Chapter 24: Arizona

Davy pulled the RV to a stop in the RV lot near the Grand Canyon. It had been an hour's drive just to get to the park. Pulling into their assigned parking spot, they climbed out and looked out over the canyon rim, as the sun slowly set. Unimpressed, Ruby and Buster had found a cactus to water as the sky turned bright red and yellow.

"It's beautiful," Amber said as she leaned against Davy.

"Yes it is," Davy replied as Samantha and Cindy walked up with the two dogs.

"I am going to go in and start dinner," Cindy said as she led Buster inside.

"I will be right there Cindy," replied Samantha as she leaned over and kissed Davy.

Davy slid his arms around Amber and Samantha and they cuddled into his side as Ruby sat at their feet. Suddenly, she leaped to her feet and started barking at the brush.

"What is it Ruby?" Samantha asked as she knelt beside her red dapple dachshund.

Ruby lunged forward and her tail was wagging like crazy. Whining she barked again and pulled at her leash, as she started forward. Samantha followed. She realized the dog was heading for the motor home a hundred feet away. Circling around the back of the motor home, Samantha saw an eight-foot wide, four-foot high circular pen, and six dachshunds playing inside.

"Hello there," called a voice from just inside the motor home.

Samantha jumped and turned. Seeing an elderly woman sitting in the doorway, she replied, "Hi, you have beautiful doxies."

"Thank you," Alice Wayne said as she stood up and walked down the step, "Yours is a pretty one too."

"Thank you, she's my baby. Her name is Ruby. I am Samantha Anderson." Samantha said.

"Hello Samantha, I am Alice, and these are my babies. The male is Juno, as you can tell he is a black and tan silver dapple long coat. My girls are Jessie, and Maria and they are my red long coats. Then there is Rebecca, Cori, and Anna and they are black and tan long coats."

"Nice to meet you, I love them they are so beautiful," Samantha said as she heard yipping from inside the motorhome and one of the black and tans started whining and she noticed the dog had full breasts. "She has puppies?" she asked.

"Yes, Cori has seven pups and they are seven week old beautiful babies," Alice said as she lifted the dog out of the pen and set her on the ground. Cori was up the stairs and inside the trailer in a heartbeat, headed to her puppies.

"Could I see them?" Samantha asked.

"Sure, follow me," Alice said as she went up the stairs.

Samantha tied Ruby's leash to the railing, and slapped her hands and pointed to the ground. Ruby sat down and waited patiently while Samantha went into the motorhome.

Samantha stepped into cozy motorhome and saw the six crates stacked up where the bunk beds were supposed to be. Next to them was a large crate with a board across the front so the pups couldn't get out. The mother was lying in the back of the pen with the seven pups trying to nurse.

"Oh they are beautiful. What sex are they?" Samantha asked as she looked at the two reds, two black and tans, a chocolate and tan and two dapples. One was a silver dapple and the other was a chocolate dapple.

"Thank you," Alice said as she reached down and petted the pups.

"Are you selling them?" Samantha asked.

"Yes I am. I in three days I will take them into Phoenix and get health certificates on them. Then I will advertise them in the paper..."

"Oh I want two, how much are they?" Samantha said.

"Samantha, I sell my pups for twelve hundred with full registration and..."

"I want the sliver dapple and the chocolate dapple," Samantha said.

"Are you are aware you cannot breed them together, nor breed the chocolate to your red dapple. You will get blind and deaf puppies," Alice said.

"I know! I don't want them for breeding. I want them for gifts for my lovers. They will love them. Could I take them early? We are leaving in the morning," Samantha begged.

"I really shouldn't, they won't be ready for three days..."

"Please we are heading cross country to our new home in Maine. My husband just buried his mother and I believe it will be the best thing for him," Samantha pleaded.

Alice thought for a second and then nodded her head, as she replied, "Well I can give them their five in one shots, but you will need to get their Bordetella ones. I guess I can do that. Is your husband nearby? I want to meet him."

"Okay I will be right back, we are next door," Samantha said as she went out the door. Grabbing Ruby's leash she walked quickly back to their motor home and went inside.

