Bola's Tale: The Story of a Pack of Abandoned Farm Dogs

By Elizabeth Westphal

A pack of abandoned dogs live together on a farm. In an unfriendly environment with no humans to look after them, these dogs have learned to survive on their own. Food is scarce, and the dogs constantly face starvation. With four dogs in the pack, there is barely enough food to keep the pack alive.
Then another dog is abandoned, a dog which will change their lives forever. Everyone seems to love her, even the humans, who start feeding all the dogs in the pack. The pack continues to grow, but then the humans mysteriously stop feeding the dogs. The pack of eight dogs must now fight harder than ever to survive in the land where they were first abandoned and then forgotten.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Westphal
• Release date: Jun 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310663673

Elizabeth Westphal

Elizabeth Westphal lives in Minnesota. She wrote her first book at the age of 14, as a NaNoWriMo novel. This book was the first in her series of two books, the Dragon Land: Two Dragon Brothers series. Afterwards, she wrote Bola's Tale, and she is currently working on another novel, unrelated to any of her other books. For updates on upcoming books, visit her website: http://elizabethwestphal.blogspot.com

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Bola's Tale:

The Story of a Pack of Abandoned Farm Dogs

Elizabeth Westphal

Published by Elizabeth Westphal at Smashwords

Copyright © 2016 Elizabeth Westphal

All rights reserved.

Cover Image Copyright © 2016 Tony Westphal

All rights reserved.

Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Bola is based on a real farm dog of the same name. All other characters, and all events in this book, save one, are purely fictional.

To all the homeless dogs

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank my brother Tony for the photograph of Bola on the cover of this book.

Thanks also to my parents and brothers for helping me to proofread my books.

And, finally, I wish to thank Bola, for being such a wonderful dog.

CHAPTER 1

I remember the day she arrived. It was cold, and had been raining all day. I had been spending most of the day sheltering under a building, trying to wait out the rain. When evening came and the rain still showed no signs of letting up, I got up to scrounge around for some food.

I had been trotting along near the dirt roadway when I heard an unfamiliar whimper. Curious, I stepped out from the tall grass to see who had made the sound.

Sitting by the road was a young black dog, barely more than a pup. She had medium-length, slightly curly fur and spaniel-like ears. She was smaller than me, but still a medium-sized dog.

Hearing my approach, the black dog turned around. Her eyes were distraught, but flickered with hope when she saw me. Walking forward, she asked, Have you seen my humans? I'm lost. We were just going for a drive together, and we stopped here for a while, and then we got separated, and they left without me.

I glanced at the neck of the young black dog. As I had expected, I saw a collar mark, from where her collar had worn away the fur on her neck, but no collar.

No, I haven't seen anyone unfamiliar around here, I answered, trying to decide how to tell her what had happened in the gentlest way possible. Stalling for time, I asked, What's your name?

Bola, she replied. She looked away and glanced down the road again, as if she expected to see a vehicle approaching at any minute.

My name is Ciro, I said. Bola, are you sure you're lost?

What do you mean? she asked, confused. Of course I'm lost. My humans aren't here, and I don't know how to find them.

You had a collar before, didn't you? I asked. Did your humans remove it before bringing you here?

Yes, Bola said, looking even more confused. I thought maybe they had gotten me a new one. They've done that before.

Bola, I said, I was left here, too. My humans brought me here and then drove away without me. Her eyes widened as I spoke, and she shook her head in denial. I'm afraid you've been abandoned.

No! My humans would never do that to me, Bola said, her voice growing desperate. They love me. And I love them. I would never leave them, and they would never leave me.

I'm sorry, pup, I said, shaking my head sadly. Bola was not the first dog I had seen abandoned here, but the other had realized and accepted what had happened, unlike the young black dog. It broke my heart to see how much loyalty she had for the humans who had thrown her away like a piece of garbage. But they're not coming back.

No! Bola protested again, her eyes now filled with sadness. Maybe they're just mad at me for something I did. But they'll forgive me and come back for me; I'm sure of it. And she turned away again and sat down, facing the road as the rain continued to pour down on us.

I turned and walked away sadly, knowing there was nothing I could do for her. After a little while, I remembered why I was out in the rain in the first place, and resumed my search for food.

Finding the scent of a dead rabbit, I approached to see that Lobo and Blanca were already there.

Lobo was the leader of our pack. He was the biggest of us, and slightly muscular. He was a dark brown with upright ears and thick fur. Like his name suggested, he looked rather wolf-like. I believe he would have looked regal, maybe even a bit imposing, if he had humans giving him enough food to prevent his ribs from showing. Even without adequate food, though, Lobo was wiry and strong, and could likely take on any dog who tried to pick a fight with him.

Blanca was a white dog with short fur, and was built like a pit-bull. She and Lobo had been the only dogs around here when I arrived. Blanca was the thinnest of us, with ribs that were constantly showing through her thin fur. For some reason, the humans seemed to like Blanca the least of all of us. Some of the humans would occasionally give me or the other dogs some food, but they only chased Blanca away. Some even threw rocks at her.

Despite all this, Blanca had a kind heart. She had been the one to comfort me when I was first abandoned here, and had shown me the best places to scrounge for food. Looking up at my approach, she wagged her tail and called out, Ciro! Come on over; we saved some food for you.

I approached but did not take any of the rabbit. Another dog has just been abandoned here, I told her and Lobo. A young black dog, barely more than a pup. Her name is Bola.

Where is she? Blanca asked.

Sitting in the rain by the road, waiting for her humans to come get her, I said. I thought I'd take her some of the food; she must be hungry by now.

No, Blanca said, her face a mixture of concern and exasperation. She was a pampered pet until today. It will be a while before her ribs start showing. We're starving now. We need this food more than she does. Blanca was kind, but she was also highly practical. It was how she had managed to survive, even without the hand-outs from humans that the rest of us received.

I'll just bring her some of my food, then, I said.

You're going to starve yourself, Ciro, Blanca said. If this Bola is hungry, she can go get some food for herself. We can show her where to look. But if she doesn't even want food right now, why offer her any, when we have so little?

Blanca, I know you're just trying to look out for me, I began, but Bola's been sitting out in the rain for hours. She's cold, and she's just been abandoned today. I feel the least I can do is offer her something to eat.

Blanca's face softened slightly. Fine, she said. But make sure to find more food for yourself later, then.

I will; don't worry, I said. I