Nia raised her eyes. Her tail slowly brushed the ground.
The trainers finished their work in the late afternoon. Anna and Emmi escorted the dogs, one by one, from the obstacle course to the barn, where they removed their harnesses and gave them fresh water. While the trainers congregated outside to smoke cigarettes, Anna and Emmi labored to feed the dogs their evening meal. As Anna scooped a cup of turnip feed from a bin, Fleck entered the barn and approached her.
Anna’s skin prickled. “May I help you, sir.”
He pointed to the metal cup. “My instructions were to give them onelevelscoop.”
Anna looked at the feed, heaping from her cup. “Sorry, sir.”
“No food must be wasted,” he said.
She pushed bits of turnip back into the bin. She held the cup to Fleck.
“Better,” he said.
Anna deposited the food into a bowl. She was relieved when Fleck stepped away. But he didn’t leave the barn. Instead, he raised his clipboard and began to inspect each of the pens.Oh, no.
Fleck went from pen to pen, examining the condition of each shepherd, as well as the cleanliness of their area. After each inspection, he scribbled onto his clipboard. As he examined the dog with the elbow callus, he asked, “What’s on her?”
Anna and Emmi darted to the pen.
“A salve, sir,” Anna said.
“Where did you get it?”
“I made it,” Emmi said.
He ran a finger over the dog’s elbow. “The bleeding has stopped, and she’s no longer scratching it.”
Anna looked at Emmi and smiled.
“Make more of it,” he said. He stepped into the adjacent pen, where Nia was curled with her nose toward her tail. “I see this one hasn’t improved.”
“She’s drunk water and eaten some food,” Anna said.
He lifted Nia’s front paw and shook his head. “If she’s unable to recover soon, we’ll need to euthanize her.”
A pang pierced Anna’s stomach. “She’ll recover, sir. We’ve treated many soldiers with their feet in horrid shape from the trenches.”
“This a shepherd, not a soldier,” he said.
Anna swallowed.If she stays here, she might not recover fast enough for him.She looked at Nia, her eyebrows dancing as her eyes looked from Fleck to Anna.Harbor your heart, Norbie’s voice crowed in her head. She gathered her courage and said, “The obstacle preventing her quick recovery is this cold, damp ground.”
Fleck scraped the earth with the heel of his boot.
“Sir,” Anna said. “I am willing to take her home to care—”
“Nein,” he said.
Anna took a deep breath. Her mind and heart raced. “I realize that you want this dog to recover quickly, but we need a warm, dry environment, which we don’t have. You have demands to meet, and I want to help you achieve them. If this shepherd remains here, she’ll eat your food, take up space, and you might end up having to euthanize her.”
Emmi’s eyes widened.
Fleck crossed his arms.
“But if you permit me to take her home, she will not eat your food, and she will not take up space, which I’m sure you will need for incoming shepherds. And Iwilldeliver you a healthy dog to train, rather than one to euthanize.”
Fleck paused, tapping his clipboard.
