Free Untrusting (Troubled) by A. J. Wells Page A

are all wet.  I step out the front door and
look down the street to see the hardware store still standing.  I jump in
the truck and see the store windows are blown out when I get there, but I ask
for dry blankets anyway.  They have a few that are dry so I buy them and
hurry back to the clinic.  As I’m covering the puppies, Mom, Dad, Miss
Lili and Maria come in.  I haven’t had time to check the back yard so I
can let the dogs out.  Dad checks it for me and declares a small army is
needed to clear the debris before its safe.
    Several people come through the
front door to see if they can help.  I can’t take the time to notice who
they are, but if they’re willing to help I’ll put them to work.  They
start clearing the back yard and the kennel room.  I ask Maria if anyone
has heard from Steve and Bob.  She answers a low no and keeps clearing the
debris from the room.

Chapter  4
    Miss Lili and Dad disappear with my
truck for about two hours.  When they get back they have supplies to put
things together across the back of the clinic and the roof.  I hear saws
going, but I’m too busy with the animals to see what’s going on.  At
lunch, there’s a delivery from the Burger Barn with enough food for all of us,
thanks to Miss Lili.  We sit out back on the concrete patio in the waiting
room chairs to eat, my first time sitting down all day.  I notice the yard
is cleared of debris and the back of the clinic is being framed in for a
wall.  The roof has new tar paper on it and there’s shingles sitting on
it, waiting to be nail on.
    I can’t believe so much has been
done, and remember my insurance agent hasn’t been out to survey the damage, or
has he?  When I ask, Dad says Dave, my agent, has been here and is still
here, working.  Everyone here knew about the dogs and came to help. 
They want this put back together as quickly as possible…for the dogs.
    A H.P. car stops in the drive,
beside the building, and I go to meet them.  They want a final count of
dogs and I tell them forty, since the last puppies were born.  They found
the owners of the dogs and have them in jail and they have papers saying the
dogs are wards of the court and in my care, until further notice.  That’s
good to hear.  I ask if these were the only dogs he had.  It wasn’t,
but the others are being taken care of by a Vet near Austin, where the puppy
mill’s main facility is located.  These were being transported to a branch
at San Angelo when the accident happened.  The family of the driver
doesn’t want the Shepherd back.  It was strictly the driver’s dog, not a
family dog.  So the dog is mine to do with as I see fit.
    They survey the damage and notice
the town is helping me put the clinic back together, so they don’t feel the
need to move the dogs.  Lili steps up when he says that and tells them the
dogs will be spoken for as soon as the court lets them go.  They’ll want
for nothing as long as they stay here.  When he asks who she is and hears
her name he becomes very polite, assuring her the dogs will be staying. 
She smiles and goes back to work.  The patrolman leaves and I go back to
work, too.
    The dogs are made comfortable and
blankets and towels are hung out to dry from the storm so we can wash them once
the electricity is on.  There’s a wall with a sliding door, like a barn
door, when supper is delivered.  The roof is finished, too, I notice as I
sit down to eat.  There’s no glass to fix the windows so they’re covered
with plywood.
    There’s still no word of Steve and
Bob, so Dad goes to the station to see what he can find out.  When he
comes back he says they’re busy digging out a couple of ranch houses, looking
for survivors.  The houses are abandoned, but sometimes they’re used by
transients.  As a precaution, they’re going through the rubble.  At
least we know they’re okay.
    We go back to work putting things
away and by dark the dogs are out again and back in the kennel