After being off-line for the past 3 or 4 days; Doc and I might be back in business. Expanding on an idea from Bill Nye the Science Guy… TV Show…
I’ve strapped a solar charged power inverter to my left leg. Connected it to the tablet notebook on my back. Which is running Voice-to-Text software…. beaming and auto-publishing my dictation directly to the blog.
Now, I really am a Voice in the Wilderness !! - only a couple of drawbacks so far: (1) the V2T is not always accurate (2) the only return communication is through electric pulses – i.e.. morse code dots & dashes – to the inverter on my leg.
I’m worried about Doc, afraid he’s picked up some viral malady. He still knows what we’re doing, but insists on calling me Wyatt, Butch, or Sundance. I don’t know him very well… maybe he’s just goofy.
We’ve worked our way south from Fayetteville, down Pig Trail… concentrating now on the western edge of Lake Dardanelle. Local anecdotes have been accurate enough to keep our hopes up. Although we’re no closer to figuring out why Dixie was taken.
“Doc, What the hell are you doing… get down from there”… I swear to God, if he’s chasing a raccoon again…
“False alarm Butch, just a raccoon”
“For Chrissakes Doc, that’s the third time tod-”
Receiving leg pulses…”Doc lets go man… get in the car.. K2 or Dawn have new info… sending us location…. c’mon man… let’s go!”
“Okay Wyatt I’m in… what’s your leg saying?”
“Shhh…. okay, okay… its Bull, no wait…no… its Blue Mountain; can you punch that into the GPS?”
“Already there Butch…. just a few miles…take the first right after we pass an old guy wearing a yellow hat.”
“Doc…. a GPS doesn’t give directions like that”
“Mine does”
“No Doc, I’m telling you man… they don’t. How could they possibly – “
“Butch, Butch… slow down… there’s the yellow hat… turn right..take the next right. That’s pretty cool isn’t it? – Hey they talking to your leg again?”
“Yes, darn I’m still having trouble with this coding. Its K2, she’s either located Dixie, or the closest Dairy Queen.”
“Damn Wyatt, that’s a Win-Win… Wyatt, why are we stopping?”
“Tell me what you make of that Doc, down in that valley. Grab the binoculars will you?”
“Here you go, Sundance, but I don’t need them to tell you… this is the place. There’s about 300 animals…all domesticated looks like….with what … about a dozen visible sentries…. so figure at least 50 or so total. And I’d say, that fence around the compound is at least 15 feet high. You spot anything I missed?”
“Uhhh no Doc, what you said looks good to me. Lets go find a land line phone and get the authorities out here.”
“No…. not yet Butch…if they even smell a sheriff , they might start killing animals or blow the whole compound to smithereens. Besides, we came to get Dixie… let’s do it.”
“Okay Doc, I’m with you, but how are going to find her… your GPS do that too?”
“This isn’t a joking situation, Butch. These aren’t farm boys stealing dogs…this is like a military outpost. Those guys down there are trained…they kno-”
“Okay, Okay…. you’re right…. so…what do we do… wait until it gets dark?”
“No, no way – they’ll be better equipped with night vision gear than we ever could be… no… we need to get her out of there before it gets dark…..Butch… watch out…this hill is steep. Either of us tumble down this hill, we’re both quickly dead.”
“I’m being careful…still… how are going to find Dixie among hundreds of other animals. If I call her… aren’t we both just as quickly dead?”
“We’re counting on tendencies here; (1) Dixie is the kind of dog who gives them no trouble, so she probably has run of the grounds. (2) Dixie likes to sleep with her back against something… and its cool out… so… (3) she’ll be looking for afternoon sun. The only spot along the fence with sun…is about 100 yards to our left. That’s where we’re going first.”
“Damn Doc, you sound like you know what you’re doing”
“Isn’t that why you brought me along?”
“No, you were the only guy I knew with a 4wd SUV.”
“I’ll remember that, wait here….”
<thud> <snap> <ooooffff>
“okay Butch let’s go….. shouldn’t be anyone watching this fence section now”
“Doc.. hey Doc…what’d you just do back there….”
“Took out a couple of perimeter posts. This isn’t as well trained an operation as I first thought. Stashing sentries along the brush line is old school. Hey Wyatt…isn’t that Dixie lying in the fence corner?”
“Oh my God… Doc… look at her…. she looks terrible…. she can barely lift her head to look at us…Doc, she’s been beaten… give me one of the guns you just got… give me a gun… these bastards are going to pay….with some of their blood.”
“Here… Butch..take this gun… but keep your cool and save your vengeance for another time, with better odds. Dammit, didn’t count on her not being able to run with us; we”ll have to drag her….I saw some pallet boards coming down the hill…. we’ll make a drag sled out of that…. you know the ones I’m talking about?”
“Yeah, I think so… can you get her out of the fence?”
“Sure… I’ll get her out… but Sundance…. remember, don’t shoot anyone….. yet”
* * * *
“Dawn, K2… if you’re still out there…. I know Doc is right…. we need to concentrate on getting – ughghgh… Darn these boards are hard to break… we need to get Dixie out of here. But it looks like she hasn’t been fed for several days or longer. - Christ, theses boards are heavy too…”
“Doc.. Doc… got the pallet board…. found a blanket too…. how’s Dixie?
“Not good, she’s weak…tried to crawl out , but couldn;t… lets put her on the blanket, gonna be tough going back up that hill….
“I’ve got her leash… we can use that to tie around our waist and attach it to our improvised sleigh gurney”
“”Right… okay good idea… lets go…double time it !!!”
<huff> < puff> <uggh> <ooohhhhhh> ”Doc, I hear them yelling… how many are chasing us”
“About 15, its going to be close…Dammit… is that rain?, we;re not going to make it Wyatt. We’re not going to make it.”
“Lets get as close to top as we can…. damn it Doc!!. ..its storming ,can you hear me ? Doc, DOC!!!!…..help me get Dixie to the car..”
GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…….
“Dixie, come back….DIXIE…..DOC , DIXIE TOOK OFF – DAMN THIS STORM- DOOOCCCCCC !!!!!!”
“We’re here Butch, she’s up and ready for some payback!”
“Dixie…no….she’s too weak…Doc, Doc….what are you grinning about?”
“Wyatt…THIS IS HOW LEGENDS ARE BORN …. IN A HOWLING WIND AND BLINDING SHEETS OF RAIN….TWO EXHAUSTED MEN AND THEIR WEAKENED WOUNDED DOG… MAKE A STAND AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS!! “
[ then the first bullet ripped the hat off my head....I watched it disappear into the storm.... ]
Sissy needs to get there in a hurry – you guys need me to do some serious Sissifying!!!! I may be over 60 but I’m raring to go. Nobody messes with my family – or Doc (whoever the H… he is).