"FAMOUS
DOG KIDNAPPED"
BY LOREN
MOORE AND PAMELA JENKINS
LOREN
WRITES;
MY NAME IS
LOREN MOORE AND I’M A REPORTER FOR THE “OKMULGEE DAILY
TIMES” NEWS PAPER IN OKMULGEE, OKLAHOMA. ONE OF OUR
COLUMNIST BY THE NAME OF NANCY MILLER GAVE ME A TIP
ABOUT A DOG THAT WAS A WALKING BLOOD BANK FOR A
VETERINARIAN BY THE NAME OF STANLEY JENKINS.
IT BEING A
SLOW DAY NEWS WISE I THOUGHT I WOULD GO INTERVIEW THIS
VETERINARIAN JENKINS. WE HADN’T HAD A SHOOTING OR A
FATALITY CAR WRECK OR A BANK ROBBERY ALL DAY AND I
NEEDED SOMETHING FOR A STORY FOR THE EVENING PAPER.
I DROVE
OUT TO THIS VET’S CLINIC AND WENT IN THE FRONT DOOR.
THERE WAS THIS PRETTY YOUNG LADY SITTING BEHIND A
COUNTER, SO I ASKED HER IF I COULD SEE THE DOCTOR.
“I’M SORRY BUT HE IS OUT ON A CALL RIGHT NOW. CAN I
HELP YOU?”
A DOCTOR
THAT MAKES HOUSE CALLS! MAYBE I SHOULD USE HIM FOR MY
DOCTOR, I THOUGHT. “WELL ACTUALLY I’M HERE TO DO A
STORY ABOUT THIS DOG THE CLINIC HAS THAT IS A BLOOD
DONOR FOR OTHER DOGS THAT NEED A TRANSFUSION. MY NAME
IS MOORE AND I’M A REPORTER FOR THE OKMULGEE DAILY
TIMES. IS THERE SOMEONE ELSE THAT COULD HELP ME?”
“WHY I
THINK THE DOCTORS WIFE COULD TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU
WANT TO KNOW ABOUT JOE.”
“THAT
WOULD BE FINE, WHERE COULD I FIND MRS. JENKINS?”
“YOU’RE
TALKING TO HER.”
“OH, WELL
I GUESS THAT’S NICE, BUT ARE YOU SURE YOUR NOT HIS
DAUGHTER?”
“PALEEESE
MR. MOORE I TOLD YOU I WOULD HELP YOU WITH YOU STORY.
LET’S NOT GET CARRIED AWAY.”
I TOOK MY
LITTLE NOTE BOOK OUT OF MY HIP POCKET AND THE STUB OF
PENCIL I HAD IN MY SHIRT POCKET AND WAS READY TO TAKE
NOTES. MRS. JENKINS TOLD ME ABOUT THIS DOG NAMED
“JOE” THEY KEPT FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING
BLOOD FOR DOGS THAT NEEDED TRANSFUSIONS. I LICKED THE
POINT OF MY PENCIL AND WITH MY TONGUE STICKING OUT THE
CORNER OF MY MOUTH, TOOK NOTES ABOUT WHAT SHE WAS
TELLING ME.
AFTER SHE
FINISHED WITH HER STORY I ASKED IF I COULD SEE THIS
DOG AND TAKE HIS PICTURE. “SURE YOU CAN.” MRS.
JENKINS SAID. “JUST FOLLOW ME.”
WE WHEN
OUT BACK OF THE CLINIC AND THERE WERE A BUNCH OF PENS
WITH DOGS IN THEM. WE WALKED UP TO THIS ONE THAT HAD
THE GATE OPEN AND MRS. JENKINS LOOKED INSIDE.
“JOE’S
GONE” SHE SCREAMED.
PAMELA
WRITES;
Pamela
frantically turned and ran back and forth between the
other enclosures. She peered into each one and
scanned all the happy faces, looking for Joe's
familiar black and white one. "I can't believe he's
gone!" she cried.
Loren,
always uncomfortable when a woman cries, shifted his
feet awkwardly. Finally, he said, "Well, I'm sure
sorry you lost your dog..."
Pamela
said, "Joe's not just any dog, he's part of our
family! We raised him from a puppy. He rides to work
with me in the mornings. We take walks together
during my lunch break. He's my best buddy. Where
could he have gone?"
Pamela
studied the latch on Joe's pen. "Somebody has
tampered with the latch. We always secure it in case
one of our patients is an escape artist. His lock on
the door is missing." Pamela's eyes narrowed in
suspicion. "I think someone TOOK Joe out of here!"
Ah, now
we're getting somewhere, Loren thought to himself. I
can smell a great story here...
Loren writes:
“WHY WOULD
ANYONE STEAL YOUR DOG, MRS. JENKINS. MAY I CALL YOU
PAM?”
