Cassie and ‘The Great Escape’

The title is light hearted, but this entry is less so. I still couldn’t resist though. We got Cassie about two years ago in late February. She is a great jumper, and Teri and I always joked that one day in her excitement while barking at something on the other side of the fence, she’d jump over it. We never took her for a tunneler. Now in ‘The Great Escape’ there are at least two characters who are tunnelers, but I’m going to ignore both Charles Bronson, and a Scottish actor played by Angus Lennie, called Ives, and I’m going to go with Steve MsQueen. If you’ve seen the movie, and it is well worth watching you see Steve McQueen, and yes he is the original Steve McQueen, not that guy who won an oscar or something for directing, and is fast forgotten. In ‘The Great Escape’ Steve McQueen, the original has been discovered by the Germans and they are in pursuit. Steve is super cool on his stolen motor cycle jumping the barbed wire barrier. He jumps the first barrier, it’s amazing, but the Germans are closing in and he might not make it. He has to turn around, they are on both sides of him, until he spins out and crashes into the barbed wire. This is another reason I don't want Elena to get a motorcycle. She doesn’t need to crash into barbed wire. When Steve McQueen, the original, crashes into the barbed wire, the Germans capture him, and return him to Stalag Luft 3. Fun fact ‘The Great Escape’ really happened, but the motorcycle chase didn’t. What does this have to do what Cassie you ask? Well I have watched her sitting on the back porch looking out into the yard. I thought it was to see if any squirrels or birds, whatever, have decided to invade her territory. What I believe now is she is looking at the fence, looking for holes, and weakness, like Steve McQueen, the original did when he first arrived at the camp. She tunneled out from under the gate, sort of like the prisoners did when they hide in the trucks and with the Russian laborers. She managed to get out a do a Steve McQueen, the original, minus the motorcycle, and run like the wind, having a ball. While we, the sudo Germans chased her in vain. At least until she decided that she’d had enough, and came back home to Stalag Luft 3. She did this several times. I’ve been involved in at least three of these chases.

The last chase was today, or maybe the most recent, I don’t know. I’m at work, just leaving a meeting when I see Teri has called three times. I call her back, Cassie has gotten out again. This is after I’ve replaced the entire gate on the North side of the house. I drive home, meeting Teri with KJ looking for Cassie. KJ in his car seat, not yet able to be seen from the window calling out Cassie’s name. I go home, open the gate hoping Cassie will decide to come home. Her usual route has been centered in and around South Harrison, and a little east on Rockland ave, near the rail road tracks. This time she is on South Conger Ave, further west. She runs real fast when she sees someone who she knows calling her name. For her, it’s a game. She heads several times toward busy Lake Road, only to come back. She discovers the open field of the old Conger’s Elementary School. On one of these runs she decides to run toward Lake Road, my nightmare. Some poor lady in a BMW is heading east on Lake hitting her and launching her around thirty feet into the other lane. I’m not hopeful at this point. SHe lands in the other land and slides under an oncoming car. The driver driving slowly manages to stop. He backs up as I give him hand directions. Cassie is yelping, and I don’t know if I can pick her up. Traffic is backing up. I slide her out from under the car feeling her belly to see if it is safe to pick her up. I pick her up thinking maybe it’s only her leg, maybe it’s broken. I wave the drive on and step to the side of the road. Cassie clutched in my arms. Teri is on Grant Ave, a one way street, so she has to come around to get to me. As I stand there waiting for Teri, the woman in the BMW comes over. Tears are streaming down her face, she is apologizing, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” I tell her it is alright,and not her fault. She says she knows this but she is sorry. I immediately take a dislike to her. I need to forgive her, but she doesn’t need it. Teri pulls up and we start to race to the vet in Valley Cottage. Teri insists we call them. A young girl answers the phone. When we tell her what has happened, she tells us to go to an emergency hospital, and almost hangs up on us. We head toward Nanuet, and you might remember how I have talked about God, and his wicked sense of humor with me. We pull up behind an ancient woman in a moderately new car, maybe it was expensive, I don’t remember. What I do remember is she is going maybe thirty when she is going down hill. I know Teri will not pass her. Cassie, feeling a little better, has pulled from my arms and is laying on the floor of the car’s backseat, underneath KJ’s feet. I’m sitting in the back seat too. I look down at the seat and I see blood. For the life of me I can’t remember seeing any on Cassie. My fingers are bloody, but I don’t remember where the blood could have come from on Cassie. When I pulled her from under the second car, I guess she clawed me. I have two cuts on my pinkie, and ring finger, and one was dripping on the seat. I never felt them happening. At the vet they do $1,874.00 worth of tests. They discover she has an issue with her lungs, and air is filling up her chest which could kill her, if nothing is done. She is staying overnight which adds another $3,000.00 to the bill. I got a call, and they had to withdraw some air from her chest, so in case they need to put in a chest tube, they request a prepayment which ups the $3,000.00 to $4,900.00. We will wait for a call when we can pick her up. It might be tomorrow, it might not. Nastia, and Sean have gone over to see her. I don’t want to. I feel it would be too sad, and it would bring back memories of Cody. She was fine one day, but not eating. We bring her to the vet, and they say her kidneys are shot, and we have to put her down. But she was just fine yesterday. She was happy, friendly, herself. And here I am dredging up memories of her making me sadder. At least Cassie will be fine, they say.