Chapter 51: The Courage of a Dog

~A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.~ —Josh Billings

Jake gripped his gun as perspiration poured from his brow. He was living his worst nightmare.

Dannie stood in Calhoon’s grip, a gun at her head, a knife at her neck. Blood was dripping from her arm. And all this could have been avoided if only Rachel had more sense and less sensibility.

“Shoot me.”

He had clearly read her lips, and the grip on his gun had become so tight his knuckles turned white.

“Do it,” Dannie mouthed, giving her head a slight nod.

There was some sense to her suggestion. Calhoon would never expect him to shoot the hostage. But then again, Calhoon was a hardened criminal. He might just finish Dannie off himself.

“Oh Rachel, Rachel,” he bitterly thought. “So many innocent people have to suffer because of you.”

“Drop the weapon, Wade.” Calhoon’s voice grew severe. “Or I’ll cut her again. Perhaps this time it will be in her stomach, or better yet,” he pressed the knife to her cheek, “her face.”

Jake’s finger on the trigger tensed. He glanced at Tarak, who was holding a struggling Roy. Tarak’s eyes motioned to the dog, showing perhaps the canine could be used as a decoy. The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by Calhoon, however.

He shifted his aim to the dog. “Tell him to drop his weapon, Miz Preston, or I’m killin’ your puppy.”

This command did not sit well with Dannie. Now that the gun was no longer pointed at her head, she turned to face her captor. “Leave Roy out of this, you bloodthirsty monster!” she ordered, her teeth clenched in pain.

“Oooh,” Calhoon said, his eyes gleaming. “It seems we’ve finally found the evil tongue. What happened to all that mushy Christian stuff?”

“I suppose you have never heard of righteous anger,” Dannie retorted. She took a deep breath—and spat in the man’s face.

”God damn it, woman!” Calhoon growled as the spit got him straight in the eye. He squinted in disgust. “Where’d a lady like you learn to spit like that?” Even more annoying was the fact that, with both his hands busy, there was no way for him to wipe her saliva from his eye.

“One of my students is rather talented,” Dannie said, raising her chin.

Tarak, realizing that Calhoon had gotten distracted with Dannie, let go of the dog.

“Miz Preston, you are startin’ to get mighty…”

The sentence was never finished as Calhoon gave out a great cry of pain and dropped Dannie. The dog had covered the distance to Calhoon in a matter of seconds, and, in one great leap, had jumped onto the outlaw and sunk his teeth into his neck.

Another shot rang out when Calhoon accidentally pulled the trigger before dropping his revolver as he lost his balance and fell over Roy, on top of him.

All this was too much for poor Dannie. She fell to the ground in a senseless heap.

Jake now took action.

“You take care of Dannie,” he called to Tarak. “Calhoon’s mine!”

He rushed over to where the gunslinger and dog were rolling about in the dirt. Just as he got to them, the rolling came to an end. Both animal and man lay still in the dust.

Keeping his revolver pointed at Calhoon, Jake approached and carefully removed Roy from the outlaw. Roy rolled over to the ground, panting heavily, his chocolate coat contrasting sharply with the dull green shrubs that covered the earth.

Calhoon lay still and limp, his neck and collar covered with the bloody marks of canine teeth. Jake felt for a pulse; there was none. Hearing a frail whimper, Jake turned to Roy.

“Good ol’ boy,” he said softly, reaching out and patting the dog. “Took care of him all by yourself, you did. Managed to get him without hurtin’ your mistress. No one but you could have done it.”

Roy tried to wag his tail, but couldn’t lift it. He gave a low moan. Realizing something wasn’t right Jake inspected the dog and discovered the reason for Roy’s pain. Calhoon’s knife was embedded in his stomach.

“There, there, Roy,” Jake soothed, taking the dog’s head onto his lap. “You’ll be fine. We’ll pull it out; we’ll make you better again.”

With great difficulty, Roy lifted his head and looked Jake in the eyes. For a few seconds, the two of them stared at each other. The brown eyes of the dog were calm and trusting, reminding Jake of when they had gazed at him that night on the porch.

Then Roy let out a low croon and dropped his head. His whole body gave a violent shudder, and the dog went still.

Jake turned away, blinking hard. He was a man. He didn’t cry. He never cried. Not once, during the long war years, had he shed a tear. But now, for the first time, the tears were threatening to come out.

His hands caressed the lifeless head of the loyal dog who had sacrificed his life to save his mistress.

Gaining control of his emotions, Jake grasped the knife and pulled it out of the dog’s stomach. Gently setting Roy’s head on the ground, he gave it one last pat and rose to his feet. Rubbing his eyes, he headed over to where Tarak was holding the unconscious Dannie.

“How is she?” Jake asked in a husky voice, kneeling down beside them.

Tarak looked up. “She will be all right. It is only a flesh wound. It will heal quickly, and her arm will be as good as new. What of the outlaw?”

Jake glanced at the two motionless figures, then back at his friend. “He’s dead,” he said at last. “But so is Roy. Calhoon stabbed him with his knife.”

Tarak hung his head and mumbled something in his native language. Then he turned back to Jake. “Fetch the medicine bag from my horse. I will dress the wound, and then we shall wake her.”

“How am I gonna tell her, Tarak?” Jake asked desperately. “It was so important to her that Roy don’t get hurt, and now he’s dead.”

“Dannie is a strong woman,” Tarak reassured him. “She will be sad, but proud of her dog. He was brave in life and brave in death. He saved her life, and kept you and me alive as well. I believe she will be grateful to him for his sacrifice. Go fetch my bag. We must clean out the wound before it gets infected.”

Jake nodded and, rising up, went to get Tarak’s medicine purse from the saddle bag. Dust was being kicked up in the distance, and Jake guessed the help was finally getting here.

Good thing, too. They had two dead bodies and an unconscious, wounded woman. They could use some extra hands to clean up the mess.