Pinoy historical romance: Intramuros

Pinoy historical romance: Intramuros Part 5

Corporal Manuel approached the door and knocked. The door opened revealing a gray-haired woman who looked European. So the corporal bowed and said, "Good afternoon, madame."

"Officer! I mean, good afternoon, senior. Can I help you?" asked the nervous woman.

"Umm," he said, since he forgot to think of a reason to be there in the first place. Then he heard barking noises inside the house and said, "We had complaints from your neighbors about noise coming from the back of your house. May I take a look at it?"

"Of course, senior," then added when he went in the house, "Sorry for the smell. It's not so clean."

Actually, it smelled like dogs and the usual business they were up to. So when he got to the kitchen, he was not surprised to see Foo-Foo.

"What a beautiful dog!" he remarked. The dog looked at him and swung its head to one side as if understanding what he was saying. "So white and it also has a pink bow on its head."

"Yes, Thank you, senior."

"Can I touch it?" he said but was already lifting the dog and saw it was indeed female. The dog did not complain. "How long have you had her?"

"About a year, senior. Aren't you going to the back of the house?" asked the gray-haired lady.

But the corporal was still carrying the dog. "You know, madame, this dog looks remarkably like Donia Victoriana's missing dog? You know Donia Victoriana, yes? One of the richest people here in Intramuros. She has a sketch of the dog and asked the Civil Guard to help find it."

The gray-haired woman confessed a little after that. Indeed, the dog was Foo-Foo and working with her brother and brother-in-law, they stole the dog. They tempted it with slices of bread to go near the gates when it was alone playing with a ball. Then it was simple for her brother-in-law, who already went over the fence undetected, to take the dog and give it to his cohorts who were waiting outside.

"You're going to sell the dog," he concluded because he heard many such things happen.

"We are not, senior. Honest," came the reply. "We are part of a group who is planning to start something called a circus, you know, with animals that play tricks like dogs of all sizes, monkeys, bears, horses. There will also be humans who will do strange things with their bodies, but we're having a hard time looking for them. It's the in-thing in Europe. "

"And Foo-Foo is an intelligent dog," he said absently.

"Foo-Foo? That's a funny name. But that dog is really intelligent. I already taught some more tricks," she said proudly and proceeded to show the corporal. He was amused and clearly, Foo-Foo was, too. But he had to tell the woman that he had to return the dog. He told the woman he would not tell Donia Victoriana or anyone in the Civil Guard about them, as long as she promised to leave Intramuros that evening. Foo-Foo in hand, he left the smelly house and went to Donia Victoriana's palace.