HEE-ERE DUKE!

We were about our morning chores the other day when Duke turned up missing -- Duke, the dog who belongs to someone else, the dog we're caring for and nurturing in the place of his master. We called. We looked in his kennel, in the barn, in the woodshed, in the storage shed and at the pond. Mike took the 4-wheeler and rode the perimeter of the farm and then out to the highway -- twice. I was convinced we would never see Duke again -- that he found us inhospitable and was on his way back to the Valley and Ken, his master. Next Mike took the pick-up and drove the length of Miller Road. While he did that, I took Nellie and walked down our lane and onto Dobson Road -- a customary walking route. I felt that Nellie knew we were looking for Duke. She would put her nostrils into the wind and poke her snout into spots here and there as we walked along as if checking for Duke's presence, past or present. However, she lapsed into hunting mode when she came upon a covey of huns -- and now she's disappeared. Returning to the house without either dog, we alerted Ken (in case someone would find Duke and call Ken) and then Mike took his bicycle for a more extensive search. Just as he reached the bottom of our lane, he met Nellie -- and she was reluctant to return to the house, as though she had something to say and we weren't listening. And then -- here came Duke. What a relief!