The Rescue Quilt Read online

  The Rescue Quilt: A Quilting Cozy

  Carol Dean Jones

  Dedicated to Mollye

  Chapter 1

  Sarah chose a table by the window so she could watch for Sophie. A red SUV pulled up in front of the café displaying a sign identifying it as the “Pup Mobile.” Sarah sighed and looked at her watch, wondering what was keeping Sophie. The waitress glanced at the vehicle as she waited for Sarah’s order. “I’ll just have coffee until my friend gets here,” Sarah said as she turned to take another look outside. “Wait,” she said with astonishment. “That’s my friend getting out of that SUV, but why…?”

  Moments later Sophie entered the café and hurried to the table as quickly as her new titanium knee would permit. “Hi Toots,” she announced, using the annoying pet term she learned from her ex-fiancé, Cornelius Higginbottom.

  “Don’t Toots me,” Sarah teased, “and what’s with the sign painted on your new SUV?”

  “Actually that’s a magnetized sheet that I just slap on when I’m working.”

  “Working?” Sarah responded with surprise. She wondered if she’d missed an important chapter in Sophie’s life while she was away at her quilting retreat in Tennessee. “Sit down and tell me what’s going on.”

  Sophie unwrapped the hot pink scarf she had twisted around her neck, pulled off her matching cap and gloves, and removed her coat to reveal her new chartreuse running suit. “Do you like it?” she asked as she slowly spun her short, rotund body around giving Sarah a view from all angles.

  “It’s adorable, Sophie. Now, what do you mean working?”

  Sophie signaled for the waitress and took a few minutes perusing the menu. “How are your bacon burgers?” she asked.

  Before the waitress could respond, Sarah said, “I would guess they’re the same as the ones you’ve had every week for the past ten years. Order and tell me what’s going on.”

  “You’re getting really pushy in your old age,” Sophie grumbled. She ordered the burger and added fried onions and cheddar cheese as she always did.

  After sitting and looking at one another for a moment, Sarah raised both eyebrows and said, “So?”

  “Okay, you’re not going to rest until I tell you the whole story, so here goes. My friend Maria called while you were away and asked me to give her a hand. You know her, right?”

  “Yes, I know her from classes at the community center. And doesn’t she have that granddaughter who was written up in the local paper last month?”

  “That’s right. Kelly is her granddaughter and Maria is a volunteer driver for a local animal rescue organization.”

  “And the Pup Mobile?” Sarah asked.

  “I’m getting there. Be patient.” Sophie took a sip of her coffee and added two more sugar packets. “Okay, a few weeks ago,” she continued, “Kelly asked her grandmother to pick up a little dog from the shelter and drive him out to her farm. Kelly was going to foster him until his forever family got settled in their new home.”

  “And Maria asked you to go with her?” Sarah interjected, attempting to move the story along.

  “Actually, she asked me to drive. Her car was in the shop.”

  “Ah. And you did?”

  “I did. We picked this little fellow up and put his crate in the backseat of my SUV. He was a cute little guy with long hair, a squished up face, and a cute little button nose. His name was Buddy.” Sarah smiled, enjoying this rarely seen side of Sophie. “Anyway,” Sophie continued, “as we were driving, Maria told me about her volunteer job providing transportation for this group called Sheila’s Shuttle.”

  “Who do they transport exactly?” Sarah asked, still not clear how the story fit together.

  “Maria drives dogs mostly, sometimes cats. She takes them to no-kill shelters, to foster homes, and sometimes she takes newly adopted ones to their forever homes. Sometimes she just takes them to meet the next driver along the way to their final destination. She said there’s a whole network of volunteers who provide rescue transportation all over the country.”

  “Hmm,” Sarah responded thoughtfully, “Are you thinking of adopting one of these dogs?”

  “You know better than that. I can’t take care of a dog.”

  “You certainly could if…”

  “Sarah, do you want to hear my story or not?”

