Chase

Thirty-Six

“We should go.”

The voice startled Jeff. He’d been staring at his phone, trying to comprehend what Chipper had told him, struggling to get his head around the significance of those six words.

They killed your mom and dad.

“Hey, pal, we should hit the road.”

He looked up from the phone to see Harry Green standing off to his left.

“We need to get you away from here and come up with a plan,” he said calmly.

“Yeah, right, okay,” Jeff said.

Jeff took another peek at the phone.

The dog leaned in and licked his face.

“How much more is there to tell me?” Jeff asked.

“What?” Harry said.

“Sorry — I was talking to the dog.” He glanced down at the phone.

Harry gave Jeff a questioning look. “Okay. So he does more than solve math problems? He talks to you?”

“I can try to explain it on the way,” Jeff said, “to wherever we’re going.”

Harry shrugged. “You can try, but don’t expect me to understand.”

Jeff slid off the big rock and walked back over to where Emily and her father were standing.

“Have to go,” Jeff said.

“I’ll probably never even see you again,” Emily said.

Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we—”

Emily hugged him for a good ten seconds, then dropped to her knees to give another hug to Chipper.

He licked her face enthusiastically. Chipper was glad he and the boy were going to stay together, but he was really going to miss Emily. We might need her again, the dog thought. We just might need her again.

Harry was already by his van, holding the side door open. Chipper and Jeff jumped in and let Harry slide the door shut. They sat side by side in the middle row.

Jeff looked through the window at Emily and sadly waggled his fingers at her. Chipper gave one farewell bark.

Harry opened the driver’s door and got settled behind the wheel. He had his own phone out.

“I don’t have a fancy GPS system built into the car,” he said without turning around, “but I got it on my phone. Just going to check the best way to get out of here without going through Canfield. We might get spotted there.”

“Okay, Harry,” Jeff said.

Jeff reached over and patted Chipper softly on the head. “Whaddya think’s going to happen, sport?”

The answer came right away.

While Jeff talked to Chipper, Harry looked at his phone.

He was not looking at a map program.

He was sending a text, because even a dog with hearing as good as Chipper’s could not tell what someone was saying in a text. It read:

Harry put the phone away and said, “You ready to go?”

“Ready,” Jeff said. “Thanks so much, Harry. You’re the best.”

Chipper chimed in with a thank you bark.

“Hey,” said Harry, “what are friends for?”

TO BE CONTINUED...