The Second Ring of Power Read Online Free PDF

were no
long sticks. I asked her if she could get me a couple of nails
in order to join together two pieces of firewood. We looked unsuccessfully
all over the house for nails. As a final resort I had to dislodge the longest stick I could find in the
chicken coop that Pablito had built in the back. The stick, although it was a
bit flimsy, seemed suited for my purpose.
    Dona Soledad had not smiled or joked during our search. She seemed to be
utterly absorbed in her task of helping me. Her concentration was so
intense that I had the feeling she was wishing me to succeed.
    I walked to my car, armed with the long stick and a shorter one from the
pile of firewood. Dona Soledad stood by the front door.
    I began to tease the dog with the short stick in my right hand and at
the same time I tried to
release the safety lock with the long one in my other hand. The dog nearly bit
my right hand and
made me drop the short stick. The rage and power of the enormous beast were so
immense that I nearly lost the long one too. The dog was about to
bite it in two when dona Soledad came to my aid; pounding
on the back window she drew the dog's attention and he let go of it.
    Encouraged by her distracting maneuver I dove, headfirst, and slid
across the length of the front seat and managed to release the
safety lock. I tried to pull back immediately, but the dog charged
toward me with all his might and actually thrust his massive shoulders and
front paws over the front seat, before I had time to back out. I
felt his paws on my shoulder. I cringed. I knew that he was
going to maul me. The dog lowered his head to go in for the kill, but instead
of biting me he hit the steering wheel. I curried out and in one
move climbed over the hood and onto the roof. I had
goose bumps all over my body.
    I opened the right-hand door. I asked dona Soledad to hand me the long
stick and with it I pushed the lever to release the backrest from its
straight position. I conceived that if I teased the dog he would
ram it forward, allowing himself room to get out of the car. But he did not
move. He bit furiously on the stick instead.
    At that moment dona Soledad jumped onto the roof and lay next to me. She
wanted to help me tease the dog. I told her that she could not stay
on the roof because when the dog came out I was going to get in the car and
drive away. I thanked her for her help and said that she should go back in
the house. She shrugged her shoulders, jumped down and went back to the door. I
pushed down the release again and with my cap I teased the dog.
I snapped it around his eyes, in front of his muzzle.
The dog's fury was beyond anything I had seen but he would not leave the seat. Finally
his massive jaws jerked the stick out of my grip. I climbed down to retrieve it
from underneath the car. Suddenly I heard dona Soledad screaming.
    "Watch out! He's getting out! "
    I glanced up at the car. The dog was squeezing himself over the seat. He
had gotten his hind paws caught in the steering wheel; except for that,
he was almost out.
    I dashed to the house and got inside just in time to avoid being run
down by that animal. His momentum was so powerful that he rammed
against the door.
    As she secured the door with its iron bar dona Soledad said in a
cackling voice, "I told you it was useless."
    She cleared her throat and turned to look at me.
    "Can you tie the dog with a rope?" I asked.
    I was sure that she would give me a meaningless answer, but to my
amazement she said that we should try everything, even luring
the dog into the house and trapping him there.
    Her idea appealed to me. I carefully opened the front door. The dog was
no longer there. I ventured out a bit more. There was no sight of
him. My hope was that the dog had gone back to his corral. I
was going to wait another instant before I made a dash for my car, when I heard
a deep growl and saw the massive head of the beast inside my car. He had
crawled back onto the front seat.
    Dona Soledad was right; it was