  “Sorry Sophie. Please finish your story. ”

  “Okay, here’s what I’m doing…”

  At that moment, Sophie’s cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the display. “It’s Timmy,” she announced excitedly. Timmy was her son who had been working on the Alaska pipeline for the past thirty-five years. “Timmy, I’m so glad you called,” Sarah heard her say. “Have you turned in your retirement papers yet?”

  Sarah stood up and walked to the counter to get a newspaper and to give her friend some privacy. Sophie, older than Sarah by a few years, wasn’t in the best of physical condition, and Sarah wondered what she was planning. She was beginning to realize that it probably had something to do with rescuing animals. She hoped so. Sophie was a warm and caring person who tried to hide behind a rough exterior, but Sarah knew she had a tender heart.

  Sarah met Sophie the day she moved into Cunningham Village, and they had become close friends, with Sophie helping her make the difficult transition into a retirement community. At that time, they lived across the street from each other, but Sarah had since moved into a house in a newer section of the village, which catered to couples. And after twenty years as a widow, Sarah was now officially part of a couple. On a snowy New Year’s Eve, she had married Charles, a retired policeman whom she adored and who adored her.

  “I’m so excited, Timmy,” Sarah heard her friend squeal from her table as she was saying goodbye to her son. Sophie signaled for Sarah to return to the table and announced with excitement, “He turned in his retirement papers, and he’ll be home in a couple of months. I can hardly believe it,” she added looking relieved. “I was beginning to think he’d never leave Alaska.”

  “Did he say anything about his plans once he gets here?” Sarah asked, wondering if he planned to make his home in Middletown.

  “Only that he can’t wait to see Martha,” she responded with a mischievous grin. Martha was Sarah’s forty-five year old daughter. She and Tim had met the previous year when he was visiting his mother and they had instantly hit it off. Sophie and Sarah kidded about becoming mutual mothers-in-law, but neither Tim nor Martha would discuss the possibility.

  “So,” Sarah began. “Do you think you can finally tell me what you and your decorated SUV are up to?”

  * * *

  “So she’s going to be driving rescued dogs?” Charles repeated with a chuckle. “Your outrageous friend is full of surprises.” He shook his head in mock skepticism, but his eyes were twinkling with amusement.

  “Well, here’s what she told me,” Sarah began. “Her friend Maria who has been volunteering as a driver for a local rescue organization asked Sophie to drive her on a couple of her assignments while her car was in the shop.”

  “Do we know this Maria?”

  “Yes. Maria Wilcox. You met her at the pool last month. She was swimming laps next to you during my water aerobics class. She has a very special granddaughter. This young woman, I believe her name is Kelly, has a farm outside of town. A few years ago she took in a goat that had come to the attention of Animal Control. He’d been neglected and abused for years and was practically dead. She nursed him back to health and gave him a loving home.”

  “I read an article about her a few months ago,” Charles responded. “She’s turned her farm into a foster home for abandoned or abused animals of all kinds. She’s got a few horses, a miniature pony, two goats, and lots of dogs
and cats. The reporter was asking for donations for food and medical care. I was thinking about sending them a check.”

  “Yes,” Sarah responded, “I read that article and I think we should. Anyway, back to Sophie’s story. She drove Maria for a week or so until Maria’s car was repaired and she really enjoyed it. So, when Maria told her she wanted to take a couple of months off and visit her sister Caterina in Italy, Sophie volunteered to take the runs for her while she was away. She’s been doing it for a couple of weeks now and she loves it. She even has a fancy sign on the side of her SUV identifying herself as the ‘Pup Mobile.’”

  “No cats?”

  “No, she’s allergic.”

  “Won’t this involve lots of driving? That article said the animals come from all over the country.”

  “She’ll be part of a network. I don’t think they have to drive more than a couple of hours. The volunteers tag-team when the locations are far apart.”

  “I’ve got to admire Sophie for taking this on at her age,” Charles responded thoughtfully.

  “Timothy called today and he’s turned in his retirement papers and will be back here in a few months. I’m sure he’ll help his mom if she needs him.”

