All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (40 page)

Beryl stuck her head into the conversation. "I think
we should get yearbooks for all these years, maybe the library will let us
borrow them. Then, we photocopy the pages, put them in the crates where we
think they belong and start advertising around here to let people know we have
their stuff. We'll get rid of things we can, then auction off the rest and do
something way cool with the funds here in town." She stopped and said,
"Oh, I'm sorry, Polly. It's your stuff. You can sell all of it on eBay if
you want and take the money."

Polly responded, "That's a great idea, though! I
don't want this stuff, it's not mine. Anyone who wants a memory should have it
and after that ... do you guys know any good charities here in Bellingwood?"

"Welcome home, Polly. I'm glad you're back and
safe." Polly spun around as Henry's voice spoke over her shoulder.

"Henry! Hi! The floor is amazing." Looking
around at all of the woodwork that was up, she said. "Actually, everything
is amazing. This is so much more th
an I
could have ever expected."

"We do good work around here," he replied.
"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm glad to be home."

"You've got some good friends here, Pol. You
can't believe the number of people who showed up today to haul your stuff out
of the basement and get this party ready for you."

Polly put her hand on his forearm. "I can't
believe this. I've never known anything like it." She paused for a moment.
"You know, that's not true. When Dad died, there were a lot of people
taking care of a lot of things for us, but I wasn't paying attention. It seemed
like it all happened so fast and before I knew it I was back in Boston and the
whole world was upside down.

"Dad's brother, Clyde
,
and his lawyer
were the ones who took care of everything and got Dad's house packed up and in
storage. I just realized," she said, "I have more furniture over
there. I'd completely forgotten about that!"

"I didn't know you had family still around
here," Beryl said. "Oops, sorry, was I not supposed to be listening
in?" she giggled.

"Clyde's family lives over east of Story City. He
bought Dad's part of the farm when Dad wanted out. Their kids were a lot older
than me. You know ... Mom and Dad were older when I was born. They didn't think
they'd ever have kids, so they didn't plan on it. It was kind of a surprise
when I was born. Clyde and Ivy weren't terribly happy with me when I moved to
Boston and I guess I didn't figure they'd care whether I was back in Iowa or
not. After Dad died, they never called or tried to stay in contact with me. Maybe
one of these days I will let them know I'm here. We'll see."

"Polly, oh Polly!"
Lydia's voice rang out across the hubbub. "I
think you might want to come see this!"

Polly went back into the living room and saw Billy
peek out from the bedroom door, then quickly close it. Everyone in the room was
whispering.

"What?" she said.

"It's not quite as inappropriate as this is going
to sound, but you need to go see Billy in the bedroom."

The entire room giggled as Polly went to the bedroom
door and timidly opened it. Billy stood there with a huge bundle of something
in his arms. She got closer, trying to figure out what it was.

"I know how much you and Big Jack like each
other, Polly, and Doug and I thought maybe you'd like to have someone strong
around when we no longer live here, so we went down to Ames to see if we could
find another German Shepherd and Labrador mix like him and we did! We got him
before you left and have been training him for the last
couple of weeks
as a surprise. He's getting a lot better about telling us when he needs to go
outside. What do you think?"

The words had
come
spinning out of
his mouth and Polly could tell he was terrified she would say no, but when both
the dog and the boy looked at her with anticipation in their eyes, she realized
she was thrilled with her new best friend. She took him out of Billy's
arms,
the dog turned to look up at her, and then slurped
her right across the face. She grinned and hugged him close and the room
erupted in applause.

"Thank you guys,” she said, her voice choking up.
“
This is the best homecoming present. Did
you give him a name?"

Billy looked a little sheepish. "Well, we called
him Obiwan," then he rushed ahead and said, "But, he's still young
and you can call him anything you like. He'll learn it. He's smart." He
rubbed the dog's head.

"Obiwan it is. I love it. Those are my favorite
movies in the world, anyway."

"Really?"
Doug said.
"Really?
Oh, you're just so cool."

Polly laughed, then turned and looked around the room
at the people who were gathered.

"Thank you all for everything,” she said, her
voice rising to be heard. “
I always
thought that I had great friends, but nothing compares to this. I'm not very
good at speeches, so I'll say thank you and you are welcome here any time."

She bl
ushed and
turned back to Billy.
"This is the
best gift, Billy. I love him!"

"Doug helped me pick him out. The shelter just
got a litter and we couldn't believe it! He might shed a little." Billy
paused. "He might shed a lot. But, we got you a brush for him and there's
a bunch of food here. They said he has his first shots and when it's time,
there's a certificate to neuter him." Billy
shuddered and said, "I know it's the right thing to do, but man,
it seems wrong. Anyway, that's all in a package on your desk over there."

Polly buried her face in Obiwan's neck and smelled the
joy of dog in his soft fur. He wiggled and wiggled and she could feel his tail
trying to wag.

Doug came over with a
purple
leash. "We can take
him outside and walk him if you'd like, Polly."

