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“The house is empty,” Jarrod said as he and the guard stamped through it.
“He must’ve taken her into the woods. There’s no light back there so we’ll have to wait for the police before we can do anything.
“I’m not waiting for nobody.” Jarrod went back to the car and got Princess. He took her to Toya’s room and picked up one of her shirts that were on the floor in her closet. Princess sniffed the shirt, then barked. “Let’s go find her, girl.” Jarrod took a flashlight out of the kitchen drawer, then walked with Princess into the woods. The guard followed behind him with the shotgun.
“Is she out here, girl?”
Princess barked and then barked again. She kept barking and wiggling as if she wanted to be free. Jarrod took her off the lease. “Go get her, Princess. Bring Toya back to us.”
Princess took off so fast that Jarrod and the guard had to run at top speed just to keep her in their sights. “Get her, girl,” Jarrod yelled as Princess bark changed to a howling sound.
“Stay back. Don’t you come any closer.”
Jarrod heard the man yell at Princess and then he heard the shot as Princess pounced on the man. “No!” Jarrod screamed.
Princess had jumped on top of Marvel, but the dog had been wounded. She whimpered as blood oozed from her belly.
The guard cocked the gun as Marvel tried to stand. “You’re done. Make another move, and I’ll end it all for you right now.”
Marvel threw the gun about five feet away from him as the guard lifted him off the ground and walked him out of the woods.
Jarrod pulled the tape from Toya’s mouth as they both clung to Princess.
“No, no, no.” Toya was beside herself with grief as Princess laid there whimpering from the pain she felt. She rubbed the dog.
Jarrod put the electrical tape that had been over Toya’s mouth on the dog’s wound. He then took his jacket off and tied it around the dog to slow the bleeding. “I’m going to need your help,” he told Toya.
Toya was beside herself with grief. She clung to Princess as if holding her tight would keep her with them forever.
“Toya, come on. I need your help.”
The tears were flowing so fast that she could barely speak. “Wh.. what are... are we going to do?”
“We’ve got to carry her out of the woods, or she won’t get any help. I’ll pick her up from the bottom, and you’ll have to get her head.”
“I can do that,” Toya said through her tears. She kissed Princess’s fur. “Thank you, Princess. But now we need to help you.” They picked her up. Princess moaned and looked at Toya with sad eyes. Toya couldn’t stop crying. She loved her dog. “Please, God, let her be alright.”
Once they were out of the woods, Gina ran over to them. Jarrod told them, “Stay right here so I can get the car and drive her to the vet.”
“The police are here. They just took Marvel,” Gina told Toya as they both crouched down around Princess.
The two women hugged. “I told you we had nothing to fear.”
“I’m so sorry about Princess. Do you think she’ll be okay?” Gina asked.
“If she lives long enough for us to get her to the vet, she might have a fighting chance.” Toya rubbed Princess and put her mouth close to the dog’s ear. “You’re going to be okay, Princess. You are my brave, brave dog, and you are going to be with Jarrod and me for a very long time. Stay with us, Princess. Don’t leave me now, okay. I promise I’ll take you for as many walks as you want and I won’t complain.”
Jarrod pulled up, and they took the dog to the only vet they could find that was still open. Thankfully, this vet was able to perform surgery on Princess immediately. Now, they were just sitting in the waiting room with their family as they waited to find out whether Princess would survive Marvel’s cruelty.
“I’m just so thankful that you are alright,” Yvonne said as she hugged Toya. “I don’t know what I would have done if that man had hurt you.”
“No one will be hurt by Marvel again for a long time. He is going to sit in prison and rot. And for that I’m thankful,” Gina said with that wonderful spark in her eyes that had dwindled the moment she saw Marvel in the mall.
Toya held onto her friend’s hand. “No one will ever hurt you again, Gina. We found the secret, remember.”
Gina nodded, “The Armor of God will protect us from now and evermore.”
“That’s right,” Yvonne agreed, so happy that Toya and Gina truly took hold of the message of the study.
“Wow,” Thomas said, “If that Bible study stuck like that for the women, maybe we should do something for the men. What do you say, Jarrod? You want to help your old man put a men’s program together?”
Head bobbing, Jarrod said, “I could do that.”
The vet came into the waiting room, the look on his face didn’t give away anything. Jarrod took Toya by the hand and helped her stand up. They would face whatever was to come together. “Tell us straight, Doc. How is she?”
“She’s resting. It was a good thing that the bullet missed all her internal organs. It entered and exited without damaging anything. So, all I had to do was sew her back up to stop the bleeding.”
“Praise God.” Toya was so happy, she let Jarrod pull her into an embrace even while her family watched.
He kissed her, as he pulled back, he said, “I love you, Toya, always have.”
She stood there looking at him for what seemed like forever. At first, she wasn’t sure how to respond. This was all new to her, but Jarrod had come to her rescue again as he always had and always would. “Ditto, Bubba. I love you too.”
Jarrod shook his head. “I don't know who Bubba is, but you better get him off your mind and focus on me, because I will fight him if I have to.”
“You won’t have to fight, I promise, I will leave Bubba alone for good.”
“And so, it begins for us.” Toya and Jarrod had a lot to work out, but they were on the same page now. Not only that, they had God on their side, and a threefold cord is not easily broken.