"Since Shiloh came to live with us I've thought a lot about right and wrong, even good and bad." "And I'm always so surprised at how close opposites tend to be." "That's Judd Travers." "He used to own Shiloh." "Shiloh ran away after Judd beat him real bad." "I found Shiloh and decided no matter what I was gonna get him away from Judd." "Even if that meant lying to my whole family." "No doubt about it." "There were some hard choices to make." "But after a lot of heartache, some good advice from Doc Wallace and some mean words between me and Judd, we struck a deal." "I'd work for him, and then Shiloh would be mine." "Even though Judd almost didn't keep his promise in the end, he did." "But one moment in someone's days can't wipe a whole life of meanness away." "And Judd was still mad, and he still wanted his dog back." "And now he was drinking worse than ever." "Judd almost ran me over." "He what?" "Me and Shiloh were on our way home." "We heard this noise..." "..." "like an engine revving." "You think it was on purpose?" "I don't know." "After he passed us, he was still driving crazy." "Well, Ray, this is serious." "Well, if I'm hearing right, he's drinking again." "He's stopping off at a bar at Ben's Run." "Marty, you best keep off the road." "And you too, Dara Lynn." "Why is he drinking so hard all of a sudden?" "Maybe he's thirsty." "He might drink because he's sad." "Maybe he misses Shiloh." "He's got all those other dogs to keep him company." "The fact that his dog kept running to you and you worked for him even when he called you a fool made him look in the mirror and it wasn't pretty." "Judd's not pretty." "Well, you got that right." "Well, the real problem is he's hunting our land." "I heard shots yesterday and last weekend." "Then I go up there and I found this beer can." "Same kind as Judd drinks." "But Ray, we got those woods posted." "l know that." "You talk to him. I don't want him up there drunk, firing off his gun." "A bullet might end up down here." "I'm scared he'll come after Shiloh and take him back." "Calm down, okay?" "I'm gonna talk to him tonight after dinner, okay?" "So let's enjoy ourselves." "Hush up." "Hush!" "Evening, Judd." "A little late to be working." "Well, I'm not working, Judd." "I'm here on personal business." "I found this up in my woods." "Yeah?" "I know you've been hunting my land." "And we talked about this before." "I posted those woods and fields, and there's no hunting." "You don't think I'm gonna pay attention to some stupid signs you put up, do you?" "You can't go hunting your neighbor's land when they tell you not to." "Well, you're a sorry excuse for a neighbor, Ray Preston." "Keeping your land for yourself to hunt on." "I don't hunt on my own land." "I have children down at the house." "It's dangerous." "If I had known what a miserly skunk you are I never would have given your kid my best hunting dog." "Your deal with Marty for Shiloh had nothing to do with hunting on my land." "Oh, it sure did." "He said I could hunt your land anytime I wanted to." "That was part of the bargain." "You know what you just said?" "That was a bold-faced lie." "Tell your kid I want my dog back." "If you set foot on my property or threaten my family in any way including Shiloh I'll call the sheriff on you." "What do you think Judd's saying?" "There's no telling." "He's liable to deny it or get mad maybe." "But he has got to stop hunting here." "Drinking will make a person do things he never thought he'd do." "You put a drink in someone like Judd, you got a bomb just waiting to go off." "Well, what did he say?" "It's a good idea if the kids don't play in the woods for a bit." "And we all ought to keep a close eye on Shiloh." "Beagle hunting dog to Marty Preston for 20 hours of work." "Signed Judd Travers." "We had a deal, Shiloh." "Why can't he just let it go?" "All right, come on in." "Find your seats." "Settle down." "Welcome to 7th grade." "My name is Miss Talbot." "I'm from Philadelphia and I moved to Friendly about four months ago." "I'm really excited to be your teacher for this year." "Let's jump right in and start on an assignment." "It's a little project that'll help tell me a bit about who you are and you might be amazed to find out something about yourselves." "imagine the future." "Think about what jobs you'd most like to have when you grow up and write a little report on it." "Okay?" "You believe what Michael said about the broken mailboxes?" "I know." "It has to be Judd." "It could be some kids from Sistersville High." "Get real." "Judd's just a dangerous drunk." "He should be in jail." "Come on, Shiloh." "Yeah." "Good." "Hi." "Hi, Mom." "Can I stay at David's Friday, and he stay here Saturday?" "Sure." "Thanks." "Hi, Mom." "How are you?" "Good." "There's a snack in the kitchen." "You can go in too, hon." "Hey, Marty." "Come here." "What you want?" "I want to show you something." "Look there." "Just look at that." "Just look at that, Marty." "You got any idea who might have scratched up my truck?" "No." "You don't know any boys who might've done it?" "Nobody I know." "Well you keep