The Tough Lumberjack Dog Read online



  The Tough Lumberjack Dog

  Inspired by the Brown and Tan Piebald Dachshund

  Published by

  New Mexico Dachshund Rescue

  Copyright © 2016 New Mexico Dachshund Rescue

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1 – A Long Winter

  Chapter 2 – Not Enough Room

  Chapter 3 – Back to the Woods

  Chapter 4 – Cadbury Meets the Goats

  Chapter 5 – Caring Friends

  Chapter 6 – Supplies

  Chapter 7 – Bumper Crops

  Chapter 8 – Christmas Surprise

  Chapter 9 – Winter Chores

  Chapter 10 – Cadbury’s Close Call

  Foreword

  In this fictional story I go back to my Oregon roots and the day of the great lumberjacks. Our hero dog, Cadbury, is a brown, tan and white piebald Dachshund. He is abandoned in the woods and found by a lumberjack family who gladly took him into their home and hearts. Cadbury never totally lost his independent spirit, though, and readers get to enjoy his adventures in this fun-loving book.

  I would like to thank my team for their assistance in preparing the book for publishing: Al Rosario, illustrator; Jan Lawrence, editor and Lucinda Campbell, formatting.

  Proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit New Mexico Dachshund Rescue and Dachshund rescue in New Mexico. Thank you for supporting our mission.

  I am dedicating this book to my sister Ann. You are not only a sister and a friend, but a nurse with a compassionate heart and caring spirit. We will always be grateful for the “nursing hand” you gave us, right when we needed it the most.

  --Stella Dillenbeck on behalf of New Mexico Dachshund Rescue

  (Featuring the Dachshund Rescue Series by Stella Dillenbeck)

  Chapter 1 – A Long Winter

  Winters in the Columbia River Gorge tend to be quite nasty and this year was no exception. The colder temperatures brought on by the winds blowing off Mt. Hood were keeping the snow drifts and ice chunks from melting. Tiberias and his two teenage sons, Tim and Tom, were lumberjacks and the lengthy winter was testing their patience. Tiberias' wife, Lydia, was starting to lose hers with all the pacing and pawing her boys were doing in their modest cabin. "Spring always comes every year, without fail," she chided.

  Yes, the men were anxious to get out to the woods and breathe in that cool, crisp air, but part of the problem was that there was really not much to do in their log cabin home. Build a fire, stoke the fire, drink coffee and talk about the weather gets kind of old after awhile, you know? Plus, there was just not enough space for three big, impatient men to tromp around. Lydia had to keep dodging three pair of booted feet so as to not end up with broken toes. Trying to keep them busy Lydia told them they could help peel potatoes, or help with the meals and some of her other chores, but her three big lumberjack men were not about to do “women’s work.” They would handle the wood hauling, the fire building, the ice carrying and the ice melting, but that was where they drew the line.

  Lydia told the guys that they should at least be grateful they had some things to do. They had not had any running water since November because of the deep freeze that was staying with them through the winter; it was a longer-than-normal winter, at that. She was glad she had them to carry ice into their log cabin home and melt it in the big bucket hanging in the fireplace. If it were not for them she would have had to do it all herself and, unlike the boys, she already could find plenty to do during these cold months.

  Now it was Tiberias’ turn to chide Lydia, “gosh, Lydia, aren’t you the lucky one? You keep so busy you’re never bored!” Tim and Tom got quite a kick out of their Dad’s joke; they were laughing like a couple of hyenas. Lydia ignored the three of them. If the truth were to be known, she was anxious for winter to be over, too; it is mighty hard for a woman to get any work done with three big men underfoot in their small home.

  The family had two goats named Caesar and Cicily. Lydia milked Cicily each morning; part of the milk was made into cheese and the rest the family drank. Besides that, when Lydia was not kept busy with meal preparation, laundry and home cleaning, she stayed busy by hand stitching quilts, knitting and crocheting. The local store bought her crafts so she had money to keep her family well fed when the men were not working. Most of the money was spent on ham, sausage and bacon. All three of her guys love them and their prices had gone sky high.

