Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 04:13:42 -0800
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Fifty

	Well, I see some youngsters are trying to sneak back in.  Why won't
they learn?  Do they really think adults are so stupid they don't know what
is going on?  Goodness, gracious, adults were young once and certainly
remember what they tried to get away with.  How else would we be able to
catch all you youngsters trying to sneak around and read this story when
you shouldn't?  Tell, you what, leave now and I won't tell your parents.
Come to think of it, having to admit that I wrote this story will probably
stop me from complaining to anyone, let alone any parents.
	Guess what.  This is a story about gay males.  What, you didn't
realize that?  Surely you don't expect me to believe that when you had to
search out a site such as this to read stories on.  None-the-less, it
sometimes contains descriptions of sexual encounters between the characters
and if that offends you, tough.  If you leave now you will avoid such
descriptions and won't be offended.
	Those of you who lack the backbone to stand up to the various
government bodies that prohibit the reading of stories such as this had
better leave before you get in trouble.  The old axiom that the people will
have the kind of government they deserve applies to you.  Since you seem
unwilling to fight for your rights, you appear to have lost them.  Sorry.
Freedom is never free.  It frequently claims the highest price we can pay
and it is worth it.  If you disagree, think of such people as Pol Pot,
Hitler, and Saddam Hussein to name a few of the more recent ones.  The fact
that people wouldn't stand up to people like that and fight for their
rights allowed them to slaughter millions of innocent people.  I could add
many more names to the list but it just depresses me.
	I made the whole story up.  Any resemblance you think you might see
between actual people and real happenings are coincidental and not intended
by me.  Also, please do me the courtesy of asking for and receiving
permission from me before posting this story on another site.  It is also
considered good manners to credit any quotes used to the writer of said
quotes.  If you feel you see anything is this story worth quoting, even to
show how ridiculous some stories are, please observe those customs and
manners.
	Once again Ernie has tried to make this story readable.  Please put
him in your prayers.  Without his help, who knows if you could even
understand what I tried to write.
	Those of you, who have been reading the story and have a few
nagging questions, complaints, suggestions, or comments, feel free to
write.  I try to answer all such emails.  Some readers even think I succeed
in doing that.  Don't be shy, I rarely bite.  Don't worry about spelling or
grammar.  If it wasn't for spell-check I couldn't make sense of what I
typed.  I lack the words to express how poor my spelling really is.  It
does keep Ernie busy.  Anyhow, send such emails to fritz@nehalemtel.net In
the meantime I hope you enjoy the following chapter.  Fritz
********************************************************************************

		I Love Corey, Chapter Fifty

	The day was going well.  We'd enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and
managed to get some of the laundry done before church.  I snickered to
myself when I heard no complaints from JJ and LT over attending.  Somewhere
along the way they seemed to have forgotten my offer to allow them to skip
attending church if they didn't like it.  The month I had requested they
attend, before making up their minds, had long since passed and they were
still joining Corey and me when we went.  Not only that, they entered into
the conversation when Corey and I discussed Fr. George's homily.  One might
have almost thought they were now starting to enjoy the services.  Still,
it might only be the cookies and cakes that attracted them.  I didn't have
much of my cakes left to bring home.  I had a couple of months before I was
scheduled to take anything for the after services snacks again.  The day
was clearing up and the world just looked pretty good right now.  Now all I
needed to do was gather up all my shotguns and a bunch of shells and head
for the trap club.
	By the time we made it to the club the sun was shining, making it a
lovely winter day.  While it could have been a little warmer, it only took
a light jacket to be comfortable.  We had only been there a few minutes
when Mr. Young and his son Nathan arrived, accompanied by Mr. Haltner.
After some getting organized, we headed for the trap I had rented and got
started.
	Nathan took to shooting like a duck to water.  He was clearly well
coordinated.  In a short while he was shooting as well as Corey.  In fact,
he was about the quickest to pick up trap shooting up that I had ever seen.
When I commented on that he sort of hung his head and told me it was much
like golf, keep your head down and follow through.  Since I didn't play
golf, I couldn't really compare the two sports but his comment about
keeping his head down and following through was right on the money.  His
father Russ was clearly not that good and probably never had been.  Some of
his mistakes could be from not shooting in a long while but others were
from flaws in his form.  The real surprise was Mr. Haltner.