your ears open." "If you hear anybody might have done it, you let me know." "I'll listen around." "We gonna find out who scratched up my truck, ain't we?" "Now, I'm gonna keep my eye open, and you keep your eye open too." "If you hear anything, you let me know, all right?" "Okay." "Okay." "We'll see you." "Hey, boy." "Listen, I'm not gonna be back tonight." "But I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" "Bye." "When are our reports due?" "I think next Friday." "Hi, Marty." "Hi, Mom." "Hi, honey." "Why don't you boys wash up?" "We'll eat dinner in about an hour." "Good to see you." "You too." "Let's go to my room." "Pumpkin pie." "Your favorite." "And David's favorite too, if I remember right." "So how's your dog, Marty?" "Oh, he's doing really good." "Except he don't like to see me climb on the bus." "Doesn't." "He doesn't like to see you climb on the bus." "No, he sure don't." "I heard Judd still thinks the dog is his." "He's just been lending him to you." "No, sir, Shiloh's mine and Judd knows it." "I thought as much." "The less discussion about Judd, the better." "I think you're right." "David." "Hey, David." "You awake, man?" "Man, I can't believe you fell for that." "Okay, boys, let's pack it in." "Time for some shuteye." "Show me that mask." "It's my Judd Travers werewolf mask." "That don't look like Judd." "Sure it does." "Judd's a werewolf." "You're nuts." "A vampire?" "David." "There's no way we're ever gonna find out if we don't spy on him tomorrow." "What if Judd catches us?" "He'll never find out." "Come on." "Maybe." "Hey, Shiloh." "There you are." "Beginning to wonder." "Hello." "Hello there, beautiful." "Marty." "Here's a sandwich, honey." "You gotta get to Doc's." "Thanks, Mom." "And where's my hug?" "Mrs." "Howard have a good dinner?" "It was good." "Yeah, how good?" "Not like your mama's dinners." "You know just what to say." "Doc, I'm ready to work." "Okay." "I'll tell you what I want you to do." "You take this pot and put it over there." "I want it to have more sun." "I want to get this all finished before my wife comes home." "She thinks I can't do anything." "I want to surprise her." "No problem." "Thank you." "You pull out the old weeds." "I'll start watering the flowers." "Okay." "Here." "Thanks." "Come here." "Come over here." "Over here." "Come on, come on, come on." "Oh, you are a sweetheart, Shiloh." "Let me take a look at that." "Boy, you did a great job." "Keep this up, pretty soon you won't owe me anything." "Thanks, Doc." "I'll work for you anytime." "You saved my dog's life." "You want to stay for dinner tonight?" "No, I can't." "David's spending the night tonight." "Maybe another time." "Wait a minute." "What about dinner tomorrow?" "Sure." "Good." "Listen, Doc, I've been meaning to ask you." "Do you think a person can ever change?" "I mean, once they're mean, are they mean forever?" "Well, I don't know. I heard that a little kindness can change a man and a beast." "Even Judd?" "I don't know." "I hope so." "You finished." "What a beautiful garden." "We worked ourselves to death, and we broke our backs, didn't we, gang?" "We're gonna go outside for a while, Mom." "Okay." "Don't go too far, though." "Okay, Mom." "You ready to head out yet?" "l don't know." "I saw Judd this morning." "He was acting weird." "lf he catches us spying" "We'll pass other houses on the way." "Think of it as a walk through the neighborhood." "But we're spying." "Judd warned me about spying." "I promised him I wouldn't." "Look, he's probably inside by now anyway." "Or off in a bar somewhere getting drunk." "All right." "How long will it take to get to Judd Travers'?" "About 10 minutes." "All right, we're gonna need a map, a canteen, a pair of binoculars." "A map?" "Come on, all we're doing is walking across the bridge then the road until we get to Judd's." "We gotta go a different way." "How do you expect to spy on someone if they see you walking up the road?" "I'll get some paper and a pen." "Here." "And the canteen and binoculars?" "Already got them." "When I was back in Europe, we used to play spy all the time." "Man, this is gonna be a blast." "It's okay, Shiloh." "You can go on home, boy." "Why wouldn't Shiloh come across?" "I don't know." "Never has." "Guess he remembers where he's from." "He going hunting?" "I don't think so." "Good shot." "No, don't!" "Get down." "Who said that?" "Who said that?" "It sounded like a Marty Preston to me." "Is that you, Marty?" "What you doing on my land?" "Your pa won't let me hunt yours." "What you doing on mine?" "You Prestons are all alike." "Sneaky little cowards" "Marty Preston!" "I catch you fooling around with my truck I'm gonna blow you to kingdom come!" "Come on." "That squirrel could have been us." "It was close as spit." "Squirrel didn't even do anything." "He knew it was you, Marty." "l know he does." "He doesn't play by the hunting rules." "Squirrel's out of season." "Duck season's in October." "Deer season's in November." "He obviously doesn't care about the stupid hunting seasons." "Nothing on the charts about dog season." "Way he's acting, he's