Eliana Pemberton cried into her pillow wondering when the ache in her chest would stop. Bentley, her two year old poodle mix and best friend in the world, was missing, and no one in the neighborhood had seen him. She put flyers up on every lamp post, knocked on every door, and searched relentlessly in all the places she knew he loved. He had disappeared, and she blamed herself.
Two years ago, it had taken quite a bit of begging and pleading for her mom to finally give in and let her have the dog. She promised no one else would have to take care of him, swearing she’d be the one to housebreak him, cleaning up after his messes. Her mother actually said she was proud of how Eliana stuck to her promise, even when Bentley was sick and having diarrhea, even when he cried at night the first week, and especially when her brother threatened to drown the dog after he chewed up his favorite shoes.
Eliana paid for new ones herself with her babysitting money. Two weeks of cleaning up after the Harris’ twins had been a nightmare, but Bentley had been worth it.
And now, one little lapse in attention, one moment of laziness, and everything she’d done in the past meant nothing. All the devotion and attention wasted and tossed away because she hadn’t wanted her feet to get cold. She hated herself and sobbed even harder as she thought of the last time she had seen him.
The snow had just fallen new and white, and Bentley needed to go. She had just gotten her pjs on when he whined at the back door.
“Bent, no. You just went. It’s cold now,” she said, and he cocked his head the way he always did at the sound of her voice, but then scratched at the door and whined again. She sighed and walked over as he wagged his tail and yipped at her, seeming to smile. He was so cute it was hard for her to stay irritated at him.
“Alright, but I’m staying in. It’s too cold and I don’t have any shoes.”
He cocked his head again, his ears perking up as she unlocked the back door and held it open. He took a few steps into the icy night and then stopped, waiting for her. He never went out by himself.
“No-you go. I’ll wait right here. Now hurry up.” She shooed at him with her hand and he got the point. She watched him make his way through the snow and ice, sniffing here and there, but taking his time.
“Bentley, come on! Hurry up! It’s freezing!”
He looked up once as she hugged herself against the cold and shivered, then he trotted off around the corner of the house into the dark as if on a mission.
“Bentley, no! Stay in the back yard! Bentley!” That was the last time she ever saw him.
They searched for over an hour with flashlights, but found nothing. It was as if he just up and vanished. They followed his footsteps in the new fallen snow to the front of the house where they disappeared into a row of bushes and never emerged again. Her mom couldn’t figure it out. It was as if someone picked him up and flew off with him. She waited all night by the back door so that when he found his way home, she would be there for him, but he never came back and she eventually dozed off sitting up against the door.
Now, as she cried harder, she hated herself for abandoning him. If only she’d put her shoes on and gone out with him on the leash, she’d be hugging him to her right now while he licked her face and rolled over to get his tummy scratched. She missed him so much.
She heard the front door slam shut and then her loser brother, Patrick, yelled up from the bottom of the stairs, “Ellie! I found your stupid dog!”
She couldn’t believe her ears. “Bentley!” she shouted as she jumped up from her bed and bounded down the steps. Her brother stood at the base of the stairs with a wicked grin on his face, but she was too excited to question it. “Bentley! Where is he?”
Her mom came into the hall from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. “You found the dog?” she said to Patrick.
He nodded, still grinning.
“Where is he?” Ellie asked, almost pleading.
“He’s over on Cotton Court,” Patrick said.
Ellie made a move for the door, but her mother grabbed her arm. “Hold on a sec’, hon. Why didn’t you bring him home?”
Patrick’s grin grew and he glanced at Ellie and then his mother. “I couldn’t move him,” he said.
“What do you mean?” his mother said warily.
Ellie felt something in her stomach lurch. She grabbed her brother’s arm tight and said with a voice that sounded far away, “What’s wrong with him?”
Her brother continued to grin but said nothing. Ellie bolted for the door, bursting out into the morning cold and snow in just her PJ’s and socks. She ran as fast as she could, her feet numb from the snow and tears streaming back into her hair as she fought back the panic rising in her throat. Her mother’s voice chased her down the street, but Ellie was too fast and nothing would have stopped her anyway. Cotton Court was up ahead.
* * *
Jimmy and John stood staring at what was left of the dog while Luke scraped snow over the vomit with his shoe. He didn’t want to look at the headless dog anymore even though he had little left to throw up. He’d seen worse in his short life and it wasn’t that he couldn’t handle some cut up animal, but he knew this dog and knew its owner. In fact, Ellie Pemberton was someone very special to him. And Bentley had been pretty cool, too.
“Crap,” Luke said. “Why did someone do this to Bentley?”
Jimmy and John knew the dog, too, and shook their heads slowly in unison, like they were watching some demented tennis match.
“I want to know WHO did this,” Jimmy said. “’Cause when I find out…” His voice trailed off as his fists clenched and unclenched in his gloves. It was so quiet, the leather squeaked as his fingers squeezed.
The other boys had left and Patrick Pemberton had gone home to tell his sister. Luke had seen the glint in his eye and knew he would not be gentle with the news. Had Luke known exactly what Patrick was going to do, he would have never let him go alone. Luke couldn’t understand the huge difference between Patrick and his sister, Ellie. It was like night and day.
Luke caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a harried and distraught Ellie lurching through the snow toward them.
“Oh crap!” he said, and hurried to cut her off. John and Jimmy moved in front of the frozen Bentley to block her view.
“Ellie! No!” Luke said grabbing her shoulders and stopping her from getting any closer.
Her face was pale except for two red spots high on her cheeks. Her breath came in gasps and she was trembling beneath his hands. “Lucas Harrison, you get out of my way!” she said, trying to look past him.
“No,” Luke said, and he shook her shoulders once. “Look at me.”
She wouldn’t at first and struggled a bit in his grasp, then her lip trembled and her eyes went to his. As she saw what was in them, she dropped her head to his shoulder, clutched at his coat and sobbed, “No!”
He held her that way until her mother came up and took her into her arms.