Goddess Fish Promotions Presents

The Dog Men
by Patricia Crandall

A randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon/BN GC – Enter Below

Ten-year-old Wyatt and eleven-year-old Hannah uncover the dark world of illegal dog fights when they trespass at a Vermont farm and peep through a barn window. And when crotchety old Lester Cranshaw’s dog, Paddy, turns up missing, there is no holding him back from investigating the situation and the kids join in. In the dead of the night, after the trio are captured and held hostage at the Inglis farm, Wyatt will need all of his wits and courage to escape in order to save the lives of his friends. THE DOG MEN draws the reader into a tempest of animal abuse, lawlessness, and kidnapping within the confines of small-town happenings. A chilling plot and a peerless relationship between kids, adults and pets.

Hannah and Wyatt skipped through tickling high grass as they entered the pine-treed woodland and emerged at the far side onto the banks of Crusader Creek. Wyatt shivered at the sudden drop in temperature and hurled two large stones into the water. Hannah pulled on her sweatshirt and wobbled across a fallen log to the opposite bank. She picked a bouquet of forget-me-nots growing along the edges, and wrapped a damp napkin around the flowers. “Mom can put them in that old blue vase she likes.”

Wyatt raced along the edge of the creek, his eyes darting all over. “Darn. I’ll never catch frogs. The stream’s movin’ too fast.” He licked his lips. “It’s way too high. Well…maybe it isn’t.” He lay down on his belly and braced his feet against a tree stump.

A short while later, frog-less and disappointed, Wyatt pointed at the red tip of a silo visible through sparse tree branches. “Hey, what’s that over there?”

“The Inglis farm. C’mon, you promised to play ‘Scat’ for pennies before we head home. It’s almost three.” Hannah sat cross-legged on a bed of dry leaves. She removed a deck of cards from her backpack and shuffled them.

“Any kids to play with over there?” Wyatt asked. 

Hannah flung back her ponytail. “Once in a while, Stevie Inglis visits his Uncle Will. He’s a special child. I help him with Sunday school lessons. But that’s a weird place. Ever since old Farmer Clumly died, a lot of owners have come and gone. My Dad told me to stay away from there. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he’s got an inkling the Inglis’ are up to no good.”

Wyatt bit his lower lip, “Let’s go look anyhow. We’ll be careful and won’t get caught.”

“But only from the top of the hill.” Hannah returned the cards to her backpack.

“Cool!” Wyatt skipped ahead of her. They came into the bright sunlight and gazed down at a farmhouse, a silo, several barns and outbuildings. Chickens scratched for feed in the gravel driveway and a chained Mastiff paced near the front porch.

“Stay low after we pass that big tree.” Hannah pointed to a misshapen beech looming before them. “It’s all open land and we don’t want to get caught snooping.”

They tramped hunchback fashion across the rocky path. Mid-way, Hannah and Wyatt dropped down on their hands and knees and crawled to a cluster of evergreen shrubs at the edge of the hill.

Patricia Crandall is the author of nine books, and a 2023 winner of the Besties of the Capital Region Awards, Author Category. Her latest book, “Lacey O’Dunn, The Rookie,” is a crime/thriller involving drugs and car bashing senior citizens on icy winter roads. She has also published numerous articles and short stories in various magazines and newspapers. Her book, “The Dog Men,” third edition was also just released. Patricia is a member of Sisters in Crime (Mavens) and National Association of Independent Editors and Writers. She lives with her husband, Art, and a rescue cat, Bette, at Babcock Lake in Grafton Mountains near Petersburgh, New York. She has two children and three grandchildren who live nearby.

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