A Dog In A Trap

  "Why am I wasting my time talking to you two; let’s go in his stall, sit and chat with him for a while then we’ll call the grave digger and see if he’ll dig a grave for Steven." Richard said standing up.

  As they all piled into Steven’s stall to pay their respects Malyna noticed a change in the atmosphere, it was no longer sad like when Carl and Malyna were crying, it was actually peaceful like nothing had happened, like the horse who died swallowed up the aroma so that they wouldn’t cry.

  "Hello? Yes of course we’ll be here, thank you." Malyna only caught a few words that Richard said but it was enough to guess at who might be calling.

  "Was that the grave digger?" Malyna asked doubtfully.

  "Yup," was the reply. "He’ll be here tomorrow at 6."

  "Isn’t that a bit early?" Malyna inquired. But as soon as she said that she realized that she already knew the answer.

  "No actually it isn’t," Richard said. "It’s because it…"

  "…. It’s okay dad," Malyna interrupted. "I know why they arrive early, it's so the grave can be ready in time for the funeral. And since the horse is so big it is going to take a while to make the grave."

  "Well since you know why don’t you go into the meadow/ field and find some roses or wildflowers to put around Steven’s grave." The telephone started ringing again so Richard shooed Malyna outside.

  "Hey dad," Malyna said running into the kitchen. She had just been outside picking the flowers when Carl called her in and said Richard needed to talk to her.

  "Hi there missy," A strange man said when Malyna walked into the kitchen.

  "Hi," Malyna responded uncertainty. Not sure why or who this man was and why he was in the kitchen.

  "Hi Malyna," Richard said walking into the kitchen to join the man and her. "This is Ronald Guyfield the grave digger... Malyna can you show him where he can dig the grave."

  Richard, Carl ,Emily, Malyna and Onisty decided that Steven should be buried in his favourite meadow where all his favourite treats grew.

  "Here it is," Malyna said as they neared the place where they had chosen. 4 stakes were placed in a large rectangular shape so the grave digger would know how big it needed to be. It’s not everyday that a grave digger has to make a grave for a horse so they might not know even how big the horse is.

  "I’ll be done in 5 hours," Ronald said picking up his shovel and starting to dig.

  Malyna happily left Ronald and headed into the house to view her notebook where the stuff that she wrote about the trappers lay hidden.

  Malyna retrieved her notebook from its hiding place under a loose floorboard under the bed and started to read.

  After she finished reading her entry about the name Malyna knew she had found someone that might know who was trapping.

  The name that was in on the tag on the trap was Bob.. Guy..... Malyna guessed that the last name was Guyfield just like Ronald's last name was Guyfield and that the first name is Bobbie.

  　

  Chapter 12

  "Hey," Malyna said walking into Richard's den 3 hours later. ""I finally found the person that did the trapping. Well at least his brother."

  It took an hour to explain but at least it was out; Malyna had told her dad all that she knew about the trapper.

  "I just can’t believe it believe that Bobbie would do it; he’s such a nice guy," Richard said puzzled.

  "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You know this guy?" Malyna asks in disbelief; she couldn’t figure out how her dad knew this guy.

  ut how her dad knew this guy.

  "Oh yes we went to school together and when I was in collage he was there with me. But I don’t know why he would set a trap…. Wait a minute I remember he sent me an email a few weeks ago that said that his wife had a baby and they were in desperate need of some money and he wondered if I knew if there was a job he could take."

  "So what did you say?" Malyna asked interested if her dad had gave Bobbie Guyfield a suggestion that he listened to.

  "I replied after I had talked to a few people and said nobody had a job opening."

  "Hmmm.... I guess that maybe Bobbie figured that since there were no jobs that he could trap to make money instead." Malyna said.

  "Ya maybe," Richard said looking at the clock. "Woah! The grave digger should be done by now. You can interrogate him about his brother."

  "Hi Ronald," Richard said as they neared the grave digger.

  "Hi Richard" he replied. "I finished digging the grave."

  "That's good so now we can have a little chat..."

  "Oh if it's how much to pay me I've already got that figured out. I think that...."

