Gabriel's Tale - Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

Chapter 4 – The Journey Begins

After the truck was emptied of the furniture George and Molly distracted the driver and his helper.  Gabriel scampered into the back of the truck while the ramp was still down and hid under a packing blanket.  Soon George and Molly were waving goodbye to Gabriel with their tails.  He was on his way!

It didn’t take that long to get to Baltimore.  When the driver opened the back door to the truck he got a big surprise!

“Hey!” the driver shouted as Gabriel scooted from under the blanket and darted past him.  Gabriel leapt out of the back of the truck and did not look back.  He just kept running until he was sure the man wouldn’t catch up with him.  When Gabriel saw an alley he turned into it and found a large garbage container to hide behind.

He was breathing so heavily from his sprint down the street he didn’t  immediately hear the voice.  “Hey, You!  I said, what’d ya think yer doin’?!”  Gabriel’s eyes finally adjusted to the dim light.  He saw something that looked a lot like Tilly—only it was black and huge!  Gabriel didn’t like the way this fellow smelled.  And he certainly didn’t like being spoken to in that tone.  Gabriel let out a low growl…..“Grrrrrrr.”  The rat, for that is what he was, showed his large teeth.  A chill ran up Gabriel’s spine.  Oops!

“I beg your pardon,” Gabriel said cautiously.  “I didn’t know this spot was taken,” as he slowly backed his way out of the space.  Once more out in the open Gabriel quickly took in his surroundings and decided he wasn’t being followed.  Good!  But what now?  How do I find the docks?  He wondered if he should stick his head back in behind the garbage container to ask directions, and then thought better of it.

Hopefully I’ll run into a more agreeable fellow, he thought, sooner or later.  So Gabriel trotted down the alley and out onto the sidewalk.  This was a different sort of neighborhood than Gabriel had ever seen.  There were lots of people walking up and down the sidewalk.  The buildings were all in one long row, but they didn’t look like the houses he knew.  All sorts of different people were coming and going into them.  He finally figured out these must be shops where people went to buy the things they needed.

As he stood there looking all around a little girl noticed him.  “Look, Mommy.  A little white dog.  Isn’t he cuuuuute!”  The mother tightened her grip on the little girl’s hand.  “Isn’t there a leash law in this town?!” she said as she hurried the little girl into the shop.  

Gabriel pressed his nose against the shop window and looked inside. He saw the lady talking to a man as she frowned, then point toward the window at him.  This doesn’t look good.  Gabriel realized he’d better hide again—only someplace safer than that alley.  But where?  

Just then he noticed a lady in the middle of a bunch of dogs—on leashes.  Gabriel got a bright idea.  I’ll get in the middle of the pack and it’ll look like I’m on a leash!  As they passed the store he blended right in.  They went two blocks then waited until the light changed.  After  crossing the street to a nice big green yard the lady said,  “Finally, the dog park.”   Wow, thought Gabriel, dogs get their own park!  Everyone was barking now so Gabriel barked, too.

Once inside the fenced area the lady unfastened the leashes and said, “Go to it!”  The dogs scattered in all directions.  Everyone was running around chasing or being chased.  There was even a fountain to drink from.  Gabriel was having a lot of fun….until he remembered he still didn’t know how to find the ships.  Some of the dogs stuck their noses up in the air and turned away when Gabriel asked how to get to the docks.  But one came over later pretending to want to play ball.

“Hey buddy,” the dog said.  “I couldn’t say anything before because I didn’t want them others to know I’d been a Pound dog.  I know where the docks are—that’s where I used to live.”

Gabriel’s eyes glistened with the tears he was fighting back.  He felt he must surely have an Angel watching out for him.  Gabriel was pleased to learn he was only a few miles from the docks.  His new friend even told him where to find a meal along the way and warned him to be careful about avoiding the dogcatcher.  Getting caught wasn’t a bad thing because then he’d have a good home.  But that wouldn’t help Gabriel get to Scotland, so Gabriel listened carefully.  The friend also showed him where he could slip out under the fence of the Dog Park because the lady would figure out he was a stray when she started hooking all the leashes to take everyone home.  Soon Gabriel was on his way once again—bound for Scotland!

©CathyGilleylenSchultz

Chapter 5:  The Voyage