Maggie

Chapter 1

             "Ouch! Darn potholes."  Magda Sinclair, called Maggie by everyone she knew, stumbled and grasped her friend Jean's arm pulling her off balance.  The two young women giggled as they righted themselves.  The two had stopped for a celebratory drink at a bar after a long Friday at work.  The bar with its pickup trucks and motorcycles was really not her kind of place but at lease the bartender had not laughed when she had ordered her single glass of white wine.  The dark bar parking lot was full of potholes making walking difficult.
                   "You would think we had drunk the bar dry instead of only one each."  Maggie straightened her wrinkled jacket in an attempt to remove some of the day's effects on her normally pristine work outfit.   
                   "Do you remember the look on old man Higgins face?"  Jean giggled again.
                   Maggie smothered the urge to giggle herself, remembering the expression on a fellow employees face during the days presentation at work.  The main office had moved the presentation deadline up two weeks without notice.  Jean and Maggie had done extra work Thursday night to get the presentation done in time.  The third member of the team had taken off early as was his habit and they had not been able to reach him to let him know what was going on at work. The result being that he had arrived at work that morning and walked right into the meeting not knowing half of what the young women had done.  With his typical overbearing male chauvinist posturing, he had tried to muscle in and take credit.  The result had been him looking like a fool.  A well-deserved appearance that several of the people in the meeting had appreciated. 
                   Help...
                   Maggie stopped abruptly and looked around, chills working up her spine; she rubbed her suddenly cold arms.  She looked around tilting her head to catch that sound again.  Jean continued to giggle and walked a couple of steps further. 
                "Shhh Jean, wait a minute."  Both women quieted listening intently. 
                Maggie heard a soft voice, help. "Did you hear that? She whispered to Jean. She took a small step toward the dark entrance of a nearby alley.
              "What?"  Jean's eyes got big and she glanced nervously around the dark lot.  Loud music blared from the bar as the door opened to allow a couple to exit.  The man and woman were so engrossed in each other they never looked in the two women's direction.    Maggie narrowed her eyes and concentrated down into the darkness. After a minute, Maggie heard a soft whimper.  She started walking toward the darkness. 
              Jean grabbed her arm, "Where are you going?  You can't go down there; you don't know what could be waiting for you."  Maggie shook her off, some compulsion overriding her common sense and pulling her into the darkness.
              "You wait here and call for help if anything happens."  She peered into the darkness. "From the sounds of it someone is hurt and needs help."  Slowly she entered the dark hole of the alley entrance.
              Jean swallowed nervously and looked around unsure if she wanted someone to appear or was terrified that someone would.
              "All right girl friend I got your back," Jean spoke with loud bravado looking around as if daring someone or thing to jump out of the shadows at them, trying to bolster her own courage as well as support her friend.  Jean gripped her keys between her fingers like she remembered being shown in a long ago self defense class.
              "Shhh," Maggie waved her to silence cautiously stepping deeper into the mouth of the alley.  She moved slowly as the smell of the place deepened.  Stale urine and old garabage did not make for a atmosphere you rushed into.
              "Hello, is anyone there?"  She stepped further into the darkness.  "I want to help."  A low pain filled whimper sounded, she tilted her head toward a darker blob leaning against the wall.  She moved closer there was a flurry of movement, she jumped in surprise and squeaked in fear.  A battered metal trashcan tipped over with a loud clatter and a small dark blob crawled toward her.  She could hear Jean calling from the entranceway.
              "It's alright Jean."  She moved toward the shivering lump realising it was an animal. She called out in relief, "It's a dog."
              "Oh Maggie come away it could be rabid or something."  Jean scrunched her face up in revulsion.  "Hurt animals can bite and who knows what it might have."
              Maggie leaned over and stretched her hand out toward the shivering ball of fur.  She waited as the dog raised its head and tentatively sniffed at her hand.  She tensed ready to snatch her hand back if the animal snapped and sighed in relief when she felt a cold nose pressed into her palm and the dog crawled closer.  She ignored her friends' dire warnings echoing down the alley and reached out to run her hand over the whimpering animal. Animals were her one weakness.  She loved them but wasn't able to have a pet of her own. Her work schedule didn't allow her enough free time to take care of a pet properly.  She made up for the lack by volunteering at the local shelter and working for the resuce organizations.  The animal was shivering, whether because of fear or the cold Maggie wasn't sure.  She could feel the sharp protrusions of the dog's ribs as she ran her hand over his sides.  It was a medium sized dog, to large for her to pick up.  She stood and started out of the alley.  She paused after a couple of steps to look back and gesture to the dog, "Come on puppy," she kept her voice soft and soothing, "come on."
             "Oh Maggie what on earth are you doing now?"  Jean was frustrated and scared of the small pile of bones and fur that was limping behind Maggie as she came out of the alley. She knew it was a lost cause trying to get Maggie to leave the animal.  It was an office joke that Maggie sometimes seemed to like animals more than people.  The dog paused and made to turn away from Jeans harsh voice.
                    Maggie paused and looked at her friend, "Why don't you go on home Jean."  She knelt to reach for the animal, "I am going to take this poor thing to a vet."  Jean was a great freind but not the most patient when it came to resucing animals.
                    After several minutes of arguing and proclaiming Maggie a sucker with a soft heart and an incipient case of fleas Jean reluctantly moved off toward her own car.  Maggie waited until she heard Jean drive off before trying to coax the animal the rest of the way out of the alley.  She talked nonsense to it keeping her voice a steady soothing cadence.  The odd duo reached her car several minutes latter.  Maggie opened the back door and hesitantly tried to pick up the dog.  Its whimpers seemed to get louder as she closed her arms around its ribs so she backed off to let it painfully and slowly climb into the back of her car.  The dog settled onto the floor with what seemed to be a sigh.  She supposed that even the floor was softer than the hard ally concrete.  In the harsh overhead light of the car,she could see lots of dirt and some dark wetness that she hoped wasn't blood.  Her nose was also telling her that her new friend hadn't had a bath for some time.  It's fur was matted and tangled with dirt.  In the dim light it was hard to tell what color he was.  He smelled like he had been a close friend of the alley garbage can for some time.  She quickly got into the front seat and pulled out her cell phone.  She was a volunteer at the local humane society and knew it was closed at this time of night.  Telephone information proved helpful in finding an all night animal hospital.  She called the veterinary office and got directions.  Of course with her luck they were on the other side of town from where she was and even further from where she lived.
             Unseen by both her and the animal a dark shadow moved to the alley entrance.  The large man sniffed deeply. He ignored the typical human refuse smells and concentrated on the faint scent he had been following for several blocks.  He caught the faint scent of the animal and turned to watch the car with the source of the smell and the very atractive woman drive away. He noted her licice palate number repeating it several times to memorize it.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.  He walked calmly back to where he had left his car murmering on the phone.
                   Maggie pulled her car up as close to the back emergency entrance as possible. The back door to the building opened as she stood watching the dog painfully crawl out of her car.  She rolled down the window more concerned with the lingering oder than having someone steal anything.
                   "Hello." A deep masculine voice called out.
                   The animal winced, and Maggie had to make a quick grab to stop it crawling under her car.  The Tall bald black man steped back into the building giving Maggie space and time to pursuade the animal into the building. Maggie followed his voice keeping a hand on the animals head until they were in the exam room. Together they got the animal on the steel table.
    The vet ran soft hand over the animal while Maggie stood at its head talking to both of them in the same soothing voice.
             "Well Ms. Sinclair it looks like your young freind has had a pretty hard time." The vet also kept his voice smooth, only his eyes expressed anger at the injuries the poor quivering animal had.  "He is a young male of undetermined breed."  The vet moved over to the sink and began to wash his hands."He looks like someone kicked him several times but I don't think anything is broken."  He l;eaned against the counter drying his hands and looked between the dog and Maggie.  "He probable needs shots I am sure no one has been takeing care of him."  He reached up in the cubard and pulled out a bottle and syringe. The vet quicky slid the needle in and administered the shot.  The dog gave a small wince that Maggie felt and bent down to whisper into his ear, ?It is almost over hon.?
             The vet rubbed the injection sight and patted him on his back.  ?You'll need to improve his general health and than get him neutered.? 
             The vet jumped back as the dog snapped his teeth at the word neutered.  Maggie stiffened as she head a very distinct growling ?NO? in her head.  She helped the dog get down from the table.  The bewildered veterinary stepped back.  The very docile dog had suddenly taken to growling at him.  The veterinary showed Maggie the built in floor tub where large dogs were groomed and suggested she take the time to use the facilities before putting the smelly animal back into her car.

