Chapter Six

"Goldie, leave the rabbits alone," I yelled, knowing she would ignore me.

"Look!" said Jason, pointing towards the field in front of us that we were getting ready to cross, "Mutt has found something already."

Mutt was pounding in glee over a hole that she had found. Mandy joined her in the discovery. Before long, they were both taking turns digging at the hole. Mutt and Mandy were best friends. Mandy was the only dog that Mutt would tolerate. Mutt had a temper around other dogs. When Geoge would come around, Mutt would immediately sound the alarm, barking at him and running to the front deck for refuge. George would take the barking in stride, ignoring Mutt's tirade and occasionally sniff at her rear which would set off Mutt's anger again. Mutt would attack George again with a series of indignant barks that said, "Don't mess with me, I'm not putting up with any of your crap!" George loved to tease Mutt.

George was tagging along beside Goldie. George and Goldie had become best friends since we had gotten Goldie five months ago. Goldie would sometimes get jealous of George when I paid too much attention to him. She would jump on him when I tried to pet him and if that didn't get George away from me she would get between George and me and playfully bite his ear.

Jason and I had almost made it to the pond. The pond was on the other side of the hill--just beyond the field in front of our house. Ordinarily, it was not a difficult hike, but with all the equipment and our lunches, the trek seemed like more of an ordeal this morning. The fishing poles were awkward to carry and the bucket kept swinging and hitting me in the leg.

"Did you remember the drinks?" Jason asked as he stopped and turned around, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Let's see," I put down the poles and pail I was carrying and Jason handed me the book bag. At least we had found something useful for it besides school books.

"I don't see the drinks. I thought you put the sack in the book bag when we were in the basement looking for the poles."

"I sat it down next to the book bag," Jason pointed an accusing finger at me, "I told you not to forget it when I was getting the pail."

"Well, it's not here," I sighed, beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get to the pond, "You'll just have to go back and get it."

"I'm not going into that basement alone."

"Don't be a sissy," I said.

"You have to come to," Jason said firmly, crossing his arms over each other, "That basement is spooky and I'm not going in there alone. We got the fishing poles out of there together and we can go back and get the drinks out of the basement together too."

"Oh, allright," I knew better than to argue with Jason, I didn't like going down to the basement alone, either, but I wasn't going to tell Jason that.

We finally got the sack of drinks and made it up to the pond without any more problems.

Blackmon's pond was huge and was elevated higher than the ground around it. You couldn't see it from the main road, it took about a half mile walk down a dirt driveway lined with dogwood trees to reach it. It was situated in the middle of a clearing that was used for growing wheat in the summer. All around the clearing were woods that were dense and full of briars that were just waiting to pull at your clothes and hiding all kinds of creatures that rustled in the foliage.

The banks of the pond took some effort to climb and when we finally got to the pond we stood and panted while we surveyed the still water, looking for any signs of our supper-to-be. There was a dock at the far end that we sometimes used for our fishing purposes, it looked as old as the pond and was missing some boards. It was weathered with age and use, greyed and brownish, it seemed to be paired well with the old pond. I could hear it creak every now and then when we walked on it and I was careful not to trust the boards too much to hold my weight.

We had no idea how deep the water was, the pond had been here for ages and sometimes people dumped things in there. In the middle you could see something jutting out of the surface, it was a rusty reddish brown color. Jason said he thought it was part of a car that someone had pushed into the murky depths. He said it made a good breeding ground for trout. I guess we'd find out today. We sat near each other on the grassy edge of the pond and prepared our fishing poles.

"Did you remember the bait?" Jason asked.

"The bait? What bait?" I asked, quickly turning towards him, "Didn't you bring the bait?"

Seeing the look on Jason's face, I laughed, "Of course I remembered the bait, here," I pulled a wad of dirt and worms out of my pocket, "I went digging for them this morning before you came over."

Jason and I busied ourselves putting the wiggly worms on the hooks and we threw our lines out into the pond water. The pond was calm and the surface of the water reflected the blueness of the sky. The serene peacefulness of the water was broken occasionally by an unseen fish grabbing a luckless insect from the surface of the water. Every now and then air bubbles would erupt from within the murky water, proving that there were fish down there just waiting to be caught by expert fishermen like Jason and I.