	Al Haltner was at least as good as I was, if not better.  He
laughed and told me he shot with his sons all the time.  The sons were
visiting their grandparents this weekend so that is why he hadn't brought
them.  As we continued to instruct the boys I got better acquainted with
him.  The more I got to know him, the better I liked him.  He was one of
those people that is easy to know and he had a wicked sense of humor.  By
the time the boys seemed to be tired of shooting, I felt like he was an old
friend.
	We were all sitting around, having a Coke, when one of the club
members started a backer-upper.  I grinned at Nathan and asked him if he
wanted to try it.  When he said he didn't think he was ready for that kind
of shooting yet, Mr. Haltner and I signed up.  He was shooting my Berretta
with the release trigger and kept commenting on how well he liked it.
	I was having one of my better days.  Al said he was also and, when
it was our turn, we pretty well smoked the targets.  We just seemed to
shoot well together.  By the time it was over, we had won.  The prize
wasn't much, only ten dollars apiece, but the boys all acted like we had
won an Olympic Gold.  We had also been forced to buy ourselves in the
Calcutta so that added another nineteen dollars each to our prize money.
By that time we were ready to leave and Mr. Haltner promised to bring his
boys the next time he visited and we could all shoot.  He would also bring
his own shotgun.
	The Youngs and Mr. Haltner left and we spent a little more time
fiddling around, looking at a couple of guns that were for sale and
visiting with the other members of the club.  I got kidded a little about
getting lucky in the backer-upper but not too badly.  My timing was slowly
coming back and I was almost up to where I had been last year when I had
stopped shooting.  It was kind of strange.  I couldn't really come up with
any reason for having stopped shooting.  It just seemed that other things
had gotten in the way and I lacked the time.  Yet, when I thought about it,
I could have made the time.  It just hadn't seemed worth it.  I liked most
of the members of the club and had enjoyed shooting but just seemed to drop
out.  Now, with the boys to encourage me, it was more fun.  I had the boys
to talk with about their and my mistakes and how to correct them, and I was
more interested in shooting again.  I guess the old saying about things
being more enjoyable when you have someone to share them with is true.  I
was definitely enjoying shooting more than I had last year.
	The boys tried a few fun shoots and quickly got shot out.  They
still weren't good enough to compete but they liked to try.  We finally
gathered up the guns and headed home.
	On the way home an odd thing happened.  The gun club was several
miles out of town and the road was an old logging road.  There were no
houses along it and as we drove home there was a dog along side the road.
The dog was limping badly and LT said we should stop and check it out.  The
boys all bailed out of the Gator and the dog tried to run away.  I told the
boys to stop and not crowd the dog and soon the only one close to it was
LT.  He squatted down and started talking to the dog real softly.  What
little I could see said the poor animal was nothing more than skin and
bones.  It was a fair sized animal with a black and kind of a brown coat.
As LT kept talking softly, the dog more hobbled than limped closer to him.
I wasn't sure that was a good idea.  The folks had never allowed me to have
a pet and so I wasn't really familiar with dogs.  I'd been around a few but
my experience was somewhat limited.  Finally the dog sniffed LT's hand and
after a few sniff, allowed LT to pet him.  I moved a little closer and
looked the animal over.  I was right.  You could plainly see every rib and
the coat was matted and dull.  Still, there were no gray hairs around the
muzzle so I wasn't sure how old the animal was.
	LT asked me to extend my hand slowly so the dog could sniff it.  I
did and soon was petting him.  I could see what looked like some kind of
wound on his right hip and he had limped or hobbled badly with his right
rear leg.  The question now became what to do about the animal.  LT thought
we should help him and the other boys agreed.  The next thing I knew the
boys were all trying to coax the dog into the Gator.  I happened to notice
that the poor animal was leaving bloody footprints and got a blanket out of
the back and spread it on the floor.  With a little help, our new passenger
was soon aboard.  The question now became what to do with him.
