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apparently mortified set of parents.
    I was still several yards away, but from the collie’s demeanor it was obvious something was wrong. Was she hurt? Or just scared?
    A flustered chief of police halted my opportunity to find out at that moment.
    “Stacy, did you find Thor?”
    I quickly signaled to Thor to lie down and his head ducked behind the weeds. Something about the way he was hovering around the collie made me think that Thor had a good reason for protecting her, and I didn’t want her mixed up in the roundup of all the other dogs.
    “Hey, Leo. I was just looking for him.” I whistled. “Here, Thor, here, boy.”
    That goddamn Chihuahua ran over, baring his teeth at me. He shredded my shoelace before Leo commanded him to sit. He did, still training an eye on me.
    It was as if he held a personal grudge.
    He lifted a paw toward Leo, and the man bent down to check the dog’s tag. He glanced up at me. “It says his name is Thor.”
    “Oh, that is just wrong.”
    The Chihuahua snapped in my direction—spit, actually—then licked Leo’s hand lovingly.
    Leo eyed me with suspicion. “I am not going to ask, because I don’t want to know.”
    “What?”
    He cocked his head toward the little shit, then back at me.
    It took me a full twenty seconds to board his train of thought. When I did, I thought I would burst a lung laughing so hard.
    “Do you mean to tell me that you think…” I pointed to the Chihuahua who was snuggling up to Leo, “that I would turn my dog into Scrappy-Doo?” I cackled. “Leo, even if I had that kind of power—which I do not—I wouldn’t make him a misogynist.”
    Scrappy barked and lunged.
    I didn’t cower this time. “Well, you are! You have issues, pal.” I stepped forward, but Leo put his hand between us.
    “Okay, that’s enough there, Dog Whisperer.”
    “He started it!” I whined.
    Yes, I realize that arguing with an animal is not only stupid, but batshit crazy. My only defense was that this mutt hated me for no apparent reason when he should have been thanking me. I guess I was hurt. By a dog I just met.
    I never said I didn’t have issues.
    Luckily, Gus interrupted before Leo pressed for further explanation.
    “Hey, Stacy; hey, Chief. We need you over here. Animal control is on the way, but it looks like some of these dogs belong to folks here. If you give the okay, we can probably just release them to their owners.”
    Leo looked to be a little bit in shock as he watched the crowd weave around the dogs, some petting old friends, some playing fetch, some looking as astounded as the chief.
    “Okay, well, duty calls.” Leo smiled at me. “I’m sure you’ll find Thor.”
    Scrappy growled, pointedly glared at me, and hopped around Leo like a circus dog.
    “Seriously, what the hell did I do to you?” I asked the Chihuahua.
    He backed up and peed on my ankle.
    All I could do was look down, mouth agape.
    Leo frowned and handed me a handkerchief. “Come on, little guy.” They both sauntered off toward the band.
    “This is not over!” I yelled.
    I swear I wasn’t going to take it personally until he lifted his leg.
    I started back toward (the real) Thor, working on a second wind, smelling like a urinal. I quickly wiped my leg dry and tossed the cloth in a nearby garbage can. My phone was in my back pocket so I texted Chance and told him where to find me.
    My pooch occupied the same spot as before except he was lying down, the collie resting her head on his backside. Thor was alert, waiting patiently for me to navigate the rocks, brambles, and milkweed covering the bank of the small creek that washed into the lake.
    His new friend looked world-weary, not even bothering to lift her head even as twigs snapped and popped beneath my feet.
    I wondered what had happened to her. Why hadn’t she, along with all the other dogs, run from the woods in search of her family?
    Finally I reached them. Thor glanced backward once and I took that as a sign to check on the