge again. “How the heck did you get that door open? Gee whiz, little guy, that was close.” Jim took off his cap and scratched his head. He studied the door. Not seeing anything amiss, he went around the truck to get in on the driver’s side, muttering, “Doggone it. Near took ten years off my life, seeing that door open. Could have lost my dog. Doggone it!”
    Jim turned on the engine. He changed the gears. He pressed the gas, and the eighteen-wheeler rolled back onto the highway. He flipped on the radio and sang along with a country song. Jim sang loudly and not very well, but he sang with gusto.
    Squatting down behind the passenger seat, the little animals listened to Jim bellow out some words about being on the road again. They huddled together. They could feel each other’s hearts beating. But they only heard Jim sing three more tunes before Teddy started whining and scratching at the window.
    The long journey along the white highway took Coco and Paco many hours to travel. Now it took just a few minutes.
    Jim looked over at the black dog. “You got to go already?”
    Whine, whine cried Teddy. He circled around several times on the seat just to make his point that the situation was urgent.
    â€œHang on, hang on, I’ll pull over at this exit,” Jim promised, his voice kind. He did love his dog a great deal and didn’t mind.
    He eased the truck onto the off-ramp. Paco spotted the overhead exit sign through the truck window. It was for Mount Diablo. Teddy got it exactly right. He heaved a sigh of relief.
    As soon as Jim opened the door on Teddy’s side of the truck, two cats and two dogs jumped out and scattered as fast as they could.
    â€œHoly Hannah!” Jim gasped, his eyes as big as dinner plates. “Where did they come from?”
    Teddy barked loudly.
    Jim began to laugh. “So you picked me up some hitchhikers, did you?” Then the truck driver smiled so wide it made his cheeks ache. Whistling another song from the radio, he snapped on Teddy’s leash and lifted him down from the cab. Jim looked forward to telling his wife about what Teddy had done this time.
    Meanwhile, B-Boy, Norma-Jean, and Little Annie scampered along behind Paco until they reached a fork in the road. Without hesitation, the Chihuahua took the white way to the right. “It’s not much longer,” Paco called out.
    â€œI wonder where the children are?” B-Boy asked.
    â€œI wonder too.” Paco felt a squeeze of anxiety in his chest, but he didn’t slow down. He had to have faith in Pewmount and the plan. He ran on.

S uccess owes much to luck. It owes more to good planning. Most of the time it needs a good dose of both .
    Professor Pewmount’s sainted mother told him that.
    The wise old skunk got busy after talking with Paco. He called a meeting with the nosy chickadee who woke him, two red squirrels who were eavesdropping in a nearby tree, and five loud-mouthed blue jays he happened to know personally. He asked them to take Paco’s request for help to the wild creatures.
    The Professor was much respected by everyone, a true senator of the forest. He got a quick response. Birds, insects, and four-legged forest animals of all kinds showed up at his den. He didn’t have to twist any arms