DECEMBER 2016 PARKER COUNTY TODAY tember she got a call from a rancher near Cross Plains . He had Taffy . She ’ d wandered onto his ranch wearing the same collar and tag she wore when she left Patricia ’ s home in July . The rancher had called the number on the tag and someone in the vet ’ s office gave him Patricia ’ s phone number . Patricia called Taffy ’ s new owner several times before the woman called her back . She ’ d gone out of town for a few days and apparently , Taffy got bored , got out and wandered off . She called and promised she ’ d retrieve Taffy immediately . The last time Patricia spoke with the rancher , he ’ d connected with Taffy ’ s new owner and she was coming to get Taffy .
Patricia has since moved out of the assisted living center , “ It was just too confining .”
She ’ s now sharing a home with her daughter , visiting her husband every day and working full-time from home with her daughter in the business she and her husband started together a couple of decades ago . Life was going relatively smooth , for someone married to a dementia patient . Then came the Facebook post and avalanche of vicious phone calls . Patricia immediately called Taffy ’ s new owner but she never answered . Her granddaughter contacted Taffy ’ s new owner ’ s granddaughter . She said she was busy on a business trip and had no idea . Repeated inquiries through Facebook , resulted in a picture posted of the dog ’ s tags and picture of the dog , along with the addition of Patricia ’ s correct name . Patricia knew the dog was definitely Taffy .
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After returning , Taffy ’ s first visit after the groomer was with Willie
The most stressful part for her was thinking of Taffy on a deer lease out somewhere in Brown County , drenched with rain , starving , frightened and surrounded by ravenous coyotes . Patricia ’ s daughter sent in a complaint to Craigslist and to Facebook . The posts were taken down but any hope of getting more information from him was also gone . “ I didn ’ t even know where Cross Plains was until I Googled it ,” she said . Repeated efforts to reach out to the Great White Hunter got no response . Patricia and I became friends as I tried to help find her dog . We called each other several times a day . Through cell phone records , she managed to dig up a phone number for the rancher that had contacted her in September about Taffy and called him . No answer . She left a message .
Days passed and Patricia was frantic about her dog . The only comfort was knowledge of how well Taffy dealt with coyotes while on their farm . “ But , she ’ s older now , so maybe not .” Patricia called me on Friday , afternoon . The Taffy drama had been going on since Monday . Patricia still sounded stressed but more hopeful . She ’ d heard back from the rancher . He had Taffy and she ’ d been with him since the end of August . The woman who had given Taffy her “ furrever home ’ had never retrieved her after they spoke in September . He told Patricia that she was welcome to come and get Taffy . He and his wife had been taking care of her the whole time . He gave directions to his ranch . Patricia was going to get Taffy as soon as she could get someone to go with her .
I pictured a human trafficking ring using lost dogs to lure unsuspecting women into either prostitution or sewing slavery . I ’ m pretty sure they ’ d bring me back on either count , but I called people . I told several friends that I was thinking about driving a lady I ’ d never met , to a place I ’ d never been to and retrieve an elderly dog I ’ d never seen from people no one knew anything about . Everyone said , “ Don ’ t go . It ’ s dangerous .” I called Patricia and told her I ’ d drive her . I bravely canceled my appointment with my hairdresser . Patricia met me at the PCT office .
We loaded blankets , garbage bags , dogfood , treats ; water and a . 38 caliber pistol into my car , and then began our journey to Cross Plains . I like adventure . We stopped along the way at a giant “ travel station ,” two counties away , where a large bus loaded with a lot of liquoredup young people were disembarking , I overheard them talking about how they were going to “ tear up Cowtown .” Sounded intriguing so I asked one of them , an oriental girl with dreadlocks for details , but she sneered at me . Patricia called my name and led me to an open cash register . She said , “ You ’ ll talk to anybody , won ’ t you ?” We got our drinks and got back on the road , fast . When we finally found the ranch , the rancher and his wife were kind enough to meet us at their gate , since it had been raining and their driveway was
“ pretty rough .”
They ’ d brought Taffy up on a 4-wheeler . They introduced themselves and apologized for Taffy ’ s lack of grooming . It had rained the day before and Taffy was a little disheveled but looked healthy and happy to see Patricia . She also seemed to be fond of the couple that had been taking care of her for the past couple of months . Patricia offered to pay them for their trouble . “ She wasn ’ t any trouble ,” he said , making it clear that he wouldn ’ t take reimbursement of any kind and that they were both fond of the dog . Taffy wagged . The woman gave the big white dog one last hug before Patricia put her in the car . It occurred to me that Taffy was the chubbiest starving dog I ’ ve ever seen . I said as much . The man said , “ She came here at the end of August and we ’ ve been taking care of her ever since .” I asked about the woman who ’ d said she was coming to get Taffy , no time and date were specified . Time got away . He said , “ I don ’ t know . She never showed up . We just kept feeding and taking care of her .” Why she never came to get Taffy remains a mystery . Maybe sometime months from now , she ’ ll show up to pick up Taffy and Taffy won ’ t be there . Things tend to move more slowly out here , I suspect . I watched the lady as Taffy got in the back seat of my car . She had tears in her eyes . I looked at Taffy . It may be my imagination but she seemed to look longingly at the pair , then she looked at Patricia and wagged .
Once we were on the road , Taffy panted for a couple of minutes , until we turned onto the highway and a smoother path .
Patricia said , “ We ’ re going home , Taffy .”
The big white dog wagged , then curled up in her traveling bed and soon began to snore .
Some mysteries remain unsolved . Why did the hunter post such a nasty comment ? Why did he behave as though no one was taking care of the dog ? What happened to Taffy ’ s second owner ? Why did Hillary Clinton wear those awful pantsuits ? Why would a Chinese girl wear dreadlocks ?
We may never know the answer to any of these questions but all I know is that Patricia was overjoyed to have her Great Pyrenees back and the three of us made it back from Cross Plains in one piece .
“ First thing in the morning I ’ m taking her to the groomer and then I ’ m taking her to see Willie ,” she said . “ Something tells me I ’ m going to be doing a lot more walking from now on .”
I hope all your adventures lead to a happy , safe destination and I wish you the very best for 2017 . I also hope you don ’ t starve or get eaten by coyotes .
Marsha Brown Editor-in-Chief and Publisher , Parker County Today Magazine