Саманта Сильвер - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

“He’s in there, he has a gun,” I managed to gasp before I collapsed to the ground, wishing for the second time in just a few months that I found the time to go running, occasionally. Having the cardio skills of an elephant felt like hell when you had to run for your life.

The two cops made their way towards the door at the same time as I heard sirens in the distance.

“He called for backup, that’ll be them,” Sophie said, looking anxiously over at her boyfriend who was heading towards the house with Chief Gary.

“Come out with your hands up!” Chief Gary ordered as they approached the fence. Suddenly, the door opened and Boss came flying out, barking like crazy. He was stopped by the fence.

“He’s going to go through the tunnel to escape!” I said. Sophie looked at me with a mixture of confusion and fear.

“Chief Gary!” I shouted. “He has a tunnel! It goes to the highway, that’s where he’s going.”

I heard Chief Gary immediately get on his radio.

He and Taylor moved back towards Sophie, Sprinkles and I as I was bent over, hands on my knees, still panting like I’d finished a marathon.

“Support’s coming, Angela. Don’t worry,” Chief Gary told me. “You’re safe now.”

As soon as Chief Gary said those words it was like it triggered a delayed reaction in my body, which was catching up on everything I’d just gone through. Suddenly, I began to sob. I sat down on the ground, letting the tears fall, as Sprinkles came up to me and rested his head on my knee.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” he told me. I couldn’t reply, I just gave him a bit of a scratch behind the ears as tears fell down my face.

Sophie sat down next to me and wrapped an arm around me. “Let it out, Angela,” she told me. “Let it all out.”

I had come so close to dying. Like, really, really close. Gareth Sims had shot a gun at me with the intention of killing me. If it wasn’t for remembering that thing about the cheap lights all going out, I might be lying dead on the back of a truck right now.

I knew I had just gone through something similar a few months ago. Zoe Wright had almost killed me as well. But it’s just not something you ever get used to. At least, I wasn’t used to it.

And this time, Gareth had shot at me. He actually pulled the trigger and tried to fire a bullet to kill me. Even the thought of it made bile rise in my throat.

I don’t know how long I sat there crying for, but eventually Charlotte arrived and sat down next to me as well, and a while later a bunch of cops arrived, and an ambulance. Sophie waved them over, and a group of three EMTs came by, carrying a stretcher.

“Ma’am, we’re going to take you to the hospital now,” one of them, a woman not much older than me said, placing a hand on my shoulder. Her touch was soft, almost loving.

“I don’t need a stretcher,” I managed to get out.

“It’s the rules, ma’am,” the lady said. “We’re going to give you something to sleep for a while,” she told me. Realizing they wanted to sedate me, I just didn’t have the energy to fight it. Besides, it would probably be good for me. Mutely, I nodded, and they loaded me up onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, where an IV was instantly expertly inserted into my arm.

The last thing I remember was Sophie arguing with the EMTs to let Sprinkles ride along as well.

“He saved her life. He should get to come!”

“Sprinkles,” I managed to mutter, looking over at the dog’s happy face, just as everything went black.

Chapter 20

For the second time in two months I woke up in a hospital bed in Portland. But this time, Charlotte was by herself, reading a book that probably weighed as much as I did. I stared at the title for a while. ‘Biomedicine, embryology and the gynaecology of the future’. Wow. That sure was a mouthful.

Suddenly, Charlotte noticed I was awake.

“Angela!” she said, dropping the book onto the chair next to her and getting up and giving me a hug. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Me too, not gonna lie,” I replied, managing to crack a small smile. Charlotte beamed at me.

“I’m so glad you’re ok I’m not even going to berate you for going into that house all by yourself.”

“To be fair to me,” I said, “I didn’t actually go in the house willingly. I was outside it when Gareth pulled a gun on me and forced me inside.” I shuddered at the memory.

Charlotte’s face softened. “Oh, Angela. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok,” I replied, waving away her apology. “You had no way of knowing.”

“Still, I’m really glad you’re not hurt. When Sophie called me and said you were in trouble, I thought the worst. I was so worried, I didn’t want to lose my older sister.”

I smiled at Charlotte’s worried face, took her hand in mine and squeezed.

“Thanks, Char,” I told her. As much as we made fun of each other, I really, really loved my sister, and I knew the feeling was mutual.

Suddenly, Sophie came bursting in the door with Sprinkles.

“Ahhhh, you’re awake!” she said, practically jumping on the bed to give me a big hug.

“Sophie!” Charlotte scolded. “You’re not supposed to greet hospital patients like that.”

“It’s ok, it’s not like there’s anything really wrong with me,” I laughed, hugging Sophie back. “How did you know what was happening, though?”

Sophie looked at Sprinkles. “It’s funny. I was walking up to the movie theatre with Taylor. We saw Chief Gary, he was there with his wife, about ten yards in front of us. Not gonna lie, we were definitely hanging back so he wouldn’t see us. Then Sprinkles came running out of nowhere, with his leash hanging down, and I was like uh oh, this isn’t good.”

She ruffled his hair. “Then Sprinkles spoke to me.”

My mouth dropped open. “Like, you understood him?”

“Yeah. It was so weird. I had no idea at all what was happening. But he told me, clear as day, that the man who hurt Andrea had taken me and was going to hurt me too.”

“So you came to help.”

“Yeah.” Sophie laughed a little bit. “It’s funny, I kind of have a bit of an appreciation for what you go through now. I mean, I couldn’t exactly tell Taylor that the dog said my best friend had been kidnapped. So I told him that you were supposed to have him, and that you must be in trouble. I figured he’d take Sprinkles’ barking as a call for help. Taylor was amazing. He yelled at Chief Gary that there was a situation. Chief Gary’s car was like, thirty feet away, so we all hopped in and sped over.”

I shook my head. “I’m so glad. Thank you. And thank you, Sprinkles.”

I looked over at Charlotte. “Well, I think if any one of us knows why Sophie can magically talk to animals now, it’s going to be you.”

“That’s the thing,” Sophie continued. “It’s not all animals. I tried talking to some of the animals outside, but they just chirped back at me. It’s only Sprinkles.”

“Weird,” I said, looking over at Charlotte, who looked desperate to teach Sophie and I something.

“Magic isn’t this black and white thing,” Charlotte explained to us. “Especially in a case like Sophie’s, where her mom’s a full-on witch and her dad’s as human as they come. While we previously thought Sophie had no magical powers whatsoever, it seems that was wrong. But while Angela and I have the full spectrum of witch abilities, Sophie’s powers are quite a bit more limited. It seems a connection with her favourite dog was what was needed to trigger one of those abilities.”

“You are my favourite doggy, aren’t you Sprinkles? Yes you are!” Sophie said, scratching him behind the ears.

“Thank you, Sprinkles,” I told him, looking down at the happy dog. “You saved my life.”