“Leo, stop!” Brian yelled from the couch.  “I’m trying to watch this.”  On the TV screen a ‘King of the Hill’ episode was coming to an end.  Brian loved the show and watched it every night at six thirty on channel eight.

Leo’s whining continued, and grew louder with each passing second.  Brian tried turning up the volume, but it didn’t do any good.  The sound from the TV was no match for the constant ear-piercing ring that echoed from the dog.

“It’s not seven o’clock yet,” Brian shouted.  
 
It was no use, and a second later Brian turned off the TV and headed down into the entryway.  Leo stopped his whining and looked up at Brian, a grin spreading across his long snout.

“You’re a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?” Brian said to the Sable and White collie.  “A real pain in the ass.”

Leo didn’t respond.  He knew better than to believe a statement made in anger.  Brian loved him, had loved him for the last three years.  Nothing would ever change that.

Brian pulled out the leash from the closet and attached it to Leo’s collar.  “I know, I know,” he said.  “I’d be humiliated to, but it’s the law.”  Three years earlier Brian wouldn’t have followed the law that required dogs to be leashed, but lately the town’s deputies had been stepping up the patrols and he was bound to cross their path several times during the evening stroll.

“Ready?” Brian asked.

Leo let out a let’s go bark.

“Evening Mr. Tuttle,” Deputy Parker said.  The older deputy had pulled his car alongside Brian while Leo was lifting a leg to pee.  “Out for your nightly exercise.”

“Yep.”  Brian didn’t like talking to the police, even if it was just a small town cop.  It was hard to judge their intentions, and he always worried that they knew more about him than they should.  “A little exercise before bed.  Right Leo.”

Leo didn’t reply.  His distrust for law enforcement ran even deeper than Brian’s.  
 
“Well, just make sure you clean up any, um, well solids.”  The deputy looked ahead while speaking and smiled when he saw a group of kids playing Kick the Can.

“Yes sir.  Got a bag all ready for it.”  He pointed to his pocket where a small plastic grocery bag stuck out.  
 
“Good.  Well, have a nice evening.”  With that the deputy headed on his way.  Once out of earshot Leo let out a mean growl.  Brian agreed with Leo’s distaste.

The neighborhood was full of children playing games; only the games were not as widespread as they would have been a few summer’s earlier, and now parents sat out on the front porches watching.  Their concern, however, didn’t stop them from allowing their little boys and girls to come over and pet Leo as the two passed on the sidewalk.  Leo pretended to enjoy the attention.

Twenty minutes later the two left the neighborhood and entered the weedy scrubland that connected several backyards to the forest that surrounded the town.  From that point on Leo was leash free and ran several yards ahead of Brian, anxious to get to the clearing in the woods.  It didn’t take long.

“Hope no one stole it,” Brian taunted while walking to the thorn bush where the small shovel was hidden.  Leo let out a playful growl.  For three years the thorn bush had kept the shovel hidden, and it would do so for many more.

Leo’s excitement caused him to run around for a while before picking a spot, and then he began to dig.

Brian watched for several seconds and then said, “You want to dig it up, or should I?”  It would take Leo a long time to dig down deep enough, but only seconds with the shovel.

Leo stepped aside and waited, his tail wagging.

Brian walked up to the small hole Leo had begun and stuck the shovel in.  The dirt was loose and didn’t take long to move.  Once that was complete, Brian set the shovel aside and reached into the cold hole.

Leo spun in circles.

Brian pulled out the bone.  Leo waited.  Before tossing it he checked it over, his eyes searching for a clue as to where it had come from.  The fact that it was part of a femur narrowed it down, but not to the point of identification; however, the small hatchet marks on the lower side did.
 
“Ah, I remember this one,” Brian said.  With that he threw the bone across the grassy clearing.  
 
Leo gave chase.

The brown object flipped head over heals for several seconds, loose dirt falling free, before crashing back down to the surface.  Leo was on it instantly and ran it back to Brian.

“Ugh,” Brian said as his hand pressed against a glob of sticky saliva.  “You slobber too much.”  
 
The bone went flying.

Leo sprang after it.

Brian waited.  
 
This time Leo didn’t bring it back.  Instead he sat on the grass and began chewing at an already worn area near the top.  Brian wondered if there was a great deal of satisfaction in what Leo was doing.  The bone, after all, had belonged to his previous owner, an abusive man who had struck the dog one too many times.

His mind replaced the clearing with an image from the past.  In it Brian was driving home from his parent’s home near Chicago when suddenly he heard someone calling for him from the town up ahead.

Without much thought he flicked on the turn signal and glided his car off the interstate and into the town of Fair Oaks.  The house where the voice was calling from didn’t take long to find, and soon Brian was at the front door, the hatchet from his trunk in hand.

Brian savored the bloody memory.  
 
Leo returned with the bone.

“Jeeze,” Brian said while trying to find a dry spot on the slimly femur.  There wasn’t one and he had to settle for a less wet area.  The throw was one of his best and nearly caused the bone to disappear into the trees.  
 
Leo didn’t give chase.

“What?” Brian asked.

Leo didn’t say anything for several seconds.  Once he did Brian took a step back while shaking his head.  Leo knew what this meant and growled.

“I just got you a new one two weeks ago.  What’s wrong with it?”  Most of the bones were difficult to find because they had been buried for a long time.  However, the newest one was still fresh in his memory and he wouldn’t need Leo’s great sniffing skills to uncover it.  
 
Leo let out a second growl.

“But that one is from a little girl,” Brian said.  In fact, the last three had been from little girls.  What was Leo’s fixation with little girl’s lately?  
 
Silence engulfed the two.  
 
Brian wanted to deny Leo’s request but knew what would happen if he did.  In fact, now that he thought about it, he figured Leo had probably chosen to play with the bone of his former owner as a way of reminding him what could happen if Brian displeased him.  This made him wonder if Leo’s former owner really had been abusive or if that was just a lie Leo had told?

“Okay fine, but I can’t do it until this weekend.  The boss is already breathing down my neck to get this project done.”  Getting a new bone for Leo wasn’t an easy task.  Not only did he have to hunt down someone, kill them, and hack of the chosen limb; he also had to set up a giant pot, boil the water, and slowly work away the flesh, muscle, tissue, and ligaments.  
 
Leo seemed to understand and turned to get the bone Brian had tossed.  Once back he dropped in the hole and then watched as it was reburied.

Before leaving the clearing Brian took a look back.  The shadows had grown long since their arrival and most of the clearing was dark.  Even if it weren’t dark Brian wouldn’t have been able to pick out where all the bones were buried.  
 
Leo let out a soft bark.  He wanted to get home so Brian could begin his plan for the next bone.

“How about Sara?” Brian asked later.  Sara was a young girl that lived about two miles from their house.  She loved dogs and would always come out to pet Leo if the two were walking by.

Leo liked this choice.

“Okay.”  Now all he needed was a plan.  Leo would be part of it.  That was the nice thing about having a dog that looked like Lassie.  Kids couldn’t resist coming over to him.

Once back in the neighborhood Brian attached Leo to his leash.  Not long after that the two were walking up the front steps of their home.  Not a single kid had been out playing on the return trip.  This wasn’t unusual anymore.  Once darkness was spotted parents were quick to reel in their young ones.  What else was to be expected in a town where children disappeared frequently?