making his own laws." "What if he makes it Shiloh season?" "Think we should tell?" "About the squirrel?" "You could." "But it wouldn't do one bit of good." "No one gets fined for shooting a squirrel out of season." "From here to Sistersville, you find plenty dead on the road." "It's not just that he killed it." "It's how much fun he had when he did." "What do you suppose his parents were like, raising a guy like him?" "What do you suppose he was like?" "Maybe it's just Judd." "Nothing his parents could do about it." "Just a plain bad apple." "One thing's for sure." "He's never gonna change." "I don't know." "Well, you two must have been up all night." "We're okay." "Why don't you eat your pancakes?" "Your dad just pulled up." "Thanks." "Bye, Marty." "Bye, Mrs. Preston." "Bye, David." "Bye, David." "Thanks for breakfast." "I'm going for a little walk." "No, Shiloh." "You gotta stay here, okay, boy?" "I'm going to Doc's later." "I don't want to tire him out." "Okay." "It's just you and me, Shiloh." "Now I gotta get a new spoon." "The only reason I didn't report Judd's hunting out of season or poaching was because I wanted to save Shiloh." "Now, I suppose he'll go right on doing that." "Dad says he's even been hunting up in our woods." "Probably even drunk." "Sometimes I can't sleep good, worrying about if all this is right." "Some people think there's an answer to everything." "That's not true." "It doesn't work that way." "Even for you?" "Yeah, even for me." "I remember when I was a kid, I'd tell a lie, my father would whip me." "After a while, I figured it's best to tell the truth." "Even when I went to school or college, I never ever cheated on a test." "Not even a little bit?" "Not even a little bit." "The tests of life, they get harder." "They get harder for you as a doctor." "They get harder for you as a man." "What should I have done about Judd, then?" "I can't tell you that." "Why not?" "Because it's your test." "Go on." "Hi, Judd." "What you up to?" "Nothing, just fooling around in the creek." "You taking good care of my dog?" "Yeah, Shiloh's doing fine." "How come he ain't with you now?" "He's back home with Mom, getting spoiled." "You don't take a dog hunting, he'll lose his touch." "Well, I ain't much for hunting." "Besides hardly anything's in season." "Is that a fact?" "Listen, Judd." "I came to tell you something," "Yeah?" "David and me" "He was over at my house yesterday and we were playing spy." "That was us you heard in your yard." "How come you didn't answer me, then?" "We were scared because you had that gun." "You expect me to believe that?" "You come all the way over here just to play spy?" "You weren't playing, boy." "You were spying." "Wouldn't surprise me if your pa put you up to it." "He didn't even know we were over here." "But we shouldn't have been" "You're right, you shouldn't have been in my yard." "You two boys been here once means you been here more than that." "You two boys sneaking around my house won't even answer you got more on your minds then play, boy." "Why, I bet it was you and him that scratched up my truck." "I catch you again, I won't be shooting in the air." "A man's got a right to protect his property." "Go on home." "Go on!" "Get!" "Go on home!" "Get out of here!" "Oh, you're okay." "There's something I didn't tell you." "Me and David saw Judd shoot a couple of squirrels." "What were you doing over there?" "Playing spy." "I bet that was David's idea." "Why do you listen to everything he tells you?" "l don't." "He's gonna get you in trouble." "I already am." "I went and told Judd it was me spying." "Boy, was he angry." "Sweet little Shiloh." "All this over you." "I know." "It's crazy, but Shiloh's like a part of my family." "He comes into my life one day and I'd do anything to make sure he doesn't get hurt." "I know he's just a dog." "It doesn't make any sense." "Sure it does." "He's your friend." "He'd do the same thing for you." "I saw my mama today." "She's really lost a step." "I remember when Grandma Preston was so smart and funny." "That's how we should remember her." "Same with Grandma Slater." "She was sharp her whole life." "If she hadn't gone out in the rain picking beans, got pneumonia she'd probably be alive yet." "If she was so sharp, how come she was picking beans in the rain?" "We all do things now and again we shouldn't." "Yeah, well, that's the truth." "What's that?" "Oh, my Lord." "It's Judd Travers." "Girls, go upstairs." "We need to talk, Ray." "I hope it's important." "I think it is." "I come home today and found my mailbox flat over on the ground." "Not a scratch on it." "So I know no car backed into it by accident." "I'm sorry to hear but-- l think your boy was there and knocked it over." "Him and that Howard kid." "Or that girl of Doc's, maybe." "But I didn't" "Marty." "Why do you think he did it?" "Because somebody scratched up my truck a week or two back and I'm thinking it's Marty what done it." "I want him digging me a new hole tomorrow and I want that post set in cement." "But I didn't do it, Dad." "I didn't scratch up his truck, neither." "You sure