Someday Home (13 page)

W
hen Lynn finally made her way up the stairs, Miss Minerva leaping ahead of her, she got ready for bed in record time and crawled in.
Lord, help them sleep as if they've been here for a while.
She'd warned them of the coyotes' singing but hoped nothing would wake them again. She read for five minutes rather than her usual fifteen and turned out the light. Oh, the bed felt so good.

She woke to a cat in full fright mode screaming on her chest. “What is it, Minerva?” Surely that wasn't the coyotes howling. It sounded like a hound baying. Right by the house. No one in their area had a hound, not even a beagle. The sound came again, horribly sad. It sounded like it was on the deck or by the entryway. Call for help or go see? Lynn grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed and stuck her feet in her moccasins. Turning on the hall and stair lights, she made her way downstairs. Nothing on the deck.

A whimpering noise caused her to flick on the porch light and open the door. She sucked in air. “What are you? Whose are you? Oh, you poor thing.”

The end of the dog's tail quivered, and he stared up at her, long filthy ears and eyes to break one's soul.

“Are you injured?”

His tail thumped. He whimpered again.

She held out her hand, palm down, and his big black nose gave her hand the sniff over. The tail thumped again. She patted his head and a long tongue swept across her wrist. “How come you're not afraid? Who do you belong to? Are you lost?” She knelt beside the dog. No collar, no tags. He lurched to his feet and wagged some more. “How did you get so filthy?” Where could she put him? She couldn't leave him outside to howl all night. “You want to come in?” She stepped back and held the door open. “Are you hungry?”

Lynn heard a growl and a hiss. Miss Minerva was not happy.

The dog was half in but scrambled back and out.

“I'll be right back.” She shut the door and headed for the mudroom, where she had not gotten rid of the leashes. He sat on the steps, waiting for her, his tail in full swing. She slid the leash around his neck and led him into the mudroom. No dog food, so cat food would have to do. Filthy as he was, he wasn't bone skinny.

After she fed him, he curled up on the rug and was soon snoring. Hopefully they would find the owners right away.

Lynn went back to bed, but a pathetic howl woke her just as Minerva landed on her chest.

Lynn blinked herself awake, unseating the cat as she threw the covers back in order to leap from the bed and grab her robe at the same time as her feet found the slippers. It was morning, but she'd wanted the others to sleep in. She was down the stairs and heading for the kitchen when Judith charged into the room.

“What was that? Wolves?” Judith was wide-eyed. “It's not wolves, is it?”

“A dog howling, long story.” Lynn pulled the door open to have a hound greet her verbally and dash to the door. “Okay, fella, okay, I'll let you out and perhaps you'll go back home, wherever home is.” She opened the door and stood back to watch. Down the stairs he went and barely made it to the gravel before he peed a river. “Well, at least you are housebroken.”

Judith stood right beside her, gaping. “Where did that dog come from?”

“I have no idea. I couldn't leave him howling on the front steps, so I brought him in, fed him cat food. I gave him a couple cups. He gobbled that so fast, I'm sure he's been without food a couple of days, at least.” She watched him, nose to the ground, white-tipped tail waving over his back, while he inspected the yard, reading all or anything that had traversed recently.

“He's big. And terribly dirty.”

“Right on both counts. Sure wonder who owns him; bet they are searching high and low. But I've not seen any signs or heard of a missing dog.” The hound raised his head, then turned and trotted back to the steps, tail wagging.

“Do people often dump unwanted pets along your road? They did in Rutherford.”

“Far too often. We have a good humane society in Detroit Lakes.”

“Look, he's grinning. I don't know dogs well; it's a hound, right? The baying. Is it a bloodhound or a beagle? Those huge, droopy ears…”

“A basset hound.” Lynn looked down at the dog. “You go on home, big dog. Your folks are missing you.”

He climbed the three steps and stared into the house, then up at her. Obviously he knew where the food might be.

“He looks kind of pudgy. You know, round.”

“Actually, he's a bit on the thin side as bassets go; Tom had one once.” Lynn started to open the door but shut it quickly. “Will you please go through and close the other door to the mudroom? If he gets in the house and chases Minerva…” She shuddered.

“Of course.”

As soon as the other door was closed, Lynn opened the outer door. The dog sat looking up at her, tail in motion; he looked inside, then up at her again. Lynn walked in and held the door open. “Come on.” In he came. “You have good manners, fella. Someone spent time training you. How about you stay in here and I'll go round you up some breakfast.” He followed her to the inner door but stopped when she said no. When she closed the door again, he whined, but at least he didn't bark or howl.

“I found the coffee last night; I hope you don't mind if I make some,” Judith said.

“Not at all, go ahead. I like mine about medium. I'm going to call and see if my son Phillip can send over some dog food.” She glanced at the clock. Six fifteen. He would be up by now.

He answered on the second ring. “You okay?”

“Yes, just have a slight situation here. Did you hear a dog howling last night, two-ish?”

“Nope. Why?”

“I have a guest here, a rather large basset, and he was howling fit to raise the hardest sleeper from the front door. Filthy, but agreeable and mannered. Well socialized. You noticed any posts or anything about a lost hound? Oh, and he's hungry. No tags or collar. How about running some food over for him? He does like cat food…”

“Probably likes anything edible. He didn't chew or destroy anything in the mudroom? Sure, I'll bring some right now. How are your two ladies doing?”

