The Drifter

Chapter 8: Base Camp

"Someone took him, someone stole him!" a voice shouted. I snarked awake and poked my head out of my tent to see Clem charging through the base camp. "What's going on?" Joe asked as he left his tent. I straightened my shirt and got out with all the other people, waiting for Clem to answer. "They stole Rusty!" Clem explained. The people began to murmur, and Joe placed his hand on Clem's shoulder. "What happened?" Joe asked. "I took him on my daily expedition to the dumpsters around the block and someone grabbed him. They ran off before I could stop them," Clem said, seemingly out of breath.

Joe sighed. "Alright." He turned around to the group of people that was forming. "Clem, go file a report with the local animal shelters. Wilbur, go tell the police. Biggy, Max, come with me to find Rusty," he called out. "I want to come!" I claimed, rushing up. Joe paused. "All right. Get dressed. We leave in five minutes," he ordered. I quickly rushed to my tent and grabbed my most important things. My knife, my map, and my pellet gun just in case. I quickly strapped on my holster, put on my jacket, skipped the gloves and beanie and tied my boots. Once ready I exited my tent and joined Joe and the others. "Everyone ready?" he asked. No one objected, and we exited the base camp toward the street. I may be only fifteen, actually sixteen-years-old now, but I'm old enough to know that you don't mess with someone's dog.

We passed around the corner and found the dumpsters in an alleyway that Clem had been searching through. Joe and Biggy searched the sidewalk while Max and I looked around for clues, but we found nothing. "Now what?" I asked. Joe sighed and looked down at the street. He was empty of ideas. "What are you guys doing?" a voice asked. We all spun around to see an older lady sticking her head out of her window about two stories up. "Someone stole our dog. You see anything?" Biggy asked. The old lady paused. "Clarissa and her husband Matthew found a dog this morning," the old lady said. "Where do they live?" Max asked. The lady paused.

"Matthew? Is that you?" the old lady asked. Max sighed. "Hi, ma!" he spoke. "I thought that was you. They live just down the street," the lady said. "Thank you!" Max said, waving. The old lady closed the window and Max turned to Joe and Biggy. "What?" he asked as they stared at him, bewildered. "We didn't know your mother lived here," Biggy said. "And we didn't know your name was Matthew," Joe added. "It's not. I have no idea who that lady is," Max said. Joe and Biggy exchanged slightly confused glances, then we started down the street, checking every door we saw. "Clem say what the person looked like?" Biggy asked. Joe shook his head and knocked on the first door. "Hello, sir," Joe said as a tall burly man opened the door. "Have you seen a small Yorkshire Terrier around here? Has a collar labeled Rusty," Joe asked. The guy shook his head, apologized, and shut the door.

"Alright, everyone split up," Joe ordered. We all began to knock on different doors, covering the entire street. There were only a few houses left when I heard barking from behind the door that I was seconds away from knocking on. Hopeful and wishing for a little bit of luck, I gently banged my fist on the door, and after a brief moment it swung open. "Yes?" a woman asked. Before I could get the question out, Rusty pushed out the door and ran between my legs over to Joe. "Rusty!" Joe exclaimed. He and the other two quickly rushed over to the door I was at, and I stepped out of the way.

"Are you insane?" Joe asked. The woman tried to shut the door, but Joe pushed it back open. "You stole a dog!" Joe began to yell. Pretty soon the woman's husband came up, and things were getting pretty heated between the two when the man began to threaten Joe to leave the property. "We got the dog, Joe. Let's go," Max urged. Joe sighed and pulled away from the doorway, taking a good long look at the address. The man shouted at us from across the yard as we began to head back to the base camp. "They won't get away with this," he growled.

Once we arrived at the base camp Clem was delighted to see Rusty, and Joe personally called the police. He told them about the address and how we got the dog back, and soon Joe and Clem had to leave with the dog to go to the police station. We sat around for hours before Clem and Joe finally returned. "What did they say? Are they going to jail?" someone asked. Joe shook his head angrily and disappeared into his tent. Clem sighed and looked at everyone. "The cops said that... due to a technicality we had no proof of ownership of the dog, and since we had no papers and Rusty wasn't microchipped... Legally, they can't be charged," Clem explained. "This isn't right! We own that dog as much as anybody else!" someone shouted.