Save the Sanctuary

by Samuel P. Fortsch

  “Well, not me.”

  Penny shakes her head, defeated, and starts walking away. Then she stops and turns back around to me.

  “Oh, and by the way, I care. I care if you watch. If you’re living here at the Sanctuary under my roof, you’re family. You always talk about your old unit, right? Well, you’re a part of this one now. And this unit sticks together. This unit doesn’t leave anyone behind. I’m not quitting on you.”

  I stood there, shaky on my three legs, and all I could think about was Kris. She loved fireworks on the Fourth. And then I thought about the Soldier’s Creed she taught me: I will never quit.

  Maybe Penny had a point: Am I quitting on myself?

  Then again, I wasn’t a soldier anymore.

  CHAPTER 3

  DARK CLOUDS

  Location: Washington, DC, United States

  Date: 4JUL20

  Time: 1630 hours

  I look up at the sky and all I see is gray. It has been like this all afternoon. I know the sun is up there somewhere, but its light can’t make it through the heavy cloud cover.

  The parade is starting soon, and everyone here is complaining about the weather even though the first drop of rain hasn’t hit yet. Not Penny, though—she’s always happy and never complains.

  “If it ain’t raining, we ain’t training.” That’s what we used to say in the Army. I bet Penny would have been a great Army dog. She’s got plenty of spirit, that’s for sure. And plenty of persistence. She’s still trying to convince me to watch.

  Penny says that on account of the parade, we have some extra visitors coming to the Sanctuary, and not the good kind. Matter of fact, it’s the worst kind. It’s Hans and Heinz, a pair of feisty Doberman pinschers. They’re the two meanest dogs you’ll ever meet. And they’ll be with their owner, Mr. Mocoso, who’s just about the cruelest human to exist. The three of them are perfect for one another. Most of the animals run for cover and hide when they show up. Last week, Hans and Heinz found Brick’s hidden stash of treats and made him watch as they ate it all.

  If Kris were here, she would say, “embrace the suck”—meaning “deal with it.” But some days that’s easier said than done.

  Mr. Mocoso always wears a pressed white suit that matches his pale skin but he’s all dark on the inside. He wears these big round red glasses. They’re like shutters for the windows to his soul . . . if he had one. He’s very tall, but even still, his pinschers look like giants. And he’s got this big scar on his neck. Rumor has it that Mr. Mocoso’s last pet, a monkey named Simon, turned on him and took a bite out of his neck. Penny says Mr. Mocoso started it. She said he grabbed Simon by the throat and squeezed him so hard that he turned blue. Simon managed to escape and nobody’s heard or seen him since.

  Mr. Mocoso’s mom used to run the Sanctuary before Ms. Becca took over. Something must have happened between him and his mom, because he absolutely loathes this place and everyone inside of it. Some of the other animals think it’s because nobody wants us as pets. I think they’re giving him too much credit. He’s just pure evil in my book. If he hates the Sanctuary so much, I wonder what he’s doing here. I don’t think he’s here for the parade.

  * * *

  ★ ★ ★

  Time: 1700 hours

  All of a sudden, the door swings wide open and out come Hans and Heinz, trotting over to me, noses high in the sky as they make their way into the yard. They always try to bully me. I stand up tall on my three legs to let them know I’m not scared.

  “Would you look at this stupid thing, Heinz?” says Hans.

  “Which thing? Everything here is stupid,” Heinz replies.

  “This thing, this three-legged freak,” says Hans, pointing directly at me.

  I usually just ignore them, but not today. The parade is about to start and it’s about to rain. And I know if I don’t stand up to them, they’ll just target Penny next.

  “Don’t you two have some butts to sniff?” I say.

  Hans and Heinz look at each other in shock. I’m a bit shocked at myself. That came out of nowhere. Maybe there is a little soldier left in me after all.

  “Sounds even more stupid than he looks! Doesn’t he, Heinz?”

  “Very stupid, Hans.”