We waited for a while. I looked up at the blue sky. Not a single cloud to be seen. It was too early for it to get hot and humid. Later on in the summer it would be too hot to even come outside. This was the best time of the year to go fishing. I slapped at a mosquito. It was also the best time of the year for mosquitoes.

Jason was staring at the line in the water. He wasn't usually this quiet. Jason was the busiest person I knew. He always had something to say or do. And he always has great ideas about things to build or places for us to go. That was one of the things I liked about him the best. Plus, he didn't tease me about my being short like the kids at school did. Brian, the bully, would come up behind me in the hall in-between classes and call me "small and puny, tiny tooney, Kevin Rooney". The kids would all laugh at that--all of them except Jason.

"I'm going to go and see what Mandy is barking at over there," I told Jason, propping up my stick with some rocks and dirt.

Mandy had wandered over to a grove of trees and was jumping and barking at something on the ground.

A snake was rising up, showing it's fangs at Mandy and lunging at her. Mandy was not impressed. Mutt, Goldie, and George had joined in on the fun and they were all taking turns pouncing at the snake. I looked closely at it. It was a black snake that was about four feet long.

"Leave it alone," I yelled at the dogs, "It's just a harmless black snake."

I picked up a long stick that was near me and gingerly slid it under the middle of the snake's body. I carefully walked into the woods with the snake draped over the stick and set it under a log.

Black snakes, Dad had told me, were harmless and not poisonous. They ate field mice and killed the copperheads that were poisonous and dangerous.

"Leave it alone, Mandy," I ordered her to come with me. Mandy looked like she wasn't through with it yet, but followed me reluctantly. Goldie and the other dogs followed. They were tired of the snake anyway.

"What was it?" Jason asked as I walked back with the dogs. His fishing pole was still in the same spot, "What did Mandy find?"

"It was just a black snake," I said, picking up my pole again.

We sat for a while longer, fishing in the pond quietly. I looked up at the sky again. We had been sitting on the grass fishing for quite some time. I wished I could tell time by looking up at the sun. I had heard that you could tell what time it was by the position of the sun in the sky but I couldn't remember exactly how that worked. I wished I had worn a watch. Since the start of summer vacation I had thrown my watch in my dresser drawer, not wanting to worry about time for the rest of the summer.

I looked down at my foot. I couldn't feel it any more. I moved it slightly, and then shook it. It had fallen asleep. I looked over at Jason who was watching his fishing line with deep concentration and intensity. I asked, "Why don't we go up on the dock to fish?"

"I guess we could," Jason looked up at the wooden dock, "We're not having much luck down here, that's for sure, but let's have lunch up there first."

"Okay," I agreed readily, my seat had become soggy from the dew and gnats had started swarming around my head and my pockets.

I picked up the poles and pail while Jason grabbed the book bag. We walked through the tall grass up to the dock.

A neon-colored salamander that had been sunbathing in the warm morning sun crawled quickly over the rail of the dock as we walked onto the wooden floor. At least think it was a salamander. I knew it wasn't a lizard becaue they are grey. Aren't all lizards grey? I often wondered about things like that. Sometimes my mind would wander a lot, especially during school. The teacher would be talking about something boring and my mind would take me away to some far-off place like the moon where Jason and I would be exploring. Of course, I would be the first one out of the spaceship since it would be my fantasy. Jason wouldn't like that. He always wants to be the first one to do everything, See that? My mind is wandering now--and I'm not even in school.

"Which sandwich is yours?" Jason asked, pulling the saran-wrapped squares out of the sack.

"The apple jelly and peanut butter one," I said, "Remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Jason said, smiling, "I forgot, here."

He handed me the sandwich. George was sitting next to me and he looked greedily at the sandwich in my hands. He shifted his big paws on the dock in greedy expectance and licked his big, black lips. Thick, white globs of dog drool splattered onto the dock boards. George certainly knew how to ruin my appetite.

"How are we going to eat without the dogs bothering us?" I asked Jason, nodding my head towards George.

