A happier chapter at last! This one had to wait while we were gone on vacation. Where you ask? Up in the mountains of course. Coyotes yipped in the distance and I thought about the story and dealt with computer withdrawl for five days! However, the resulting rest proved good. I worked on this story and two other series. For once, you readers will get this before my partner does. He's been busy with computer projects. Enjoy the story and please comment. I like to read what you think of the story. Plus, sometimes what you comment about appears in the story...
Luc woke up early. He heard some sort of noise and couldn't figure it out at first. Then it hit him.
"Growling? Who the fuck is growling?"
he wondered. Luc grabbed his jeans and headed downstairs towards the noise. It came from the backyard and Buster's house. There in the back yard were a bunch of reporters huddled together in a corner and 'Buster' leaning towards them in a menacing way. He was growling.
"Hey Buster, settle down!" he hollered as he approached. "What set you off boy?" Luc looked at 'Buster' and then he noticed the net shredded under 'Buster's' feet. Shreds of it hung from 'Buster's' fangs. Luc turned to the crowd of reporters.
"Alright you idiots, what in the hell did you think you were doing?" he hollered, his voice heavy with sub-vocals.
"None of your business!" one hollered from deep in the corner.
"We were just looking at the dog and he attacked us!" said another.
"Bullshit," said Luc. "Unless he's grown opposable thumbs, 'Buster' doesn't use nets to catch or attack reporters. Plus, if he really wanted to hurt you, do you think that any of you would be alive?"
"That...that thing is a werewolf! It needs to be hauled in, dissected and studied," said another man in the huddle.
"Right. You know, you guys aren't too bright. How does one become a werewolf?" he asked as he stroked 'Buster's' head.
"We all know that one! You get bitten," said one of the reporters.
"Okay, so you idiots were going to tackle 'Buster' here and haul him off for science and none of you were worried about getting bitten?" asked Luc.
"Stupid idiots!"
he thought.
"Well, um... Joe here had a tranquilizer gun, but it didn't work," said the reporter.
"You shot Sam's dog with a tranquilizer dart?" asked Luc.
"Yeah. See, it's right there!" the reporter said pointing to a red fletched dart.
Luc looked down and saw that the dart had lodged in 'Buster's' collar. He plucked it free and put it in his pocket.
"You have really bad aim. It hit his collar. Now, to be honest, from the looks of this thing, it's Bear tranquilizer. You'd have killed him. Then I would have gleefully shot your ass full of this shit and left you to survive," Luc growled. The force of the sub-vocals rattled the fence timbers.
"Need any help Luc?" asked Patrick as he walked up behind Luc.
"Yeah. Call the Sheriff. I'm not letting them out of here until the Sheriff takes all of their names and hopefully arrests them for trespassing," said Luc.
"Sounds good to me," Patrick said. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Yes, can I speak to Sheriff Dobbs? Sure. Yeah. Tell him we have some trouble down here at Sam's B&B. Thanks," he said and hung up. "Dispatch will get him here as soon as they can. I think the poor man is still in bed."
"Thanks Patrick. Would you clear the rest of the net off of 'Buster'? These idiots thought that they'd haul him off to be a lab rat toy," said Luc.
"Idiots. He's just a big husky wolf hybrid," said Patrick loud enough for the reporters to hear. "He certainly isn't a werewolf you idiots!" he hollered directly at them.
"And if I was Catholic, I'd be saying three hail Mary's for that lie,"
he thought.
The two men stood next to 'Buster' who had finally stopped growling. The reporters were still huddled in the corner. Luc and Patrick could hear the sirens getting closer and soon saw the flashing lights on top of Sheriff Dobbs SUV.
"What in the hell is going on here?" asked Sam coming up behind the two men and 'Buster'.
"These fine upstanding citizens were trespassing and planning to kidnap 'Buster' here," said Luc. "Luckily for them, 'Buster' cornered them and woke me up with his growling."
"Ah, and you two called Dobbs?" asked Sam.
"Yes," said Patrick.
"Good, 'cause I've had just about enough of this shit," said Sam. In the week since Brian's funeral, there had been reporters and all sorts of kooks showing up. Sam still had the B&B closed down and at this rate she was getting peeved.
Sheriff Dobbs got out of his SUV and made his way over to them. "What in the hell is it this time Sam?" he asked.
"Trespassers and dog thiefs," said Sam. "They snuck onto my property, through a closed gate marked 'PRIVATE' and tried to steal my dog."
"Here are bits of the net that was on 'Buster' as well as the tranquilizer dart they fired at him," said Luc.
Sheriff Dobbs took the evidence and then looked over at the eight men boxed into the corner. Anytime one of them moved, 'Buster' growled. He shook his head as he keyed his mike. "Jeff, get your ass down to Sam's. I gotta pick up for you. Yeah, eight stupid reporters," he said. Then he turned back to Sam. "I take it you want to press charges?" he asked.
"I certainly do. I've told them to leave me alone more than once. This time, they can go to jail," she said standing there with her fists on her hips.
Sheriff Dobbs nodded. "Boys, I hereby deputize you. There are some of them zip strip handcuffs in my car. Go get some and lets truss up these turkeys," he said.
Luc smiled and Patrick went to get the cuffs.
"I'll be in the kitchen working on breakfast," said Sam. "Come on in and eat when you're done."
"I won't turn that down," said Dobbs.
*
Forty minutes later, the reporters were stuffed into an SUV and were taken to the county seat about twenty miles away. They'd been arrested for trespassing and attempted theft. Best yet, the local paper got the scoop, as all the big city reporters were amongst the arrested.
Luc, Patrick and the Sheriff went into the kitchen where everyone else had already started eating. Angie served them up and then went back to her plate.
"Sam, how much longer are you going to be able to keep closed down?" asked Meg.
"Not sure honey. This stuff just jerks my chain. You'd think by now it would be old news," said Sam.
"It would be if that one guy would just shut up," said Patrick.
"Well, he got his ass arrested today," said Dobbs. "I'll make sure he does at least a month down in the county jail. That way maybe he won't come back."
"Will Sam have to do much to keep them in jail?" asked Angie.
"No honey, the judge is a good friend and he'll make sure that everything goes smooth. Besides, his son is one of the paramedics that messed up in the first place. That boy still ain't sitting easy," said Dobbs with a smile.
Everyone laughed.
*
The court took all of fifteen minutes to decide on the fate of the eight reporters. The charges were loss of revenue, trespassing, attempted theft of a dog, and general nuisance. The sentences handed out were $1000 fines and thirty days in the county jail. Three of the reporters tried to buy their way out and got hit with an additional week in jail.
