Hurricane Rescue

by Jennifer Li Shotz

  DEDICATION

  For my kids, who are still patiently waiting for a dog.

  Soon, I promise!

  CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Acknowledgments

  Back Ad

  About the Author

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  1

  HERO WAS PERFECT.

  That was the only way Ben knew how to describe his dog.

  Ben watched the black Labrador retriever’s muscles flex as Hero vaulted into the air to catch a ball. Sunlight glinted off the dog’s dark coat. His powerful legs stretched in either direction, as if they were carrying him on the wind. Hero’s movements were fluid and precise.

  Perfect.

  Hero caught the ball in his powerful jaws and landed gently on the grass.

  “Nice catch, Hero,” Ben said.

  “He never misses, does he?” Noah asked.

  “Nope,” Ben replied, pushing his brown curls out of his face.

  Scout skidded over to Hero and tumbled to a stop between the bigger dog’s front legs. The golden brown puppy with the white chest and paws looked up at Hero with huge, sad eyes and whimpered. Hero dropped the ball to the ground and nudged it toward Scout.

  “Scout!” Jack laughed at his puppy. “You can’t make Hero do all the work and then take the ball from him!”

  “Well, he just did,” Noah said, grinning.

  “Hero will do anything for Scout,” Ben said. “Right, Hero?”

  Hero wagged his thick tail at the sound of his name. Ben gave him a scratch behind the ears.

  Ben, Noah, and Jack spent nearly every day throwing the ball around in the baseball field near the woods. The boys were on their middle school’s baseball team and had logged a lot of hours on this field, at practice and home games. This year, they’d had an amazing run—their team finished first in their division and almost made it to the state championships. The boys wanted to keep their skills sharp through the fall so they’d be ready for the season, come spring.

  Ben took off his sweatshirt and threw it on the ground. It wasn’t hot exactly, but it was humid, especially for this time of year. Ben had overheard his parents talking that morning about a big storm—something about a hurricane heading for Florida. That was a few hundred miles to the east of them. His dad had said Gulfport was going to be spared the worst of it but would still probably get walloped by rain and wind.

  The dogs played on despite the oppressive weather. Scout loped off with the ball in his teeth. He snorted, swinging his black snout around in a goofy figure eight. Hero caught up to Scout in two long strides, ran past the puppy, then spun around to face him. Hero snatched the ball right out of Scout’s mouth and bolted away.

  “No way!” Ben cracked up. “Did you see that, guys?”

  “Nice one, Hero!” Noah was laughing so hard he could barely speak.

  “Hero’s just reminding us who’s in charge,” Jack said. “I keep telling Scout to respect his elders, but he’s not listening.”

  No one knew what kind of dog Scout was, but Ben could tell he was going to catch up to the large, muscular Hero one day—and then Hero would be in trouble. After Hero and Ben had saved baby Scout from a dogfighting ring, he’d gone to live with Jack at the beginning of the summer, after Jack’s old dog passed away. Since then, the little mutt had almost doubled in size from a tiny puppy to about the size of a full-grown beagle. He was finally growing into his gigantic paws—but he still had a long way to go.

  Because Scout and Hero wanted to play all the time, Jack and Ben had become really good friends, talking nonstop about their two favorite things: dogs and baseball. Ben played shortstop, and Jack was at first base.

  That meant Jack and Noah—Ben’s best friend since kindergarten, who was the team’s starting pitcher—also hung out a lot. Ben wasn’t always sure how much they liked each other, though. Sometimes he worried they just tolerated each other for his sake.

  Hero zipped across the grass. Scout took off after him, his legs pumping hard.

  “Look at that.” Ben squinted into the early fall sunlight, watching the dogs go.

  “What?” Jack followed his gaze.

  “Scout’s almost keeping up with Hero.”

  Hero sensed that Scout was closing in on him and picked up speed, leaving Scout in the dust.

  “Well”—Ben shook his head—“almost. But Scout is definitely getting faster.”