  Charles laughed. “If she can get him away from your daughter. Martha told me that she and Tim have been on the phone almost every night since she visited him in Alaska. I think we’ll be hearing wedding bells before long.”

  “We’ll see,” Sarah responded with a trace of hesitation in her voice. Charles looked at her inquisitively, but didn’t ask if she had reservations.

  “Anyway,” Sarah continued, ignoring his questioning look, “Sophie wants me to ride along with her tomorrow. She’s taking two young dogs to the Greyhound rescue in Hamilton. We’ll be gone for several hours. I want to stop at the mall and, if I know Sophie, she’ll want to work in lunch somewhere along the way.”

  “That works for me,” Charles responded. “I’m going to be working tomorrow. I’d like to talk to a few of the neighbors around that crime scene over on the east side. Sometimes fresh eyes can spot an inconsistency. It doesn’t seem logical that no one saw or heard anything considering …” Charles stopped in the middle of the sentence. He rarely discussed the details of the cases he worked on, and this one involved senior citizens and was particularly grizzly. There’s lots of depravity out there, and my lovely wife doesn’t need those pictures in her head, he told himself.

  Charles, retired from Middletown Police Department, had been helping his old lieutenant from time to time. Primarily, he just knocked on doors and looked for possible leads which he’d then pass on. He missed police work and enjoyed the feeling of being included, even at this minimal level.

  “There’s something else I wanted to ask you,” Charles began somewhat awkwardly.

  “What is it?” Sarah responded, sitting down at the kitchen table with him.

  “Well, I was trying to surprise you with an anniversary party at the community center.”

  “Oh Charles, what a sweet thing to do…”

  “…but I’m having trouble pulling all the pieces together,” he continued. “I’m not much good at this kind of thing, so…”

  “So, you’d like me to help with the planning?”

  “Actually, I’d like for you to take over. I’ve made a real mess of it,” he admitted hanging his head in exaggerated embarrassment. “Please?”

  Sarah laughed. “Well, if it’s not too late to change what plans you’ve already made, I’d really like to have it right here at home.”

  “Great!” Charles responded, looking relieved. “You’ve solved one of the problems already. The center was already booked for New Year’s Eve and I had a caterer all set up with no place to cater.”

  Sarah laughed as she stood to wrap her arms around her very thoughtful husband. “Well now she does. Bring me your invitation list and I’ll take a look at it.”

  “Invitation list?”

  “No list?”

  “No, but I’ve mentioned it to a few people,” he responded looking embarrassed.

  “Okay, let’s sit down and make a list of everything that needs to be done, and you’ll tell me which of those things are already arranged. Let’s start with who you might have invited.” Charles came up with about ten people he remembered mentioning it to and together they listed another ten they would like to invite. “Twenty people will fit in the house comfortably if we borrow a few folding chairs from Ruth at the quilt shop.”

  “She has extra chairs?”

  “Yes, for her classes, but now that I think about it, we should invite her too and perhaps …” What have I gotten myself into? Sarah asked herself as she set the list aside and poured a cup of coffee. And I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping…

  Chapter 2

  The next morning, Sophie woke up early and called Sarah. “Let’s leave now and we can stop for breakfast after we drop the dogs off,” she suggested.

  “Sorry, Sophie. I just got up and can’t be ready for at least a half hour,” she yawning as she started the coffee.

  “How about I go pick up the dogs and swing back here to pick you up. Will that give you enough time?”

  “Sounds good,” Sarah responded, knowing that Sophie would spend extra time at the kennel talking with the staff. As she was hanging up, Charles came into the kitchen and kissed her on the cheek.

  “What sounds good?” Charles asked.

  Sarah caught him up on Sophie’s plans for the morning. “You’re on your own for breakfast,” she added as she poured him a cup of coffee. “I’ll take my coffee with me,” she added, pulling a travel mug out of the cabinet.

