Free Rescuing Mattie by S. E. Smith

Chapter 1
    Mattie Abrams giggled as Bouncer tried to steal Peewee’s squeaky toy. The huge Mastiff-St. Bernard wasn’t about to let the little terrier mix have his favorite toy. Mattie looked affectionately at her dogs. All six of them were pound puppies and she loved every quirky thing about them.
    Runts, misfits and plain old peasant blood that no one really wanted, she thought with a wry smile. S imilar to me.
    Mattie didn’t mind the fact that her mom and dad were happy not to have to communicate with her anymore. Their responsibility for raising her was done. In fact, they had missed her birthday the last three years in a row now they had someone else to concentrate on.
    Her family now was the six dogs, four cats and a mixture of other small furry creatures that she trained. Each animal had a special place in her heart, their own uniqueness that made them shine. But most of all, they loved her unconditionally for just being her.
    Mattie had spent her free time visiting the local humane societies in the towns or cities the circus visited. She knew she had a soft heart when it came to those no one else wanted. She had poured her love and loneliness into helping every stray animal she could as she grew up. Her parents didn’t care as long as it kept her busy. She had trained ferrets, mice and an assortment of dogs and cats.
    She had gotten so good at it that she had started her own business by the time she was twelve training animals, mostly dogs. Her business had grown by word of mouth.
    She became interested in training bomb-sniffing dogs after several deadly attacks around the country. The death and devastation had shocked her and she hoped she could do something to help prevent things like that from happening in the future. She had volunteered with the local police department and found her niche which turned out to be very profitable.
    By the time she was eighteen, she had already saved up enough to buy a house in a nice neighborhood. She would have if she hadn’t gone to the circus that lazy summer day. The moment she walked through the gates, she felt like she was home. She spent the next three days going to every show and talking to the people who worked there. One of them had finally pointed her in the direction of Walter. After her meeting with him, his wife Nema and their daughter Ricki, she had gone home and packed her few belongings and Calico, her cat. She bought a truck and a fifth wheel camper instead of a house and was on the road the next day.
    That had been six years ago and she hadn’t looked back once. Her small family had grown to include every member of the circus. She had a few close friends but none like her animals. They were able to fill the loneliness she felt.
    “What are you so deep in thought about?” Suzy asked as she came to sit on the step next to Mattie.
    Mattie smiled at the former rodeo clown who was now one of the lead clowns for the circus. She was also Mattie’s closest human friend. Mattie reached down and petted Chia and Oscar as they came up to lie down next to her. Mattie looked around the huge storage bay where their current home resided.
    “Still trying to wrap my head around being in outer space,” Mattie admitted. “It’s hard to believe that there really are aliens out there and we are heading to another planet with them.”
    “It is pretty crazy, isn’t it?” Suzy said before leaning forward and touching Mattie’s arm. “Are you worried? I mean,” her voice faded for a moment before she continued. “It’s a lot to give up, an entire world, everything you’ve ever known. I have Curly, he’s my rock. Are you worried about whether you will ever find anyone out there to be your rock?”
    Mattie shook her head shyly. “No, I don’t even think of things like that anymore. I don’t want anyone,” she replied quietly. “I didn’t have the best role models growing up and after… well, let’s just say I get along better with animals than I do