“I’M NOT
SURE MR. MOORE, BUT THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT, THE
SURER I AM THAT HE HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED. MAYBE I SHOULD
SAY DOGNAPPED. WILL YOU STOP TAKING MY PICTURE.”
“LOOK I’M
JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU. I’LL RUN A STORY IN THE
PAPER, SAYING YOUR DOG IS MISSING AND YOU ARE HEART
BROKEN. THE PHOTOS WILL HELP CALL ATTENTION TO THE
STORY. AND STOP CALLING ME MR. MOORE. THAT WAS MY
DAD, I’M JUST LOREN.
WE WENT
BACK INSIDE AND PAM CALLED HER HUSBAND ON HIS CELL
PHONE. I DIDN’T HEAR THE CONVERSATION, BUT SHE WAS
CRYING AGAIN WHEN SHE CAME BACK OVER TO ME.
“PAM ARE
YOU GOING TO CALL THE POLICE?”
“NOT RIGHT
NOW, STANLEY TOLD ME NOT TO DO ANYTHING UNTIL HE GETS
BACK.”
“WELL I’VE
GOT TO GET BACK TO THE PAPER AND FILE WHAT I HAVE IF
I’M GOING TO GET THE STORY IN THE EVENING PAPER.”
I WENT OUT
TO MY CAR AND DROVE BACK TO THE OKMULGEE DAILY TIMES
BUILDING. I WENT UP TO MY DESK AND SAT DOWN AT MY
TYPEWRITER AND STARTED TYPING THE STORY. ABOUT HALF
WAY THROUGH MY STORY, I STOPPED TYPING AND TOOK A BOX
OF CRACKER JACKS OUT OF THE BOTTOM DRAWER OF MY DESK
AND OPENED IT. THE TOY IN THIS BOX HAPPENED TO BE A
LITTLE PLASTIC DOG.
I WONDERED
IF THAT WAS A MYSTERIOUS SIGN THAT I WOULD FIND THIS
KIDNAPPED DOG.
PAM
WRITES;
The phone
on Loren's desk suddenly rang out, causing him to jump
and spill his Crackerjacks on his lap. Brushing off
the crumbs, he muttered to himself as he reached for
the receiver.
"Hello!"
he barked.
"Mr.
Moore, I mean, Loren? This is Pam. I'm calling about
our missing dog, Joe."
"Yes,
Pam. Have you found him yet?" Loren asked.
"No. When
Stanley got back from his farm call, he gathered all
our staff members together for a meeting. They were
surprised to find out that Joe was missing, too. I
mean, a thief would have to walk right past some of
them to get to Joe's run. It had to be someone pretty
sneaky to get him out of here right under our noses."
"When was
the last time someone there saw Joe?" Loren asked,
scrambling on his desk for paper to write on and a
pencil with a sharp enough point. He made a mental
note to himself to ask Johnnie, his secretary, to get
him a new box of pencils for his desk drawer.
Pam said,
"Our groomer gave Joe a treat only a few minutes
before you showed up asking about him. She said she
was sure that she locked the gate back behind her.
Then she stepped out to the barn to gather up some
supplies. That's when she saw them. Oh, hold on a
moment..." Loren heard the muffled sound of voices
over the receiver, like Pam had covered it with her
hand.
"Hey, saw
who?" Loren asked loudly.
"Sorry
about that," Pam said. "This place is in an uproar
right now. We all want Joe back and the staff is in
tears. They're afraid of losing their jobs, now that
they've lost their Boss' favorite dog. They feel so
responsible."
"Yeah,
yeah, but WHO did the groomer lady see when she went
out to the barn?" Loren asked impatiently.
"Two
little boys, hiding behind the mimosa tree."
LOREN
WRITES:
AFTER I
HUNG UP THE PHONE, I FINISHED TYPING THE STORY FOR THE
EVENING EDITION OF THE DAILY TIMES. I DIDN’T MENTION
THE TWO BOYS IN TONIGHT’S STORY. I HOLLERED FOR THE
COPY BOY, GAVE HIM MY STORY AND LEFT THE BUILDING.
ON THE WAY
OUT I PASTED NANCY AND TOLD HER ABOUT JOE BEING
MISSING. “OH MY GOODNESS, STANLEY AND PAMELA MUST BE
HEART BROKEN. I’M GOING RIGHT OVER THERE.”
I WAS
HUNGRY, SO I WENT TO “WHAT-A-BURGER” AND GOT A BURGER,
FRIES AND A ROOT BEER FLOAT. WHEN I FINISHED THEM I
GOT ME A DOUBLE DIP OF CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM ON A CONE
AND WENT BACK TO MY CAR.