Cindy was at the kitchen counter wrapping the foil around the enchiladas and slipping them into the oven while Amber was making the salad. Davy was setting the table with the silverware as Samantha came in and let Rudy loose.

"Davy, can I have twenty-four hundred dollars?" Samantha asked excitedly.

"Of course you can Samantha, what are you buying way out here?" Davy asked as he opened the drawer that they had placed ten thousand one hundred dollar bills in. Pulling out a bundle of hundreds, he peeled off twenty four one hundred dollar bills and handed them to her, and said, "I told you that the money belongs to all of us."

"I know that, but I still wanted to ask your permission first. As to what I am buying, you three will have to follow me to find out," Samantha said as she took the money and dashed back out the door.

Davy looked at Cindy and Amber and they both shrugged their shoulders. The three of them walked out the door and trailed Samantha around the back of their neighbor's motor home. Coming around the motor home, the five dachshunds started barking at them.

"Ahh, dachshunds, I think Samantha is in love with the breed," Cindy said as they walked up to Samantha who was talking with an older woman.

"Alice, this is my husband and our friends, Amber and Cindy," Samantha said as they joined him.

Alice had been watching the four of them out the window earlier and had seen them kissing as lovers. She assumed they were all lovers. With a sigh she thought, 'To be young and beautiful again, ' as they joined them. "Hello, I am Alice Wayne, come on in," she said as she went inside and sat at the table.

Samantha followed them inside and took seats on the couch and at the table.

Alice pulled five bottles of ice-cold water from the cooler and passed them out to the four young adults. Opening the last bottle for herself, she watched all of them and could see the love flowing from all of them to each other. Especially from the women to Davy, and it was almost protective in nature, so she asked, "So, I gather you are all married to each other? Or you're all in love with each other."

Davy started coughing and swallowed the mouthful of water, as he blurted out, "Pardon me, Ma'am, but you don't seem surprised."

"Well let's see one handsome man and three drop dead beauties. Young man I am old, not dead, and I see how you all look at each other and it's done with love. You know, love is the most important thing that matters in a relationship; it also looks like you have money, because your RV is brand new, and still has temporary tags on it from Reno. Plus I saw all of you kissing a few minutes ago."

"Yes, Ma'am, we do love each other very much. Can I ask why you are not offended by that?" Davy asked.

"Call me Alice, and the reason is I was married in a polygamist marriage. My husband was killed forty years ago in Vietnam, my sister wife died three years ago. We raised our seven children and now I live alone. The most important thing in any polygamist marriage is you must get rid of any jealousies and always talk to each other. Also being bi helps," Alice said with a smile as she took a sip of her water.

Alice watched them and she saw Samantha and Cindy blush while Amber grinned. Davy looked like he wanted to crawl under the cushion as the three girls kept looking at him.

"Yes we do love Davy, and like I told you earlier, we buried his mom last week. What I didn't tell you is she was murdered and the man who did it is still hunting me. He also wants Davy dead. So with the help of my Godfather, who works with the Justice Department, he set us up with new ID's," Cindy said.

"I see. I am sorry to hear about your mother, Davy. Have the police caught up with the man?" Alice asked a little worried.

"We think he is dead, but we are not sure. That's one of the reasons we are running," Davy said.

"I see, well your wife here," Alice said as she patted Samantha's hand, and continued, "Has a present for you and for... ?" she stopped because she wasn't sure whom the second pup was for.

"It's for Amber," Samantha said.

"What's for me?" Amber asked as she sat there holding Davy's hand.

"This!" Samantha replied as she scooped up the silver dapple female and placed it in Amber's hands. Turning back to the pen, she picked up the chocolate dapple male and said, "and this one is for you Davy, Happy Birthday, my love," as she placed the pup in his arms.

Davy sat there staring into the eyes of the chocolate dapple and tears started running down his eyes.

"Davy? Are you ok?" Cindy asked.

"I always wanted a dog. My mom wouldn't let me have one," Davy said as the puppy licked his nose.

