Molly set the brush down, retrieved her laptop, and Googled “dog training commands.” She searched “three successive barks” and found nothing. She searched for “help” signals from dogs and found nothing. She continued researching barking patterns until she found what she was looking for.
If the same dog barks rapidly, many times in quick succession and repeats these bursts many times, the dog thinks the situation is very important and extremely urgent.
She looked at Bear and said, “Is Bart in trouble?”
Bear responded with three short, sharp barks.
Molly continued to brush Bear while her mind switched into high gear. She was positive that Bart was not with Bear. Bear had come alone from Bart’s cabin to get help. She believed that if Bear needed help, Molly and Shadow were his only hope, and that was why he was here.
“Okay, boy, I understand. Bart is in trouble. You’ve come for help. We’re going to help you and Bart. Everything is going to be okay.”
She stroked Bear as reassuringly as she could, but she could not stop the three short barks. Bear was insistent. The situation was urgent. Molly felt helpless. She needed advice and help. What was she to do? She had no idea what kind of trouble Bartmight be in. For God’s sake, she had no idea where Bart even was, or how far away he was. But she did know that Bear had come to take her there.
She needed to talk with Silas, and she needed to confirm that Bart was not at the campsite. She was confident he was not, but that had to be ruled out.
She picked up her cell and called Silas.
“Good morning to you.”
“Are you at work?”
“I’m in the truck. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Meet you in your office in ten minutes.”
Molly was waiting in Silas’ office with Bear, Shadow, and two pups when Silas walked in and flipped the switch on his coffee pot.
He sat down and listened while Molly explained the situation.
“Have you checked the campsite?”
“No, that’s my next move, but I’m confident he’s not there. He’d never let Bear get dehydrated and hungry like this. Bear was a sweaty mess when he arrived at my place.”
“We should check to make sure Beryl is not in her stall.”
Molly turned to Bear.
“Hey, boy, is Bart okay?”
Bear barked three short times.
Molly explained her research on dog barking patterns.
“You check Beryl’s stall, and I’ll pour the coffee.”
Molly returned, shaking her head. Beryl was not in her stall and there was no point in checking the campground. A cup of hot, black coffee was sitting in front of her.
Silas asked, “What’s your plan?”
“I have no plan. I need help. No doubt in my mind that Bart is in trouble. I don’t have a clue how or what. But Bear wouldn’t be here in this state otherwise. My first thought is that I’m going to let Bear take me to Bart, but I can’t just go like this. I need to be prepared.”
“Shall we build a team?”
“That was my first instinct, but Bart is super private about his place off the grid. He’s agreed to take me in early October. I would never feel right leading an expedition to his private hideout. My instinct is to go alone.”
Silas thought about that for a full minute before taking a drink of coffee. “I don’t like you going alone, but I have to agree. Bart doesn’t want a search and rescue team showing up at his place. So we need to get you supplied, ready, and out of here soon.”
Molly and Silas brainstormed every possible contingency for the next hour and made their plan.