  "No," Richard interrupted. "That's not what we want to talk about. C'mon we can talk in the kitchen."

  Malyna helped Ronald gather up his shovels and carried them back to the house. Once they were seated Ronald asked. "Why do you guys want to talk to me?"

  Malyna answered that question first. "We wanted to know if Bobbie Guyfield is your brother."

  This question startled Ronald. "Yes, but why would you want to know such a thing?"

  This time Richard answered. "Because he's been trapping on our land. The one time that he did catch something Malyna found it and helped it." Richard paused. "The thing that he caught was a puppy." Richard waited to let this news sink in... and it did.

  "Do you mean to say that you didn't want him to trap on your land because you have horses and animals like dogs?" Ronald asked slowly

  "Yes," Richard said. "And some of these animals are being boarded: they are not ours."

  Suddenly Ronald stood up and put his jacket on.

  "Where are you going?" Malyna irrigated him.

  "I'm going to find my brother and bring him over here to say sorry." Ronald said walking out the door and letting the door slam behind him Ronald drove off in his red cadillac to find his brother.

  "Well," Richard sighed. "I guess we'll have to postpone the burial to 9 o'clock. They should be back before then."

  　

  Chapter 13

  "Hi Richard," Ronald said grimly. "I brought my brother."

  "Then why do you look so grim," Richard asked.

  "Because he's denying that he had anything to do with the traps."

  "But," Richard scratched his head. "We're sure that it was him."

  "Well I guess you guessed wrong." Ronald said. "I guess I'll take him home."

  "Wait a minute," Malyna suddenly blurted out. "I know just how we can find out if it really is his trap... I'll be back in a second."

  Malyna rushed upstairs to her room and the loose floorboard and pulled out the trap with the name attached in the plastic bag.

  "Here it is," Malyna announced holding it up so Richard and Ronald could see.

  "What is that?" Ronald asked with curiosity in his voice as Malyna handed over the trap.

  "This is the trap Bobbie used," Malyna said "And the trap that caught the dog."

  "No... it's much more than that." Ronald said, with excitement in his voice and on his face. "This is the trap that was stolen... this is my dad's. See?" ROnald pointed to a tiny faint carving on the side it read "property of George Guyfield."

  "Now lets get Bobbie in here." Malyna said her face and voice stern but inside Malyna was glowing with pride and determination.

  Minutes later Ronald came back with a protesting Bobbie who is dressed in ratty clothes and has red hair.

  "Hello bobbie," Ronald said sternly. "Fancy meeting you here it seems that this would be the ..." Richard counted on his fingers. "... You're 8th time here on my property?"

  "What?!," Bobbie exclaimed trying to be surprised and confused but really he looked terrified.

  "Come up Bobbie," Richard said. "We know that you have been trapping on my land illegally and that you stole Ronald's traps."

  "B-but those aren't Ronald's traps," Bobbie exclaimed. "Those are dad's traps and since he's dead they're mine." Bobbie finished smugly.

  Ronald just stood beside Bobbie shaking h
is head, finally he spoke.

  "Bobbie," Ronald asked. "Did you even look at dad's will?"

  "No why should I? I already knew that the traps were mine." Bobbie said in a know it all voice.

  "Bobbie if you looked at the will you'll find out that dad left the traps for me." Ronald said apologetically.

  "What?" Bobbie roared.

  Ronald and Richard immediately cornered Bobbie and pinned his arms behind his back. And Malyna shouted "Quiet," stepping out of the shadows to do so. Immediately Bobbie quieted.

  "You," Bobbie roared again dragging Ronald and Richard closer to Malyna.

  Malyna took a step back.

  "I saw you investigating my traps." Bobbie growled stepping closer to malyna. "Saw you confiscate that trap." Bobbie pointed to it on the kitchen table.

  "I saw you rescue the golden puppy from that trap. I was going to shoot you!" By the last sentence bobbie was so angry he was shouting!

  that's when Richard left so Ronald had to hold on all by himself.

  Suddenly with a burst of strength bobbie threw off ronald and ronald flying through the air slammed head first into cement and fell unconscious.

