Gabriel's Tale - Chapter 4

Welcome back!  It has REALLY been a struggle for me this month to continue with this project because my garden has captured my attention.  But I finally got the gardening bug-bite scratched and  illustrated the key scenes in this month's chapter.  Please remember these are just snippets of what is going on.  Since I've already decided not to pursue publishing the book, you will never get the chance to read the story in its entirety, so I certainly understand if you want to bail out at this point.  I'm only putting these snippets out into the internet world with the hope that serendipitously a publisher will come by and ask to read my manuscript.

As you may recall last month Gabriel found out from Conner Chipmunk that Poetry and her family had moved to Scotland.  Then the two cats, George and Molly, told him he should try to hitch a ride to Baltimore in the furniture truck that was coming later that morning. . . .

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 truck while the ramp was still down and hid in the back of the truck under a packing blanket.  

George and Molly stood in the driveway, waving goodbye to Gabriel with their tails. 

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.

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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 down Gabriel’s back.  Oops!

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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?    

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Just then he noticed a lady in the middle of a bunch of dogs—on leashes.  She appeared to be taking them for a walk.  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.  

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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.  He was pleased to learn he was only a few miles from the docks.  

Next month:  Chapter 5 - The Voyage

❤️Take Joy❤️