As her hunger drove her around the lake towards the resort, Moonbeam felt a heavy sadness deep within her. She didn't understand death; she knew it's scent and those with it never returned but the actuality of the event was something she could never comprehend.

Rounding one last bend and coming out of a strand of trees, she could see the buildings of the resort ahead of her. She could sense human presence but could detect no movement or activity.

The whole resort area was strangely quiet. As she walked from building to building looking for food,she would at times encounter the home scent she had discovered on the boat. Some places it was very faint and some places a lot stronger but in all places it was old. Her people were not here.

Around in back of a long low building she found an overturned trash can with some delightful scraps of something and ate her fill. She lay down to rest a little and as she was falling into a light sleep she detected ground vibrations and opening her eyes saw a human off in the distance coming her way. There was still a full meal plus of scraps near her so she prepared to defend her find.

The man stopped a few feet away from her and squatted down. "Well lookie here," he said, "what kind of dog are you and where do you come from?" There was kindness in his voice and he went on to tell her that the resort was closed for the season and he was just there locking everything up and would be leaving in a few minutes so she better wander on back to wherever her home was.

She understood somewhat from the tone in his voice and his body language that here was not the place to stay. She watched as the man drove off down the road and the understanding of being alone washed over her again. She knew she must move on, the nights were getting colder and her meager food supply would soon be exhausted. She would stay the night and rest up, then leave with the morning sun.

Moonbeam followed the road south out of the mountains for two full days. She managed to catch a small rodent on the morning of the second day but it barely took the edge off of her hunger. Luckily at first, there seemed to be an abundance of small ponds on her route and she could at least quench her thirst although the water was a little strange tasting. By the late afternoon of the second day though, even these little roadside puddles of standing water had disappeared.

Night was beginning to fall again and experience had taught her to get off of the road at night. She nestled up in a group of low bushes some distance off the road and settled down (after making her customary three complete turns) to sleep.

Her dreams were of yummy, tasty treats and big piles of meat. The dreams were so real she could even smell the aroma of cooking meat. As she slowly woke up, she discovered the aroma was real, coming from deeper in the woods. Slowly she worked her way towards the enchanting smell of food, it was still very dark, staying very alert and cautious. Silently she approached a small clearing where two people sat on an old log. One was stirring something in a pot over a fire. The pot was where the aroma was coming from.

Moonbeam waited impatiently until long after the people had gone to sleep before she inched her way forward towards the pot which was now just sitting on the ground near the embers of the fire. Peering inside she saw the remnants of something in the bottom and slowly she stuck her head all the way in and grabbed. She raced back to the shelter of the trees and devoured her prize. She was so engrossed in her food that she did not even notice the movement in the clearing by one of the people.

Finishing her stolen fare, she eyed the clearing once more. All seemed as before so she slowly crept back for an additional helping. Getting to the edge of the firepit where the coals glowed warm and red she discovered the pot was gone and in it's place was a plate full of scraps.

Taking control of her initial fear, she stood there and finished the scraps and as she did, she noticed that one of the people was looking at her. She started to run, but she could sense no danger, so she just lay down by the coals and stared back. She didn't sleep much the rest of that short night, she would nod off for a second or two but almost instantly come wide awake and those eyes would still be staring in her direction.

Sometime during the night the other set of eyes opened and now she was being watched by both of them. She could have retreated to the sanctuary of the forest, but the fire embers were so nice and warm, and no one had made any threatening moves towards her, so she felt relatively safe. With the dawn, both people moved to get up and this sent her racing back to the tree line where she stopped to look back to see if there was any danger. There appeared to be none.

Now with the full daylight she could see there was a road on the far side of the clearing and on the road was parked a car. The people paid her no attention but she knew that they knew she was there. They went about building up the fire and cooking something. Moonbeam recognized the smell of coffee from her collection of home scents. Her people always had coffee in the mornings. This must be okay then.

She slowly walked out of the trees and sat down in the clearing a ways away from the fire. One of the people got up slowly and put two plates out in the open so that she could get to them and still keep a wary eye out for any trouble or aggression. One was food and the other was water. The food was good but the water was great, she had been very thirsty.
 

Thanksgiving at the Settle household was always a gala event. Besides a warm, friendly, family gathering, there was always the suspense and excitement of Regina and Linda's cousin Tinker showing up. Each year it would be anybody's guess as to what he would show up in, always with dozens of presents for everyone, but always in some outlandish vehicle, or costume or both.

Like the year the snows came early and he drove up in a horse drawn sled wearing a Santa Claus outfit, beard and all, or the year it was unseasonably warm and he showed up in an ox drawn Conestoga Wagon wearing a Scottish Kilt. One year he arrived driving a little circus go cart wearing a clown suit and pulling a small trailer with the presents stacked to almost overflowing. And last year it was riding a big Harley Davidson Hog, dressed in a deep sea divers suit complete with helmet and the presents packed into a side car attachment.

No one knew exactly what he did for a living and he never volunteered any information. Some one did ask once while they were having dinner and he just looked at them like they had lobsters crawling out of their ears, got up, left and wasn't seen again until the following Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in fact was the only time of year he had any contact with them and he always showed up mid morning accompanied by Sheriff Johnson either escorting him into town or chasing him into it.

He never ate the turkey with all the trimmings that was served, his meal consisted of food to accentuate his outfit of the year, which he always brought with him. Like the time he came wearing a complete football uniform with the helmet on backwards, he had hot dogs and beer.

The cousins had grown up together in the Maryland countryside. Their fathers had been brothers. Linda and Tinker were the same age and Regina was four years younger. After High School Graduation in 1963, Tinker had joined the Army planning on making it a career. When he returned from South East Asia in 1970, he left the military and just disappeared for 20 years.

Ten years ago he had shown up on Thanksgiving day in a Great White Hunter outfit riding an elephant and each year from then on, he was expected at Thanksgiving. After dinner he would usually regale the kids with tales of adventures all over the world for a couple of hours, then abruptly get up, say goodbye and leave.

It had been about a year now that Moonbeam had been missing. Bob and Regina had gotten very involved in Min Pin Rescue since that time and currently had two fosters (Brandy and Alex) who would be going to their forever homes within a few days. They were in the back yard running with Lind's Min Pin Sunbeam (with a very large and secure lock on the back gate) and the family was just sitting down to relax when they heard the siren.

The neighbors were all out on their porches (like I said, it was a very small town), and true to form, here came Tinker. He was driving a brand new 1998 yellow Mustang Convertible, top down and wearing a gorilla suit. It was time to set the table.

Bob always offered a special prayer during the year at mealtimes for their little lost Moonbeam. Being Thanksgiving, he prayed for all of them that God would place the Angels around her wherever she was and bring her home safely some day. He ended his prayer this year also asking God to protect Tinker from himself if that was at all possible, even though it was very hard to remain solemn with his wife's fifty-three year old cousin sitting at the table in a gorilla suit with three bananas on his plate.