  Tiberias kept and maintained two rigs to take in the woods; one was a crane for lifting the huge logs and the other was a flat bed for carrying logs to the sawmill. He told the boys they had better go check the rigs out, making sure they were ready to go when the snow melted. He did not have to tell them twice; they were out the door and well on their way to the garage with Tiberias close behind.

  Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. At least now she would be able to get a few chores done and hopefully have time to make bread, too. She checked the water faucet in the sink and a small trickle came out. At last the pipes were starting to thaw. With a little more warmth coming their way, the guys would soon be off to the woods doing what they loved to do. She would not have to listen to any more of their complaints about there being nothing to do – at least not until next winter.

  Chapter 2 – Not Enough Room

  The dough for the bread was rising nicely when Lydia heard a knock at the door. It was her neighbor Abigail coming to visit; she had ridden her horse over. Abigail and Lydia hugged each other at the door, so glad to see one another after such a long and confining separation. Lydia could tell the long winter had been wearing on Abigail also; now the two of them could catch up on girl time and chatter. Lydia put on a pot of coffee and dug out a tin of nuts; she got up a couple of times to check on her rising dough, but the rest of the time they munched on nuts, sipped on coffee and chattered away.

  The morning was gone before Lydia and Abigail knew it. Tiberias, Tim and Tom came in the house wondering when lunch was ready. Abigail indicated she needed to get going; the ladies hugged and with promises that they wouldn’t wait so long to see each other again, they said their good-byes. Lydia was then scrambling to get lunch fixed and get some food in her hungry men’s tummies. Come to think of it, she was hungry, too. Tiberias and the boys finished the tin of nuts while they waited and drank what was left of the coffee. In no time Lydia had prepared stacks of ham and goat cheese sandwiches and tasty homemade potato chips. It took mere minutes for the guys to down all the food and drinks she put before them. “Gotta love a strapping young man who appreciates good cooking,” she thought to herself.

  When the bread dough had fully risen, Lydia put the two loaves in the oven to bake. The baking bread smelled mighty fine and it was all she could do to keep the guys from getting the tasty loaves out of the oven to eat right now. Lydia sat her foot down, though, and told them they would have to wait until it was done. When the bread was finished baking, Tiberias and the boys waited a whole two minutes for one of the loaves to “cool” before polishing it off. Lydia sighed. Tiberias and his sons would have eaten the other loaf of bread, too, if Lydia had let them. She duly informed the three of them it was for dinner and not to be touched. She pointed to the water bucket; it was almost empty and she politely asked them to bring in more ice to melt. Tom stayed behind to stoke the fire while Tiberias and Tim left to get ice.

  Once the ice was melted, Lydia had enough water to put on another pot of coffee. Tiberias and Lydia relaxed on their recliners while Tim and Tom sat on the big, over-stuffed sofa. Lydia was relieved the afternoon conversation was geared towards the rig maintenance and not complaints about the weather. The warm coffee sure tasted good and warmed them up inside, too. Tiberias told Lydia the r
igs were all ready to go as soon as the snow melted enough for them to get in the woods. “Here we go again,” thought Lydia, “he managed to steer the conversation to the weather again.”

  In the late afternoon Tiberias went out on the outskirts of their property with the boys to get some more wood for their dwindling wood pile. Lydia was grateful for anything they could be doing to get them out of the house for a bit. Now she would have a chance to fix dinner without the men being right underfoot, constantly asking when dinner was going to be ready.

  Tonight the dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, plus Lydia’s fresh loaf of bread sliced and covered with butter and garlic. She was just finishing up the last of the meal preparation as the guys walked in the cabin. The meal was a huge hit and, as usual, Tiberias and the boys ate every drop; there would not be any leftovers.

