wasn’t lying to you. Harley didn’t sound like that during the first year of his training. He couldn’t have been a more perfect service dog. In fact he was so extraordinary, he’d been assigned earlier than expected because an eight-year-old boy, Terry Calder, needed a dog and his trainer thought Harley could handle his needs. It worked out beautifully and they were both ecstatic at being together. But a gas main blew up in his neighborhood and Terry was killed.” She grimaced. “It’s likely he was killed instantly by the explosion itself, as his parents were, but Harley wouldn’t believe it. He dragged the boy through that burning house to the front door and stayed there barking until the firemen heard him and managed to break down the door to get to them. But it was definitely too late by then.” She reached down and patted Harley. “This one almost died, too. Severe smoke inhalation, they had to operate twice on him. But he’s well now except the damage done to his vocal cords. Needless to say, when the Guide Dog Foundation directors heard what he sounded like after he recovered, they no longer wanted him as a Seeing Eye dog. Service dogs have to be almost perfect in every way so that they can interact with the public.” She made a face. “Though they did give him a medal for his service at the fire. But he wouldn’t eat, he was almost catatonic, after he lost the boy. Dr. Napier did his best, but he was finally considering sending him to a shelter as a solution when he thought about Elaine. Naturally Elaine took him, but she really didn’t know what to do with him, either. She was just edging along trying to use Harley’s instinctive love of people, particularly kids, to bring him back. But they’re all afraid of him now.” She looked Kendra in the eye. “Admit it, even you were scared.”
“I won’t deny it. How can I?” But she wasn’t afraid now. Elaine had tried to understand and save this dog. She had seen his pain and tried to soothe it. “So what are you planning on doing with him, Maddie? You volunteered to take him in after Elaine died. You must have some feeling for him.”
“You want me to take him? I’m not that noble. He doesn’t really like me. He didn’t like anyone but Elaine after his Terry died. And I wouldn’t have volunteered to take care of him except I heard him howl.”
“What?”
“The day that Elaine died, I heard him howl. He’d never done that before. I’d heard that scary bark, but not that horrible, mournful howl. The vet told Elaine that he howled for Terry for weeks after he died and then just gave up and went into depression.” Her eyes were tearing. “Harley knew Elaine was dead. He knew he’d lost someone else. Just as we’d lost her. I couldn’t help her, so I thought I’d do what I could for him. I offered to keep him for at least a couple of weeks. After that, I’ll try to find him a home, but it probably won’t work out. He has a handicap that’s hard to take.” She swallowed hard. “So there you are. Another tragedy added to the one that happened to Elaine and Mr. Kim.”
“Bullshit. There has to be something we can do. Saving this dog was one of the last things that Elaine tried to make happen before she was killed. We can’t cheat her of it.” Kendra rubbed Harley’s broad nose, velvet soft, so different from that harsh, fierce snarl that was meant to be a bark. She had been terribly touched by the story of the sacrifice that had caused his hideous hoarseness. What must it be like to reach out in love and have it be mistaken for violence? And she had an idea that beneath the intense, searching emotion she could see in the dog’s eyes, there might be pure love. “I’d take him, but I’m never at home. If he needs people contact as much as Elaine said, my neighbors would be calling the police at the first howl.”
“Absolutely,” Maddie said. “I guarantee they’d be knocking on your door. But you’re working with the FBI these days as well as your music therapy groups. You can figure it out, Kendra. Because I don’t know how long I can fight off Allison. She has a good heart but this school is everything to her.