Madison – The Brave Dog

“You sure about this?” the man in the black jacket asked. The two persons were standing on the deserted highway that connected Malibu to the rest of the city. Seldomly used, this highway was deserted during night time.

“Let’s do this…I’ve taken every precaution this time….We’ll surely hit the bull’s eye. Last time, our attempts failed as it had started raining. But today, the weather is clear. The direction of wind will surely help us spread it…”

“John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Lily read a verse from the Holy Bible as her pet dog, Madison, a Golden Retriever, sat next to her.

Lily, about 7 years old,had an elder sister, Elsie & a elder brother, Shannon. Her dad, Thomas Patrick, was an investment broker, & her mom, Dawn, worked as an admin in a corporate office in Los Angeles. They had come to this wonderful small city of Malibu,to enjoy summer vacations. Thomas, owing to the indifferences between him & his wife, was doing this only for his kids, especially Lily. They had rented a small wooden villa in the forest in a village located in the center of the Malibu, with excellent views of the mountain & woods on all sides. They were having a good time, especially Madison, who always loved greenery & nature.

Johnson, a motor mechanic, was riding in his car along the deserted highway that connected Malibu to the rest of California. He lost his parents when he was very young. Raised in an orphanage, he became an automobile mechanic. Today he received a call from Mr. Thomas, a tourist who had come from LA to enjoy holidays in Malibu. There was a problem in his Chevrolet Crossover SUV, & he had called Johnson to look after it.

As Johnson reached the Malibu outskirts, it was almost dusk.

As he moved his car around the turn, he saw a sudden yellow glow. Suddenly he smelled smoke around. As he moved his car ahead, he abruptly stopped as he watched the raging inferno ahead.

Trees on both sides were burning. All the bushes & shrubs were blazing with fire. The road was blocked with all the burning debris.

As Johnson stopped his car, he took out his cellphone for emergency call. But this area had no network. As he tried calling, suddenly a burning tree fell in front of his car. Panicked by the disaster, he put his car in reverse & escaped back to the main city.

At around evening time, the entire Patrick family came down for dinner. Elsie & Shannon never liked what was cooked, so they went back to their rooms. Lily, Thomas & Dawn sat down at the outdoor dining table eating silently from their plates. Madison was seating next to Lily, observing everyone leave from their tables.

“Get the car repaired by tomorrow, Thomas…” Dawn said as he moved away the plates. “We’ll leave back for LA tomorrow morning…”

After dinner, she took Madison out for a stroll.

Today, after seating for a long time on a nearby mountain, where they sat every day, Lily turned back to leave, however, Madison sat back as he liked the view from hilltop. He knew the way back, as they were coming here since the last 4-5 days. Lily instructed him to be back & left for the villa.

“The Satellite imageries of the area indicate the Wind Direction is helping the fire spread rapidly…!” one of the attendants who was observing the satellite video footage confirmed the news. Johnson had reported this to the forest authorities. “The fire has stopped the Road access to the city limits. The main highway is surrounded by woods & all the trees are on fire….we can’t enter the village…”

“Let’s use helicopters to spray down water. Inform the Coast Guard & the Navy. They’ll provide us with the necessary equipment. I’ll contact the Mayor of the village, Mr. Nelson. Let’s move fast….!” The officer –in-charge ordered his staff. Johnson followed them.

"You sure about this...?" the man in the black coat asked.

"Yes.... It seems like someone overheard us a bit more. We need to be more careful now." the other person in brown jacket said. "I'll go back in the woods.... We'll surely demand ransom from the family..."

The Patrick family came running outside. They reached a small open ground in the woods.

"It's a wildfire....!” Dawn suddenly found out. “We need to find a place to stay in for today night. Going back is very dangerous....."

"Where are Lily and Madison...?" Shannon, the elder brother screamed, looking around.

"I remember she had gone for a walk with Madison." Elsie said, "I think she got lost because of the fire..."

"OK... Listen, you people search for a shelter fast... I'll try finding Lily and Madison..."

The wildfire had already raged into a fiery inferno. Thomas somehow managed to go a little further, but the heat was unbearable, with smoke and burned soot causing more irritation in eyes and problems in breathing. Thomas then decided to move back.

As Madison approached the small alley after getting down from the hill, he smelled the air around. At that instant he realized the forest was on fire. As he tried to grasp the area , suddenly a huge burning pine tree collapsed right in front of him, missing him by inches. The yellow sparks hit his body. With no option left, he sprinted back the way he came. As he was halfway through near a junction where two roads branched out, he suddenly realized that Lily had come this way, but her scent stopped here. Where would she have gone? He wondered. Suddenly he remembered there was a small church at the end of the other road. Thinking Lily might be there, he ran towards the church.