	That got discussed on the way back to town.  It was agreed that he
needed to see a veterinarian.  The only problem with that is that there
were no veterinarians in town.  Also it was Sunday afternoon.  It was just
after four when I pulled into the driveway.  The boys were quite insistent
that I needed to find a vet and so they gave the dog a drink while I looked
over the phone book.  A quick couple of phone calls came up with a place to
go.  The vet said he would see the dog in a couple of hours.  I drove over
to Downie's and got a couple of deli chickens and some salads and added a
sack of dog food to cart.  I even got a water dish and another for food.
	The boys soon had the chickens picked clean and the dog didn't even
get much of them.  I insisted that he not eat too much as he looked like he
hadn't eaten in a while.  By the time we finished dinner it was time to
leave for the vet's place.
	The vet, Mr. Gabeler, told us the dog was an Airedale.  He also
said the animal appeared to be young, just barely grown.  Other information
he tossed out was that frequently people just abandoned animals they didn't
want.  The wound on the hip was probably from having been hit by a vehicle.
When he was done checking the animal over he said that with a little rest
and care the dog should make a complete recovery.  That still left what to
do with him.  I guess it didn't matter what I wanted because we left with
some salve for the dog's feet, some pills to give him, and instructions to
bring him back next Saturday for another check-up.  Somewhere it had
changed from where to take the dog to how we were going to care for him.  I
was still trying to figure that one out when we left.  The last thing I
needed was a dog.
	On the way home there was lots of talk about what to name him.  I
tried to point out that maybe he was lost and his owners wanted him back.
The boys all agreed to check and see if they could find anyone looking for
a dog.  They still couldn't agree on a name.
	I'll have to admit that the dog looked a little strange with a
bunch of gauze wrapped around his feet.  He didn't appear to like it very
well either.  When he tried to chew the gauze off, LT stopped him.  By the
time we got home he had stopped trying to chew the bandages off.
	Rob and Chuck had brought a frozen pizza home for dinner.  Well,
they were smart enough to bring several.  The boys made sure there wasn't
any left and the dog even got a slice.  He gobbled it right down and waited
for more but he only got the one slice.  So far he had eaten some chicken,
some dog food, and a slice of pizza.  While the boys cleaned up the table,
the dog found a place close to my chair and lay down.  In fact, he lay with
his nose on my foot.  Those big brown eyes looking at me were hard to turn
down.  However he definitely needed a bath.  The odor of dirty dog was
pretty powerful.  The only reason he didn't get one was because the vet had
said to give him a few days so his paws could heal a little before washing
him.
	I wanted him to stay outside and the boys wanted him inside.  They
kept pointing out that he might get cold.  In the end, we compromised.
They took him out to do his doggy duties and I found an old blanket.  The
boys folded the blanket up and placed it in a corner of the family room and
coaxed the dog onto it.  After sniffing the blanket over, he made a couple
of circuits and flopped down on it and promptly went to sleep.  At least he
wasn't in bed with any of us.  I suppose I should be thankful for that.
Now if I could just get Lee to follow the same path.  I wouldn't even
insist on a blanket in the family room for him.
	I beat the clock by a few minutes.  I managed to get loose from
Corey and headed for the bathroom.  It wasn't long before I headed for the
kitchen.  The dog was still on his blanket when I checked the family room
on my way.  He looked up and limped over to the patio door, looking out.  I
opened the patio door slightly and he went out so I continued on to the
kitchen.  Rob and Chuck were finishing their breakfast but they had left me
some coffee.  I managed to get about two swallow down when the dog came in.
He went to his dish and had a drink of water after which my foot again
looked good to him.  I was just sitting there, trying to get my mind to
work when his head again rested on top of that foot.  So far he seemed to
like the right one.  I was beginning to think that the dog had me figured
out.  The boys wanted him but somehow he seemed to know he had to win me
over.  He really needed to drink his water rather than wet his whiskers
with it though.  By now my slipper was wet.  I swear, he must have had a
pint of water in his whiskers.  It was cold water.  Somehow that water
didn't make my foot feel all that good.
	I'm not sure if the dog liked oatmeal or just wanted to show he was
an easy keeper.  All the boys saved him a bite or two and he slicked the
bowls up until they looked like they just came out of the dishwasher.
