Angie's Dog Always....

I gt this story from my sister's blog.. and omg... nw i realize why i love dogs so much~!!!! It's from 'chicken soup for the cat & dog lover's soul' Here it is... read it and u'll weep...

The mountain folk didn't know what to make of Dr. Gaine Cannon at first. All they heard was that the stranger had left a good practise in another state because he wanted to come up to an isolated community here in North Carolina mountains & build a hospital. They used to travel 25 miles over 1-lane dirt roads because even if they could get there in time, the cost was out of the question for families living on 3/4 thousand dollars a year, like most did way back in the coves & hollows.

Cannon knew all that when he moved up to Balsam Groove, but he was of mountain stock himself & cared about these people. He didn't worry about his patients not having money to pay. He asked them to bring river stones for the walls of the hospital, or whatever they had, a home cured ham from thier smoke house or some fresh vegetables. Now, the snow was falling faster. An old man walked beside the road raised one gnarled, arthritic hand to hail him & Cannon slowed the jeep.

'Evenin' doc. Did you know Annie Neal's little Angie is bad sick?'
'No i didn't, Rufus.'
'Think you could get over there & see Angie doc?'


Doc Cannon turned his jeep around & headed back up the mountains. When he reached Jackson County it was snowing harder & he couldn't see the distance.He thought of Angie, hoping he wasn't too late. HE felt his isolation in this white world of snowy, swirling flakes. Where was the grove of wind-twisted trees on the left just beofre the Hughes turnoff? Had he missed it?

A faint sound cam from behind the jeep. Through his open window came the barking of a dog, sharp, insistent. Then he saw him. He would have known the dog anywhere. It was Angie's dog, standing beside the road. The animal kept barking, coming towards him a few paces, then striking out a trail among the trees. Gaine cut the wheel recklessly towards the slope of the mountain & followed. He drove on, the dog always keeping 20 feet ahead. Then, he saw the ark shape of the little house. The dog had led him right to it.

He knocked & Angie's mother opened the door. Dr. cannon knelt down beside a golden haired child who lay on a pallet of quilts. Eyes bright & face flushed, her little body almost burned his hand - pneumonia. He gave her a shot & she stirred & then was up on one elbow trying to rise.

'Did you see him doc?'
'See who, honey?'
'My Prince.'
'She meant her dog, Prince,' explained her mother. 'It's just the fever talking doc.'
'But momma, I saw him waving his tail as he trotted along the road up to the house here, & he came in the room & over to my bed. He licked my face. He did, Momma.;
Dr. Cannon smiled. 'He's a fine dog.'

Her mother put a finger up to her lips & gave Dr. Cannon a look of warning that puzzled him. At the door of the cabin, Cannon handed Angie's mother a packet of pills for the sick little girl.

'Is she going to be alright doctor?'
'Yes, I think she's going to be ok. By the way, as far as I'm concerned, that dog ought to be given a medal. I had already missed the road that led up to your house when i heard him barking. He led me all the way up to your cabin. I would have missed it for sure without him.'

The woman stared. ' Doc, Prince was killed by a car almost a month ago! Down on the highway. The chil took on so, Angie's Pa carved a wooden plank in teh shape of a grave stone for Prince, & carved some words she wrote herself. Angie loved that dog.'

She looked at the sky.
'Snow stopped. Maybe you can see the marker. The grave is at the end of the woods where you turn in to our place.' She paused. 'Doc, you don't think it really could have been Prince? But he was the only dog I ever saw all the way up here, & there's not another house for 5 miles.'

Though Cannon was eager to get off the mountain before dark, he saw the marker & could not help braking. The makeshift memorial to the dog stood beneath a big tree. Leaving the motor running, the doctor got out & plodded through the snow. He untied the bandanna scarf from his neck to flick the white flakes from the face of the board. The words he read were crudely carved:

PRINCE

Angie's dog always.

By, Nancy Roberts

Now isnt that the most awesome thing you ever read?? arent dogs jz sooo loyal?? they come back from the dead jz to protect u if they reli love you.... dogs... i love them.. don't you??