Alice reached up, and pulled out the Purina puppy folders and found the two she wanted as well as her receipt book. Pulling out the paperwork, she started filling out her part of the AKC (American Kennel Club) and CKC (Continental Kennel Club) papers and placed them on clipboards. Turning the boards, she said, "Ok, Davy, Amber you need to fill out your part of the paperwork."

Amber handed her puppy to Cindy, took the board Alice handed her, and started filling out the paperwork as Samantha took Davy's pup so he could do the same.

"They are yours, if you have the money," Alice said.

Samantha pulled the twenty-four one hundred dollar bills out of her pocket and counted it out.

Alice picked up the money and put it in her lock box. Getting up she went to her fridge and opened the door. Opening the crisper, she pulled out four vials and retrieved two syringes from her drawer. Popping the caps off the needles, she quickly drew up the saline solution in one bottle and injected it into the one containing the power. Shaking the mixture, she drew up the shot, capped it and set it down while she prepared the second.

Grabbing two of her premade puppy bags that contained a toy, a puddle pad, a sample of food, and a small container of puppy wipes. Alice walked back to the table, and said, "Ok, now in each bag you will find a toy, a sample of their food which is Purina Puppy Chow Healthy Morsels; a puddle pad, and a small container with six puppy wipes to keep them clean." Holding up the first needle, she took the puppy Cindy was holding, bit the plastic top and pulled the needle out of its protective case. Quickly injecting the five in one puppy shot, she capped the needle again, and picked up the second needle and did the second pup.

"What are these shots?" Amber asked as she took her puppy back.

Picking up the empty vials, she peeled the labels off and put them on the puppy shot records, as she responded, "These are shots to help protect the pups from Parvo or Canine parvovirus. IT is a particularly deadly disease among young puppies. It is about eighty percent fatal. It causes gastrointestinal tract damage and dehydration as well as a cardiac syndrome in very young pups. It is spread by contact with an infected dog's feces. The symptoms include lethargy, severe diarrhea, fever, vomiting, loss of appetite, and dehydration, so please keep the puppies inside your motorhome at all times until you get to your home or wherever you are going. This is their second shot; I give a six-week shot because it takes two weeks to build up immunity. Now they will need two more shots, one at eleven weeks and one at fourteen..."

"It sounds like a really nasty disease," Davy observed.

"It is. It's a dog killer. As I said, eighty percent fatal to puppies and to certain breeds it is higher. One way to help fight it is by using a bleach solution, one-quarter cup per three gallons when you mop your floors ... but that is if you are exposed to it. Keep your dogs shots up to date and away from other sick dogs is the best way to prevent them from getting sick," Alice replied as she took the clipboards back and placed the papers in the folders.

"So what should we feed them? I feed Ruby, Eukanuba Dachshund blend," Samantha asked.

"I feed Purina and like I said Purina Puppy Chow, Healthy Morsels. Purina is what I always have fed my companions. I have never had a problem with it," Alice replied. "There is a $2.00 coupon inside the folder as well. I would get an 8.8 pound bag, it should last a couple of weeks and if you get the larger bag, it could spoil," she added.

"That's no problem. I assume most stores carry the bags, so next store we stop at we will pick some up," Davy said as he sat playing with his puppy; it was on his back wagging his tail as he rubbed his belly.

"Now I thank you, but this old lady needs to eat and take care of her babies. If you have any questions, my card is in the folder along with my email and cell phone number," Alice said as she watched the youngsters play with the puppies.

Samantha walked over and kissed Alice on her cheek, and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome Samantha," she said as she hugged the girl.

They all hugged Alice and walked out the door with their puppies in their arms. Going back to the motorhome, they could smell the food cooking and they stepped in and set the puppies down. The pups were off and running through the trailer as Buster and Ruby followed. Ruby was wagging her tail a mile a minute as she played with the pups while Buster, after checking them out, jumped up on the couch and laid down.

Cindy went to the sink and washed her hands and then pulled the flour tortillas out of the fridge and placed them in the microwavable container to heat them, while Samantha, after washing her hands too, pulled the pan of chicken enchiladas out and sprinkled cheese over them.