Achill hung in the air, as the chilly afternoon mist caressed the wind. Thick damp leaves held the cold, as the dog’s feet sunk down into the spongy ground. The Alder trees moved their branches in harmony with the autumn breeze.
The German shepherd hesitated at the mouth of the ravine. The dog raised head testing thewind. Ringo tensed his muscles quivering with anticipation, holding his breath, allowing his heart beat to slow, using every fiber in his magnificent body to tract the smell. Ring’s nostrils flared as he sucked the smells into the deepest part of his brain. The flues on his jaw puffed out, allowing his olfactory to compute all the millions of invisible signals that spiraled and laced the air. He held his breath waiting for the filtering process that was bombarding his senses, discarding out the ones not needed. There it was a faint hint of the tangent smell he was looking for. His body continued to quiver as he continued to take in the millions of scent particles, his ability to lock onto the scent he was programed to find was flawless. There it was again stronger this time; he put his nose to the ground, sucking in the ground smells. This intelligent German Shepherd had his mission sealed into the depths of his brain. This dog was trained to tract and find the source of the milk scent smell of the young child.
The soft pink pajama was put to his nose just a few hours before. He knew what he had to do, find the child protect and stay. He would sound the alert bark to summon his master when the child was found.
It was starting to rain the light cold penetrating drizzle so common to the Northwest. The hemlock trees groaned and creaked as they swayed in the wind above the girls head. Her soft blue eyes were spell-bond watching the fir boughs moving in harmony with the wind. She clutched her fuzzy bear to her chest, her attention focusing on her playmate. Melissa spoke softly, “Mr. fuzzy you’re getting cold, I am going to hold you closer, so we can keep each other warm. She curled herself into a fetal position around her fuzzy bear, and fell into a fatigued sleep.
Ringo did not feel the cold his long 4 inch guard hairs over his thick undercoat protected against much colder weather then was felt on this day the black velvet saddle and red mantle around his neck, would give the child protection if he found her in time .
Melissa had been sleeping in her bunk in the family’s camper, as the family broke camp getting ready to leave, Melissa awake from her nap to discover her fuzzy bear was missing. She remembered she had left her friend propped up against a tree on the bank overlooking the stream below their campsite. The family did not discover her missing until they stopped for gas around 30 minutes from the camp site.
The search & rescue team arrived within forty minutes after being notified the child was missing. Eric and his dog Ringo were part of the search team. It had been forty minutes since Eric and his dog had gone into the forest searching for the lost girl. The search party was working a two mile radius around the campsite.
Eric a seasoned search and rescue professional knew the chances of findingthis child alive were cut drastically by each hour the victim was lost. He leaned back against an old growth cedar, letting his body give a little to the wariness that was starting ebb through his limbs. The search for the little girl was taxing to the spirit. Just 4 years old her chances of being found alive were dwindling by the minute.
In the distance Eric heard Ringo let out several staccato barks. Eric’s breath caught in his throat, he knew Ringo’s bark, and this one was saying “come fast I’ve found something’. With renewed hope Eric bonded down the ravine. As he descended down the steep slope he caught sight of his dog. Ringo was standing over a child’s tennis shoe. Eric picked up the shoe, putting the shoe in his backpack, Eric reached down and ran his fingers through Ringo’s thick coat, he gave Ringo a slow caress staring at the top of Ringo’s occipital point to the tip of his nose, Ringo closed his eyes enjoying his masters special touch. Ringo turned his head up his dark brown eyes looking intently into Eric’s face. A sudden bolt shot through Eric’s being, as the dog’s dark eyes looked into his soul. Enjoying theirspecial time he gave his dog a final caress as he urged the dog on. Ringo tested the wind again as he descended down the slope into the ravine. The ground was covered with moss logs,bracken fern, and Oregon grape. The air was getting cold as theautumn afternoon sun was quickly making its decent. Ringo’s dark eyes narrowed as he caught sight of something in the brush, a small piece of torn cloth, clung to the underbrush, he trotted over to it and nudged it with his nose, and hesensed the girl was close by. Ringo raised his head, and flared his damp nostrils into the wind, like a shot the dog jumped forward and ran up the ravine. His bonding leaps covered the ground in bear like strides.There just ahead he saw the lost girl, he pushed his great head into her chest, licking her face and whimpering to her. Melissa stirred opened her eyes looking into the dogs kind eyes, she buried her little hands into his warm fur and cried “my very own big fuzzy bear has found me”. Ringo sat back and let out several deep barks, alerting Eric to his position.
1