  “And bigger too,” Jack said. “He’s taking up more room in my bed anyway.”

  Hero skidded to a stop. Scout was right behind him, but his reflexes weren’t as quick. He smacked right into Hero, and the two dogs fell to the ground, playfully rolling around in the dirt. The ball fell out of Hero’s mouth. Noah ran over and grabbed it, then held it out for the dogs to see.

  Noah pulled his arm back and snapped the ball in a high arc. Hero and Scout took off after it. Noah ran after them.

  “Go, Scout!” Ben shouted. “Get it, boy!”

  “Aw, come on, Hero, don’t let that little guy catch you!” Jack called out.

  Ben thought he heard something off in Jack’s voice. He watched as Jack stared far away across the clearing. He wasn’t watching the dogs—he looked like he was thinking about something else entirely.

  “Jack,” Ben said. “Dude. You with us?”

  Jack snapped his head around toward Ben.

  “Sorry. I was just thinking . . .” He trailed off. He turned to watch the dogs lope back toward them, Hero gripping the ball tightly in his jaw.

  “Is it about Scout?”

  Jack shook his head.

  “No. I just”—he looked up at Ben—“I was just thinking about my dad. I’m not supposed to see him for a few more weeks, but I really don’t want to wait that long.”

  “That must be tough.” Ben couldn’t imagine not seeing his dad for weeks at a time. Jack’s parents had gotten divorced almost a year earlier. He and his mom had come to live in Gulfport, but his dad still lived up north, in Jackson.

  “I was thinking I might go see him sooner than that,” Jack said. “Like, this weekend.”

  “That’s great,” Ben said. “Is your mom going to drive you up there?”

  “Nope.” Something in Jack’s expression changed. “I’m going to go on my own. I’ll call her when I get there and let her know where I am.”

  Ben wasn’t sure what to say. How could Jack just leave town? And how was he planning to travel 150 miles on his own? A knot of worry rose in Ben’s throat.

  Noah trotted toward them with the dogs close on his heels.

  “Jack,” Ben said softly so Noah couldn’t hear, “your mom will freak if you just take off like that. Have you even talked to them about it—your parents, I mean? Do they know how you feel? I bet your mom—”

  “My mom won’t understand,” Jack cut him off.

  “Okay, but—”

  Noah ran up just then, out of breath but smiling. He tossed the ball to Jack.

  “Hey,” Noah said in between panting breaths. “Are you guys napping, or are you going to throw the ball again?”

 
“Definitely throwing the ball,” Jack said, looking relieved to change the subject. “You go long again, Noah.”

  Noah groaned and ran back toward the other end of the clearing. Jack ambled toward Hero and Scout.

  “Jack,” Ben called after him. Jack turned to look at him. “You’re not really going to try to get to Jackson on your own, are you?”

  Jack shrugged but didn’t say anything.

  Ben tried to think of something—anything—to convince his friend not to go.

  “You heard about the storm that’s coming, right?” Ben asked.

  Jack nodded. “You mean the storm that’s heading for Florida? We live in Mississippi, remember?”

  “Yeah, but my dad said we’re going to get a lot of rain and stuff.” Ben felt silly talking about the weather, but he was grasping at anything to get through to Jack. “It might get kind of nasty. If you’re going to, like, take the bus or something, you don’t want to get stuck in a storm on the road, do you?”

  Jack shrugged again. “No, I don’t.”

  “Soooo . . . does that mean you’re not going to go?”

  “If it really bothers you, I won’t,” Jack said, finally looking Ben in the eye. “And you’re probably right. It’s a terrible idea.”

  Ben wished he could believe his friend.

  2

  BEN STUMBLED DOWNSTAIRS FOR BREAKFAST THE next morning. Hero trailed along behind him and trotted over to his food bowl. Ben dumped kibble into it, more by feel than by sight, since his eyes were still blurry with sleep. He gave Hero the command to eat, and his dog began to chow down.