  "There that took care of him," Bobbie growled. "Now for you...."

  Chapter 14

  Instantly Malyna shrank back fearful of what Bobbie would do to her until she heard a sound, a sound that reassured  her that everything would be okay- if she kept Bobbie talking.

  “So Bobbie,” Malyna said in a voice that she hoped didn’t show how afraid she really was. “Why did you decide to trap on my land ?” Malyna asked.

  “I’ll talk for 1 minute and then I’ll kill you.” Bobbie growled.

  Bobbie sat down and started to talk. “I trapped on your land to get back at your father for not finding me a job.”

  “But,” Malyna interrupted. “My dad tried.”

  “Shut up,” Bobbie roared. “If you want to listen… let me talk!”

  Malyna heard the police in the driveway a minute ago so she said.

  “No I don’t want to listen… the police can.”

  This made Bobbie look around in terror and when he saw them he made a run for it. But they stopped him just as he  went out the door.

  That's when Malyna looked at Ronald and a cry escaped from her lips. Ronald was lying on the cement  where Bobbie had threw him, but Ronald had a red, wet, sticky pool of blood around his head.

  "Dad," Malyna cried looking in horror at the puddle of blood. "Phone 911 and fast: Ronald has been seriously injured."

  "What," Richard said spinning on his heels to see Ronald. Ronald’s pool of blood was growing larger and thicker by the minute.

  "Oh no," Richard cried lunging for the phone and quickly dialed 911. Meanwhile Malyna ran to the den drawer and pulled out some crisp white squares cut from Richard’s old shirts.

  Just then the back door opened and Carl stepped in. He stood gaping at the confusing scene.

  Finally Carl got his voice back. "Okay why is Ronald in a pool of blood and what happened?"

  "I'll explain everything as soon as I get the bleeding to stop... Carl can you help me?"

  "Sure," Carl responded uncertain of what to do.

  Chapter 15

  “There,” Malyna said sitting back on her heel, she could hear the ambulance roaring down the streets and she just soaked up all of the blood.

  Richard heard the ambulance too and raced over to it to tell them how the patient was. Meanwhile Bobbie was trying to talk his way out of being sent to jail without luck, when Richard had raced out of the room to phone the police he also pulled out the tape recorder and taped everything Bobbie said.

  As soon as the paramedics sprinted into the room it was a blur of activity except it wasn’t the fun kind: the paramedics pulled out stethoscopes needles and a lot of other stuff. Suddenly as soon as they had come they loaded Ronald onto the stretcher and flying down the road at 100 hundred miles per hour, they left.

  Next on the road was the police with a furious and wild Bobbie in the back.

  After everybody was gone Malyna spilled the story out to Carl (which took a while considering it all happened in a short amount of time.)

  “So you’re telling me that you could have been killed just rescuing a puppy?” Malyna nodded so Carl went speechless in terror.

  Luckily Richard stepped in the conversation and gave his 2 cents.

  “Carl is right honey. You did something really dangerous and we don’t want you to do it again. Next time you find something important show or tell us your suspicions. Promise?”

  “I promise, Dad,” Malyna said regretfully: she just couldn’t stand that she wasn’t allowed to investigate.

  At that minute Emily’s car drove up. As Malyna watched from the window she saw her mom help Onisty out of her car seat and Onisty in her little black dress carry up a big bunch of flowers that were almost as big as Onisty herself!

  That’s when Malyna remembered in the confusion of the day Malyna had forgotten it was also Steven's burial.

  Just then the door opened and in came Emily and Onisty joyously laughing until they saw the looks on Richard’s and Malyna's faces. Richard and Malyna both had dark lines and worry wrinkles under their eyes so they looked like they wanted to go right to bed and sleep the night and tomorrow away.

  "Daddy," cried Onisty obviously ignoring the dark lines under her father's eyes. "Mommy and I had so much fun picking out the stage and then we talked to a lot of people but they all were crying when Mommy said the word funeral. What is a funeral? Why does it make people cry?"

  Richard picked Onisty up and sat her on his lap.