  Chapter 3 – Back to the Woods

  More than a trickle of water was starting to come out of the kitchen faucet. The accumulated snow and ice were finally melting and the men would soon be able to get in their beloved woods. Lydia smiled for she was equally as glad that winter would soon be behind them and she could have the log cabin to herself again. It was sure funny how big the cabin seemed when the guys were not home. Even more important than that, though, was the fact she could be more productive without them in her way.

  Tim and Tom were up way before dawn the next morning, making enough noise to awaken their parents. After a big breakfast, Tiberias drove the crane and Tim drove the flatbed with Tom joining him. All of their chainsaws, handsaws, axes and wedges had been loaded up the night before. They wanted to get an early start by being in the woods as the sun was rising, and they would work late into the evening to make up for the time they had lost. Additionally, the sawmill was out of logs, so there was a big push to replenish their supply. The good news was that they would pay a premium price for the loads brought to them.

  When Tiberias pulled over to park the crane, Tim pulled the flatbed right in behind him. Tiberias pointed out the area that was designated to them for log clearance. He also indicated they would only fell trees that were at least 9 feet tall; the others would be left for another season when they were bigger. The boys understood it was not wise to clear cut the land because doing so resulted in mudslides and flooding. Furthermore, many fish died as the water became too murky to sustain life. They also knew tree planters would soon be along to plant seedlings where they had been cutting, but it would be many years before the trees would be large enough to harvest.

  By 10:00 a.m. the busy lumberjacks had their first load of logs on the flatbed. Tim would drive it down to the sawmill and return to load more logs. Tiberias and Tom would keep felling the trees in preparation for the next load. The three of them kept diligently plugging away so that they could get three complete loads to the mill each day.

  Tiberias and the boys loved their job; they were large, buff men and were well able to handle the task at hand. They also loved the woods, never tiring of the sights and smells; it was all so exhilarating for them. When it was lunchtime, they would stop to eat. They looked forward with relish each day to their crate-sized lunchbox that Lydia would stuff full of everything they would need. As they settled down on the ground preparing to enjoy the feast, a dog bounded out of the woods barking at them as if they were trespassing on his property. They were many miles from any inhabited land and had not seen anybody else in the woods, so the dog had undoubtedly been abandoned on one of the county roads.

  Tim said it looked like a Dachshund to him; one of his friends had one, but his did not look anything like this one. This one was mostly white with some large brown and tan spots. He was a male and appeared to be about four, possibly five-years old. He sure did look like a Dachshund with his long body and short legs. Tim threw part of a sandwich to the dog. The dog quit barking, ate the sandwich and came over for more. “Now you have done it,” said Tiberias. “He will never leave us now.” Even as Tiberias said that, he knew there was no way they would let the dog go hungry or leave him there.

  But what were they going to do with the little guy? In order to stop referring to the dog as "it," Tim decided they needed to give him a temporary name. Since he had just been munching on a Cadbury bar they decided "Cadbury" would be a great name in the meantime. It was quite obvious the dog was in need of nourishment so they all donated a part of their lunch to the hungry pooch, which is saying a lot since the guys did love their food. Tiberias was concerned that they meet their log quota that day so he told the guys they needed to stay focused. Once Cadbury was safe and secured, the boys followed their dad's lead and got back to work felling trees and loading logs.

  Chapter 4 – Cadbury Meets the Goats

  The mighty lumberjacks loaded up the last load of logs and then Tiberias turned the crate around to take it home. Tom and Tim climbed into the cab of the flatbed where Cadbury lay sleeping; Tom held the pup while Tim drove their last load of the day down to the sawmill. After the flatbed was unloaded, they got the log tally from the office and asked around to see if anyone recognized the dog. The administrator suggested posting a "found" notice in the office, and maybe someone would see it and get back to them. Soon, they were headed home with pup in hand. Tim and Tom wondered what their mom was going to say.

  The crane was already parked in the garage when Tim and Tom got home. Tim carefully parked the empty flat bed next to the crane. Tom was still holding Cadbury and went running into the house with the pup to show Mom; Tim was right behind him. When she was asked if they could keep him Lydia heard herself saying “yes,” but she was thinking “Oh great! Now we have a dog to take up space, too.” She was also wondering what the goats would think.

