Charlie Swan never saw himself not being lonely after Bella and Renee left, but his salvation came in the form of a Police K-9. Perhaps his sidekick would be the key to saving his daughter as well.
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Tango felt like she was being watched. There were probably about ten men all with rifles in the woods, they were on another hunting party for the wolves. Charlie held his gun with one hand and Tango's leash with the other, the last thing he needed was one of the guys shooting his dog thinking she was a wolf.
The dog kept her nose to the ground sniffing for anything she could.
Charlie stopped for a moment, looking back at Harry who stared at the ground her furrowed his brows, "You got something, Harry?"
Looking up the older man shook his head, "Nope, nothing." Charlie nodded and turned back around watching the tree's missing the way that the Clearwater man swiped away the large paw print in the mud with his foot.
The forest shrubbery was thick and tall, so occasionally Tango's head would pop up so she could see but otherwise kept sniffing the ground.
The thing about working dogs is that, they aren't pets. Even if it comes across that way, the dog is a partner and since being a puppy, it has constantly had a task to do; everything is a game to them. So playing 'find' or 'speak' or commands were all just games which the dog gets rewarded for, they behave well since the dogs are socialised from a young age. Teaching them how to interact with children and different people, hunting in the forest was just another game.
Harry gripped his gun tighter and caught up slightly, old eyes widening when he saw the redheaded vampire stood behind Charlie silently. The man raised his gun, ready to shoot but with supernatural speed she was holding him in the air with a hand wrapped around his jacket.
Catching the scent of corpse made the dog wrinkle her nose and poke her head up from a bush. Tango barked seeing Harry fall to the ground and a large wold tackle a woman who smelt like Edward. The rest of the hunting party who were alerted by the dog's sudden bark in the otherwise quiet forest, rushed to Harry who had collapsed on the ground.
Charlie shook the man but he didn't wake, resting his head on the mans chest he tried to listen for a heart beat but couldn't hear much due to the thick clothing. Pressing down on his radio he spoke urgently, "This is chief Swan, I need medical attention as quickly as possible to my location."
He whistled briefly and Tango came to sit at his side, very alert scanning the forest. The dog could feel the vibrations on the forest floor, multiple at a time which no doubt meant that the huge wolves she'd seen before.
People radioed back to Charlie saying that they would be there soon yet they didn't arrive in time.
Harry Clearwater was dead.
The paramedics had arrived a bit unprepared since they were unable to get a helicopter to fly Harry out. The men had carried the body to the ambulance where he was taken to the hospital anyway for a report to be written up on the body.
Charlie had the sad smell again as they sat in the Clearwater residence at the reservation, Tango sat by his feet as he gently stoked her back. She seemed to be his constant form of comfort, when Bella was a wreck and friends were busy or Charlie didn't feel like being a burden, there was Tango. Ready to be anything he needed as his partner.
The house was filled with people, both from the reservation and from Forks. Billy, the pack, a few of Sue's friends and Charlie were all there to show their love towards the family.
Charlie sat on the couch, thinking back to earlier wondering what he could've done differently to keep his friend alive. But ultimately, there wasn't anything he could've done which would fix this. Seth came and sat next to him and Charlie gave the boy a sad smile.
Over time people began to leave until it was only the Clearwaters, Charlie, the pack (not Jacob) and Billy. Seth who hadn't spoken much since he heard the news pointed to Tango, "How old is she?"
"Turned five in December last year." Bella was still in her depression phase but Charlie had gone out and bought one of those cakes which were edible for dogs, also a new ball to play around with.
"Am I allowed to pet her?" He asked hesitantly, her collar literally said 'DO NOT PET' in big bold white writing to contrast against the black collar. But that was just for the safety of the public, when working Charlie couldn't have kids coming up to her and touching her all over. Charlie nodded so Seth reached out and brushed a hand down her head.
Tango's ears moved to the side as he brushed over them and she went over to him, resting her head on his legs whilst he stroked her. Charlie didn't mind, the boy needed the comfort more than he did. "Can she do any tricks?"
Charlie chuckled and nodded, "Tons, when I'm at work we do sessions nearly every day on obedience training and agility courses, even though I'm the sheriff I'm still her handler." He explained to the curious boy.
"So you do those things where you're in a body suit and she attacks you?" Charlie laughed a little but nodded. Seth seemed very interested in Tango so asked a lot of questions (trying to keep his mind off his dad) and when Charlie decided it was time to go home, he'd made Charlie promise to show him some of Tango's training.
Arriving home late at night, Bella's truck was there so he assumed his daughter was home. "Bella?" Charlie called into the house but got no response, as Tango went to her water bowl the man went upstairs to check her room, she wasn't there.
Going into kitchen scratching his stubble in confusion, a note stuck to the fridge caught his attention:
Dad,
Need to do something, be back in a few days. You don't need to worry.
Thats all it said. Charlie's mouth fell open in disbelief at his daughter and sunk down at the kitchen table, she was going to be in so much trouble when she got back.
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author's note- I've actually learned so much about service dogs whilst writing this. if you like the story please comment or vote!
and I may not get all the facts right but that's because I do not own a service dog and have only ever had smaller dogs.