I WAS
SITTING THERE TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO NOW, WHEN I
THOUGHT I WOULD DRIVE BACK TO DR. JENKINS CLINIC. MY
ICE CREAM WAS MELTING FASTER THAN I COULD EAT IT AND
IT WAS RUNNING DOWN MY ARM AND DRIPPING OFF MY ELBOW
ONTO MY PANTS.
AS I
PULLED UP IN FRONT OF THE CLINIC, IT WAS WELL PAST
FIVE O’CLOCK. KNOWING FIVE O’CLOCK WAS THEIR CLOSING
TIME, I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE SEVERAL CARS STILL
THERE. NANCY’S CAR WAS ONE OF THEM.
I THREW
WHAT WAS LEFT OF MY ICE CREAM CONE DOWN AND TOOK OUT
MY HANDKERCHIEF AND WIPED OFF MY HAND AND ARM AS BEST
AS I COULD. I DIDN’T NOTICE THE BROWN DROPS ON MY
PANTS.
I WENT UP
TO THE DOOR AND TRIED THE KNOB. IT WAS LOCKED, SO I
BANGED ON THE DOOR WITH MY FIST. A VOICE FROM INSIDE
SHOUTED, “WE’RE CLOSED, IF IT’S NOT AN EMERGENCY COME
BACK TOMORROW.”
I BANGED
ON THE DOOR AGAIN. THIS TIME PAM OPENED THE DOOR.
“PAM WHAT’S GOING ON?”
PAMELA
WRITES;
"Oh, hello
again, Loren. Come right in. We're organizing a
search party and would sure be glad of your help."
"I'll do
what I can," Loren replied. It was late and he was
tired, but he couldn't turn away from the opportunity
to help find Joe.
Loren
walked into the reception room of the clinic and
around the corner to Doc's office. The room was full
of the clinic's staff and one or two other people
Loren didn't know.
"One of
the first things we should do is search the
surrounding neighborhood," said Doc. "Since there
were no cars noticed nearby, I'm assuming someone
walked away from here with Joe. Maybe they took him
somewhere close by. I want each of you to especially
try to talk to any kids you see. There aren't too
many things that a little kid won't notice when
they're out playing. Who knows, maybe they saw
someone walking away with a spotted bird dog."
Doc started handing a stack of papers around, and
everyone took several sheets. On it was a picture of
Joe and the words Lost Dog and Reward. "Right now
we're going to let people think that Joe is simply a
lost dog. And hopefully a reward will make someone
give us a call. Everyone take a handful of tacks and
pin these posters up or hand them out door-to-door."
As the group started to leave, he added, "And be
careful. Maybe it's just a couple of kids who liked
the dog and wanted to take him home, but we're not
sure right now." One by one, the searchers left the
office and began walking through the neighborhood.
Loren
writes:
THE
SEARCHERS HAD PAIRED UP SO NO ONE WOULD BE BY
THEMSELVES. LOREN AND NANCY DECIDED TO GO TOGETHER.
THEY HUNG BACK UNTIL ALL THE OTHERS HAD LEFT AND NANCY
TOLD PAM THAT SHE AND LOREN WOULD KEEP A STORY GOING
IN THE PAPER. MAYBE THAT WOULD HELP FIND JOE.
JUST AS
NANCY AND LOREN WERE GOING OUT THE FRONT DOOR, THERE
WAS A “WOOF, WOOF, WOOF” AT THE BACK DOOR AND THEN A
TIMED KNOCK. STANLEY OPENED THE DOOR AND JOE RAN INTO
THE ROOM. THEN TWO SMALL BOYS CAME IN AND THE LARGEST
ONE SAID, “I’M SORRY DAD.”
DAD, DAD!
LOREN THOUGHT, AND THAT’S ALL HE HEARD BECAUSE STANLEY
AND PAM WERE HUGGING THE DOG AND THE TWO BOYS. NANCY
GRABBED LOREN BY THE ARM AND DRAGGED HIM OUT THE FRONT
DOOR.
“IT LOOKS
LIKE WE WON’T HAVE TO GO SEARCH THE NEIGHBORHOOD AFTER
ALL.” NANCY SAID.
“WELL
THERE GOES MY STORY ABOUT THE FAMOUS DOG BEING
KIDNAPPED.” LOREN CRIED. “I WOULD HAVE BET A DOLLAR
TO A HOLE IN A DONUT THAT JOE HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED FOR A
RANSOM.”
“COME ON
NANCY, LET’S STOP AT THE WHAT-A-BURGER AND I’LL BUY
YOU A DOUBLE DIP OF ICE CREAM.”
“THANK YOU
LOREN, BUT I’LL PASS ON THE ICE CREAM. I’VE GOT TO
WATCH MY GIRLISH FIGURE.”
THE END