SHE ACTED QUICKLY. Monday morning, school was abuzz about the mad dog in town. How a fiery lady from Rule managed to engage the mutt in so many hurtful, disgusting schemes was the real mystery. A small dog was attacked right in front of its young owner. Its injuries sent the pup to the vet. A young boy was mauled, a half-eaten hamburger snatched from his hand. A man waiting for a bus lost his briefcase to the canine thief, while two teens were knocked off their bikes, their pant cuffs ripped to shreds. One of the teens needed twelve stitches on his ankle. Garbage dumping and newspaper shredding were attributed to the same ferocious mutt. Pulling wet laundry off clotheslines, killing seven chickens, digging holes under a fence, leaving doggy-dos next to building corners, ransacking a woodshed, stealing bicycles, losing car keys—you name it. The dog had a reputation that grew by the minute.
Its undoing was the savage attack on a lady wearing a long, green slicker coat. Two gentlemen in a car watched the dog attack the woman as she crossed the street. Their fast action saved her. After the dog knocked her down, the men said the dog snarled fiercely, ready to lunge at her again. The man perched in the driver's seat deliberately aimed his car at the dog and stepped on the gas. In an instant the ordeal was over. The dead dog was taken to the jail, where both men insisted it was the Colony's guard dog. As for the woman, she left town.
A bystander recounted another version of the story. He saw the woman jerk toward the animal as if she were holding a leash. She exchanged heated words with the two men. One of the men pulled out a wallet and slapped money in her outstretched hand. But a day later, rumor had it that she had thanked them and offered them cash for saving her life.
Once again panic cries spread throughout town: The Colony's ferocious pet was killed to save a bystander. How could they be allowed to keep such a vicious animal! What other dangerous animals were kept behind their walls? The Colony was a terrible threat to the community!