Smell of Death

Smell of Death

TW: True account of multiple deaths.

Plans change. I heard my best buddy, Lefty, say so as he went down on one knee (he didn't even fall!), and said something like that to pretty Miss Claire, our new friend. And, boy, have they been changing around here lately!

It started one evening as I was getting the cattle herded back to the pen when Good Ol' Simon, our neighbor next door whom we watch over and help out sometimes suffered some kind of set back. He was hurtin' bad so Lefty drove him away in our truck and left me in charge. He didn't come back 'til the next day but I knew the routine and took care of everything myself.

When he did return, instead of Simon, Lefty had this pretty little gal with him that smelled of lavender scented smoke. She had wild curly hair but spoke softly and was generous with pats on my head, skritches behind my ears and later hugs. Unfortunately, she carried a ball of fluff with her that could be extremely dangerous. Still I treated them both with kindness and welcomed them to stay.

Strange. They stayed in our house and Lefty went to the tiny house Simon had built for himself. I naturally stayed put in my own house. But I liked to hang out in the room Claire slept in instead of Lefty's room.

Wasn't long before Simon came to stay in Lefty's room. He wasn't himself for a while and Claire watched after him. I watched after Claire and kept a careful eye on that ball of fluff.

Simon became himself again and that's when Lefty announced 'plans change'. We all made a hasty trip over to the small chapel in the dell, surrounded the place with flowers, got the Reverend to say a few words while standing in front of us and presto, change-o when we went home Simon went to his tiny house and Lefty carried Claire into his room. I was left out in the hallway with the ball of fluff. We weren't sure if they were ever coming out again!

But when they did, they were both so happy we all started behaving like a big sappy, happy family. Of course, there were still all the ranch chores to do but we worked together and had fun.

Along came another change that's hard to describe. Suddenly, all the people around me seemed tense and sad. A lot of rain fell in a short amount of time. Their mood seemed to be related to that. Sure, our normal work load was more difficult in mud still the cattle were dirty but fine. We endured. But my people couldn't cheer up. No matter how much I tried to make them laugh.

Then, Lefty started packing our truck with camping gear. Oh, great idea! We always have a frolicking time hiking in the woods! I find all kinds of exciting smells to explore. I couldn't wait to jump into the front seat and get going. Come on! Come on! What's taking you so long?

Finally, Lefty climbs in. What? No Claire? No ball of fluff? Not even any Simon? From what I can understand he is leaving them behind to carry on the ranching. It's only him and me and we'll have a different kind of work to do. Bummer! Thought we were going on a camping vacation for fun and games. What does he have in mind?

“Well, Mr. Right. It's just you and me. Hope we are up to the challenge. A lot of people are suffering. It's hard to sit by and do nothing. We have to go and see if we can help. You are such a smart, hard working dog. I'm sure you can help find some of these people that got swept away in the flash flood that struck some of our neighbors in Kerrville and the surrounding area. It will be less than a two-hour drive from us here in the Hill Country of Texas. We'll camp out at night and stay for as long as they need us. Agreed? It won't be easy. It will change from search and rescue to recovery in a few days, I'm afraid. We'll have to be brave. Imagine what these families are going through. A lot of children were sleeping at their campgrounds when the water from the river rose at frightening speed and swept them away. Some people lost their homes; some lost their vehicles; some lost their lives. We need to keep them in our prayers.”

Huh? This sounds serious. I don't understand everything you're talking about, Good Buddy, but I'll follow your lead and do everything you want me to do. My ears pricked up as he was speaking and I tilted my head one way then the other to be sure I caught everything. Still he wasn't making much sense to me. He looked so sad I finally laid my muzzle on my paws and whimpered to show him sympathy.

We arrived at a place full of emergency type vehicles flashing lights, men in uniforms shouting instructions with megaphones and lots of folks gathered around some even leading other dogs. I wanted to go meet some of them but Lefty kept me tight on the leash. Somehow I realized we were here for a mission. This place was headquarters. Volunteers made food and water available. We were to check in here when we finished the day's assignment before we bedded down for the night.

The work was unlike anything I ever did. The grass and bushes were flattened and small trees stripped of their foliage. Huge piles of trash and debris were dumped along the banks of the river or against bridges. Broken boards littered the land. We were searching for something but exactly what? Seemed like a game. Hide and seek.

Other dogs were sniffing around so that's what I did, too. So many confusing smells. We looked under piles of broken boards. Inside crushed cars. In branches of downed trees.

I knew the smell of death. Had experienced it with the cattle. I found a dead squirrel. “Good Dog.” Said Lefty but he wasn't excited. We kept looking.

A German Shepherd came across a woman trapped in a car. All the searchers flocked around both her and the dog. Treated him somewhat like a hero. Oh, so that's the idea! People. Look for people. But we are surrounded by people. What kind of people?

Then I saw one floating in the water and barked to let them all know. Yes, yes! That's what they wanted. But they were all so sad. It had the smell of death on it.

This game just got very depressing but we kept at it for days. Never did find more like the lady in the car. But found more with the smell of death. Even so Lefty hugged me and said what a hero I had been through it all. I was so pleased to head back to our own safe home away from this smell of death.

After all searching was called off over 130 people were found who had died in this flood over the forth of July weekend. Almost thirty were little girls and counselors at a summer camp. One twelve-year-old survivor of that Christian camp, Skyler Derrington, rewrote the words to 'Hallelujah' and sings it on YouTube.