of that?" "Yeah, I'm sure." "You know who might have done it?" "No." "You believe a kid who'd go over to my place hiding on my property, sneaking around spying on me then telling you he knows nothing about my mailbox." "What's he doing on my property then?" "Him and that Howard kid?" "You ask him that." "Now, look...." "I'm gonna talk to my boy one-on-one." "That's the way we do things here." "It might be you've been knocking down a fix of boxes your own lately the way you've been driving somebody's trying to settle the score." "And I'm just guessing." "Well, I'm guessing it was your kid." "And until he puts up my box you're in for a lot of trouble." "Don't start saying that" "Don't be telling me what to say when you can't even control your own boy." "Keep him from destroying people's property." "That man is just crazy." "Louise, Marty and I are gonna have a talk." "Okay." "Marty, is that true what Judd said about you spying on him?" "We were just playing spy." "What did you do?" "We were crawling around like spies and we wanted to see what Judd does." "What do you think he does?" "I don't know." "He was sitting on his steps with a shotgun and we saw him shoot a squirrel." "He was about to shoot another one, but I yelled, No, don't!" "I couldn't help myself." "Then David pushed me down, and we stayed hid that way." "You could not have picked a worse time to do something like this." "Did you do that to his mailbox or scratch his truck?" "No, I told you." "How do I know you're telling the truth?" "You lied before." "I know, but I'm not lying now." "Dad, I promise you I'm not lying." "All right, listen up." "We got a man who's drinking heavy." "He doesn't remember what he does when he's drunk and he's getting ready for hunting season." "He's dangerous." "So I don't want you crossing that bridge." "I want you as far away from Judd Travers as you can get." "Yes, sir." "Okay." "Dad." "Yeah?" "I didn't mess around with his truck or his mailbox." "If there's some way for you to believe that, just tell me." "Just stay out of trouble." "That's all I ask." "Okay." "I never seen Dad so troubled before." "But it'll be okay." "You got to stay in the house until we get this whole thing settled, okay?" "See you tomorrow." "Marty." "Is everything okay with you?" "Sure." "Why?" "You seem like you have a lot on your mind." "I know, but I'm okay." "How's your presentation coming?" "Okay, I guess." "It's hard even though I know what job I want." "Yeah." "Remember, when you're thinking about what you want to do have it come from here." "Not just here." "Okay, thanks." "Sure." "I'll see you tomorrow." "No, Shiloh, don't go over there, boy." "You know you're not supposed to go up there." "Let's play hide-and-seek." "All right, just for a minute." "Shiloh can play too." "Okay, I'll be it." "You two go hide." "Thousand one, thousand two..." "Becky, hide!" "...thousand three, thousand four-- Don't go up there!" "Thousand one, thousand two thousand three, thousand four thousand five, thousand six, thousand seven. thousand forty-nine, thousand fifty." "Ready or not, here I come." "Becky, Dara Lynn, where are you?" "Got you." "That was a good idea...just about." "Time to go in now." "Let's find Becky and Shiloh." "Okay." "Becky, Shiloh!" "Come on out!" "Becky, it's okay to come out now!" "Becky?" "I already got Dara Lynn." "Come on, Becky." "Becky, you can come out!" "Shiloh?" "Becky!" "Where are you?" "Come out!" "Becky, where are you?" "Where is she, little Shiloh?" "What's going on?" "We can't find Becky." "We were playing." "We can't find her." "What?" "Where did you last see her?" "By the car." "She called for Shiloh to go with her." "She was heading up to the woods, but I told her not to." "If Becky wandered off, why didn't Shiloh go with her?" "Why isn't he with her?" "Dara Lynn, go in the house in case she shows up, all right?" "Becky!" "Where are you?" "Ray?" "Honey, don't go up there." "Let me search the woods, you go by the creek." "And Marty, sit on the porch, keep an eye on the yard." "I don't want her to think we're all gone, then go off again." "Yes, sir." "Becky, can you hear me?" "Becky, where are you?" "Shiloh, why couldn't you have just stayed with her?" "Why couldn't you have done that one thing?" "Go somewhere else, boy." "Honey, I gotta call the sheriff and ask for some help." "Ray?" "You don't think he'd come and take her?" "Oh, angel, no, no." "Judd wouldn't do that even if he was drunk." "I'm worried" "This is out of hand." "Go outside, boy." "I'm worried he's in the woods shooting his gun." "Hello, sheriff?" "Ray Preston." "We've got a problem." "What is it, Shiloh?" "What is it, boy?" "We found her!" "Hold it. I think we found her." "I'll call you back." "You know how terrified we were?" "Shiloh was looking out for her the whole time." "Led me right to her." "I was so scared, Marty." "Yeah, me too." "Would've saved us worry if he could talk." "He did." "We just didn't ask the right questions." "He knew where she was all along." "She must have gone in there to hide and just fell asleep." "Yeah." "That's when we all went in