Dog Got Your Tongue - Folician Chronicles 1

Prologue

Books in the Folician Chronicles series

Dog Got Your Tongue – Folician Chronicles 1

Homecoming – Folician Chronicles 2

The Temple – Folician Chronicles 3

We have to keep moving forward – Folician Chronicles 4

The Goddess and the Pack Lord – Folician Chronicles 5

The Past is the Future – Folician Chronicles 6

Dawn of Hope – Folician Chronicles 7 

A Folician Christmas

We come in Peace Folician Chronicles 8

We're Back Folician Chronicles 9

The Terran Enclave – Klithian Chronicles 1

A New Balance – Life and Death – Klithian Chronicles 2

~~~ Ray at the ranch

Ray had gone to the ranch with his boss though normally he stayed and worked with the small animals. Working with the small pets was something he loved but Ray also loved larger animals. Since he had a heart condition he had trouble working with larger animals. Any more than some strain could cause him heart problems. Ray did love horses and some of the other large animals and it frustrated him knowing he couldn't work with them due to his heart. Today it was to hold Simon's, the senior Vet's, coat and hand him the instruments he needed.

One of the prize horses of the Windham's had managed to lacerate a knee and they had been planning to breed her. It had taken several hours of intensive work to get the laceration sutured and make sure the joint hadn't been damaged. They were finally done and while Simon was talking to the Windham's Ray took the various items to the van and put them away. By the time he was done Simon was still talking so he decided to take a short walk around.

It might sound odd, but the smell of well-groomed horses and horse farms brought back memories from when he was young. They hadn't owned horses, but his father had worked at a stable as the senior stable hand and he had grown up with the scent. About time Ray left home for college his parents had saved enough money to purchase a small ranch. He had been there several times and it was a very nice place.

As he was thinking about his family he walked behind a barn and leaned against a fence. In the field were a group of foals gallivanting around and he was enjoying watching them. When he felt a twinge from his chest he glanced at his watch and took his meds since it was time.

He was so frustrated with his cardiac problem since he had to take the meds to survive. Ray had seen the best cardio-thoracic surgeons and all they had said was short of a heart transplant nothing could be done. If he did get a transplant he would have to quit being a vet due to the other meds he would be on. It would reduce his body's immune response and he would have a greater chance of getting an infection. It would be bad for the new heart and could cause even more problems, "God I hate this. I wish I could be healed so I can do what I want."

As he was looking out over the fields he started feeling dizzy and staggered. Ray tried to reach for the pocket where his emergency meds were. Before he could even grasp the bottle, he felt a darkness fold over him. As everything went dark he had to wonder if this was going to be the end. Early on the doctors had told him every day he lived beyond his teens was a miracle. It looked like the miracle had run out and it was time to see what was next.

*Relax Rayfuso Johnson and I will take care of you.* The voice was soft and warm in his mind. For some reason it almost felt like warm soft arms were holding him. They were so soft and warm.

~~~ Ray's found to be missing

"Well I will talk to you later Marge and check on your mare in three days. Have a good one." After shaking hands with her he took a moment to ensure everything had been packed up into the company vehicle. Once that was done he called for Ray to see if he was ready to leave. When he didn't respond Simon wasn't worried since it was a fair-sized horse farm. After a few minutes of calling and wandering around he frowned since he had expected Ray to respond at some point, "Well shoot, he must have wandered a bit further than expected."

Since the young man didn't, well couldn't do much with the large animals Simon hadn't said anything after he loaded the equipment and started wandering. Ray had worked for Simon since he had graduated from college and they had talked a fair amount. He knew Ray had grown up around large animals and enjoyed working with them. Being at the ranch gave him some time to be around the large animals without having to worry about his heart condition.

He pulled out his cell to give Ray a call, but the phone went straight to voicemail after informing him the phone wasn't available. It was normal and didn't worry him too much. He left a voicemail and then tried both sending a text and calling again. Since he still hadn't gotten a response he was starting to get concerned. Normally he wouldn't worry except Ray had the heart condition and could have cause him to pass out.

Simon hurried over to Marge who was talking to one of her hands, "Marge my junior vet isn't responding to his name or phone. He has a medical problem might have caused him to pass out. Can you send your available hands out to start looking for him?"

Marge glanced at him and gave him a decisive nod, "You don't even need to ask Simon. Give me a bit of time to get my hands here and we will help you look." She turned to the hand she had been talking to and he was already on the radio calling for everyone to meet at the main barn. She gave him a few more orders as well.

Since she was taking care of that, Simon called 911 just in case it was a problem with Ray's heart. He was definitely starting to become concerned about Ray. It wasn't fear as of yet but definitely concerned.

~~~ Simon informs the staff

Simon had finally been forced to go back to the office several hours later. The search had shown he had gone behind a barn and then the scent trail had been lost. The officers, farm hands, and volunteers were still searching, and he was now classified as a missing person with a known medical condition.

When he arrived back at the office he called the staff in and updated them on what was going on. He had called earlier to let them know Ray had gone missing and now was officially classified as a missing person. It was going to hit everyone hard since all of them liked the young man. Many of the customers liked his comfortable, and easy to talk to attitude.

That hadn't been fun in any way and had put a damper on what had been a good day. It might be chicken of him, but he was glad he wasn't going to be the one to have to tell his family. The police had told him they would take care of it. Simon had a feeling they would be calling him though and he wasn't looking forward to it, "I am going to head home and wait for his parents to call."