Barbara Samuel by Dog Heart Page B

alert. “Such a beautiful dog,” she murmured. “Needs grooming.”
    “Yeah, good luck with that. He’s bitten everybody who tried.”
    “Ah.” For a moment, she imagined the scenes the dog had experienced, protecting his master and the team. She knelt and touched his back. “You are a brave dog, a loyal dog,” she said, smoothing his fur. He accepted chicken from her palm. “You don’t have to do anything anymore. I promise there’s nothing in there. Would you come with me?”
    He met her eyes, searching. “That’s it, baby.” Jessie stood, walking backward, a treat extended. “Come on, Thor. It’s safe.” When he moved a few feet forward, she let him have a treat. He took a few more steps, had another.
    Suddenly, from the alley came a trio of skateboarders, rocking down the concrete slope, whooping, coming straight toward them. Thor leapt to snarling attack mode, barking, lunging, nearly snapping the ankle of one of the boys before Marcus subdued him with an arm around his chest. “No, Thor. All clear! All clear!”
    “Dude!” one of the boys cried, “get control of your dog, why don’tcha?”
    “Boys,” Jessie called, in a voice as non-threatening as she could muster, “you know it’s illegal for you to skateboard here. If you don’t want a ticket, you’d best get out of here.”
    Without remorse, they skated away, jostling and shouting. Just being kids.
    She turned to the dog and man, huddled on the ground. Thor shivered violently and was panting as if he’d run a hundred miles. Marcus had a bite mark on his hand that leaked blood in a steady stream. “How bad is the bite?”
    “It’s fine,” he said gruffly. “I’ve had worse.”
    Jessie eyed the scars on his arm. Dog bites. Savage, deep bites. She only nodded. “That was a disaster. I’m sorry.”
    “Not your fault.”
    “We’ll stop for now, but I’d like to end on a high note, if you don’t mind.”
    “You’re the boss.”
    “I’m going to have you bring him to my house tomorrow. We’ll work in my backyard. It’s protected and maybe it won’t feel so threatening to him.”
    “Sounds good.” Marcus rubbed Thor’s chest with a the uninjured hand. “You all right, bud?”
    Thor licked his chin, apologetically.
    “I know.” He gave the dog’s ears a rough scrub. “It’s all right.”
    Enough love there , Jessie thought. Plenty.
    As Marcus stood, she saw that his legs were shaking. Alarmed, she asked, “Are you okay?”
    “I’ll be all right in a minute,” he said roughly.
    The dog was not the only one with PTSD, Jessie thought, and unbidden, tears welled up in her throat. To hide them, she scuffed a foot on the ground. “We need to bandage that hand.”
    “No, it’s nothing serious. I’ll take care of it when I get home.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wrapped it up. The tremors in his hands were violent, and it took two tries to get the handkerchief around his wound.
    Jessie reached out and took the leash. She would need more information, but for now, man and dog both needed normal. “Let’s walk,” she said. “There’s a pond over there. Almost no one ever goes there.”
    *
    Marcus was ashamed. His hand shook, his heart pounded. Sweat poured down his back. Next to him, Thor crept close to the ground, one shaky step after the next. Jessie simply walked next to them, offering a treat to Thor every few steps, murmuring encouragement.
    She had always been a dog charmer.
    The roar of adrenaline slowed, then stopped. He could hear some little birds hidden in a tree. A breeze swept over the water, making it ripple. He took a breath. Thor eased, too, beginning to walk naturally even if he was still hypervigilant, waiting for the snipers to come again, from somewhere.
    Anywhere.
    At any moment.
    “Give him a treat,” Jessie said. She was wiry and small, like a gymnast or a triathlete, with a cloud of brown hair. No beauty but her wide, clear eyes. And yet, he had never loved another