  Ben yawned. He was exhausted—he’d tossed and turned all night worrying that Jack was going to try to get to Jackson on his own. Ben wanted to get to school a few minutes early to talk to Jack and be sure he wasn’t really leaving town.

  Ben’s little sister, Erin, sat at the kitchen table with her backpack on and her tiny rolling suitcase parked right next to her. The TV was on in the background.

  “Morning, Benny,” she mumbled through a mouthful of waffle.

  “Morning, Sis,” Ben said, rubbing his face with his hands. “You and Mom aren’t leaving for the airport for a while. Why do you have your backpack on already?” he asked.

  “I don’t want to miss my flight,” Erin said matter-of-factly. Ben knew there was no point explaining the space-time continuum to a six-year-old, so he dropped it.

  Ben’s parents stepped into the kitchen mid-conversation.

  “Do you think this storm is going to be bad?” his mom asked.

  His dad turned his focus to the television. A meteorologist spoke in a serious voice.

  “. . . and that’s the Gulfport weather. Meanwhile, the hurricane bearing down on our neighbors to the east is picking up strength. Communities on the southern tip of Florida are battening down the hatches right now. Experts say the storm is still on track to make landfall in Florida late tonight. This is going to be a bad one.”

  Ben’s dad furrowed his brow and started tapping at his phone. Ben recognized that worried look. It was a natural reflex for a police sergeant, and Ben had seen it on his dad’s face a million times—but it still gave him an uneasy feeling.

  “It sounds like it’s too soon to tell,” his dad said. “It looks like it’s heading for Florida, which means we’ll just get dumped on by the rain.” He shook his head. “But you never know with these things. We’ve still got a few hours to go.”

  Ben’s mom looked worried. His dad looked up from his phone and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She rested her head against his chest for a moment.

  “We’ll be fine here,” his dad said. “You should still go. We’ll get you to the airport early, just in case.”

  “If you say so,” she replied. Then her head popped up, and Ben could see that her brain was buzzing with last-minute reminders. Sure enough, she began to run through a list of things she’d already covered with them several times. “Don’t forget Hero’s appointment with the vet on Monday morning,” his mom said. “It’s at nine. He’s getting his teeth cleaned. Oh, and you have to run by the pharmacy on Sunday. Remember they close early on Sundays. And then—”

  “We got it,” Ben’s dad interrupted, smiling at her. “Just enjoy yourself. Don’t worry—Ben and I have everything covered.”

  “Sure you do,” his mom said with a laugh.

  “Besides,” his dad said, giving her a kiss on the cheek, “you’re only going away for four days.” He tilted his head toward Erin. “You should be more worried about how much your parents are going to spoil Erin while you’re there.”

  “No kidding,” Ben’s mom groaned. “She’ll be demanding ice cream morning, noon, and night—and they’ll give it to her.”

  “Woo-hoo! Ice cream!” Erin fist-pumped.

  Hero raised his head to look at Erin, then dropped his muzzle back into his breakfast. His metal tag jangled against his bowl.

  “Please, Mom,” Ben said, rolling his eyes in Erin’s direction. “Don’t bring her back any more of a pain than she already is.”

  Erin stuck her tongue out at Ben. Ben tousled her hair.

  “I’m kidding, Sis.” He grinned at her. “You’re already the biggest pain possible.”

  Erin swatted at Ben, and he hopped up from the table, just out of reach of her little hand.

  “Very funny, Ben,” his mom said, wrapping her arms around him in a giant hug. “You sure are getting tall, kiddo.” She turned to his sister. “Erin, honey, we should leave now. I see you’re all packed and ready.”

  “She’s been ready since last week,” Ben teased.

  “Yeah,” his mom shot back, “it’s called being prepared. You should try it sometime.”

  Ben gave a fake laugh. “You’re cute, Mom.”

  She smiled, then her expression turned serious.

  “Seriously, Ben,” his mom said softly while his dad carried Erin and her suitcase to the door. “Do me a favor and keep your dad out of trouble while I’m gone, would you? You’ve got Hero to look out for you, but if I’m not here, there’s no one to look out for your dad. You know how hard it is for him to leave work.”