  Sarah took a quick shower and had just finished dressing when she heard Sophie pull into the driveway. “Tell Sophie I’m on my way,” she called to Charles.

  As Sarah approached the Pup Mobile a few minutes later, Sophie was just stepping out and heading toward the back of the vehicle. “Come back here and look at these adorable puppies,” Sophie said as she lifted the hatch. “Meet Tilly and Tom. Aren’t they just too cute?”

  Tilly was a pretty little white Greyhound puppy with patches of black scattered here and there. Her large ears stood straight up when Sarah spoke to her, but Tom moved to the back of the crate and peeked at her over his sister’s back. “Jackie said they’re very timid, especially with strangers.”

  “Is that a cast on his leg?” Sarah asked with a frown.

  “Yes, the vet discovered a fracture when he was examining him,” Sophie responded as the two women got into the car and snapped their seatbelts. “No one knows how he got it. They belonged to this couple who was killed in an automobile accident on the Interstate a few weeks ago. A real tragedy. Her son took the puppies into the Humane Society.”

  “I guess no one in the family could take them…”

  “He flew in from New York. That’s all I know, but they’ll be fine. They’re on their way to Hamilton Greyhound Rescue. Jackie said they’ll be easy to place. They have a waiting list for puppies. It’s the older dogs that sometimes take longer.”

  The trip was uneventful, which gave Sophie and Sarah time to visit.

  When they arrived at their destination, Sarah was surprised to find they were at a private home in the suburbs. “I thought we were going to take them to a shelter.”

  “No, this is a family that volunteers to foster greyhounds until their forever homes are found.” A woman in jeans and a tee-shirt came hurrying out to the car as she pulled on a down jacket. Her red curls sparkled in the sunshine and a broad smile stretched across her face.

  “Let me see those baby dolls,” she cried as she approached the rear of the car. Once the hatch was opened, she ooh’d and aah’d as she opened the crate and removed little Tilly. “Jackie told me they’re very timid, but look at this one! She’s already licking my face.”

  “You might find her brother to be the timid one. He has an injured leg and he seems very shy,” Sarah offered, but when the woman rested her hand in
side the crate, Tom timidly approached and allowed her to pet him.

  “I’m Fran, by the way,” the woman said by way of introduction. Sarah and Sophie introduced themselves and helped her return Tilly to the crate.

  “Can you manage that alone?” Sarah asked as Fran lifted the crate of pups.

  “Oh I’m a tough one,” she responded. “I’ve got five more of these characters inside, but these are the only puppies. I’ll have to be careful not to get too attached. They’ll be gone within a week. We have a waiting list for the little ones.” Sarah walked Fran to her door and held it open for her. She spotted two larger dogs gated in what appeared to be the dining room. They were tall and thin with pointed ears and curious eyes.

  “You must love your work,” she commented as she was closing the screen door behind Fran.

  “You bet I do. They come in here sad and frightened, but it doesn’t take long to get them smiling. It just takes love.” From the twinkle in Fran’s eyes, Sarah knew this woman had lots of love to give.

  On the drive home, Sarah asked Sophie about funding for the foster homes. “Who pays for all this?” she asked.

  “It’s primarily volunteer. These rescue organizations have shelters but they get overcrowded and foster homes can take the dogs when the organization doesn’t have room or when the dogs need to be in a home environment.”

  “Don’t all dogs need that?”

  “Sure, but it’s not always possible. Jackie at the Humane Society told me that sometimes it’s critical, like newborn pups who need more care than the staff can manage. Sometimes,” Sophie continued, “the animals need special care after some kind of medical procedure. Or sometimes the animal might have behavior problems that a specially trained foster person could help with in order to get the animal ready for adoption. But most of the time, it’s simply due to overcrowding. They go to the foster homes while the agency looks for permanent homes.” Sophie went on to talk about the no-kill shelters and quoted some facts about needs and the lack of resources.

  “How did you learn all this?” Sarah asked surprised at all the details Sophie had in her head.