  They start approaching me, but I stand my ground. Hans presses his big wet snout against mine, but I don’t back down. Then he pushes me. I stumble to the ground because I don’t have the balance I used to without a front leg.

  Of course they start howling with laughter. The laughter catches the ear of Penny, who now comes over to watch.

  I stand back up straight and begin gritting my teeth. I can feel my blood boiling. And just as I’m about to snap at them . . . a piercing sound hits my ears.

  “You heard your master’s whistle. Time for you two to move out!” I say.

  “Move out of what?” asks Hans.

  “That’s Army-talk for ‘leave!’”

  Heinz growls.

  “Pipe down, tripod. I didn’t hear a whistle. Did you, Hans?”

  “Didn’t hear a thing, Heinz.”

  “Well, maybe you two should consider getting your ears cleaned!” Penny chimes in.

  I don’t know if Penny was trying to be funny, but that made me double over with laughter. I could hear the other animals starting to join in. This was not something Hans and Heinz were used to, and the animals at the Sanctuary were enjoying every moment of it.

  As the laughter was dying down, Hans started to crack a smile. At first I was surprised that he was embracing the joke—even if it was a silly one. But that wasn’t the case. He was smiling for a different reason. A very bad one.

  “You knuckleheads might be laughing now, but you won’t be laughing when Mr. Mocoso shuts this place down,” says Heinz.

  The Sanctuary goes silent and no one is laughing anymore.

  “That’s right. It’s over for all of you. Or as your friend tripod would say, ‘It’s time for you to MOVE OUT!’”

  I look over to Penny. She is confused and starts doing the “tilt.”

  “Shutting down?” she says.

  Hans has a big grin on his face and says, “Wait a second . . . you’re telling me you don’t even know . . . do you?”

  “I thought you ran this place. What a joke!” Heinz chimes in.

  “But Mr. Mocoso can’t shut it down. The Sanctuary belongs to Ms. Becca,” Penny says.

  “That’s what you think!” says Heinz.

  “It can’t be! Is Penny the brave actually showing signs of defeat? You look like you’ve seen a ghost! I can’t say I blame you, Penny. You and your little family of rejects being taken from the only home you’ve ever known, it’s quite sad,” says Hans.

  It’s pouring rain now, so Mr. Mocoso blows his whistle again, even louder this time.

  “All right, fellas,” I say. “The whistle means leave. You don’t want to wind up like Mr. Mocoso’s last pet, now do you?”

  This catches their attention and they slowly begin to leave, but not before Hans can shout, “Better start packing . . . and soon! The Snatchers are on their way now.”

  The Snatchers.

  When they mention the Snatchers, the other animals look worried. I’m worried, too. The Snatchers are bad news. The Snatchers are big, burly men with beards to match their size.

  And just as Hans and Heinz leave, the door opens and we’re surrounded.

  Penny stands in front of the door, protecting the younger puppies, but it’s no use. The Snatchers are fast, efficient, and ruthless. And we’ve got no escape.

  I’ve had close run-ins with them on the streets before, but I always had an escape plan. There are nine of them and they’re blocking the only exit we have. They make quick work of us. I watch, helplessly, as they snatch up each of my fellow animals with pole nets and lock them up in cages, one by one. Penny,
Brick, Truman, and even Stripes—every last one of them.

  They’ve all got one-way tickets to the city pound—every animal’s worst nightmare.

  And I’m next.

  CHAPTER 4

  THE POUND

  Location: Somewhere in Washington, DC

  Date: 5JUL20

  Time: 0800 hours

  I can barely see in here. It’s cold and dark and smells like they haven’t cleaned in weeks. When I arrived, one of the Snatchers said, “Welcome to the pound!” but I think they brought us to the city dump. I used to love my powerful nose.

  “Rico can sniff a bomb from a hundred klicks away,” Kris used to brag to all of the soldiers. Now I wish I couldn’t smell at all.