There weren't even any raisins left.  After that he limped back to "his"
blanket and when I checked, he was sleeping.  I gave up and headed for
school.  I could see I was losing this battle.  There were four boys and a
dog that had one plan and I had another that didn't include a dog.  I even
agreed to run home during my free period and let him out for a few minutes.
I just wasn't equipped to resist four whining boys this early in the
morning.  Besides that, I was left wondering if they had planned their
strategy before they went to sleep.  I hadn't heard them but sometimes it
almost seemed like they all worked on the same frequency.  This morning was
one of those times.  They almost seemed to have it scripted when they were
listing all the reasons we should keep the dog.  One would give a reason
and then another would follow with another reason.  Then the third boys
would have another reason, followed by the fourth boy.  They would then
start the rotation of boys again.  By the time I escaped to go to work, my
ears were tired.  Constant boy voices telling me how much we needed a dog
have a tendency to do that to me.
	You would have thought I'd get some sympathy from my fellow
teachers.  You would have been wrong.  As I was complaining about how the
boys seemed to be ganging up on me over the dog, I could hear snickers and
comments like lots of discipline you're showing, you'll learn, don't spoil
them, and the like.  I didn't hear Mr. Mathers come in but I heard him say
that maybe he ought to call Children's Services and tell them how I was
abusing the boys.  That brought even more snickers and giggles.  I just
gave up.  Everyone had reasons they thought the dog would be good for the
boys.  Not one person would give me anything to use in an argument to get
rid of him.  I was beginning to think my colleagues were all traitors.
	Morning classes went well.  There was no more than the usual chaos
in them.  We even spent most of the time on what I had planned.  By the
time my free period rolled around I was in a pretty good frame of mind.  I
quickly went over a few things and noticed one of the girls in my class was
having a few problems.  Maybe I needed to work with her a little.  I left
word at the office that I would be gone for a few minutes and zipped home.
	The dog seemed glad to see me and went right out to do his doggy
duties.  I sat down to wait and was grading papers when he came back in.
The next thing I knew I had a dog head on my leg and two big brown eyes
looking at me.  I started scratching his neck and the eyes closed.  His
head got heavier on my leg and I swear he tried to purr.  All that came out
was a kind of ragged sigh.  A couple of minutes of scratching and he went
back to his blanket.  After checking his water dish I went back to school.
I was left to wonder if I should just give in now or make the boys work a
little more.  Somehow the dog had gotten to me.
	I got back just in time for lunch period.  I went to my office and
started my normal routine.  I usually got most of my lunch eaten before
kids started dropping in and asking questions.  Today was no exception.
There was the usual bunch of kids just stopping in and visiting.  Normally
there wasn't anything important during lunch but it was a good time for the
kids to get a little more comfortable with me.  Sometimes one of them would
ask to see me privately and we would set up an appointment.  Today was
normal except the boys stopped in to check and make sure I'd been home and
seen the dog.  They still couldn't agree on a name for him.  Lunch period
was soon over and it was back to normal classes.
	The boys normally had plenty of time to have a can of pop before
they started work.  Today they wanted to hurry home and on check on the
dog.  He greeted them with lots of tail wagging although he didn't jump up
on them.  After making sure he was alright, the boys hopped on their bikes
and hurried off to work.  I went out and put the bike carrier on the Gator.
They had forgotten they wouldn't be done before it was dark.  Oh well, at
least they remembered to have a snack.  It was amazing how they always
seemed to keep certain priorities in order.  Food was high on their list.
I just picked up the mess.
	Every time I looked around the dog was following me and watching
me.  When I sat down to finish grading papers I again had a dog's head on
my foot.  At least this time his muzzle was dry.  I finished up my grading
and decided it was time to replace the gauze bandages on the dog's feet.  I
was surprised at how tolerant he was about being worked on.  Outside of
wanting to lick his paws as soon as the bandages were off, he didn't put up
much of a fuss.  He tried to chew the bandages off as soon as I put them on
but a few times of telling him no produced the proper result.  He didn't
look happy about it but he left the bandages alone.  I'd never seen such a
well mannered animal.