Madison entered the chapel. Sniffing the ground, he tried to smell Lily in the dark. Her scent was faint here. He strained his ears to hear sound, but she was nowhere. Suddenly he sensed movement at one corner in the church. Thinking it must be lily, he slowly tiptoed towards one corner of the altar.

The old couple, Mr and Mrs. Browns had rented another villa in the woods to enjoy the summer vacations. They had taken shelter in the church the moment they saw the wildfire.

As they sat behind the altar waiting for the authorities, Mrs Browns saw two small twinkling eyes in candlelight. A second later, a golden retriever emerged from the darkness, sniffing the ground. The moment he saw the couple, he halted, waiting for their reaction.

"Hey... That's a dog..!" Mr Brown exclaimed, "Check his collar... His name's Madison..!"

"Come here... Come..." Mrs. Browns called him with her hand. She used her scarf and dusted out all the burned soot from his body as Madison stood wagging his tail. Mr. Brown gave him a small piece of bread that he had and some water. The hungry pooch ate it, as he had totally forgotten how hungry and thirsty he was.

From high above the air in the helicopter, Johnson saw the blazing horror which was spreading fast on the ground. Most of the village was full of bungalows and villas. Automobiles possessed a great danger, as a vehicle exploding in flames can spread more fire. The coast guard and the navy had deployed helicopter sprayers for controlling the fire.

"Down - down... fast..!" the head commander ordered all the crew inside. All the fireman landed with ropes on ground. All of them dispersed in three different directions forming groups of 2 each.

Mr. Nelson, the mayor of the village, was looking & helping in the rescue operation. The Forest authorities had already informed the nearest hospitals. More than 5 helicopters were sent to the disaster area, well equipped with medicinal instruments.

Madison sat down with the old couple, softly munching at the bread given to him.

"I think he was searching for someone..." Mr. Brown patted his head as he said. Madison looked around in the church. He remembered Lily and himself come here just the day before. Thinking that she may have come here before getting lost, Madison got up and went near the prayer desk.

At once he smelled a faint odour. The scent resembled with the outer white jacket that Lily was wearing. But where did she go? There was an exit just next to the desk. He ran in that direction and smelled the ground. Lily had escaped through this door.

"Check every corner and every direction of the forest. Go inside every house and check for people inside. The helicopter ambulances are approaching. The naval helicopters will soon be here..." the commander in chief gave out orders. Mr. Nelson was personally helping every single fireman.

The Firemen entered a nearby chapel & saw an elderly couple seated on the bench.

"The naval helicopters will be arriving soon...." Johnson informed the three of them. "The fire is still spreading fast.... We'll have to shift in the city... Are there anyone else left behind....?"

"Yess....!" Mr. Browns said.... "A couple of hours ago, I was walking on the lane. I saw a girl in white jacket. I had seen her yesterday with her dog. Then I got caught in this wildfire. I had rented a villa facing the mountains. I escaped somehow and came here. The dog was here with us... He went in that direction... “Elvis pointed to the exit door.

Johnson left one fireman with the old couple and took the other one with him. He then sprinted in the direction where Madison had left.

Madison came out in a small alley. He was getting a faint scent of lily on this way. Suddenly he realized it was this same path that he and lily were using since the last some days for returning back to the villa. At once he understood that lily must be inside the villa, either trapped or hiding somewhere.

As he approached the villa, he was stunned.

The entire rear part of the villa was engulfed in flames, with broken wooden pieces falling down. Madison saw all this from a distance. Considering the fire, there was no chance that Lily & his family may be inside. However, Madison had caught her scent till here. He moved around the house and checked all the entry points. All of them were on fire. With no chance left to enter in, Madison was about to move when suddenly he caught another familiar scent. It was his rest of the family. They had escaped out in the other direction, further deep in the forest. But his other family was together and probably safe. It was Lily who was still missing. Madison therefore decided to follow lily.

Johnson and the other fireman ran out in the open. The entire path was burning hard, making it impossible for him to proceed ahead. However, he kept going, as he still knew the dog was probably out there either trying to find something.

"The Dog has probably gone back to his villa. Dogs always tend to go back where they came from. Let's search the....." his sentence was left incomplete as suddenly a burning huge tree collapsed right in front of him, sending out burning fragments of wood in the air. Both men went two-three steps behind. Suddenly another burning tree collapsed behind them, and one of the burning branch hit the fireman on the head. But the helmet saved him. Grunting in pain, both of them choose the other route that ran directly between two burning trees towards the right.

As they crossed the burning path and came out at the other end, suddenly they saw a dog in front of them.

"Hey... I think it's the same dog, look... His name's Madison...!" Johnson screamed. Madison at once recognized these people were here to help him. He barked at one direction and looked at them.

