Chapter 2 - The Road Nobody Used
Walter had driven Old Mill Road every morning for twelve years.
Most people avoided it after winter storms.
The pavement was cracked.
The drainage ditches overflowed.
Half the streetlights no longer worked.
But the road shortened Walter’s drive to the produce warehouse where he repaired wooden crates three mornings a week.
That was why he noticed the white pickup tracks near the utility pole.
They were too fresh to have been made before the freezing rain.
At first, Walter thought someone had dumped trash.
Then the gray dog lifted her head.
She stood with her body curved over the puppies while the rope dug into her wet fur.
Walter stopped so quickly that his own pickup slid sideways in the mud.
He called the county animal hotline.
A recorded message said the nearest officer was handling an emergency twenty miles away.
Walter could hear the puppies crying.
He did not wait.
The rope had been wrapped around both the dog and the pole several times. Whoever tied it had wanted to make certain she could not follow a vehicle.
A wooden vegetable crate lay overturned near the ditch.
Inside it, Walter found a damp towel and three empty puppy formula bottles.
The family had not been abandoned by accident.
Someone had transported them there deliberately.
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Walter looked down the empty road.
The rain was already washing away the tire tracks.