  "That's a tough question honey," Richard answered choosing his words carefully so that HE wouldn't make Onisty cry. “A funeral is occasion that happens when someone leaves us. It is usually a very sad occasion."

  "But," Onisty cocked her head to one side in puzzlement. "Why don't we have funerals when you go to work? You leave us then."

  "Onisty," Richard said. "A funeral only happens if that person leaves forever. I don’t leave forever I come home."

  "Ok," Onisty said cheerfully like she didn’t even register what he said.

  "This is probably what happened." Malyna thought.

  At that moment Onisty jumped off Richard's lap and went laughing and sliding into the living room and you could hear her singing and laughing with her Barbie...

  Chapter 16

  "Okay," Emily said not very calm now. "WHAT HAPPENED?"

  "Not sure," Carl said coming into the room from the kitchen and setting a bottle of half drank coke on the table. "When I came in for the chores the police was here and the gravedigger was on the ground next to a puddle of blood."

  "Police? Blood?" Emily cried hysterically falling into the chair that Carl quickly positioned behind her as she started to topple.

  When Emily regained control over her mouth she asked. "I want to know what is going on and I want to have the truth."

  So with many groans and complaints they told her how it happened. And boy was she startled when Malyna and Richard got to the part when Ronald went flying. She actually put her hand to her face as if blocking her eyesight would block the picture that Richard and Malyna were forming in her mind.

  “So,” Emily asked. “When are we going to know just how serious Ronald’s injury is? And when the trial is scheduled.” Richard and Malyna exchanged a worried glance; the ambulance had left a number to call if they were worried so Malyna and Carl raced to the phone and in her hurry Malyna tumbled over a chair and fell to the ground with a thud.

  “Malyna are you okay,” her mom said rushing over to where Malyna lay and helped her up but Malyna brushed her away.

  “Yeesh, mom, don’t worry so much. It’s Ronald that we have to worry about.” Malyna looked around and saw Carl getting off the phone and handing it over to Richard and motioned for him to talk to the person on the other end.

  “So, what did they say,” Malyna asked Carl.

  “We
ll,” he replied. “There is a bad head wound bit he’s awake and talking. Oh and he wants to tell you sorry for having Bobbie come over.”

  What?” Malyna said. “I should be the one saying sorry. I told him to bring Bobbie over and look at this mess now.”

  “It’s okay honey,” Richard said coming back from the phone. “It was nobody’s fault. None of us knew that Bobbie had changed from a good friend to practically a murderer.”

  “I know, I know,” Malyna sighed. “But I just can’t believe that he would have actually shot me and the puppy.”

  “Neither did I,” Richard said scratching his head. “I knew he was having money problems but I didn’t expect a mental problem.” Richard said.

  All eyes and heads snapped up to look at him. “Mental problem?”  Chorused Emily, Malyna and Carl sounding confused.

  “Yes mental problem.” Richard said gravely. “It turns out that he fell and hit his head a couple of weeks ago on a bar post. I just spoke with his wife and she said that he had been released from the hospital with just a slight concussion.”

  “Okay,” Malyna said, “At least the police know that they can’t take him seriously.”

  “Ya they know that they can’t take…” Suddenly Richard’s eyes widened in realization he slapped himself in the forehead 2 times. “How could I be so stupid?” he groaned.

  “What’s the matter?” Malyna asked alarmed in the note of anxiety in his voice.

  Richard sprinted over to the phone and frantically started dialing numbers, talking as he dialed.  “I completely forgot to tell the police about the slight concussion.”

  He turned back to the phone. “Hello? Yes this is Richard I phoned to tell you about the...” Richard paused evidently listening to the person on the other end. “You know? Great then then you know this happened 2 weeks ago? You didn’t? Well I'm glad that I could be of some help.” And with that he said “Bye.” To the person on the other end and put the phone back in its cradle.

  “They knew about the concussion?” Malyna asked.

  “Ya,” Richard said. “As soon as Bobbie's wife finished talking to me she called the police station and told them about the concussion. The thing she forgot to tell was how long ago the accident was… so I filled them in on that information.”