Lost in the Blinded Blizzard Read Free Page B

combat situation, but you had the gall, the nerve, the stupidity to admit it!”
    â€œYeah but . . .”
    â€œNow, you put that burden right back on your shoulders and carry it around for the next 24 hours. That’s your punishment for being a chicken­hearted little mutt. And shame on you!”
    â€œI knew I shouldn’t have told the truth! Now I feel ten times worse!”
    â€œYes, but you deserve it, and that should make you feel better about feeling worse. Now, get out from under that chair and stop showing your true colors.”
    He crawled out and wiped a tear from the end of his nose. “Hank, what were you doing under that coffee table?”
    â€œI, uh, what coffee table?”
    â€œThe one you were under.”
    â€œOh, that one. Yes, it’s a coffee table.”
    â€œI know, but what were you doing under it?”
    â€œWhat makes you think I was . . . oh yes, I remember now. Drover, because you were cowering under the chair, you missed hearing why Billy came bursting into the house.”
    â€œYeah, I sure did.”
    â€œGood. I mean, yes, of course. He came bursting into the house to announce that a tornado had been sighted nearby—a deadly swirling killer tornado.”
    â€œNo fooling?”
    â€œThat’s correct. And as you might know, in the event of a tornado, one should take refuge under the nearest coffee table.”
    His face brightened. “Gosh, then maybe I did the right thing after all, hiding under Slim’s chair.”
    â€œI’m afraid not, Drover.” I placed a paw on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “There’s a huge difference between a coffee table and a chair.”
    â€œThere is?”
    â€œYes. You never sit on a coffee table and you never put coffee on a chair.”
    â€œRats. Then I have to go on carrying my burden around?”
    â€œI’m afraid so, Drover, but because of the tornado, we’ll shorten your time to twelve hours.”
    â€œGosh, thanks, Hank!”
    One of the nice things about this job is that, every now and then, you get the opportunity to involve yourself in the lives of others, to help them understand themselves and life’s many twists and turns.
    And that makes it all worthwhile.

Chapter Four: A Few Pointers on Marking Tires

    I t took Billy and Slim a while to get all the childish laughter out of their systems.
    Slim boiled up a pot of coffee and they sat down beside the stove, drinking coffee and recounting every detail of Billy’s entrance into the house.
    I noticed that my name came up fairly often in this conversation. They would say something about “old Hank,” then glance at me and laugh some more.
    Seemed to me that they were trying to milk a dead horse. I mean, I hadn’t cared much for the experience the first time around, and it didn’t get any better the second or third time.
    I continued glaring daggers at them, and more than once, when Billy was pointing his big hairy finger at me (he had black hairs growing between the joints of his fingers), I growled at him. (Oh, and he had black hairs growing on the back of his hand, too.)
    I never trust a guy with hairy hands.
    The best part of this conversation between Slim and Billy came when Billy took a big swig of coffee and found a drowned cricket in the bottom of his cup.
    He stared at it for a second, then said, “Slim, I think the protein’s running a little high on this coffee of yours.”
    Slim leaned out in his chair and frowned. “By gollies, it sure is, but it was the same price as the regular.”
    Billy went to the sink and poured out the last of his coffee. If he had tossed a glance in my direction, he would have noticed a big cowdog smile on my face. The cause of justice had been served.
    Well, after the Cricket Incident I began to feel restless and bored. I felt a cold draft blowing across the floor and suspected that Billy had left the door open a crack. I