“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I disconnected and sent a quick text to mark my location on the map. While I waited for Zina to show, I knelt down to try to figure out what Buster was so keen on protecting. “Hey, bud, what have you got there?”
Looked like a nest of rats or something. Every once in a while, one of them moved, causing the rest of them to squirm around. My stomach did the same, twisting and turning as I tried to figure out how we were going to get Buster out of the dead log without a fight.
Finally, the sound of Zina crashing through the woods reached me. “Alex? Where are you?”
“Over here.” I moved toward the direction of her voice until I caught sight of her. “He’s right here.”
“Thank goodness.” She reached for me as she got closer. “Where?”
I led her to the fallen log. “Down here. And he’s got something with him. I don’t know what they are, but when I tried to get closer, he growled at me.”
Zina knelt down and looked in the tree. “Hey, Buster. What have you got there?”
The dog whapped his tail, a much different reception than the one I’d received. What a fair-weather friend I had in Buster. Apparently, Zina had the magic touch.
She ran a hand over the dog’s giant noggin. “Let me see.”
Buster lifted his head, revealing the pile of critters.
“Oh, Buster.” Zina pulled her hand back and pressed it to her chest.
“What?”
She looked up at me, shock registering on her face. “They’re puppies.”
“Puppies? Are you sure? They look like baby possums or rats or something. I would have been able to tell if they were puppies.”
“Have you ever been around newborn puppies?” she asked.
I didn’t have to think about that. No, I hadn’t. But I never expected puppies to look like rats.
“We’ve got to get them back to the shelter.” She gave Buster’s collar a gentle tug. “Good boy. We can take it from here.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Here, take Buster’s leash.” She handed me the end of the leash. Buster exited the log willingly. Even he could tell that Zina was better prepared to handle the situation. Smart dog.
“I wish I had something to put them in. They can’t be more than a couple of days old.” She glanced around. “I guess I’ll just carry them in my shirt.”
My lungs spasmed. If she took her shirt off, I’d lose it. I glanced away, studying some leaves on a nearby branch.
“There.” Zina turned to me, her shirt still in place. She held the bottom hem up, creating a little bit of a sling to carry the puppies back. “Let’s go.”
“What about the mom?” I hesitated. With puppies that young, there had to be a mama dog nearby.
“I don’t know. They look pretty tiny, so I’m not sure if she’s been around. If we want to save them, we need to get them back to the warehouse.”
“Okay. Lead the way.” I followed her through the trees, wondering how this might affect the timing on getting the dogs relocated. I hadn’t had a chance to count but there had to be at least four or five of the little critters.
Zina emerged from the woods and speed walked across the lawn to the warehouse. “I wish I had all of my stuff from the shelter.”
I held the door for her as she entered. “What do you need?”
“Well, we need to get them warmed up right away.” She nudged her chin toward a chair. “Sit.”