	The dog also didn't appear happy when I left to pick up the boys.
However, when I brought them home he forgave me.  He immediately attached
himself to JJ and LT and no matter who walked between them, he just stuck
close.  Of course the fact that LT tried to spoil him couldn't have had
anything to do with it.  When dinner was served, the dog sat between them,
eagerly looking up at the table.  No matter how much I complained, the boys
kept slipping him bites.  He lay at their feet as they did there homework.
For the most part Corey and I were ignored.  It wasn't that he didn't
appear to like us, just that he preferred LT and JJ.
	That was the way it went for the next several days.  If there were
no boys, I had a dog head on my foot.  He was well mannered and much better
trained than any other dogs I had seen and he seemed to be on a mission to
get me to like him.  I hate to admit it but in that mission he was
succeeding.  We called everyone we could think of and also turned in an
announcement to the local radio station but no one came forward to claim
him.  Just what I needed.  In the space of six months I had gone from alone
and free to tied down by four boys and a dog.  You talk about instant
family.
	Thursday night I was visiting with Rob and Chuck when the boys went
to bed.  When I checked to see if the dog needed to go out before I went to
bed, no dog.  However, when I checked on the boys I discovered the blanket,
with dog on top, along side JJ's bed.  The boys looked a little guilty but
the dog just looked up with a happy face.  Ah well, all I could do was
remind them that they needed to make sure he could go out.  He might want a
drink or something.  They told me to leave the door partially open and I
guess that was that.  When I went to wake them in the morning, the dog was
on the foot of the bed.  He looked pretty comfortable there.  If I hadn't
heard them softly calling him as I was going to bed I might have believed
their telling me that they didn't have any idea of how he got there.  When
I glared at them, they blushed and quit incriminating themselves.  The dog
just laid there, his docked tail thumping the bed.
	You would have thought that four boys could come up with a name for
the dog but they couldn't agree.  By Friday he was answering so well to dog
that we decided to call him that.  Of course sometimes it was preceded by
words like damn but he didn't seem to care.  By Friday night his paws were
looking pretty good so I suggested a bath.  I expected them to take him
outside and use the hose but they weren't thinking that way.  The next
thing I knew Dog, along with LT and JJ were in my shower.  The boys
explained they needed to use mine because it was big enough.  Anyhow, half
a bottle of shampoo later, Dog didn't stink nearly as bad.  The boys
plugged two hairdryers into the same outlet and blew the circuit breaker
but I managed to explain they needed to use different circuits so I guess
they learned something.  I did have to snicker when they yelled that the
hair dryers quit working and I discovered two naked boys trying to dry a
very wet dog.  When they were done, it took a half hour to get the bathroom
cleaned up and dried out.  What a mess.
	Dog almost pranced after his bath.  He acted like he thought he was
so smart.  We all headed for bed at the same time and he was in the lead.
By the time I got to my bedroom door, he was standing just outside of JJ's
door, patiently waiting for JJ and LT.  So I lost again.  At least LT was
happy.  He was just thrilled to have a dog.  In less than a week we had all
seemed to accept and expect Dog to be there.  If someone knocked on the
door, he woofed.  He did the same for the doorbell and the phone.  He
always greeted us and just generally wormed his way into our hearts.  When
the boys weren't home he still lay with his head on my right foot but I was
getting kind of used to it.  In fact, you might say I liked it.  Even Lee
was warming up to Dog.  At first he'd been a little distant but a few
tongue baths had seemed to take care of that problem.  Now Lee always
stopped and petted Dog when he walked in.  The only problem was, I was
still running home during my free period to let Dog out.  Dog refused to
use the litter box that I'd purchased.  He looked at it like it was beneath
him.  That took place the first time I showed it to him.  After that, he
ignored it.  Sometimes in the morning Dog looked like he almost had his
legs crossed and when the door was opened, he shot out to do his duties.
Then he'd prance back in.  We really needed to do something about the
situation.