the house without her." "Shiloh figured he ought to let us know." "Thank you, ladies." "Okay, back to the game." "Sam you still want to be a dancer?" "No, I think a swimmer." "Right, Happy?" "A swimmer?" "What kind of job is that?" "A swimming champion." "That's better." "What about you?" "I either want to be a biologist, a forest ranger and if I can't do that, I'll probably be a rocket scientist." "Outside of that, no ambitions, right?" "Marty!" "Probably a veterinary technician." "My parents can't afford to send me to vet school." "Well, I know it's difficult, costs money to get in school" "Listen, if you have a dream, and you work hard enough, it'll happen." "Okay, now I got to go back in and what?" "Mind the store." "There we go." "We're here with Shiloh." "Preston." "Dr." "Collins will be right with you." "Wonderful, thanks." "Mom?" "Why does Shiloh have to get more shots?" "He just got his rabies shot." "Dogs are susceptible to all sorts of things, that's why." "Marty, did you know that puppies have worms in them?" "Yeah, I've heard that before." "Dogs can get them too." "Live ones?" "Crawling around inside of them?" "Maybe Shiloh's got them." "I suppose he could have them." "Well, how would they know?" "You have to look in his poop." "Yuck." "What?" "It's true." "l know." "Hi." "So this is Shiloh." "Doc Wallace told me all about him." "Why don't you come on back." "Okay." "There we go." "Well, Marty, you've taken real good care of him." "And this old wound looks all healed." "Listen, I have a couple questions for you for a paper for school." "Sure, what's that?" "Chaining dogs makes them mean, doesn't it?" "Well it makes them scared, so they act mean when they feel trapped." "If another dog or person comes along and they feel threatened they'll act fierce to scare them." "And these dogs stay mean for life?" "No, they don't have to." "I mean, once you unleash a dog and they don't feel threatened and know they can get away they may not settle down right away but once they know they can trust you they can become a loyal, kind dog." "Wow, so they really can change." "I didn't think that was possible." "Thanks." "Sure." "Don't get any ideas about Judd's dogs, Marty." "How's it coming?" "Good." "Becky, turn that down." "Okay." "Do you hear that?" "Is that barking?" "Yeah, it sounds like that Lab that comes around." "Oh, no." "That's more than one dog, Marty." "Becky where's Dara Lynn?" "Outside, picking apples." "Stay inside, Becky." "Dara Lynn!" "Get in the house, right now!" "Get away from her!" "You get!" "Get out of here!" "Get!" "Get away from her!" "Get out!" "Get!" "Get out!" "Get!" "Get out!" "All right, let's go inside." "I'll clean it inside." "It's all right." "Marty, whose dogs are those?" "Judd's." "They got loose, and one bit Dara Lynn." "Doc, it's Louise Preston." "Dara Lynn just got bit by one of Judd's dogs." "Yes, they're running loose." "Headed over the bridge, I think." "No, it's not too deep, but it did puncture the skin." "Okay." "Yes." "Thank you very much." "Marty." "Are you sure they're Judd's dogs?" "Yeah, I'm sure." "Doc'll call the sheriff to get those dogs." "He said the one that bit her has got to be locked up for 10 days to see if he's got rabies." "And if he does, she's got to get shots." "We can't even have our kids play in our front yard." "It's craziness." "Mommy." "Becky you're the not who got bit, so quit your crying." "Let's just all go out and sit on the porch and take a breather." "I've got to have five minutes of quiet or my head will fly off." "It hurts." "You can put a little pressure on it." "Marty, how in the world did those dogs get loose?" "Judd has chains on them would've held a grown man." "Were they dragging chains?" "I didn't notice." "They were unhooked by the collar." "I don't understand." "Well, look who's coming." "Ray Preston I accuse you of turning my dogs loose." "I did no such thing, so go home and calm down." "Then you put your boy up to it." "He didn't do it." "Well, somebody came by and unchained all three of them." "And Miss Young says she saw my dogs coming off of your property." "They were here all right." "And the yellow one bit my daughter." "Dara Lynn, show him." "If Marty hadn't picked her up, they might have done worse." "That is a put-up lie if ever I heard one." "Sheriff tells me he finds my dogs he'll lock that one up for two weeks." "They have to wait that long to be tested." "Any dog that bites someone has to be watched." "I see what you're up to." "And don't think I don't." "You got my best dog, and now you're cooking up some story about my second dog." "This will cost me two good weeks of hunting." "I could use that beagle." "Judd, let's sit down so we can talk without getting angry." "I ain't sitting down." "I ain't got nothing to say." "Except you owe me the use of that dog." "You can't have him." "Be quiet." "Even if we were to let Shiloh go, he wouldn't come." "He'll come all right." "Where is he?" "See, he wouldn't even come out." "Dara Lynn." "Come on out." "Come on out, dog." "All right." "You gonna be like that we can do something about