  The worst part about being here—wherever here is—is that we missed the parade. Not that I really cared to see it, but I know how much it meant to Penny.

  There are mostly dogs and a handful of cats here. They all look very tired and sad. Who wouldn’t? We’re all crammed into this tiny room in the cellar that feels like a prison.

  The younger puppies haven’t stopped crying since we got here yesterday. Penny tries to console them, but it’s no use. Even they can tell there’s no way out.

  “Why would they take us from the Sanctuary? We didn’t do anything wrong. Why can’t we just go home, Penny?” I hear the puppies ask her.

  Even Brick is complaining more than usual.

  “I just want my bed back,” he keeps saying.

  I feel like I should say or do something to make them feel like there’s hope, but then I’d be lying.

  It is what it is. That’s what we used to say in the Army. I try to let my mind wander and think about better times: when I was with Kris, when I was in the Army . . .

  And suddenly, I hear a voice that jolts me from my thoughts.

  “Psst, psst, hey, you.”

  I can hear but can’t tell who said it. I stand up and turn around to try to figure out where it’s coming from.

  “Psst, psst, over here,” I hear again.

  I limp over to the corner of the cell past a clowder of cats and see an old bloodhound resting on the ground.

  “Army, right?” he asks.

  “How’d you know?” I say.

  “Come on now. Plenty of signs. I saw you scanning the room, checking the situation the second you got here,” he says.

  I nod. I know when a dog’s been in the military, too. And he’s right; they trained us to “soak in our surroundings.”

  “That bulldog over there . . . ,” he says.

  “That’s Brick. What about him?” I ask.

  “He a friend of yours?”

  “I suppose . . . ,” I say with a bit of hesitation in my voice.

  “Well, do you trust him?” the old hound asks.

  “Who wants to know? How do I know I can trust you?” I ask him skeptically as I scan him up and down. He’s heavy and out of shape. Definitely doesn’t fit the build of an Army dog. He’s missing a leg, too. But he has a prosthetic wheel where his leg used to be.

  I can tell this guy is wasting my time, so I start to hobble away.

  “Sergeant First Class Chaps wants to know. That’s who.”

  I suddenly realize just who I’m talking to. I turn around and immediately straighten my posture and stance to show the old hound dog respect, since he outranks me. Sergeant First Class Chaps is a total legend. During his time in the Army, he sniffed out over 1,000 bombs and saved thousands of lives.

  “My mistake, Sergeant. I didn’t know who I was speaking with. I’m Rico.”

  But even though I didn’t know who he was, I should have treated him with dignity and RESPECT. It’s one of the Army values that I’m supposed to live by.

  “At ease, soldier,” he says, so I relax my stance. “Got any rank attached to that name?”

  “There was,” I say.

  “What do you mean, was? You Army or not?” he asks.

  “I was a sergeant. Not anymore.”

  “Well, if you was then you is! Once a soldier, always a soldier.”

  I admire Chaps’s tenacity, but I just don’t feel like a soldier anymore. I still can’t believe I’m standing in front of a legend like Chaps.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask him.

  “That’s a story for another day. We don’t have much time and I need your help.”

  Before I can get a word in, the cell door swings open and one of the Snatchers barges in. He blows right past Chaps and me and corners this old alley cat. We watch as the Snatcher grabs the helpless cat by the scruff of its neck and hauls it away. As quickly as the Snatcher came in, he is gone.

  “What just happened?” I ask Chaps.

  “Thirty days just happened. Poor cat’s time was up.”

  And then I realize that this isn’t just some ordinary city pound. No, this is a kill shelter. If an animal isn’t adopted in thirty days, then that’s the end of the line. No ifs, ands, or buts.

  “Like I said, we’re running out of time,” Chaps says. “So, soldier, can you help me?”

  CHAPTER 5

  TIME IS TICKING

  Location: Somewhere in Washington, DC

  Date: 5JUL20

  Time: 0850 hours

  I know it’s my duty to help another soldier who is in distress, but what can I do? We’re trapped in this cold, dank dump and I can barely see, let alone find an escape route.