	The piece of property my house was on consisted of several lots
with the house on one of the end lots.  Looking it over I decided a fence
would be a good idea.  That and a doggy door.  A few phone calls and I
managed to get a contractor to come over on Friday evening and show me some
fence plans.  The boys liked the one that looked like a Kentucky horse
fence but I pointed out that Dog could just duck under it.  A little more
looking and we settled on a woven board fence stained to match the house.
The contractor said that a job had cancelled out and he would start next
week.  He told me that he was sure he would have no problem getting the
materials and finishing it during the week so things were looking up.
	Mr. Besslor showed up for LT's lesson.  I swear that dog liked
music.  He lay close to one of the speakers and seemed to smile the whole
time the lesson was going on.  He didn't even flinch when LT hit a wrong
note.  Of course maybe he was tone deaf.
	Saturday was a lovely day.  The sun was out and when I looked
around, the grass could use a touch up.  It wasn't really that long but
looked a little ragged.  The boys started mowing and as soon as they had
part of it mowed, Dog started rolling in the cut grass.  By now I was no
longer putting bandages on three of his paws and it looked rather silly to
see that one white paw waving around.  After a good roll he came over and
helped me wash windows.  I will admit that nose prints on the patio door
took longer than usual to clean.  Still, he was as well mannered as the
boys, maybe better.  At least he hadn't started whining at me yet when he
wanted something.  Instead he would just look at me with those deep brown
eyes and he generally got what he wanted.
	Dog was happy when he got to go with us.  Of course the only reason
was that we were going to the vets for his check-up but he just hoped into
the Gator and jumped in the back seat and sat so he could see out the
window.  He wasn't real thrilled when we got to the vets but he tolerated
it.  The vet suggested having him vaccinated since we had no idea if he had
been so there went some more money.  When the vet asked the dog's name for
his records, our reply of Dog made him shake his head.  The free dog was
now well over three hundred dollars.  Oh well, LT was so happy with Dog
that I couldn't complain.  LT had even bought some combs and brushes and
groomed Dog every night.
	A storm came in Saturday night.  Rob was off again this Sunday so
we all agreed to go over and help him clean the house he and Chuck had
rented.  We even decided to skip church for this Sunday so we could get
more done.  None of the boys wanted to shoot in such nasty weather.  That
meant we could spend the whole day on the house cleaning project.
	The boys were good help.  I thought that they might be a little
lazy because of working around my place and at Downie's yesterday but they
pitched right in and we got most of the house scrubbed down.  Dog spent the
day supervising.  He'd wander from room to room checking on us.  By the
time we ran out of steam, it was dinner time.  Since I was tired I called
Old Texas Ribs and ordered take-out.  Dog was in doggy heaven.  All those
bones to chew on thrilled him.  However, seeing what his teeth did to those
bones made me think I would not care to have him mad at me.
	Bob showed up on Monday to give Corey a lesson.  He met Dog and
they got along well.  How do I know?  Well, Dog stood right there until Bob
had petted and scratched him for a while.  He even made sure to get a
scratch and a little petting when Bob was getting ready to leave.  Chuck
and Rob were teasing me about how mean Dog was and how I was abusing the
boys by making them care for Dog but I noticed they were also slipping him
a bite now and then.  It was kind of nice that Chuck and Rob were home for
dinner.  They had finally gotten the smoke-house part of the operation
somewhat caught up so their hours would be better.  All in all, things were
going pretty well.
	That going well lasted until Thursday.  That's the day Mrs. Babcock
showed up just before time to pick up the boys.  She even brought her
boyfriend with her.  Dog didn't like the boyfriend.  I have to agree with
Dog's opinion.  I didn't think much of him either.  Since Rob and Chuck
were now getting off work at a somewhat better hour, they hauled the boys
home.  I had just offered Mrs. Babcock and her boyfriend some coffee when
they all showed up.
	When Corey saw his mother he froze.  After a few seconds he ran to
her and just started hugging her.  They both seemed happy to see each
other.  I just hoped she didn't take off again without telling him.