"That is definitely a problem," Jason agreed thoughtfully, "Look! Over there!"

Jason stood up and pointed his finger towards the woods. The dogs and I looked in the direction he was pointing.

"Over there!" He shouted again, "See it?" The dog's heads bobbed eagerly in different directions trying to see what Jason was all excited about.

"It's over there!" Jason shouted again, pointing towards the woods. The dogs looked intently toward the woods and Jason picked up a stick and threw it into the trees. It made a rustling sound in the bushes.

"It's a rabbit! I saw it! Go get it, guys!"

Goldie, George, Mutt and Mandy sprang into action and bounded off eagerly, one after the other into the woods. I laughed as Jason sat down quickly and picked up his sandwich. That was one thing you could definitely say about Jason--he was quick thinking.

Jason and I quickly began eating our sandwiches and had almost finished them by the time the dogs had gotten back from their fruitless search.

"Did you ever notice that when you have a strawberry and peanut butter sandwich and you squeeze the two pieces of bread together it looks like it is bleeding?" Jason asked thoughtfully, carefully examining his sandwich, "Did you ever notice that?"

Jason looked at me and I started to remind him that I don't like strawberry jam when I felt something wet on my rear. I sqiveled around in my seated position to see George licking the remains of my drink off the dock.

"Jason, your dog has spilled my drink! And I didn't even get any of it!"

"Sorry, Kevin," Jason shrugged his shoulders, "You should eat and drink fast around the dogs like me. See? I've already drunk mine."

He showed me his empty drink can. Somehow I wasn't very happy for him.

"I brought a surprise for us," I said, deciding to ignore my thirst. I produced two wrapped parcels from the book bag and showed them to Jason, "Look--chocolate pound cake. Mom made it last night."

"Does she know you brought some of her cake?"

"She won't miss it and if she does, she'll think Jake took it," I smiled. Jake was always eating.

Jason and I ate every bite, including the crumbs. Chocolate cake is not the same, I discovered, without having something to drink with it.

"Well, I guess we should get back to our fishing," I said after we picked up the lunch trash and stuffed it into the book bag, "Does your mom know how to cook a fish?"

"Probably," Jason looked doubtful, "Does yours?"

"Sure," I lifted the pole and set the hook and worm back into the water, "Mom said she hoped I would catch a whole bunch of fish so we could have them for dinner."

Maybe God wouldn't get me for telling that one little white lie.

Jason and I sat in silence a little while longer, fishing quietly, listening to the birds chirping. Every now and then a hawk would swoop over the treetops, in search of some hapless rabbit or rodent.

Boy, was i thirsty. Looking at the pond water made me even more thirsty. Goldie, Mutt and Mandy were on the other side of the pond drinking from it and swimming around. If the dogs could drink from the pond then why couldn't I? Come to think of it, I would rather go home than drink out of that dirty pond. How long could you go without water, I wondered? I imagined that we were on a deserted island and Jason and I were fishing for our dinner. All the water was salt water and we hand't had anything to drink for a week. My mouth was dry and I was starting to daydream again.

Splash! George chose that moment to jump into the water between the bars of the dock. Water splashed all over Jason and I. We were soaking wet and George was having a great time swimming in the pond. The other dogs had joined us by now and Goldie jumped in next. I jumped up and down, shaking water off myself and yelling at the dogs. Jason started laughing at me because I looked so funny. I felt like pushing him in.

"I don't suppose you brought a towel in that book bag?" I asked, wiping the water off my face with my hands and shaking it out of my hair.

"I didn't think we'd need one," Jason got up to dodge the spray of water from my hair and he took off his shirt and used it to dry off his arms with.

Things finally quieted down and I looked at the pond. My eyes searched it from end to end.

"Where's Goldie?" I turned to Jason. He didn't know--he had been busy laughing at me and drying himself off.

Mutt and Mandy were busy hunting in the fields and George was swimming in the pond, busily stalking something he had spied in the water. Goldie was nowhere to be seen.

"Goldie!" I called, cupping my hands over my mouth, "Goldie, come here! Goldie!"