it." "You're not going after him with that!" "Put that broom down." "That dog belongs to Marty." "You don't have permission to take him." "You're upset about your dogs getting loose but this won't help." "We've got a daughter with a bite on her leg." "But we won't press charges, so there's no cause for any of us to be mad." "Judd I said to put that broom down." "I ain't through with you, Ray Preston." "You and that boy are behind this." "I'd bet anything on it." "You ain't seen the last of me." "You ain't heard the last of me!" "And I'm telling you now you're gonna be sorry." "It had my leg in its teeth and was twisting it off, just about." "Then my mom whacked it with a broom." "My dad caught the dog that bit you." "He said it must've been Judd that knocked down our mailbox, twice." "What about Mrs. McCallister's cat?" "She was just sitting on the steps, and those dogs just killed it." "Fred Niles' dad said it was the guy Judd got into a fight with." "He said he let the dogs out when Judd was at work." "I think it's terrible." "Judd should go to jail." "If those dogs snatched up a cat, they could snatch a baby." "Dr. Collins said even mean pack dogs can turn into nice dogs." "It takes time and kindness." "Yeah, like they're gonna get that from Judd." "I understand you're concerned about what happened with Dara Lynn and Mrs. McCallister's cat." "And while we know that Judd's dogs caused these things to happen we don't know how they got loose." "We don't know the truth about a lot of stories about Judd's behavior." "Truth is what you see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears." "And gossip may or may not be true." "You're hearing it from another person, and they heard it from someone else." "It might be just half true." "Now, truth is more important, but sometimes gossip is more interesting." "And I know that truth can sometimes be painful." "But gossip always hurts someone." "Just remember that next time you tell a story you're not sure is true." "I think that Judd is sick, sick, sick." "I mean, my goodness gracious." "The man is a nightmare." "Marty is afraid he's just gonna take Shiloh, or hurt him, or something." "Emily is under orders to stay far away from him." "We just want him out of our lives." "No kidding." "You have children." "That's your first responsibility." "The rehabilitation of a public nuisance is not even on your list." "Every day I wonder what's gonna happen next, and I tell you, it scares me." "I'm telling you, we could all boycott him." "Nobody buys from him." "Nobody sells to him." "That is just so mean-spirited, Sue." "Well, look what he's capable of." "I know." "Ray's been trying to be a friend to him since they were kids." "He's the same, isn't he?" "The man is who he is." "End of story." "But if you're smart, you'll keep your son away from him." "Shiloh!" "I'm home, boy." "Mom?" "Dad?" "Anybody home?" "Shiloh!" "Where are you, boy?" "Shiloh!" "How you doing, boy?" "Thank goodness you're all right." "I got so scared." "I didn't know where you were." "Just put the mail in my box and keep moving, Ray." "I'm the one that should be angry." "Your dogs attacked my daughter." "I ain't got no use in talking to you." "Just keep moving." "Why are we so quiet?" "I'm not quiet." "You can talk to me, Becky." "Want to hear my ABC song?" "Don't talk with food in your mouth." "Have some spinach." "Yuck." "It looks like poop." "Becky." "Poop." "Poop." "Poop." "I haven't seen you laugh in a while." "Sometimes you have to laugh a little." "You couldn't find me, could you?" "This one, because it matches." "What are you guys doing?" "Don't knock it off." "Playing dress up." "How is she doing?" "Taking nourishment." "That's encouraging." "We're hoping for the best." "You're a good son to her." "Thanks." "How are things there?" "Oh, good, yeah." "Things are fine here." "Quiet." "How are the kids?" "The girls are asleep, Marty's studying and I'll do some reading." "I won't be long." "Yeah." "Okay?" "Okay." "I love you." "l love you too." "Good night, honey." "What you doing, dog?" "What you doing?" "Come here." "Come on over here, dog." "Come on over here when I call you." "Where you going, you stupid idiot?" "Huh?" "Where you going?" "Come on!" "Come on back here!" "Idiot." "Stupid idiot." "Shiloh." "Where are you, boy?" "Shiloh, come on out." "Here, boy." "Shiloh, come on in, boy." "Shiloh!" "What was that bang?" "That's Shiloh barking." "I've got to find him." "l don't want you going out there." "It's up the road. I can hear him." "Hold on, then." "Let me get a flashlight." "Maybe it was just thunder." "I don't know. I never saw Shiloh scared of thunder." "Marty, be careful." "Come right back." "Shiloh!" "Shiloh!" "What's wrong, Shiloh?" "Are you hurt, boy?" "Oh, no." "Judd, are you all right?" "Oh, my gosh!" "I'll try to fix that." "I'll go get the rescue squad." "Okay, on three." "One, two, three, up!" "Get his vitals." "See you at County." "I know I've said and thought a lot of bad things about Judd Travers but please, help him get well." "Maybe don't let his legs get well enough to ever go hunting