CHAPTER 3
DARK CLOUDS
Location: Washington, DC, United States
Date: 4JUL20
Time: 1630 hours
I look up at the sky and all I see is gray. It has been like this all afternoon. I know the sun is up there somewhere, but its light can’t make it through the heavy cloud cover.
The parade is starting soon, and everyone here is complaining about the weather even though the first drop of rain hasn’t hit yet. Not Penny, though—she’s always happy and never complains.
“If it ain’t raining, we ain’t training.” That’s what we used to say in the Army. I bet Penny would have been a great Army dog. She’s got plenty of spirit, that’s for sure. And plenty of persistence. She’s still trying to convince me to watch.
Penny says that on account of the parade, we have some extra visitors coming to the Sanctuary, and not the good kind. Matter of fact, it’s the worst kind. It’s Hans and Heinz, a pair of feisty Doberman pinschers. They’re the two meanest dogs you’ll ever meet. And they’ll be with their owner, Mr. Mocoso, who’s just about the cruelest human to exist. The three of them are perfect for one another. Most of the animals run for cover and hide when they show up. Last week, Hans and Heinz found Brick’s hidden stash of treats and made him watch as they ate it all.
If Kris were here, she would say, “embrace the suck”—meaning “deal with it.” But some days that’s easier said than done.
Mr. Mocoso always wears a pressed white suit that matches his pale skin but he’s all dark on the inside. He wears these big round red glasses. They’re like shutters for the windows to his soul . . . if he had one. He’s very tall, but even still, his pinschers look like giants. And he’s got this big scar on his neck. Rumor has it that Mr. Mocoso’s last pet, a monkey named Simon, turned on him and took a bite out of his neck. Penny says Mr. Mocoso started it. She said he grabbed Simon by the throat and squeezed him so hard that he turned blue. Simon managed to escape and nobody’s heard or seen him since.
Mr. Mocoso’s mom used to run the Sanctuary before Ms. Becca took over. Something must have happened between him and his mom, because he absolutely loathes this place and everyone inside of it. Some of the other animals think it’s because nobody wants us as pets. I think they’re giving him too much credit. He’s just pure evil in my book. If he hates the Sanctuary so much, I wonder what he’s doing here. I don’t think he’s here for the parade.
Time: 1700 hours
All of a sudden, the door swings wide open and out come Hans and Heinz, trotting over to me, noses high in the sky as they make their way into the yard. They always try to bully me. I stand up tall on my three legs to let them know I’m not scared.
“Would you look at this stupid thing, Heinz?” says Hans.
“Which thing? Everything here is stupid,” Heinz replies.
“This thing, this three-legged freak,” says Hans, pointing directly at me.
I usually just ignore them, but not today. The parade is about to start and it’s about to rain. And I know if I don’t stand up to them, they’ll just target Penny next.
“Don’t you two have some butts to sniff?” I say.
Hans and Heinz look at each other in shock. I’m a bit shocked at myself. That came out of nowhere. Maybe there is a little soldier left in me after all.
“Sounds even more stupid than he looks! Doesn’t he, Heinz?”
“Very stupid, Hans.”
They start approaching me, but I stand my ground. Hans presses his big wet snout against mine, but I don’t back down. Then he pushes me. I stumble to the ground because I don’t have the balance I used to without a front leg.
Of course they start howling with laughter. The laughter catches the ear of Penny, who now comes over to watch.
I stand back up straight and begin gritting my teeth. I can feel my blood boiling. And just as I’m about to snap at them . . . a piercing sound hits my ears.
“You heard your master’s whistle. Time for you two to move out!” I say.
“Move out of what?” asks Hans.
“That’s Army-talk for ‘leave!’”
Heinz growls.
“Pipe down, tripod. I didn’t hear a whistle. Did you, Hans?”
“Didn’t hear a thing, Heinz.”
“Well, maybe you two should consider getting your ears cleaned!” Penny chimes in.
I don’t know if Penny was trying to be funny, but that made me double over with laughter. I could hear the other animals starting to join in. This was not something Hans and Heinz were used to, and the animals at the Sanctuary were enjoying every moment of it.
As the laughter was dying down, Hans started to crack a smile. At first I was surprised that he was embracing the joke—even if it was a silly one. But that wasn’t the case. He was smiling for a different reason. A very bad one.
“You knuckleheads might be laughing now, but you won’t be laughing when Mr. Mocoso shuts this place down,” says Heinz.
The Sanctuary goes silent and no one is laughing anymore.
“That’s right. It’s over for all of you. Or as your friend tripod would say, ‘It’s time for you to MOVE OUT!’”
I look over to Penny. She is confused and starts doing the “tilt.”
“Shutting down?” she says.
Hans has a big grin on his face and says, “Wait a second . . . you’re telling me you don’t even know . . . do you?”
“I thought you ran this place. What a joke!” Heinz chimes in.
“But Mr. Mocoso can’t shut it down. The Sanctuary belongs to Ms. Becca,” Penny says.
“That’s what you think!” says Heinz.
“It can’t be! Is Penny the brave actually showing signs of defeat? You look like you’ve seen a ghost! I can’t say I blame you, Penny. You and your little family of rejects being taken from the only home you’ve ever known, it’s quite sad,” says Hans.
It’s pouring rain now, so Mr. Mocoso blows his whistle again, even louder this time.
“All right, fellas,” I say. “The whistle means leave. You don’t want to wind up like Mr. Mocoso’s last pet, now do you?”
This catches their attention and they slowly begin to leave, but not before Hans can shout, “Better start packing . . . and soon! The Snatchers are on their way now.”
The Snatchers.
When they mention the Snatchers, the other animals look worried. I’m worried, too. The Snatchers are bad news. The Snatchers are big, burly men with beards to match their size.
And just as Hans and Heinz leave, the door opens and we’re surrounded.
Penny stands in front of the door, protecting the younger puppies, but it’s no use. The Snatchers are fast, efficient, and ruthless. And we’ve got no escape.
I’ve had close run-ins with them on the streets before, but I always had an escape plan. There are nine of them and they’re blocking the only exit we have. They make quick work of us. I watch, helplessly, as they snatch up each of my fellow animals with pole nets and lock them up in cages, one by one. Penny, Brick, Truman, and even Stripes—every last one of them.
They’ve all got one-way tickets to the city pound—every animal’s worst nightmare.
And I’m next.