The Third of... by Dale McMurray (book recommendations for young adults .TXT) 📕

The third of….Never in a million years.

Dale McMurray</fon
It was a unusually warm December Saturday night. My husband, Dave had just picked me up from work. As we drove down our street and started to turn into the drive way I could see there was only one dog. Our Black lab, Raven was sitting silhouetted by the yellow light from the porch. Usually both dogs barked excitedly when we pull in the drive way. I scanned the darkness but no Sarge, our German Shepherd. We found a flashlight in the car and peered into the night. We found tire tracks going across the front yard. I dialed 911.
“Hello. I want to report some one stole our dog.”
“ How do you know?” the voice from Juneau County dispatch asked. Frantic and slightly irritated I replied;
“ Because there are tire tracks across the lawn and the dog is gone!” I gave our address. I felt in my heart that the man who had stopped by earlier that week had taken him.
He had driven up in an old blue sedan that had a home made doggie fence attached to the back of the two front seats with his two female German shepherds. He let them out without ever asking if it was alright.They roamed our property unattended as we talked. He was a distinguished looking man with white hair but his face seemed set in a permanent frown. His attitude made him seem slightly taller. he seemed to be trying trying to make himself seem fragile and unable to understand English. But I could feel that he was able to understand and this was just an act. He oozed arrogance and I felt uncomfortable.

“I want . Push Push with your dog. ” He kept insisting. His younger dog was just starting to be in heat and he wanted to mate her. Dave told him we did not want to but would call Josie, the gal who had sold us our dog and let him know if we change our minds. He seemed upset and gruffly called his girls back to the car and drove away. Little did we know that this was the start of a very long nightmare.
He drove by the house at least twice that I saw. Slowing down but never stopping. Like he was checking to see if someone was home . Now we feared for our Dog's safety.
When the Sheriff deputies arrived they took pictures and were told we wanted to prosecute. We called a friend who help us get Sarge and found out where he lived. They went by but got no response. Upset we tried to sleep. Sarge was put in a metal pole barn with the young female after Mr. Guzik felt safe to return home. What happened in that barn would be revealed in about ninety two or so days. The next day was Sunday and we drove by the house, It was marked with red reflectors that spelled out “BOGI”. We could hear Sarge barking from the Cleary building and called the Sheriff’s dept. We were told to meet them at our residence,
Two officers I am familiar with arrived and after we told them the situation we waited as they went over to collect Sarge. We got anxious and drove over. They were talking to him and he was explaining that the dog was his. So he took him back. They explained that the dog needed to be returned and he should go to court to sue for the dog. One officer went with him to the side door of the building and Sarge appeared. He pulled the officer towards us. I took him by the collar and put him in the back seat of our car. They told us to go home and we waited to see if they would prosecute.

We did not let him out of our sight.He was no longer allowed outside with out one of us with him and for about two weeks all was quiet. Then on December 23 we decided that the dogs could be outside while we ran some errands. With the unseasonable warm weather and not seeing Guzik driving by lately Dave thought that it would be o.k . Comming home three hours later he was gone. His runner was stretched full length and his paw prints stopped. He had taken him again. There was no doubt.

I called 911 and told the voice on the other side what had happened. Two more officers were dispatched. This time it was the animal control officer and her partner. We told her again what had occurred and she wrote it all down in her note book. They went over to the house but he was not there. She came back to give us papers to fill out and then left after giving us the handout with the case number on it. I began calling. First Tom from Chicago. He was shocked to hear that despite the previous discussion Bogi went ahead and took Sarge. He promised to call Josie and a friend who knew Bogi well. And so the hunt for the where abouts of our beloved Sarge began.
I got the information about a possible place Bogi might have stashed him We went to the business of the man called Joe. We had been told a waiter of his might have him. We returned when the boy’s shift began and talked to him. He was frightened that we would bring trouble. I said we just wanted the dog back. Bogi had left him overnight at the boy’s house, but had come back this very morning and taken him back. He told us that he was scared of him and that he owned guns. If he helped us he was afraid that Bogi would return to hurt him. I tried to make sure he understood that we wanted our dog back. . We left our phone number with him in case He got a call from Bogi. After leaving I called The sheriff dept. And the first officer who had responded when Sarge went missing went to interview the boy. She called back and stated that she would turn over the information to the animal control officer. When she came on duty she called and stated that she was going to get a warrant for his arrest.
We went from December 23rd until February 6th until he was returned. During that time we despaired about his where abouts. To make matters worse our oldest dog Freebie was ill. She had gone blind a few days before Sarge disappeared. Then on Christmas day she began to go lame. WE could not bring ourselves to think about what might be happening to her. But as the week wore on we knew she had to see the vet. So I called and made the appointment for January 5th.and prayed that she would be alright. Over this time Dave or I made daily calls to Bogi’s cell phone. I know that we should not have but we wanted our dog. Perhaps that was not the smartest thing but we were desperate. WE were polite mostly and wished him a good day. But always told him we wanted him back. I pleaded with him often only to hear,
“FUCK YOU”.
We were finally getting to the point that we felt Sarge would be gone forever. But I was not ready to admit it. So I contacted an great organization called Lost Dogs of Wisconsin.Thru them I put our dog’s image, date of disappearance and our location on their site which reaches all over Wisconsin. Tanya our case worker kept in touch while people who visited their site watched for Sarge.
Just before my world was changed forever I contacted Your local paper. Dave had worked with the editor’s husband and hoped that he would remember him. Betty was kind and thoughtful. She treated our story with kindness. Following the events she published two stories. Just before the deadline for the second story Sarge was returned to us. She included it in the story. Betty also vowed to follow the story to the end.
Our contacts with the Sheriff dept were painful to say the least. WE were told no one was available or as one officer told me that I was harassing the dept . All I wanted to do was get my dog back. But I guess that might not have been a priority to them. So we waited. And I check with those friends that were helping us find him. The last thing we had heard was the he had hidden Sarge in Chicago. But Bogi had been making many trips back and forth. We hoped he had brought him back. We had spent Christmas then New Year day with out him.


Then on January Third 2012 Dave had taken me to work as Tuesdays I work from ten thirty till Eight P.M. Little did I know that this was the day that would go off like the Atom Bomb did over Japan.
Theday was terrible. The water was frozen and I had to get what i needed to wash dishes from the motelattached to the bar. Things calmed down and Sandy had come back from shopping. My phone ran with the ringtone I use for Dave a police siren. Boy what a premotion that was setting that for his calls.
" Hi Honey."
" Bogi shot Me!" His voice strained by the sheer terror of the act.
" What?"
" He shot me. Call the police and the ambulance." The phone went dead.I called the sheriff's dispatch.
" I need an ambulance. My husband has just been shot."
" what do you mean?" She asked.
" he has been shot." and I gave the adddress. The girl on the other end seemed as if she did not believe me. And that irritated me. But I kept calm. Calling Dave back I found out where he was . Then called Dispatch back.
" My husband has just been shot. He is heading to a friend's home on 19th ave."
" Yes we have cars on the way. You said he left the location where he was shot?"
"yes. He was afraid the guy was going to shoot him again." I hung up and seemed stuck. I was strandded at work with no way to go to him. AS Dave had been driving me to work because of your money situation. And using one car was the best way to save money. I lloked at