again." "No, that's not right." "Help him get well in his head too." "Wake him up to his mean ways." "That's really what I'm asking." "We know that Judd Travers was seriously injured in an accident on Saturday night and since he's our neighbor I thought, instead of talking about things we're not sure of why don't we do something nice?" "I thought we'd make a big card and send it from the whole class." "Miss Talbot?" "Yes, Sam." "Most of us won't be able to come up with something nice to say." "Well...." "The great thing about English is there's enough words to say anything." "You can say something in different ways." "So, what could we say that would be both helpful and honest?" "But the truth is we're not really sorry about his accident." "Marty?" "What about just get well?" "Okay." "What does everyone think about get well?" "That's good." "Okay." "Fine with me." "It's good?" "Okay." "That's what we'll do." "It's a good idea." "Thanks for your input, guys." "Come on, get out of there, boy." "Fine, stay." "Yes." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Good news, honey." "Oh, my-- l don't have rabies!" "Five weeks passed before Judd left the hospital." "While he was gone, I took care of his dogs." "I didn't think anybody else would." "Get out of the way, boy." "Aside from Doc Wallace, nobody even looked in on Judd at the hospital." "Guess everybody else gave up on him a Long time ago." "Come on, I know you're in there." "It's Doc Wallace." "Go on away, Doc." "I said, go on away." "How you feeling?" "I'm alive." "That makes two of us, doesn't it?" "I just want to check your stitches." "They did a good job." "Mrs. Wallace will be by in the morning." "She's gonna be your nurse." "Doc, I don't need nobody playing nursemaid to me." "In the morning." "Mrs. Wallace went to see him, and he wouldn't talk to her." "Put that over there." "He must have a lot of bad luck." "Luck's a funny thing, you know." "Sometimes you get a streak of bad luck you can't do anything about and then sometimes it's all your own fault." "Judd had a little bit of both." "What was it he couldn't do anything about?" "You have to think of the family he was born into." "Did you know them?" "I got to know them through stories my patients would tell." "They were alike, so I figured some of it was true." "They said that his father was very cruel and beat the kids." "The five older ones took off and left Judd alone with his father." "Then they said Travers used to beat Judd to get even with the five that ran way." "What happened to the parents?" "He was about 1 5 when they died, one after another." "He's been there ever since, sitting on his land, alone." "Just him and the dogs." "Did he have any friends?" "Not that I know of." "Not even the dogs." "I mean, you can't beat dogs and expect them to be your friend." "First he's getting the beating, then he's the grownup giving it." "You got to remember one thing:" "Kindness in life is something you have to learn." "Why didn't you teach him?" "That's a good question." "Maybe we should have tried harder." "Dad, can we go visit Judd tomorrow?" "No, no, no, no, no." "I've been knocking on that man's door every time I deliver the mail." "And he doesn't answer." "You figure he'll stop drinking?" "Well they say that only when a man hits bottom does he stop." "He may look in the mirror, see how bad he's hurt and be madder than ever." "We've got to try to help him." "You know, Marty some people never change..." "...and Judd is one of them." "You really believe that?" "I really do." "Dad, please, can't we just try?" "Okay, Marty." "But I'm doing it for you, not Judd Travers." "There's my boy." "You ready, son?" "What you want, Ray Preston?" "We just came by to say hello." "Well, I don't need no hellos." "All right, but do you need any groceries or anything else?" "l don't need nothing." "All right." "You do know, don't you that people are concerned about you?" "Everybody is." "Is that a fact?" "That's a fact." "Well, Marty, I guess that's that." "See." "It's all healed up now." "You can hardly see it." "I've learned a lot about veterinary medicine from having Shiloh." "It's not just about the medicine part." "Animals need to feel that you love them." "And they can tell too." "The same caring helps in the healing, also." "So taking care of animals is what I'd like to do as a grownup." "Working as a vet is what I see myself doing for my whole life." "That's great, Marty." "Good job." "Thanks." "Go get it." "Go get it." "Yeah." "Bring it back here, Shiloh." "Good boy." "Good boy, Shiloh." "Bring it to me." "Go get it." "Yeah, Shiloh." "Mom, you think we could fix up something for Judd every day to go along with his mail?" "You know, something to eat." "I think you should leave the man alone, Marty." "After all he's done, I don't want anything to do with him." "Come on, Mom." "I'm trying to show some kindness." "He's never had anybody try that." "Is this about kindness or making friends so he won't go after Shiloh?" "Both, I guess." "Each one by itself I think is a really good reason." "So, you got anything for him