Chapter 7: The La Trocha Dog (A True Story)

My phone once again was bleeping away, and it was now only 7:30am. They were questions after questions; most of them yet again were “Have you found him yet?” I must say, though, for every message of stupidity, I was actually receiving the kindest of words. Encouragement was what I needed, and thankfully, I was getting it. Gary was back out looking, and by 8am, Gordon and Kermit were on their way to La Trocha as they had seen a post on Facebook explaining how a person had seen a little black dog running around La Trocha. It was moments later that Gordon messaged me to say, “No, it’s not George.” Little did I realize at this moment that I was going to hear those words “No, it’s not George,” many, many times.

A Morning of False Hope and Orders to Print

I was now printing my day’s orders, and I was so relieved that I hadn’t actually sold that much so I decided to lie to all my customers and tell them that their order had been dispatched, (well I could dispatch them all tomorrow, and how would they know as I told them that delivery time is expected in 2/3 working days). So, this gave me a little breathing space and time to work out my next plan. Then it suddenly dawned on me that last night Kate had messaged me to say that she and Caroline were coming to mine today to help me search. Then the message came, “Caroline and I will be with you at 11am.” The relief that today I wouldn’t be alone searching brought yet again tears to my eyes. I now had a couple of hours to prepare for searching, shoes yes shoes I need walking shoes, I need warm clothes; so off I went upstairs and dug out the pair of walking shoes that I had and my waterproof jacket plus a bum bag for my keys and phone. Right, I was ready, and it was now only 9am. I had 2 hours until Kate and Caroline would arrive; I was so drained and so weak that all I did was sit there yet again staring into oblivion, sobbing and occasionally looking at the dogs while they wandered around the garden.

Kate and Caroline Arrive

Then I heard their car, it had to be them, and yes, it was. I knew that Kate would love to see Peter formally known as Buddy, so instead of locking up and going straight outside, I decided to let them in. I had no milk; I had nothing but a glass of water to offer them. They accepted water, and thankfully, I had two clean glasses left in the cupboard. I still hadn’t washed up, and my kitchen was starting to look like a pub after a busy Saturday night.

Kate and Caroline were so supportive, and it was like they had done this before. They had a pair of binoculars, a blanket, and some food and water. It was so amazing; they had actual faith that we were going to find George.

Too Many Messages to Ignore

While Kate and Caroline were enjoying their cup of water, I am saying that sarcastically obviously, I continued to scroll through all the messages that were pinging on my phone. So many were saying about a small black dog at La Trocha, and even though I had 100% faith in Gordon and Kermit, I just had to see for myself, so off we went.

Hope at Sierra Gorda

Caroline said we should first ask the staff in the petrol station, so this is what we did, no nothing, then we headed off to the charity shop chain in La Trocha to ask them if they had seen this little black dog. Just before we got there my phone was ringing the loud siren noise, and the number wasn’t a contact in my phone. “Hello, hi I have just seen your dog at Sierra Gorda.”

“Thank you so very much, bye.”

By this time, we were running to my car, thankfully it was only in the car park 100 meters from the charity shop. Sierra Gorda was only 5 minutes away from La Trocha, and now the adrenaline was pumping through my body so fast, and the hope and sheer excitement were unbearable. Who would have thought that a 5-minute drive would feel so far away?

I parked up near my warehouse, and we were running around shouting, “George,” then my phone started ringing again, it was Claudia, “Christine, I am at Sierra Gorda because a lady phoned me to say George is there.”

Kate and Caroline then looked at my face, and they knew instantly… it wasn’t George.

The Daily Route of the La Trocha Dog

Claudia had seen the little black dog that others had seen at Sierra Gorda, and no, it wasn’t George. This little black dog was a dog that for the next few weeks, little beknown to me, was going to cause me a lot of wasted journeys, a lot of heartaches, and a lot of people chasing the poor little mite hoping to get the reward.

You might be wondering as to why we named him/her the La Trocha dog and not the Sierra Gorda dog. I suppose it’s because he/she was spotted more times at La Trocha as opposed to at Sierra Gorda. This little black dog had a routine, at 7am he/she would start its daily journey at Sierra Gorda, then walk to La Trocha, and then find its way back to Sierra Gorda.

Out of Hope, Not Alone

Thankfully I wasn’t alone when Claudia called me, as at that particular point, I was at rock bottom, no sleep, no food, and just running out of hope. Yet Kate and Caroline hadn’t given up, immediately Kate said: “Let’s go and find this lady that took the photo of George.”

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