Chapter 2 - TITAN’S WARNING
“Stay right here,” I told the girl.
She shook her head violently. “Don’t leave me!”
“I’m not leaving you. I’m getting you somewhere safe.”
Titan still stood between her and the leaves. His shoulders were tense, his eyes locked on the hidden danger.
I motioned toward a park employee standing near the walking path.
“Take her behind the bench. Slowly.”
The employee, a young man named Eric, nodded. He crouched and reached for the girl.
Titan’s head snapped toward him.
“Easy,” I said. “He’s helping.”
Titan didn’t move until I placed one hand on his harness and gave the command again.
“Back.”
This time, he shifted one step.
Eric pulled the girl away from the leaves and behind a wooden bench. The child immediately wrapped both arms around his waist.
A few people began retreating, but others remained with their phones raised.
That was the problem with public emergencies. Fear made people run, but curiosity kept them close.
I scanned the ground. The snake was hidden beneath the thick leaves, but its movement had created a small ridge near the girl’s shoe.
Titan had noticed it before anyone else.
The distant child cried again.
“Help!”
The voice came from beyond the bridge.
The little girl tried to run toward it.
“That’s my brother, Mason!”
Eric caught her before she could move.
“His name is Mason?” I asked.
She nodded, crying harder. “He went after his red truck. He told me to wait, but I followed him.”
“How long ago?”
“I don’t know.”
I looked at the bridge. The north side of the park was bordered by a wooded ravine. Children were not supposed to go there. The trail had been closed for two weeks because of erosion.
I pressed my radio.
“Control, we may have a missing child near the north ravine. Female juvenile located, states brother is missing.”
“Additional units en route.”
Titan whined.
His attention shifted between the leaves and the bridge.
That was unusual. Titan was trained to focus on one threat at a time. If he kept looking toward the ravine, he believed the missing boy was in immediate danger.
I turned toward the crowd.
“Everyone clear this area. Do not step into the leaves.”
The man in the gray coat lowered his phone.
“Are you sure the dog didn’t bite her?”
“I’m sure.”
The little girl suddenly shouted, “He did bite me!”
The crowd gasped.
I stared at her.
Titan’s ears twitched.
“Where?” I asked gently.
She pointed to her ankle.
I knelt beside her. There was a small red mark just above her sock. It looked like a narrow scratch, not a bite.
“Did Titan do that?”
She shook her head. “No. Something under the leaves touched me.”
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Someone said, “Snakebite.”
The girl’s face went pale.
“Am I going to die?”
“No,” I said firmly. “You’re going to stay calm while the paramedics check you.”
But inside, my mind was already running through possibilities. The rattling sound suggested a rattlesnake, although the Pacific Northwest was not known for large populations of them. Escaped exotic animals were not impossible, but something about the girl’s injury didn’t look right.
There were two tiny punctures.
One was deeper than the other.
Titan suddenly pulled toward the bridge.
“Wait,” I ordered.
He looked back at me.
That look was familiar. It was the look he gave during searches when his instincts were stronger than my instructions.
I crouched beside him.
“Show me.”
Titan sniffed the air. Then he moved toward the path, dragging me several feet before stopping beside a patch of flattened grass.
A child’s blue baseball cap lay near the edge of the bridge.
The inside was wet.
I picked it up.
“Mason!” the girl cried.
A sound came from below.
Not a voice this time.
A weak whimper.
I moved to the bridge railing and looked down into the ravine. The slope dropped nearly fifteen feet. At the bottom, tangled branches covered a narrow stream.
There, half-hidden beneath a fallen tree, was a small boy in a yellow sweatshirt.
He was conscious, but he wasn’t moving.
The crowd gasped.
I grabbed my radio.
“Found the missing child. He’s down in the ravine, possible fall injury. Request fire rescue and medical team immediately.”
Titan barked toward the boy.
Mason lifted his head.
“Dog,” he whispered.
“I’m coming,” I called.
Then I heard the rattle again.
It wasn’t behind us anymore.
It was coming from the ravine.
Titan stiffened.
I looked down at the boy.
May you like
A thick layer of leaves covered the ground around him.
And beneath those leaves, something was moving toward his hand.