to eat?" "Thanks." "I'll go wrap it up." "Here, Shiloh, you like that." "My dad dropped off food for Judd three days straight." "The mail was gone, but the food was still there." "He wouldn't even let Mrs. Wallace take it in." "It's not just the world he's mad at." "He's mad at himself." "And he thinks if he takes anything from us, he owes us something." "I think he feels so bad about himself he thinks he has no right to the food." "Right." "Maybe, but it's been three days now." "We don't have that kind of food to waste." "What kind of mail does he get?" "Oh, junk mail, bills, like that." "Does he ever get any letters?" "No." "None that I can remember." "Here, give this to Judd, okay?" "I know, I know." "But this is it with the food, Marty." "We've been too nice." "Okay, thanks." "Oh, hush up, hush up." "Evening, Judd." "I brought your medicine refill mail, and some more food from Marty." "Looks like you got a letter." "A letter?" "Don't you want to read it?" "Would you mind reading it?" "I'd be happy to." "Let's see." "Okay." "Dear Judd." "Last month Shiloh was chasing a butterfly." "You should have seen him." "He was running and looking behind him both at the same time and he run into a bush." "Thought that he'd chase that butterfly down to the creek." "I hope you get well." "Marty." "Marty wrote this?" "He sure did." "Now, Judd, you have to stand up so I can check the stitches on your back." "Okay." "That was kind of funny." "What Marty wrote." "Yeah, it was, kind of." "Judd ate the food, and Mrs. Wallace read him the letters I sent him." "We heard from Doc and Mrs. Wallace that he was healing nicely." "At least his body was." "AII that I could think was now that we got Judd all shut up in his house maybe slowly, a little bit at a time gotta teach him some new ways." "And so Shiloh is up to 18 pounds." "That's why he's on a diet." "Dr. Collins said he's got to get more exercise too." "You would have laughed as hard as me watching Shiloh take off after a mole." "Fast as Shiloh could dig that mole was tunneling away from him." "Well?" "Keep going." "Oh, okay." "Then Shiloh and I went to the creek...." "Days passed." "Then a few more weeks went by." "Finally, Judd started to feed his dogs himself." "But aside from when Mrs. Wallace came every other minute he sat in that chair alone." "Chowhounds." "All you do is eat." "Just eat." "Gotta earn your keep around here." "Don't stop you from eating though, does it?" "After all the small talk I made in the other notes I decided to tell Judd what was on my mind." "So I wrote:" ""Dear Judd. "" "Now after everything you've done to Shiloh when you were pinned...." ""When you were pinned in your truck, in the ravine in the dark, dead of night far from any house except ours Shiloh started barking and whining." "Shiloh cried loud and Long enough to get me out onto the road." "Shiloh could've just sneaked on home, and you would've died, probably." "I want to tell you it wasn't me, or even the rescue squad that saved your Life." "It was Shiloh." "That's it. "" "That's it." "Plain and simple." "I wonder why he didn't tell Doc about my letters." "Honey, you can't expect Judd to act friendly." "It's not his nature." "Can we visit Judd tomorrow?" "What makes you think he'll let you in?" "Nothing. I just want to try is all." "I want to stop this fighting." "I'll talk to your dad about it." "Wait a second. I gotta get something." "Going for a little trip, boy." "Okay?" "Marty, are you sure you want to do this?" "No." "But it's only a visit." "It's okay, boy." "He knows where we're going." "Yep." "You're mine for as long as you live." "I promise you that." "Judd, I got a visitor here for you." "I know he's in there." "I can hear him moving around." "Judd." "What you want?" "Well, I got someone here wants to see you." "We just came to visit." "Well..." "Sit down if you want." "Well, go ahead." "Sit down." "Thanks." "So it's nice to see you up and around." "How you feeling?" "I'm doing okay." "Good, good." "That's good." "Want a chip?" "Well, thanks very much." "So he's the one that found me." "Yep." "Yep." "He was making all these weird noises till I came out, found your truck." "I suppose he remembers me." "You want another chip?" "And that's my story." "Now me and my family aren't afraid to walk outside anymore." "AII because we showed a Little kindness to someone who never had that in his Life before." "Stupid dogs." "I think I'm dumber than you, going out there and getting wet." "Some kind of fine mess I'm turning into." "This is fine." "What you doing out here, boy, getting all wet?" "Well, dadgum it, go on, get out of the rain." "Go on, get out of the rain." "I can't believe I'm doing this." "Go on, get in under the porch." "Not in there!" "What are you doing going in there?" "You'll get my place all wet!" "There have been rumors that Judd gave each of his dogs their own name." "Somebody even heard that Judd said Marty Preston was all right by him." "But that's only a rumor." "Kind of like gossip." "You know what I think though?" "Knowing Judd the way I know him I think it's true." "5@y3"