Excerpt from The Touch of Sage

“Hush, Bullet!” Sage scolded, eating a piece of biscuit dough off her finger.  “We’ll go out as soon as I get these in.”  Hurriedly, Sage arranged the biscuits in a pan.  It was obvious by the dog’s unceasing barking for the past five minutes he needed to go out.

Sliding the pan into the oven, she said to the sandy-colored dog, “Ya know, if you’d just quit chewin’ through your rope and consortin’ with Mr. Simmons lady dog, I could let ya out on your own.”  Quickly, she untied the rope tethering the dog to the table leg, and wrapped it around her wrist several times to secure it.

At the prospect of the outdoors and some resemblance of freedom, the dog instantly began to pant, excitedly jumping up and down attempting to thankfully lick Sage’s face.  Bullet was only a puppy, just one and a half years old, but he was already enormous!  A big dog with a puppy’s mind was, indeed, a handful.  When Karoline married Joel Evans just before Christmas…well, somehow Sage inherited the handful.

“Come on, boy,” Sage giggled as the dog smiled at her in relief.  “Let’s take you out back.” 

However, at that very moment, a loud, solid knock sounded at the boarding house front door.  Sage sighed, slightly irritated at the interruption, and led Bullet toward the front door instead. 

“I guess we’ll go out front this time, boy,” she told him.  “But just this once.  Do you hear me?”  The dog seemed to nod in agreement as he bounded happily toward the door. 

“Settle down, Bullet.  Settle down,” she said, wrapping the rope around her wrist again in an effort to shorten the slack.

Pasting on a friendly smile, Sage opened the door to greet whomever she might find on the other side.  Her smile vanished instantly, however, as astonishment washed over her.

Standing there on the front porch of Willow ’s Boarding House, was as tall a man as Sage had ever seen.  He wore a black front-flap shirt.

He removed his weathered, black hat to greet her with a deep, “Mornin’, Miss.” Sage saw that his hair was as black as the shirt he wore, as were the finely groomed mustache and goatee he smoothed with an index finger and thumb as he greeted her.  Other than the fact the color of his eyes was as dark nearly as his pupils, Sage only had time to notice one other thing—he was so extraordinarily handsome, she was left with her mouth gaping open.

Her awe of the stranger at her door was cut short when Bullet began jumping about in excitement. He jumped, planting both front paws firmly on the stranger’s stomach and licked the front of his shirt.

“Down, Bullet!” Sage scolded.  “Down!”  Bullet obeyed long enough for Sage to utter, “I’m sorry, sir.  He…” Instantly the dog squeezed himself between the stranger’s knees in an effort to escape.  The rope around Bullet’s neck was still anchored securely around Sage’s wrist as he managed to break between the stranger’s legs. Sage went with him, hitting her face solidly on the man’s knee as he raised one long leg to let the dog through.

Bullet was desperate. He continued pulling against the rope in an effort to escape.  Sage, flat on her stomach on the porch shouted, “Bullet!”  The dog kept pulling. Her arm was so outstretched with the dog’s pull on the rope, she could not even begin to lift or right herself. 

“Here, boy!” she heard the stranger command with a shrill whistle.  “Bullet!  Here.”  Sage looked to see the dog immediately cease his barking and attempted escape. He straightened his ears as much as they would straighten and looked to the stranger.

“Here, Bullet,” the stranger repeated, his voice deep and commanding.  As the dog came toward the man, the rope slackened. Sage’s hand quit turning purple.  Sage felt the stranger’s strong hands, one at her elbow and one at her waist as he helped her to her feet. 

“You all right, Miss?” the stranger asked.

“Yes.  I…I…” Sage stammered.  Perhaps it was the sound of Sage’s voice, or perhaps the fact the dog was incapable of remaining calm for more than a few seconds…whatever the reason, Bullet suddenly bolted round one of the stranger’s legs and through his knees again.  This retightened the slack in the rope.  Furthermore, the rope was now entwined around one of the stranger’s legs as well.  Before Sage could utter another word, she felt her body slam into the solid mass of the stranger’s, his chin meeting brutally with her forehead.  Horrified, embarrassed beyond description, Sage looked up into the stranger’s handsome face.

“Mighty unruly pup ya got there,” the stranger mumbled a moment before Bullet’s tug on the rope sent the man stumbling backward, taking Sage with him.  Sage heard herself scream as the man lost his footing and fell flat on his back, pulling her down on top of him.

“I’m so sorry,” she began to apologize as she watched the stranger grimace.  No doubt the fall, coupled with the weight of Sage’s body on his caused him great discomfort.  To make matters worse, Bullet now stood over them, happily licking the man’s face.  The man did not explode with anger, simply reached to his side and pulled a knife from his boot.  Awkwardly, he reached down and cut the rope twisted around his leg.

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