Where, Oh Where, Can They Be?

As I type, it's 5:05 on Wednesday evening. We have not seen Jack or Scarlett for two days. I am beside myself with worry. It's not like them to go missing.

Sunday morning, they were barking their fool heads off as usual in the front yard from 6:15 to 7:00. I suppose another dog makes its rounds at that time, after its owner has left for work. Or maybe an inside dog is let out to do its business at that time.

Monday morning, Little Jack was yipping and yapping so much that I got up to see what in the Not-Heaven was going on. Didn't hear Scarlett. Copper Jack was lying beside our driveway. Our dogs were not in sight. I stepped out the front door, and Jack and Scarlett eventually came around from the side porch. Nothing to see over there.

That's the last time I saw them. They were not on the porch when I left for town, and not here when I came home.

Tuesday morning, rain started around 8:00. Heavy rain! All day, until 4:00. I didn't hear the dogs. I figured they were holed up somewhere, waiting for the rain to slack off. They were not around when I left for town. Not here when I came home. Copper Jack was here. He looked like he didn't know what to do with himself as I pulled into the garage. He wandered up on the porch, and I gave him a treat for his trouble.

Wednesday morning, I did not hear the dogs. Didn't see them when I left for town. I met Farmer H down by Mailbox Row. I asked if he'd seen the dogs.

"No! They weren't here this morning when I put their food out!"

"I haven't seen them since Monday morning!" 

"They was here Tuesday morning when I fed. But that's the last I seen of them. I'll go home and start up the mower. That usually brings them running."

I worried the whole time I was in town. Hoping they would be with Farmer H when I got back. They were not. Just Copper Jack. Farmer H was parked on his mower over on Shackytown Boulevard, talking to a neighbor on a Gator. I sadly closed the garage door before I even got out of T-Hoe. No doggies to run under and stop the door.

Farmer H was on the mower down by POOLIO as I went in the Mansion.

"My buddy says there are other dogs out here missing. Little CUTE dogs."

"I can't image why others are missing, too. It would have been on Tuesday, with all that rain. I don't think anybody would be out here stealing dogs during that kind of weather. Somebody might take Scarlett, for her looks. But not Jack. You know, she kept coming home smelling like perfume for a while."

"My buddy THINKS he caught them on his game camera about 1:00 a.m. this morning. It looks like Jack, anyway."

"OH! That gives me hope! I've been thinking maybe they were out running, and the creek went up, and they might have got washed away trying to get back. Or somebody saw them all wet, and took them in their house, and they're trapped. Or maybe someone put out poison. That could explain other dogs missing, too. Or they might have got shot if they were running livestock, but nobody out here has livestock now. Not even horses."

"My buddy's land butts up against the state park. So maybe they wandered up in there, and got lost, and it will take them a while to find their way home."

"Or maybe somebody in the park TOOK THEM! Or the creeks are up, and they can't cross yet."

"Well, you can bet that they're both together, wherever they are. They're always together. One don't go nowhere without the other."

"I'm surprised Copper Jack isn't with them."

"Yeah. He looks kind of sad and lonely."

Aside from the possible game camera sighting, one other thing gives me hope. Their food dishes were completely empty when I went to town. I know that Copper Jack, and the squirrels, and maybe that cat that supposedly lives here, can eat the food. But many days, when the dogs are here, there's still a little left in their bowls, because Farmer H is a big over-feeder. Maybe they came home for a while to eat, then left again.

I'm quite sad. I don't want to mention it to The Pony just yet. He's a bit fond of both fleabags.

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SWEET GUMMI MARY! Jack and Scarlett just walked by the kitchen window! It's 5:51 p.m. Such a relief! I sent Farmer H a text.

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Now it's 12:15 a.m. on Thursday. Jack is barking his fool head off on the side porch. 

It's music to my ears!

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