              Several hours later and three hundred dollars poorer she was walking her new clean pet into her house.  He was a poor beat up thing but he was hers.  She dropped the bag of dry dog food that the vet had sent home with her on the floor.  The idea that someone had kicked and beaten him as well as starved him over a long period of time made her angry and filled her with the determination to make sure he had a good life from there on.  Maggie shook her head not understanding the mentality it took to perform that kind of cruelty on a defenseless animal.
                  "Well boy here you are," she knelt and ran her hand over his back as they paused inside her doorway "it's not much but it is home."  She looked into his liquid brown eyes. Every once and a while he shivered as if in remembered fear.  The vet couldn't tell what specific breed of dog he was.  All he could guess was that he was a young dog, not much more than a puppy and that by the size of his feet he was going to be a big animal when fully grown.  The vet had even guessed that he had some wolf in his family tree. 
                    "What shall we call you?"  Maggie felt drawn into those eyes that seemed to speak to her.  "Bert?" the dog whined, "No? How about Sam?" again the dog whined, "How about Roscoe?"  The dog barked and wagged his tail again Maggie heard that voice in her mind that was almost a sensation. This time it was a definite yes. Maggie held his head between her hands and looked into his eyes.  There was something more about this animal than any she had ever worked with before. They stilled looking into each others eyes or a long moment.  Maggie nodded her head and stood after a final pat on his head. 
              "All right Roscoe it is." She walked down the hallway "Let's see if we can find you something to eat.  Tomorrow we can go shopping for dog food and stuff."  The dog looked around the house with its cream walls and brightly colored furniture and rugs.  With a sigh he got up and limped down the hall no longer shivering in fear.