Whirlwind Read Free

it’s been without food and water,” Officer Lacey said. “But the poor thing has eaten the bark off every tree and started peeling wood from the crates.”
    At the sound of his voice, the horse turned its head. It was covered with sores. Flies rose from its body in a black, buzzing cloud.
    “Oh, sweet heaven,” Miss Hahn murmured.
    Bile rose in Jas’s throat. She thrust the halter at Miss Hahn. Clapping her hand over her mouth, she ran to the front of the garage. She grimaced, glad that Chase hadn’t come along. He’d be razzing her big-time about being so squeamish.
    Jas vowed that this time she
would
handleit. Dropping her hands, she took deep breaths. Her stomach quit churning. Behind her, something rattled. She peered into the garage, but it was too dark to see. Again she heard the sound.
A skunk? Raccoon?
    Whatever it was, it was dragging something metal—like a chain. She peered closer and heard a whimper.
    A dog
. Whirling, Jas ran to the truck. Reaching through the open window, she pulled a flashlight from the glove box and raced back. Several feet from the garage, she slowed. If it was a dog, she didn’t want to scare it to death. Flicking on the light, she shined it toward the back.
    The beam bounced off a small shaggy dog, which trembled from head to tail. “Oh, sweet heaven,” Jas repeated Miss Hahn’s words. The family hadn’t just abandoned a horse.
    Jas stepped into the shadows. A chain large enough to hold a Great Dane was attached to the dog’s neck. An empty bowl sat beside it. Another chain and empty bowl lay in the dirt as if a second dog had once been tied there. The whole place stunk.
    Jas crouched. Maybe if she made herself smaller, the dog wouldn’t be so frightened.“Hello,” she said softly. The dog glanced away, submissive.
    “Will you let me take the chain off your neck? Would you like some water?” She duck-walked closer and was encouraged when the dog didn’t crawl away. “I bet you’d like to come with me to Second Chance Farm. There you’d have plenty of food and friends. The farm helped me when I was all alone.” She reached out her hand, but the dog slunk away. Sitting back on her heels, Jas patiently waited. As she gave it time to get used to her, her mind drifted.
    When she first thought that Hugh had killed Whirlwind, she’d been lost in anger. It had taken her weeks to trust anyone at her new foster home. She had finally learned to trust Chase, a volunteer who was about her age. He’d helped her figure out the insurance scam that Hugh had pulled, when he’d switched the look-alike with Aladdin. Fortunately, they’d dug up enough evidence so at least the lawyers were charging Hugh with one count of fraud. Now, if she could only find—
    A wet tongue licked Jas’s knuckles. Startled, she glanced down. The little dog had crawled beside her. It pressed itself against her knee as if desperate for her touch.
    Gently she stroked its back, the fur tangled and gritty. Its tail thumped. “So you’ve decided to trust me?” Her fingers found the chain, which had rubbed its neck raw. “I can’t believe someone did this to you.” She undid the chain and let it drop. Only she
did
believe it. Hugh had shown her how cruel people could be to animals.
    Moving slowly, Jas wrapped her arms around the dog and held its quivering body to her chest. When she stood and walked into the sunlight, it hid its muzzle in the crook of her arm.
    She carried it around the garage to the makeshift paddock. Miss Hahn was smearing something on the horse’s sores. Officer Lacey was feeding him a handful of hay. Jas was glad to see him chewing hungrily.
    She’d learned that an animal suffering from malnutrition had to be gradually reintroduced to food. Starvation messed up the animal’s digestive system. Horses given too much feed too fast could colic, founder, or die. “How’s he doing?” she asked.
    “He’s young,” Miss Hahn said. “So I think he’ll be okay. What’s that