	I was lucky in that I had fixed spaghetti for dinner.  Serving a
couple more people would be no problem.  What I didn't expect was that the
boyfriend, Walt Kasper, would drink almost a bottle of wine by himself.  To
add to the problem, he was somewhat abrasive.  Well, maybe quite a bit
abrasive.  Dog continued to have nothing to do with him and I wasn't the
only one that was thinking Dog was right.  Crude and obnoxious were a
couple more words I would use to describe him.  Add in that his
conversation seemed to be disjointed and did not make much sense.  I
basically figured he was on some kind of a bad trip.  He seemed really
weird.  Corey didn't seem to notice him but the rest of us just sort of
tried to not attract his attention.  Dog stayed on the other side of the
table from him.  I could see Lee was starting to get upset and withdrawing
into himself.  If I thought dinner was bad, the rest of the evening got
worse.
	I escorted Lee to his room and suggested he do his homework.  I
also pointed out that the door locked.  It wasn't much but was about the
best I could do under the circumstances.
	JJ and LT disappeared to their rooms.  Corey and Mrs. Babcock went
to the family room.  Chuck and Rob went downstairs to change clothes so
they could go do some more painting on the inside of the house they had
rented.  That left me to clean things up.  I walked into the kitchen and
started in.  When I looked up, Walt had joined me.  Then he started
talking.  I wasn't following what he was talking about because it wasn't
making much sense.  He was talking about what a nice boy Corey was but he
didn't seem to know him and certainly didn't seem to really like him.  The
whole thing was sort of strange.  I about had the kitchen cleaned up when
the conversation took a different turn.  He needed some money.
	Now I didn't know him from Adam's off ox so I wasn't inclined to
give him any.  Perhaps I should be a little more plain spoken.  The day he
got money out of me would be the day that a certain place froze over.
Since I had grave doubts that a cold snap was in the forecast for Satan's
kingdom, the chance of Walt getting money from me was almost zero.
However, when I told him I didn't make a practice of lending money he
informed me it wasn't a loan he was asking for.  In fact, he told me he
wasn't asking, he was demanding.  Not only that, he wanted ten thousand
dollars in cash and he wanted it right now.
	Now you have to understand that he had been acting weird or strange
or whatever you want to call it all evening.  I was pretty sure he had been
using way too much of some substance and his brains were more than a little
scrambled.  His eyes had a funny look to them like the pupils were a little
large and in general things seemed really strange.  When you added in that
Mrs. Babcock looked somewhat similar, I was left to speculate that both
were on something and while I might not know what that something was, it
wasn't good.
	I explained that even if I wanted to give him some money I didn't
have ten thousand dollars in cash around the house.  Not only that, even if
I tried I could only get three hundred from the ATM machine at the bank.
In actual fact I had five hundred dollars stashed in my bedroom but I
doubted that anyone would find it.  I probably had another hundred or so in
my billfold so there was no way to come up with what he was asking for even
if I was desperate.  If I shook the boys down I doubted that we could
manage to come up with a thousand dollars.
	He came a little closer and told me if I knew what was good for me
I'd better come up with the money.  About that time both of us noticed a
growl coming from close to my left leg.  I glanced down and Dog was
standing there and about all you could see was lots of white teeth.  That
deep rumbling sound kept coming from him and his ears were laid back.
	I know, I should not have taken my eyes off of Walt.  It was stupid
and I should have known better but I'd never heard Dog growl.  When I
looked up, Walt had a knife and he was holding it in front of him.  It was
a sharp looking knife and it had a long thin blade about five inches long.
To say it upset me doesn't begin to do justice to what I felt.  I was
terrified.  I started stammering and stuttering and trying to explain that
there was no way I could come up with that kind of cash.  I backed up a
step or so and Dog backed up with me.  That didn't really help because Walt
just took a step forward.
	About that time Rob and Chuck came upstairs.  When they shouted,
asking what was going on, Walt jumped.  Why he hadn't remembered they were
in the house I have no idea but they seemed to startle him.  He hadn't
really made much sense all evening so maybe his brains were just so
scrambled that he couldn't think.  He looked wildly around and slashed at
me with the knife.  By now everyone was yelling and I managed to jump back
out of his range.  He started after me and about that time Dog lunged.  A
scream came out of Walt's mouth as Dog clamped down on his arm.  Walt
reached around to try to do something with Dog and I jumped in.  I was so
scared that I still don't know why I did it but I did.
