NOBODY WANTS BARKLEY
Marilyn D. Anderson
Book #2 in the Barkley Series
Published by The Fiction Works
in the United States of America
http://www.fictionworks.com
Cover photo by
Images Photography
Mitchell, Indiana
Copyright 2012 Marilyn D. Anderson
Smashwords Edition
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Originally published in paperback
by Whispering Pines Publishing,
11013 Country Pines Road
Shoals, IN 47581
First edition, 1986 Willowisp
Second edition, 1990 Willowisp
Third edition, 1996 Willowisp
Fourth edition, 1997 Willowisp
Fifth edition revised 2010
by Marilyn D. Anderson
For my nieces
Katie, Brenda, Megan,
and Joni
Chapter 1
“Ruff. Ruff!” Barkley announced. He saw black and white monsters in the field next door. He wanted his master, Jamie Boggs, to do something about it. But Jamie remained on the porch tying his shoes.
“Ruff, ruff,” Barkley said again.
“No, Barkley,” Jamie said firmly. “Those are just cows, and they’re supposed to be in that field.”
Barkley crouched down and wiggled his way toward Jamie. Leaning against his boy’s chest, the dog licked Jamie’s face to show he was sorry for making a fuss. How was a city dog supposed to know about cows? It had only been two months since Barkley’s family had moved from New York to Indiana.
Jamie and his parents had driven to Indiana in early June, and Barkley was supposed to fly out on a plane to join them. But the dog had gotten out of his cage at the airport and spent weeks being lost. He’d walked down many hot, dusty roads and through lots of corn fields trying to find the Boggs family.
Now that Barkley and his family were back together, every thing should have been perfect. But it wasn’t.
When he first arrived, Barkley had tried cheer up his family. He knocked over all the waste baskets and went from room to room decorating with toilet tissue. But no one had thought it was funny. Instead, the family scolded him. After that Barkley just sat around hoping Jamie would play with him.
Now Barkley and Jamie were out in the yard looking for something to do. For a while Jamie just wandered aimless, but then he stopped. The boy looked off into the woods behind the house, so Barkley looked, too.
“Did you hear that noise?” Jamie asked. “It sounded like some kind of animal.”
Barkley had heard a noise, but he hadn’t wanted to get in trouble for barking again. He looked up at Jamie and wagged his tail.
Jamie started walking toward the trees. They were moving at last! Barkley started making circles around Jamie, hoping for a race or some kind of game. But Jamie never even glanced at Barkley.
They came to a barbed wire fence, and Jamie rolled underneath it. Barkley quickly ducked under and pranced out the other side. The scattered trees and blackberry bushes that dotted the hillside were home to all kinds of animals. Barkley set out to investigate all their fascinating smells.
Jamie started to whistle and picked up a stick to swing as he walked along. In the distance, Barkley saw a pond. Were they going for a swim?
Then something else caught the dog’s eye. A group of wooly animals were grazing near the pond. They looked so soft and gentle that Barkley wanted to play with them. He bounded forward.
But the nearest creature stamped its foot and charged at Barkley. He backed up in surprise. “Ruff?” he said softly. The animal had seemed friendly until now.
The animal dashed back to its friends, and they all started to run away. Barkley loved to play tag, so he ran after them.
“Barkley, come back,” Jamie shouted. But Barkley was having too much fun. He bounded on after the wooly animals, expecting Jamie to play, too.
The animals ran and ran with Barkley close on their heels. Jamie was running, too, now and calling, “No, Barkley, leave those sheep alone.”
The animals ran until they came to some farm buildings, and suddenly a huge German shepherd stepped out from behind one of the buildings. Barkley froze and so did the other dog. They watched each other stiffly. The shepherd growled.
A big man with dark, bushy hair and a boy about Jamie’s size ran up behind the German shepherd.
“What’s going on here?” the man demanded. “Why is this dumb dog chasing my sheep?”
Barkley cringed as Jamie jogged up, and the dog ran over to Jamie for help. But Jamie seemed frightened, too.