  Cadbury stayed in for dinner as there was no way he was going to turn down food, but as soon as dinner was over he begged to go out. Lydia told Tim and Tom it would be a good time to introduce him to the goats. She wanted to talk to Tiberias about their day and the log haul anyway.

  The goats were as curious about Cadbury as he was about them. The boys decided that it would be a good thing to allow the goats and dog time to warm up to each other. By the time the sun had set, the three of them were hard and fast friends. Whoever would have thought? The boys went into the house to tell their mom that Cadbury would be sleeping in the hay by the goats.

  Cadbury did not want to stay in the house much; maybe it was because he had been out in the woods fending for himself quite awhile - either that or he had been outside most of the time with his former owners. He had an independent streak, much to the boys’ chagrin, but you could count on Cadbury always managing to show up for meal times. He was also partial to a good back scratch before he was at the door begging to go out again. His behavior reminded Lydia somewhat of her boys, always pawing at the door to get out, and eating meals with such delight. She smiled as she thought about how well he was fitting in.

  When Tiberias and the boys were leaving the next morning, Cadbury was right at Tom’s side begging to go, too. If the flatbed was going, he was determined to go with it. Riding in the flatbed was the only time he wanted to be in Tom’s lap, or anyone else’s lap, for that matter. He sat on Tom’s lap so he could see where they were going. Cadbury’s tail was wagging away when they got to the spot where they picked him up the day before. The pup knew exactly where he was.

  Cadbury took off on some adventure trails as Tiberias and his sons went about their work. The lumberjacks meticulously felled the trees, sawed off branches and stacked the logs on the flatbed with the crane. Cadbury seemed to sense that he needed to keep his distance from the activity, but he kept popping in and out; plus he made sure he was there for lunch. The guys got their quota again. Cadbury came running when Tom whistled; it was time to go. They decided to keep checking in at the office for a couple of weeks to see if anyone knew anything about Cadbury. After that, if no one responded, they thought it would be safe to call him theirs and let the name Cadbury stick.

  All of the lumber from the third load did not go
to the sawmill as a few logs were taken home for wood for the fireplace. After the green logs had a few months to season, one of the boys would stay home to saw and chop them into fireplace-length pieces which would be carefully stacked in the lean-to off of the barn. Lydia liked wood-chopping days for it gave her a little company for lunch and part of her day. She even helped some by chopping kindling with the ax and stacking it in the box near the front door. They needed all the kindling they could garner to get good fires going during their cold winters and none of them relished doing it during the winter when the gorge winds took their wind chill temperature well below zero.

  Chapter 5 – Caring Friends

  The household budget was in a crunch because of the longer winter and reduced income. Lydia was stretching the budget for all it was worth, bless her heart, but their food supply was dwindling and they had precious little money left in the bank. They would soon be getting a contract payment from the sawmill. It was sure going to be needed this year. On top of everything else, diesel fuel costs had gone up and they had to have that for getting the crane and log truck to the designated cutting area. All things being equal, at least they did not have a water bill for a couple of months due to the frozen pipes.

  Tim came home with a large ham that the lady who worked in the mill office gave him. She knew things were tight and wanted to help out in her own little way. Lydia jumped for joy as Tim handed her the ham. It sure would help and she was right glad to have it, especially for her guys. They needed food and lots of it to do their hard labor in the woods.

  A couple of days later Abigail rode her horse over for another visit. She brought a loaf of bread and two jars of jam; they were extra she said. Lydia gave her a big bear hug and thanked her for her thoughtfulness. Her worry lines were fading away with the unexpected provisions given to her. Lydia put on a pot of coffee and the ladies visited over coffee and bread slices with jam. Lydia was so grateful for Abigail’s friendship and her timely visit. Abigail asked about Cadbury and if his owners had been found. Lydia just smiled and said that he had found new owners and he was theirs, permanently.