When Help Arrives

Last night, I went to the garden.  It is situated on the far eastern edge of Silver Oak Farm.  Gil was at the western edge, doing some tractor work.  This span is approximately one mile.  I had brought the KBoyz with me, and they were playing happily on the semi-completed construction of the barn apartment.  I couldn't see them, as there is a grove of trees situated between the garden and the barn.

While working, the CompostGuru himself came walking up, discussing with me the day's events, and chatting about forward motion plans for the fall garden season.  I listened intently, hoe in hand, until I heard over his voice the sound of a dog, barking wildly ~ a danger bark; a warning; a help.  I had to interuppt the conversation.

"I hear DellDog barking . . . there is some kind of distress!  I have to go see . . ."  and off I ran, literally, through the grove of trees toward the sound of the frantic canine.

As I broke through the tree line, panting, the KBoyz saw me and shouted greetings.  At the sound of their voices, I knew they were well, and almost immediately upon this revelation, the DellDog came sprinting toward me, happy as a lark.

Hm.  Well, no danger here, I surmised.  I tilted my head slightly to hear again the sound of the dog in the distance.  I could tell from whence the sound was coming, across the river, and now, the sound of children's voices accompanied the noise.  The voices were squealing, a woman's voice shouting in gruffness.  I determined the adult must have things under control, so I returned to the garden, the sound of barking still in my ears.

A lightening storm was moving in, and darkness descending.  I gathered the boys, and headed home, passing Gil on the tractor.  I could tell he'd be working into the inky darkness since he'd already turned on the tractor lights.

The storm blew in with great threats of violence, but did not unleash it's fury . . . and Gil worked on.  When 11 o'clock arrived, and he still wasn't home, yet the sky continued to flash it's angry threats, I decided it was time to check on him, and assure myself all was well.  It was, as Gil was finishing up by the time I arrived.

He was grimy and covered in brush, now standing in the laundry room, as he detailed his accomplishments to me.  "It was an interesting evening." he began.

To my amazement, the GilGuy related to me the sound of a dog in distress that had captured his attention early in the evening.  The sound was such that it caused him to move to action.  Picking up a pair of heavy duty pliers, and bounding through the swampish territory separating him from the source of the racket, he soon found himself in a clearing, staring at two little girls, approximately five years old.  A quick assessment told him they weren't laughing at all - rather they were crying hysterically.  The barking turned his gaze from the girls, and to his amazement, at a woman, covered in blood with her clothing in shreds.  She was holding two dogs.

With all her might she struggled to separate the hounds.  One had a death grip upon the throat of the other, and a third, The Alarm, barked frantically at the scene before him.  It was no small feat for the woman to explain quickly to my husband what was going on.  Seems she had been minding her own business, outside with her children and her dog, when out of nowhere the larger dog appeared, in attack mode toward the family pet.  She had been using all her strength to alleviate the situation.

The next few moments were critical, as my husband deftly supplied masculine strength to the tail of the perpetrator, along with a few well maneuvered tactics to get the large pooch to let go of his victim, if even for the slightest of seconds.

It worked.

Amazingly, the dog did not flail his body backwards to now attack my husband.  The reprieve allowed the woman to secure the dog with a leash, to a tree.  The GilGuy now turned his attention on the wounded family pet and the crying children.  Coaxing the injured animal to rise and follow him, Gil was able to speak a word of comfort to the young ones.  "See?  She is going to be alright."

As quickly as Gil had bounded upon the scene, it was now time to depart.  He left the woman in a stabilized position concerning the raging dogs; her injuries; and the children now settling.  The trees closed in behind him as he returned to the work area he had come from.

I've thought much today about the incident.  How, had I continued to seek the source of the desperate dog barking, my dog, and the KBoyz would have followed me, placing my dog in direct danger, the Boyz in indirect danger.

As for Gil's involvement?  How it must've been both a strange fright, and a great relief to the woman to find a man trudging out of the tree line toward her from out of seemingly nowhere.

Yes, there is great reason to be glad, when help arrives.