"Cool," she sa
id. "If you think he needs it. Oh, nice leash, Doug,” and she
laughed.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“Purple?” and she pointed at the leash.

“Oh,” he said. “Billy, why didn’t you stop me?”

“Because, dude,” Billy said. “It’s funny!”

Billy took the dog out of her arms. "This has
been a lot of excitement for the little dude. He'll settle down when
the
two of you
are alone. He and Big Jack already like each other, so it will be cool when we
bring him over too."

"You guys are my Jedi Knights," Polly said. "Thank
you."

Rousing early the next morning, Polly was ready to get
moving
. The party hadn't lasted too late
and everyone pitched in and cleaned things up. There were several things she
wanted to move around and she discovered the extra boxes containing her
decorations were still across the hall, but she was thrilled. The kitchen was
still empty of appliances, but Polly didn't think she needed to be in too much
of a hurry to finish that since she had that great kitchen downstairs.

She sat up and heard a strange sound co
ming from the end of her bed, so s
he pulled on some sweats and a shirt, slipped into her
tennies
and unlatched the kennel. Obiwan bounced out and she
picked him up.

"Good morning, Obiwan! Look at us, living in our
own place." Her
things
were all
in one
place, her dresser and bedside table, her vanity and chair. "It's our
home
.
You and me, Obiwan.
All ours.
This
adventure is actually going to happen!"

She grabbed the leash and clipped it to his collar,
then let him down to the floor. He wiggled his entire body and headed for the
door.

"That's right, Obiwan, we're going outside. Are
you ready for this?"

The two of them went down the steps and headed out the
front door. The morning was crisp and darkness still held its own against the
day, but Polly's front lights came on as she and Obiwan walked to the side of
the school. She knelt down and praised him over and over, remembering her Dad's
admonition to always talk to animal
s
, using
their
name
often
so they could make the connection. After walking
around the school,
by the time she
returned to the front door, she was a little chilly.

"Can we go in now, Obiwan?" He stood at the
front door as she unlocked it and headed for the stairs. "You are such a
good boy." She sat down on the third step and he came back down to nuzzle
her face. "Okay, okay. Let's find us both some breakfast."

Before heading back upstairs, she trotted to the
kitchen and flipped the coffee pot on. Then, she ran back up the steps with
him, poured food in his dish and went into the bathroom to shower and get
ready. She left the door open so she could hear him moving around and when she
came out of the shower, he sat in the doorway to the living room as if waiting
for her.

"Well, either you're a really good dog, Obiwan
,
or Billy and
Doug are good trainers. We'll see how this goes the rest of the day."

She
put Obiwan
back on leash and they walked downstairs. The coffee was ready and she opened
the cooler to forage for breakfast, not surprised at all to find a container
with a label that said, "Eat me
for
breakfast, Polly." Inside
was
a sausage biscuit
and instructions for microwaving it, as well as a large chunk of breakfast
casserole. "Welcome home," she said, "to the town where food
shows up in your refrigerator
."

Polly looked down at the dog,
who
was standing patiently, while panting. "It's a
good thing you're around, Obiwan. We're going to have to go for a lot of walks
to keep up with the food intake." She warmed the
sandwich
and sat
down at the table to eat, looking out of the window. They had started
destroying the playground. As soon as everything was hauled away, she would
have the ground tilled and seeded. It would be wonderful next spring.

Her front door chimed and Obiwan jumped up and pulled
at his leash, barking at the sound. "It's alright. You're going to have to
get over that. Let's go see who it is."

Three of Henry's workmen: Ben, Leroy and Marv
in
were standing
at the door
,
tools in hand.

"Good morning and welcome back, Polly,"
Leroy said. "Ben and Marv said you had a great party last night. I'm sorry
I couldn't be there. Something came up."

"Thanks guys," she replied. "You're a
little early this morning." Polly checked her watch, it was only
seven fifteen,
but she stepped back to let them in.

"I know, but Henry wants to get going on the
flooring in the rooms upstairs. We lost all day Monday, what with everyone
being worried about you. We're going to spend a long day today and maybe work
tomorrow, too. I hope that's alright. Didn't he talk to you?" Ben
apologized.

Obiwan sniffed at all three,
then
sat down. Ben reached over to scratch his ears, Leroy
ignored him and started up the
steps
and poor Marvin looked lost, as if he didn't know
which way to go.

"Oh, that's alright, and Henry doesn't need to
talk to me about scheduling time here. Go ahead, and thanks!" She watched
as they headed up the steps. "Oh," she said, "Coffee is done
already, so come down any time."

Polly tripped the locks open on the front doors and
went back into the kitchen to finish her breakfast.

"Here’s the deal, Obiwan. Today's going to be a
busy day and there
will
be a lot of people in and out of here. I don't want
to leave you alone up in the apartment, but you're going to have to be good,
got it?" Polly put her hand on his head and rubbed it down his back.