"He wants us to follow him..... Let's do it...!" Johnson screamed at the other guy. With no time to think, both of them started following him. Madison was smelling lily and was following the trail. He ran in another opening in the trees. The path was too narrow and all the trees inside were burning. Johnson and the other guy, instead decided to take the longer route which went across the woods. However, Madison started barking and urged them to follow him. Johnson trusted the dog .As they came out from the other end, Johnson saw that the longer path had electric Livewires. Somehow Madison knew that the longer path was dangerous.

Madison now could smell Lily stronger. Johnson & the other fireman followed him, deeper into the forest. After running in the woods, they came across a deserted small outhouse uphill. The woods around were on fire & the blaze was tremendous in this area. Madison kept on going uphill, but Johnson hesitated, as there was lot of fire around.

“Let’s return back…..we’ll leave the dog here…! We’ll get help & save him…!” Johnson screamed in the oncoming noise of fire. As Madison kept approaching the outhouse, Johnson & the other guy hurried back on the road that led to the chapel.

Mr. Nelson was helping all the people in the village to come out on the outskirts. The naval helicopters were in, joined back with helicopters from hospitals in the city to assist the injured. Almost every house in the village was on fire. Mr. Nelson was also assisting the firemen.

“There’s a girl still trapped in the village…!” Johnson shouted amidst the sound of helicopters, “We need to find that girl fast…!”

“Everyone from the village is here…!” The Naval Guy screamed back, “No person is left behind….!”

“Did you guys check the chapel…?” Johnson asked them.

At once the Naval guy ordered, “Guys…someone’s still trapped inside there…! Let’s go….!”

Thomas was totally helpless. All the forests around him was on fire. The stone house was somehow sustaining the inferno outside. Elisa & Shannon were sitting next to Thomas. Shannon had given his shirt to Elisa,as her clothing had burned down while they were escaping. Dawn sat at one end, weeping about her daughter & praying to God for her safety. The calamity had increased the bonding between them. All of them were praying for Lily’s safety.

Johnson took the team to the spot where he had last left Madison. The entire hill was on fire. The team couldn’t climb up, as all the trees covering the hill were ablaze, totally breaking the walking route. The team finally came back to rescue point. Mr. Nelson told them the naval helicopters were already spraying water all along the forest. Fire Tankers had cleared the highway and were moving in fast towards the village. All the disaster management teams were working continuously.

After fighting with the fire for more than 7 hours, the naval & Firemen team finally extinguished all the wildfire in the village by early morning. The entire village had burned down with the exception of 2-3 houses. All the trees were reduced to ashes, & the whole area smelt of burned carbon & Wood.

Johnson first took the rescue team to the hill where he had last spotted Madison. As they approached the area, they saw the outhouse was still there, it’s walls & half of it’s roof burned down. As they reached the hill, Johnson was shocked at what he saw.

“Hey…the dog’s still seating there…!” one of the rescue team found out. Madison was still seating near the outhouse. As soon as he saw the rescue team, he jumped up in joy & started barking at the door. The rescue people broke the door & stormed inside. To their astonishment, they found Lily unconscious, gagged & tied to a chair. They immediately lifted her up, and carried her to the helicopter ambulance. Madison followed them.

Later another rescue team found the Patrick family in other part of the village. Madison joyfully met everyone from his family. Lily was still unconscious but alive. She was immediately taken to the hospital.

“I hope you finally found your daughter...” Mr. Nelson came & spoke to Thomas. As soon as Madison saw him, he started barking ferociously. All the people present around looked at the scene. Madison continued to bark at Mr. Nelson. The local police had called the Federal Service to investigate on the matter. The Federal Service had already investigated every person rescued from the fire. Some of them had seen two unknown persons on the outskirts o the village. The Federal Service caught the two people & had started the enquiry.

Later it was revealed that Mr. Nelson was the real culprit who had ordered to start the wildfire. He wanted to acquire the village land, therefore he had ordered the two thugs to start the fire. However, Lily had overheard them when she was returning from the hill. The two thugs therefore kidnapped her, as she could open her mouth causing danger to them. They initially planned to demand ransom from her family, but when the wildfire started spreading, they fled, leaving Lily in the Outhouse. Mr. Nelson was then arrested & put in Jail for causing harm to people’s lives.

Madison never gave up on Lily. Even in the fire, he found her out & stood outside the outhouse till help arrived. He was then felicitated by the Federal Service for showing extreme acts of heroism & bravery.

The old couple, Mr & Mrs. Browns, adopted Johnson as their son. Johnson was also felisitated by the Federal Service for saving lives of people inspite of the calamity.

The Patrick family found love in each other. Everyone now started staying together as a big family with Madison.