  Ben’s dad was devoted to his job—that much was true. He cared about the people of Gulfport, and he’d been awarded all kinds of medals to show for it. Hero too. At the moment, Hero was just a dog on a mission to get the last crumb of breakfast in his bowl, but in fact, he was the most famous search-and-rescue dog in the history of Gulfport, Mississippi—maybe even all of Mississippi.

  Back when Hero was his dad’s K-9 search-and-rescue partner, Ben used to joke that Hero got to spend more time with his dad than Ben did. Now Hero was a full-fledged member of the Landry family—Ben had adopted him after he’d retired from the force a few months earlier—but Ben’s dad still put in long hours on the job.

  “I promise, Mom,” Ben said, “we’ll be fine. Noah’s spending the weekend here too—remember, his parents are out of town?” His mom nodded. “We’re just going to watch a lot of sports and eat a lot of pizza,” Ben continued. “And I’ll make sure Dad eats and leaves the house with pants on and all that stuff. That’s what a good son does for his pops, right?”

  The mention of a father and son brought back all of Ben’s worry about Jack. A feeling of dread washed over him at the thought of Jack alone on the road, desperate to get to his own dad. Ben composed his face so that his parents couldn’t tell there was anything wrong. His mom smiled at him as he walked her to the front door.

  Hero trotted over to them and licked Erin on the cheek. She giggled and bent down to look Hero right in the eye.

  “Hero, I’ll see you Monday night, okay?” Hero licked her on the nose. Erin giggled again. “You can sleep in my bed if you miss me, okay?” Hero wagged his tail.

  In a flurry of suitcases and boarding passes and stuffed animals, Ben’s family drove off. Ben waved as they pulled out of the driveway. Hero leaned against Ben’s leg and snuffled sharply through his nose.

  “Let’s go, pal,�
� Ben said to Hero. “We gotta find Jack, and we’d better not be late for school.”

  3

  “MAN, THAT ALGEBRA TEST WAS WAY harder than I thought it would be.” Noah groaned on the way down the hall.

  “No kidding,” Ben replied. He ran over the equations in his head. There was still a chance he’d do well, but it wasn’t going to be his best grade. He’d studied hard, but apparently not hard enough.

  Ben looked around the crowded hall for Jack, but he didn’t see him. He hadn’t been able to find him earlier either. Ben tried to shake off the bad feeling as he and Noah slipped into their desks in English class.

  “Listen up, everyone.” Mr. Pang leaned over his desk, reading something on his laptop screen with a worried look on his face. The students stopped chattering, and the room went quiet. “It looks like there’s going to be a change of plans today.”

  “Pop quiz?” a boy called out from the back, sending a wave of chuckles and groans across the room.

  “I wish,” Mr. Pang said. “But no. Everything is fine, but unfortunately it looks like the hurricane has started heading farther west, toward us.” The students went silent. Ben exhaled slowly while he tried to wrap his brain around the news. “This just happened,” Mr. Pang went on, “and there’s still a good chance it won’t make landfall and will just spin itself out over the Gulf. Either way, we’re going to get soaked tonight. I’m going to need you all to remain very calm. School is dismissed early today—” The students broke out in a unified cheer, despite the news. “Quiet, everyone—please. Listen, your parents have been notified, and you are expected to leave the school now in an orderly fashion and head directly home. All after-school activities have been canceled, both at school and in town. Let’s go, guys. Stay safe.”

  Ben and Noah scrambled to their feet and stuffed their books into their backpacks. They looked at each other.

  “Uh, I guess I’m coming to your house early?” Noah said. His eyes were shaded with worry. “Great weekend for my parents to be out of town.” High-fiving kids bumped and shoved past them, in a hurry to get out of school as quickly as possible.

  “It’ll be fine,” Ben reassured him. “We’ve got Hero to keep us company. And maybe Scout and Jack will come over too. You haven’t seen him today, by the way, have you?”