“I’m sorry, Mister,” said Jamie, panting. “Barkley just wanted to play.”
“Is that so?” the man growled. “Then let me give you some advice. Dogs that chase livestock sometimes get hurt. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes, sir,” Jamie said quickly. “We just moved here, and I didn’t know about your sheep.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you do now. So city boy, keep that dog off my property or else.”
Barkley watched as Jamie and the man talked. He knew that he and Jamie were both in trouble. He was also afraid of that German shepherd.
Finally the humans stopped talking, Jamie said, “Let’s go, Barkley.”
They hurried away from the nasty man and his fierce dog. Then they began to run. They ran until they were safely back inside Jamie’s house. Jamie collapsed on the couch, and Barkley dropped to the floor nearby.
Mrs. Boggs ambled into the living room and said, “You’re back already?”
“Yeah,” said Jamie.
She frowned. “Well, then go take a shower. We need to go to town to get you some school clothes.”
“Can Barkley go?” Jamie asked.
Barkley heard his name and looked up. He wagged his tail hopefully.
Mrs. Boggs smiled. “I guess so.”
Barkley scrambled into the front seat of the car to sit next to Jamie. He was excited to be going for a ride. He bounced around and tickled Jamie’s ears with his tongue. Then he headed over to Mrs. Boggs.
“Barkley,” she squealed. “I have to drive. Jamie, please put him in the back seat.”
“Okay,” the boy agreed. He dumped Barkley onto the floor behind him.
Barkley felt disappointed until he realized he could now look out of both widows. He ran back and forth to first the right window and then the left.
Mrs. Boggs started the car, and they began to move. Barkley saw a corn field on one side and a bunch of trees on the other. Then they passed a house with two kids playing in a sandbox. Barkley pressed his nose against the window and wagged his tail. He loved kids.
Next they passed a house that needed paint. The grass around it was also too tall. An old lady rocked back and forth in a porch swing.
“What a junky place,” Jamie observed.
“Yes,” said his mom, “I’ve heard that old Mrs. Williams has a hard time of it.”
“Somebody should help her,” said Jamie.
Chapter 2
The next morning Jamie was up early, so Barkley got up, too. He waited for someone to serve his breakfast, but Jamie and his mother kept running around the kitchen.
Jamie never looked at Barkley as he ran to the front door. “Bye” he yelled as he slammed it shut behind him.
Barkley raced to the front window and watched Jamie run down the driveway. Jamie climbed into a big yellow thing on wheels. It looked like the one Jamie had ridden in New York, and that meant his boy would be gone all day. He barked, but the big yellow thing moved on down the street.
“Quiet,” said Mrs. Boggs, and she shook her finger at him. She returned to cleaning the table in a house so quiet that it gave Barkley the creeps.
Later that afternoon Mrs. Boggs let Barkley out so he could run out and welcome his boy. Jamie bent down and hugged Barkley extra hard. This was more like it, and Barkley wagged his tail as fast as he could.
“Hi, how was school?” Mrs. Boggs asked, leaning out the door.
“Gross!” said Jamie. He turned to Barkley. “Do you want a cookie?”
Of course he did! Barkley wagged his tail some more and followed Jamie into the kitchen. Jamie pulled a cookie out of the jar and held it over Barkley’s head.
“Do you really want this?” Jamie asked.
Barkley sat up straight, cocked his head to the left side, raised his right paw, and said, “Ruff.” It was their one little trick.
Jamie grinned and said, “Good dog!” Then he handed over the cookie. Jamie added, “Barkley, I’m sure glad that I have you.”
Every day that week, Mrs. Boggs asked Jamie how school had gone, and every day Jamie said, “Gross.”
Finally his mom said, “Well, what seems to be the trouble at school?”
Jamie shrugged. “At first everyone stared at me, but now this kid named Devon keeps teasing me about Barkley.”
“About Barkley?” Mrs. Boggs repeated. “How would this boy know about your dog?”
Jamie scuffed one foot against the other. “Oh, Devon lives on a farm across the woods from us. One day Barkley and I went over there by mistake.”
