“Sorry,” said Ben, apologetically, “I can’t stay long. There are a million things I need to get done.” Ben used his hat and waved it in a broad arc toward Robert and Kyle. Then Ben began to look intently around. He peered deeply into the rows of corn behind him. Facing the corn, he whistled loudly and, almost instantly, a Labrador retriever puppy came running toward him from the field. It circled his boots, and then darted toward Alexis, smelling her ankles and the ears of corn on the ground. Ben walked toward the campfire snapping his fingers. The dog followed closely, greeting Robert and Kyle with its cold wet nose.
“I thought you might still be here.” Ben looked back at Alexis. She was picking the ears of corn up from the ground. “My wife baked some cornbread. Alexis has it.”
“We couldn’t leave with an invalid.” Robert jokingly pointed at Kyle.
Kyle offered his right hand as a greeting. “You must be Ben. It’s good to meet you, again. I can’t remember much from the past two days.”
Ben reached for his hand, but stopped when he noticed the swelling.
“Sorry, pal. Your hand looks terrible.” Ben extended his left hand and gave Kyle a firm handshake.
Robert pointed toward the puppy. “How’d you come across that thing?”
Ben bent over to scratch the dog’s neck and back. “I finally made it to one of my neighbors. We talked about our problems and decided to work together. He has an old tractor that still works and a storage tank of diesel fuel. We agreed to help each other and share food. I have corn and he has beans. It’s a good combination.” He looked at Alexis, remembering her invitation to eat cornbread and beans with them. “I have a place to store the harvest and a grain mill to grind the corn into meal.” He gave the dog a gentle pat and stood up again. “And he gave me a dog. It’s a good dog.” Ben smiled at the puppy.
Alexis walked back to the campfire. She grinned as she held up the plastic bag with cornbread inside that Ben had just given them. Not saying anything to the three men, she set the ears of corn down and found a can of beans to warm by the fire.
“Y’all going to stay long?” asked Ben.
Robert looked at Kyle and cast a thumb in his direction. “Maybe leave tomorrow if he can handle it.”
Kyle smirked, and then his stomach growled loudly from hunger.
“I’m not going to keep a man from his supper.” Ben put his hat back on. “Best of luck to you,” said Ben, as he turned away. He slapped his leg and the puppy followed him into the field.
The next morning Kyle decided he was strong enough to try to continue downstream. They gathered their belongings and packed the rafts. The rafts were near the riverbank when Robert decided to look around the campsite once more to make sure they forgot nothing. He picked up an ear of corn and threw it back toward the field. He saw movement inside the cornfield, and then Ben’s puppy ran out, whimpering and limping toward Robert. The dog had its tail between its legs and began to cower at Robert’s ankles.
Robert called out loudly. “Ben… Ben… your dog is over here.”
There was no reply. He looked back toward the river and he knew that Kyle and Alexis were waiting. Robert bent down and touched the dog’s back leg. It howled in pain.
Robert called out loudly again. “Ben… Ben… I have your dog… it’s hurt.”
“What’s going on?” yelled Kyle from the riverbank.
Robert motioned for Kyle to come back and showed the injured puppy to him.
“That’s his dog alright and it’s hurt,” said Kyle.
“We can’t just leave him here.” Robert looked toward the grove of trees that Ben had said was thick with copperheads, and remembered the story of Ben’s old dog that died from a snakebite it got out here. “I’ll do it. I’ll take it back.”
Robert gently picked up the dog and began to walk into the cornfield. The coarse corn leaves irritated his skin and were blinding as they whipped into his face. He could not block them with his hands because he was carrying an injured dog. As Robert neared the end of the row of corn, the dog began to whimper loudly.
“Easy now, you’re almost home,” said Robert, as he gave the puppy gentle pats on the back.
When Robert stepped out of the corn, the dog tensed, began to growl, and tried to get away. Robert did the best he could to hold the dog tight and not hurt it. When he looked up from the dog, he noticed an old van near the house. He did not remember the van being there from days before. Robert thought it might be the neighbor Ben had talked about, but Ben had not mentioned that they had a van that was working. Robert got nervous. He stopped abruptly and looked around. Quickly, he went back into the cover of the cornfield and watched the house. He put the dog down and stared at the house and its surroundings. He saw no movement, but thought he heard something behind him. He listened closely; it sounded like crying. The dog began to sniff the air and it limped back into the cornfield toward the noise. As they got closer, the sound grew louder. It was someone crying. Curled in the dirt between rows of corn was a young boy. His knees were up and he had wrapped his little arms tightly around his legs. He buried his face into his thighs and he was crying loudly, not hearing Robert’s or the puppy’s approach. The boy felt the puppy’s cold nose bump his cheek and he sat up. When the boy looked back and saw Robert approaching, he fell back, shuffling his feet and hands backwards in the dirt, not gaining any traction. Robert could see the look of terror in his eyes.
Robert knelt down into a less threatening position. “Are you Ben’s son?”
The boy nodded, with fear in his eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
The boy shook his head. He still had tears running down his face.
“What’s wrong?”
The boy pointed in the direction of his house. “Those men are going to hurt my parents,” said the boy, with a trembling voice. “My dad went to the neighbor’s house, so he wasn’t here when they showed up. They came to the house and wanted food. They said they would leave if my mom gave them something to eat.” The boy’s face contorted as he tried to keep himself from crying. “I was outside and they grabbed me and told her to open the door or they would hurt me. They kicked my puppy. My mom opened the door. When my dad got back, they got him, too. That’s when I got away.”
Robert’s heart sank into his stomach. He knew he had to help them.
“How many?
“Two.” The boy held up two trembling fingers.
“Guns?”
The boy nodded.
“Do you know what kind of guns?”
“I think they were shotguns.” The boy closed his eyes as he thought. “They looked like the kind my dad uses to hunt birds.”
Robert nodded. “Listen to me carefully. I am going to try to help your parents. You need to follow me and hide by the river. I have friends there and they’ll help. Okay?”
The boy nodded and wiped the tears from his face. He stood up, and Robert could see that the boy was barely eight years old. The boy picked his little dog up and touched his cheek to the dog’s soft fur.
“Follow me. Let’s hurry.”
They ran through the corn back toward the campsite. Curious and concerned looks of both Kyle and Alexis met them when they exited the field. Kyle shrugged his shoulders in the distance. He was confused. Why was Robert running back toward them with a boy and the puppy?
Robert stopped in front of Kyle and leaned over, resting his hands on his knees and breathing deep. He took a deep breath and spoke. “This is Ben’s son. He told me that two men with shotguns are at his house. His parents are in trouble.”
The curious look on Kyle’s face faded to a distant stare. He clenched his swollen right hand and tried to make a tight fist. He still felt weak and Robert knew that. “What’s the plan? I owe this guy something.”