  I know Chaps can sense my hesitation to help. “It’s not just me who needs your help, soldier.”

  I watch as he looks up to the ceiling and lets out a soft whistle like a signal of sorts.

  The pipes begin to shake and dust falls onto the floor. “Get down here, y’all,” Chaps calls out.

  Then, out of the shadows emerges something I’ve never seen in my life: a hedgehog riding a ferret and a rabbit riding a snake. They make their way to Chaps.

  I do a double take because I cannot believe my eyes. The hedgehog, ferret, rabbit, and snake all give Chaps a big, long group hug.

  “This is my team. My unit. We call ourselves the Fellowship, and they’ve been trying to bust me out for thirty days,” Chaps says.

  Chaps motions to the hedgehog and says, “Show him.”

  The hedgehog unrolls a piece of paper and holds it in front of my face.

  It reads “The Kill List” at the top and it’s got today’s date on it. Right below Chaps’s name is Penny’s. Mine is right below hers.

  Seeing her name on that list really makes my heart hurt.

  “I thought you said we had thirty days?” I ask Chaps.

  “Y’all must have done something real bad or made someone real mad,” said Chaps.

  I can only think of one person who is evil enough to have put Penny’s name at the top of the list . . . Mr. Mocoso!

  “We all need your help. Think you can do one last mission to help save your fellow animals?”

  Before I can even consider Chaps’s offer, Penny, Brick, and the other animals from the Sanctuary interrupt.

  “Hiya, Rico. I hate to be a buttinsky, but we need to get out of here . . . and fast,” Penny says.

  “I know, Penny. But what do you want me to do? I thought Ms. Becca was coming to save us,” I say.

  “Rico, if you can just get us outside, you can lead us home. You know the streets so well!” Penny says.

  And then a bunch of the other animals from the Sanctuary gather around.

  “What are we going to do, Rico?” one asks.

  “Rico, we have to do something! The Sanctuary is our home. We can’t just let Mr. Mocoso take it,” Penny says.

  “Why does everyone think I know what to do?”

  Even Stripes, the skunk who I’ve barely spoken to in the last year, says, “Because you’re the most courageous dog we know, Rico.”
r />   “What do you know about me?” I ask Stripes.

  He’s silent.

  “What makes you think I’m courageous?” I ask him again.

  “Because you were a sergeant in the Army. You have to be courageous in the Army, right?”

  Now I’m the one who’s silent. He is right, but I don’t know what to tell him.

  Chaps chimes in to break my silence: “He’s right. I know you got some fight left in you. So listen up, ya’ll, ’cause I’m the pooch with the plan.”

  “What’s your plan?” Penny asks Chaps.

  “For starters, I’ve got a way out. And your bulldog friend is just what we need,” Chaps says.

  “Brick?” Penny asks.

  “Yes, ma’am, he’s the perfect size,” Chaps says.

  “We need more than just a way out,” says Penny.

  “You name it,” Chaps says.

  “We need you to help us save the Sanctuary.”

  The hedgehog interjects: “This isn’t part of the plan, Chaps!”

  “Well, neither was me being chased by those dogs and getting stuck in here for thirty days. And since I’m on tonight’s list, we need the bulldog’s help . . . and Rico here knows the streets.”

  “The dog with three legs is going to lead us?” asks the hedgehog.

  “Hey! Enough with that. I’m missing a leg, too, but you don’t question me, now do you?”

  “Yeah, but you have a wheel—”

  “I said enough,” Chaps says. “Have I ever let you down?”

  “You’re right, Chaps, sorry. We’d follow you to the ends of the Earth.”

  “They’ll need someone with your training and leadership skills. Someone who knows the streets. They’ll be dead meat on their own,” Chaps says to me.

  “Then let’s hurry! The Snatchers will be back any moment!” says the hedgehog.

  I know they’re all counting on me, but I don’t feel like leader I used to be.