At that moment, I looked down at my feet. Between the boards I could see Goldie's struggling body under the dock. She was trapped under there in the water and couldn't find her way out.

I shouted at Jason that Goldie was under the dock and jumped in the pond without thinking. The water was cold and I could feel goose bumps all over my body.

"Hiccup!" Oh, darn it, that's all I needed, "Hiccup!"

I wiped the water out of my eyes and waded closer to the dock to help Goldie. My feet tredged through mud and I could feel squishy, plant-like vines under my feet, and my soaked tennis shoes occasionally stumbled over what felt like a tin can or big rock. I looked under the dock and could see that she was swimming in circles, trying to find a way out from under there. There was no room for her to get her head above the water. I could see her sticking her nose above the surface for a few seconds at a time, desperately trying to breathe. There were only about four inches of space between the water and the underside of the dock and I knew that Goldie would soon get tired of dog paddling.

For some reason wire was wound around most of the legs of the dock and Goldie was having a hard time trying to find her way out of it.

Jason joined me in the water, "What are we going to do?" He asked, watching Goldie struggling.

"She's stuck under the dock and I can't get to her. If I go under there, I won't have enough room to try to pull her out. Goldie's swimming was becoming slower and slower. She was obviously confused and she was making whimpering noises that sickened me. she was crying and I felt like crying too.

George watched us with interest, barking occasionally at Goldie, he seemed to be trying to help her too.

I waded through the murky, muddy water around the dock, my feet seemed to sink deeper and deeper with each step. I desperately tried to find the space between the wire where she had managed to get inside the dock. I could feel myself panicking, and my feet struggled in the thick mud to balance myself as I searched.

The deck had sunk a little lower on the other side and it was harder to see Goldie from this end. My cold, wet fingers clung to the legs of the deck. The wood was slippery and above the water line was green with moss. I stopped and listened for Goldie. I couldn't hear her whimpering any more.

"Jason, can you still see her?" I called out, "I can't see her from here. There has got to be an opening around here somewhere!"

"She must be over on your side, Kevin, I don't see her either."

I had managed to wade all around the deck without finding any opening and had started to pull vainly at the wire, wishing I had had some pliers or something to cut it with. My eyes moved to the right below the steps that led up to the dock from the side of the pond. There was an opening about two feet wide, perfect for a dog to wiggle through and explore.

"I found it, Jason! There is a big hole over here in the wire. We've got to call her over here."

"Goldie!" I called, "Come here, girl! (Hiccup)"

I still didn't hear her. Oh, please let her be okay, "Goldie? Come here girl, over here!"

George had heard me calling and came to investigate my excitement. He saw the opening and tried to wedge his wide body into the hold, "Move George, get out of here!" I pushed him angrily away. I didn't need anything else to keep me from trying to get Goldie out of there.

Jason had waded over to where I was and I told him to start caling her, "She needs to hear our voices."

"Come here, Goldie!"

"Over here, Goldie!"

"Come on, girl!"

"Good dog, come on!"

"You're almost here, girl, come on!" I called out hopefully. I clapped my hands loudly so that she could hear where I was. I still couldn't see or hear her.

I put my hand through the space in the wire, searching and reaching for her, in case she had managed to come closer without my seeing her. I pushed my body through, and my face went into the water. It was too murky to see anything and my hands went out in front of me, sweeping through the dark water, searching for her. I put my hand above the water and it instantly touched the bottom of the deck, there would be no space for me to try to walk under here. The wire was at my stomach and pinching me. I pulled back and stood up, panting, "It's no use, I can't see her in there, and if she's still alive she's not coming to me."

Jason looked as glum as I felt as we stood there in silence, looking at the dock, wondering if she were still alive. George whimpered and Mutt and Mandy stood on the side of the pond, watching us. I moved back around to the left side of the dock where I had seen her struggling at first, hoping to see some sign of her. I lowered my head once again to the top of the water and peered underneath, hoping to see her still moving, trying to get out. No sign of Goldie.

I stood up and looked solemnly at Jason. Jason was looking at the other side of the dock steps, there was an opening over here too and he asked, "Do you suppose she might have gone through this side instead when she went in?"

