“What happened to him?”
“He got caught in a trap. Those things should be outlawed! Talk about animal cruelty!”
I doubted she would have liked me if I’d told her I’d gotten a junior trapping license the month I’d turned ten. I reached into my wallet and found a business card. “If you ever have problems with dogs or cats getting caught in traps, give me a call, and I’ll go have a talk with the trapper.”
“You’d do that? That’s so sweet of you.”
We smiled at each other while she stroked the cat.
“My name’s Kendall,” she said out of the blue.
“Can I speak with the director, please, Kendall? It’s about Shadow.”
“Let me put Gremlin back in his cage, and I’ll go get Phyllis.”
“Phyllis is the director?”
“Uh-huh. I’m just a volunteer here. I just started three weeks ago.”
After Kendall disappeared into the next room, I checked my phone. There were no messages or texts from Kathy yet. I hoped she was having luck persuading the founder of Fenris Unchained to accept Shadow. If he didn’t, I had no idea what I would do next.
Kendall returned after a few minutes, accompanied by a stocky middle-aged woman wearing granny glasses, a hand-knit sweater, felt pants, and sensible shoes. Her clothes were absolutely covered in dog and cat fur.
“Phyllis Murray,” she said, shaking my hand solidly. “I’m the director here.”
“Mike Bowditch.”
“You’re the warden who saved Shadow, Kendall tells me.”
I removed my knit cap out of old-fashioned politeness. The way Phyllis was dressed, she struck me as the old-fashioned type. “That’s right,” I said. “I appreciate your taking care of him for us.”
“Are you here to see him one last time?”
The implication being that his appointment with death was imminent. “No, ma’am. I’m taking him to be adopted.”
She didn’t stand more than five feet tall, but when she straightened her back, she seemed to grow in size. “I am confused. Shadow chased and killed a deer. Dr. Carbone has already declared him to be a danger to the public.”
“I’ve found a sanctuary in New Hampshire willing to take him,” I said, hoping it wasn’t so much a lie as a prematurely told truth.
“That Fenris place?” Her eyes went to heaven. “Have you ever seen that so-called sanctuary?”
“No, ma’am. Have you?”
“No, but I’ve heard stories.” Phyllis Murray was not a woman who was easily swayed. “We’re not allowed to release a wolf dog that poses a danger to the public, even to a person licensed to possess wildlife. I’m sorry, but those aren’t just shelter rules. Our hands are tied by certain laws.”
“That’s not entirely true, legally speaking,” I said. “Title 7, Section 3911 gives my department six days to dispose of a wolf hybrid at large, before the shelter can claim ownership. That means I’m the one who is still responsible for him for the time being.”
“Are you certain of that?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. The Warden Service is committed to doing everything we can to keep these animals from being put down. I saw on your Web site that this is a no-kill shelter.”
“Normally.”
“So we have the same goal here. Fortunately, Shadow has gotten a reprieve. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a long drive ahead of me today. I’m going to go get a carrier out of the back of my truck, and I’ll be right back.”
I stepped outside before she could respond. Outside, traffic was moving at a steady clip in both directions. The cold air smelled heavily of auto fumes. I lifted the dog carrier from the bed of my truck and returned as quickly as I could to the shelter.
Phyllis Murray hadn’t been idle. While I’d been outside, she had gone to retrieve Shadow’s folder and was examining every document with great care. “My understanding was that everything had already been decided.”
“Is there anything in there granting the shelter ownership of him?” I asked, hoping that no one at IF&W had signed any papers yet. I hadn’t considered the possibility that somebody in the department might have unwittingly sabotaged my plan.
“No, but—” she said.
“Then let’s go get him.”
Phyllis Murray raised her eyes from the folder. Then, to my surprise, she laughed out loud. She had been torn between two aspects of her personality, I realized: the side that believed in strict adherence to rules and regulations, and the side devoted to saving animals at all costs. In the end, the better angels prevailed.
Still smiling, she handed the folder to Kendall. “Let’s go get him.”