“I see,” said Mrs. Boggs, frowning. “Well, try to ignore that boy, and he’ll probably forget about you.”
A few days later, Jamie’s family was eating supper when Mrs. Boggs clanked her spoon against her glass. She said, “I have an announcement to make.
The clanking startled Barkley so he went to sit at the other end of the table.
She continued, “I got the job at the real estate office!”
“That’s great,” said Dad. “We can use the extra money.”
“Yeah,” said Jamie. “Good work, but what about me and Barkley?”
She grinned. “You’ll be in school, and I’ll be home by three o’clock.”
“But what about Barkley?” Jamie asked again. “You know how much trouble he can get into when he stays home alone”
Mrs. Boggs crossed her arms. “Barkley can stay in the garage while I’m gone.”
Barkley perked his ears when he heard his name. What were they saying about him? Was it good news? Was Jamie going to take him for a walk? Or was something bad going to happen?
“No, Mom,” Jamie protested. “The garage is bad news.”
“He’ll be fine,” said Mr. Boggs. “You know we can’t tie him or he’ll dig holes. If he runs loose around those sheep, something really bad could happen.”
“I know,” Jamie admitted.
The next morning Mrs. Boggs left before Jamie did. Mr. Boggs told Jamie to hurry up and put Barkley in the garage before the bus came.
Jamie looked down at Barkley and said, “I’m sorry about this. I’d love to skip school and take care of you, but Mom and Dad would never let me.”
The tone of the boy’s voice told the dog that he wouldn’t like what was coming, but Barkley didn’t expect to be shut up in the garage. He whined and tried to avoid it.
Jamie grabbed him. “I know,” he said. “It’s crummy out here, but I brought your rug.” The boy kneeled down to hug Barkley. “You have to stay in here,” he explained. “If you ever go after those sheep again, you might get hurt.”
“Jamie, hurry up,” called Mr. Boggs. “The bus is coming.”
“Okay,” said Jamie. “Bye, Barkley.” Jamie closed the door and left.
“Awwrr,” Barkley howled, but nobody seemed to care how he felt.
Barkley lay down and put his head on his paws. He whimpered to himself for a long time. Finally he got up to check things out.
The strong smell of oil insulted Barkley’s tender nose. When he brushed against a wooden shelf, glass jars rocked. A rake fell over and nearly hit Barkley on the head.
He leaped away and ducked under an old chair. It was a big wooden thing with lots of space underneath. Behind the chair was a wooden desk with a hole between the drawers on both sides.
Barkley crawled under the desk as far as possible. It seemed like a good place for a nap, so he curled up in a ball. But after a few minutes, the hard floor got uncomfortable.
The dog scrambled out to his rug and tried to drag it under the desk. It was too big. He crawled back under the desk and noticed a bunch of rags hanging from the wall behind him. With a quick pull, Barkley hauled a rag down by his feet.
He squirmed around until he had the rag just the way he wanted it. If he had to stay in the garage, he might as well get comfortable.
When Jamie opened the garage door later that afternoon, Barkley threw himself on his boy. They played tag and fetch for the rest of the afternoon.
But the next morning, Jamie led Barkley back to the garage. Not again! Barkley wondered if he was being punished. This time Barkley went right to his nest under the desk and curled up for another nap.
He decided his nest needed more padding, so he reached up and tugged at another rag in the wall. This one was stubborn, so Barkley pulled harder. Suddenly the whole wad of rags came out. The dog fell back against the desk with a yelp.
Barkley lay still for a moment, feeling sorry for himself. Then he got up and shook his whole body. Fresh air hit his nostrils. He saw a hole in the garage wall where the rags had been.
Getting to his feet, Barkley hopped up on his hind legs and looked out the hole. He saw the woods out back. Could he escape?
Barkley squeezed his eyes shut and started to wiggle through the hole. It was a tight fit, but when he opened his eyes, he was free!
With joyous barking, Barkley race around the yard. He circled the house. Would someone come to put him back in the garage? He hoped not.