	I managed to get hold of the arm with the knife in it and was
hanging on for dear life.  We were rolling around on the floor and things
weren't going as well as I wanted when all of a sudden there was one hell
of an explosion.  When I looked up, LT had the shotgun he'd been using at
the trap club and he was pointing it at Walt.  There was also the smell of
gunpowder in the air.  About that time JJ showed up with another shotgun.
Both looked white as a sheet but that didn't stop them from pointing their
shotguns directly at Walt.  Walt froze and I backed away on my hands and
knees.  There was all kinds of screaming and swearing going on.  Not only
that, my ears were really ringing.
	Rob grabbed the phone and dialed 911.  I managed to get to my feet
and got JJ's shotgun.  After that, LT and I just waited for the police, our
shotguns trained on Walt.  It only took about six or eight minutes for the
police to arrive and when they did, I about collapsed.  I was shaking all
over.  I think I shook even worse when I found out that JJ had forgotten to
load the shotgun he had grabbed and I had been pointing an unloaded gun at
Walt.  Rob had stayed on the phone and told the 911 dispatcher what to
expect so at least they didn't shoot us.  In fact, they were pretty good at
calming me down and getting the story.
	We all ended up having to go to the police station to make
statements.  Lee was the only one who didn't have anything to say because
he had locked himself in his room.  I finally talked him into opening the
door where I found him shaking and crying.  We took him along and Rob drove
while I tried to calm the boys down.
	It's a good thing Rob could follow the police because I was in no
condition to give directions and neither were the boys.  The calmest one of
the whole bunch was Corey's mother.  She didn't seem affected by what had
happened.  I thought that was more than a little strange.
	Our town isn't that big and it took a while to get everyone to the
police station.  Normally there are just two officers on duty at night but
tonight they called almost everyone in.  What a mess.  Even Judy showed up
to look after Lee's, JJ's, and LT's interests.  All of us were interviewed
I don't know how many times because I lost count.  Before it was over, Walt
talked.  He talked a lot.  Apparently he and Mrs. Babcock were going to
make me give them some money or they were going to take Corey and leave.
Judy snorted over that because the papers she'd filed the last time had
changed the custody ruling.  Mrs. Babcock couldn't take him unless she
proved she was able to take care of him.  After tonight I had grave
reservations that she would be able to do that for a long time.  As it now
stood she would have to convince Judy and the judge not only of her
fitness, but that she was financially able to care for him.  It was really
a sad situation.
	You know how it is in a small town.  If anything happens the word
gets around faster than light it almost seems.  Mr. Mathers heard about
what had happened and he showed up.  Vern showed up a few minutes after
that and then there were the Downies, Bob Asher, Mrs. Mason (Billy's
mother) and I don't know who else.  Those are the ones I saw at various
times.  It was 4:00 a.m. by the time we headed for home.  At least this
time I had no problem signing the complaint.
	All of us were too upset to go to bed.  I spent the rest of the
night trying to calm boys down.  At least doing that helped calm me down.
I was still shaking.  Jerry had said he didn't expect to see me at school
so at least I didn't have to worry about that.  Rob and Chuck finally left
for work.  They were only about an hour late but I didn't think Mr. Downie
would mind.
	We were all in the family room on the davenport with Dog at our
feet talking about what had happened when Lee finally nodded off.  It
wasn't long until JJ joined him.  The next thing I knew Dog was nuzzling
me, asking to go out.  As far as I was concerned Dog could have whatever he
wanted.  He'd earned it.  His help with Walt had probably made the
difference between my life and my death.
	The boys came to long enough for a late lunch and then crashed
again.  This time we all made it to our beds.  Well, JJ and LT were in JJ's
room and the rest of us were in my room but we were all on beds.  Lee woke
me up once with a nightmare and he wasn't the only one that had one.
Before the afternoon was over JJ and LT had migrated to my bed and joined
the rest of us.  It was more than a little crowded but we all felt safer
huddled together.  Dog once again had his head on my foot.  He actually
looked pretty good against the pale green bedspread that was on my bed.

			To be continued...