This side was partially hidden by thick, high weeds and I pushed them aside as I knelt to look under the dock.

"Goldie, come here girl!" Still no sign of her. I looked up sadly at Jason. George barked at us and I looked over at him, tell him to hush, I didn't feel like having to deal with any more dogs. George was looking up at the dock rail. I looked up and saw Goldie. She looked down at us, wagged her tail and then shook, sending thousands of water droplets all over. Her tongue hung over the side of her mouth and she seemed to have a big grin on her face as she looked at us between the deck rails, as if to say, "What in the world are you guys doing down there?"

I looked at Jason and he looked at me, as big smiles covered our faces.

"How do you suppose she got out?" Jason asked in wonder as I called Goldie.

"She must have come out of one of the sides while we were at the other is all I can think of," I said happily as she bounced back into the water and splashed me. She lunged on top of me as if she hadn't seen me in months.

I hugged her wet body tightly, not wanting to ever let her go again. I was over-whelmed with relief and happiness as she licked first my face and then Jason's as he waded over to greet her.

"If you were a cat you would have just used up one of your nine lives," He observed as he hugged Goldie.

George came over then and joined in the happy group, licking my face. Goldie lunged at him through the water and attacked his head playfully.

The water didn't seem so cold any more and Mutt and Mandy joined us as we splashed back and forth. Goldie had forgotten all about the predicament she had been in and played tag with George in the water. This was the most fun we had had all morning and we forgot about the fish we were supposed to be catching.

George came up behind me and tried to avoid a lunge from Goldie. His powerful backside hit me and I fell under the water. I came up sputtering, trying not to swallow the filthy pond water. Jason produced a tennis ball out of his pocket and threw it into some weeds at the other end of the pond. George and Goldie splashed through the water with glee as they raced to be the first to the ball. While the dogs were playfullly grabbing the ball out of each other's mouths, Jason and I splashed water at each other and then at Mutt and Mandy.

We played like that for a while. Mutt and Mandy moved to the banks of the pond and watched, having had enough of this water mania. After a while, we became cold and tired and climbed wearily out of the pond. We looked down at ourselves and then at each other. "Well," I smiled sadly at Jason as I took my shoes off, "I don't think we're going to be catching any fish today."

"Do you think we scared the fish away?" Jason asked as we lay exhausted on the bank of the pond. I looked at him and promptly poured the contents of my shoe on his head. Jason laughed, trying unsuccessfully to dodge the water. Just then, Goldie and George walked up to us and shook their wet bodies all over us.

We were a wet, muddy-looking group as we walked home. My jeans were heavy with pond water and they felt stiff like cardboard as I walked next to Jason. Water from my soaking wet hair trickled into my eyes every now and then and my shoes squeaked as mud and water sloshed out of them with every step I took.

Jason and I parted when we got to the road. He said he hoped he would make it up to his room before his mother saw him looking like this. I knew it didn't matter if I got into my room before Mom saw me or not. Either Amy would see me or Jake. With a brother and a sister I didn't stand a chance of getting away with anything.

I opened up the front door and Mom was standing there, getting ready to go to the grocery store.

"What in the world happened to you?" She had a look of astonishment on her face as she surveyed my muddy, soaked clothes. I walked just inside the front door and stopped. I looked up and could see Mom waiting for my explanation. I looked at her and I told her about Goldie's near drowning, and how I had rescued her, leaving out the part where Jason and I played in the water afterwards.

"You were so brave!" Mom exclaimed. She got a towel and helped me dry off. I took off my shoes and put them on the front deck.

"You're a hero," Mom insisted and looked at Goldie through the opened front door. Goldie was sitting on the front deck watching us, "And you're a lucky dog."

I walked back outside and Goldie raised her paw and put it on my hand. She knew she was lucky.

"I didn't get any fish, Mom," I said sadly, "Jason and I spent all morning at the pond but we didn't catch a single fish."

Mom laughed, "Kevin, do you know what time it is?"

I shook my head no.

"It's only 10:00 a.m. you were gone less than three hours."

"Oh! Well, then, can you make me some breakfast?"

Go back to Chapter 5
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