“Judith woke to the howling, I think Angela is still asleep, although how anyone could sleep through this guy's demands is beyond me.”

“See you in a minute.”

Lynn hung up. “Kibbles are coming.”

Judith looked down at her nightclothes. “Oh my gosh, I'm not dressed!”

“Don't worry, you're decent. I'll just take the sack from him. He'll be in a hurry anyway.” The murmur of dripping coffee and the aroma sent Lynn to the cupboard for the coffee mugs. “I have a coffee cake in the bread box to warm up.”

“When do you have time for all the baking?”

“When I get uptight, I bake.” She heard the truck tires on the gravel and headed to the back door. The dog's tail drummed against the dryer and he followed right behind her. Lynn opened the door and watched her son step down from the four-wheel-drive pickup and bring a bag of kibble to hand her.

He studied the pooch. “A basset hound, eh? A real handsome basset hound.” He handed her the bag.

“A hungry, filthy basset hound.” The dog stood right beside her, staring up at Phillip.

“What if you can't find the owners? Or someone dumped him?”

“I don't know, I've not thought that far.”

“Wonder if he hunts?”

“Maggie will strangle you if you bring home another dog.”

“I know. See you later.” He headed back to the pickup.

A whimper and increased tail wagging said the dog knew what was in the bag. Lynn poured the kibble in the dog dish she had set out the night before and refilled the water bowl at the wash sink. “There you go, fella. Enjoy.” She wrinkled her nose.
Pee-uw.
“You not only are dirty, but you smell bad.” He looked up from his dish and wagged his tail again before returning to gobble the kibble as if she might take it away from him.

“So what are you going to do with him?” Judith asked when they sat down at the square pine table in the kitchen with coffee and warmed-up coffee cake.

“Make some phone calls first. Take him to the vet and see if he is microchipped. I'll have the vet check him over, maybe even bathe him, since I have no desire to try that myself right now. His toenails are pretty long, too. He's not had the best care.”

“This is so good!” Judith worked the coffee cake in her mouth. “But you say he's been trained. Doesn't make sense, does it?”

“Nope, sure wonder what his story is.”

“Surely he's not dumped. How could someone dump a dog like that?”

“How can people dump any animals? I guess people figure,
Oh, there are homes along here, someone will take them in
.”

“So sad.” Judith turned full attention to her coffee cake.

“Not just sad, it makes me furious. I would love to catch someone in the act and dump a load of buckshot into their vehicle.”

Judith's eyes went wide. “Really, you would do that?”

“Who knows? You want eggs and bacon or dry cereal, hot cereal, toast, what would you like?”

Judith cleaned up the last crumbs of her coffee cake. “I think I want to go get dressed first, if that's okay.”

“Good idea.”

Judith glanced at her. “But you said everyone on their own for breakfast and lunch.”

“I know, but if I'm making mine, fixing for two or three is not that big a deal. I am going to have bacon and eggs over easy.”

“Sounds heavenly to me.”

Lynn paused, stared at nothing a moment. “I think I'll check on Angela, just quickly. Listen at her door.”

A meow in grumble mode announced Minerva. “But first,” Lynn corrected, “I will feed Her Highness, whose nose is seriously out of joint.”

“She doesn't like dogs?”

“She and Orson were good buds, but this one is an intruder in her domain.”

“I see.” Judith nodded. “So it's not just humans who are territorial.”

“Have you had cats?”

“‘Cats and dogs are dirty pests.' Direct quote from my father. ‘Certainly not something for children.' End of discussion. But I always rather wanted a pet.”

“How sad. I think all children should have pets.” Lynn shrugged. “But that was long ago and perhaps Miss Minerva will win your heart.” The cat appeared at the sound of her name and curled around Lynn's ankle, nearly tripping her. “Or repulse it.” She gave Miss Minerva a brief stroking and walked back to Angela's door, listened a moment, then gently tried the latch. It slid open. She peeked in to see Angela sound asleep. She closed the door again.

When she returned to the kitchen, Judith had put on jeans and a cute sweatshirt. A true Minnesota girl, she was wearing flip-flops in this chilly spring weather. She had gotten the skillet and toaster out. “I did learn how to make a simple breakfast. Basic survival after the cook left, but you have so many wonderful choices.” She stepped aside and sat down.

“The coffee smells very good.” Lynn smiled. “Oh, and Angela was still sleeping. Or at least she wasn't moving around.”

Judith nodded. “I heard the toilet flush earlier.”

“As soon as we have breakfast, I'll make some phone calls.” Lynn grabbed the pad of paper by the phone and started a list, beginning with the veterinarian. She put the bacon on.

“Can I do anything?” Judith asked.

“No, I don't…wait. See that piece of notebook paper on the fridge, with all the names and numbers on it? Can you use it to look up the numbers of the calls on my list? I'm sure they're all there somewhere.”

Judith pulled down the piece of paper with its jotted names and numbers all askew and laughed. “I'll bet every refrigerator in the world has a phone book like this.” She sat down at the table. “Vet. Knight?”

“Yes. That's Herb. Most business interactions in this area are first-name basis.” Lynn turned the bacon and started the eggs. She happened to notice out of the corner of her eye that Judith was mostly watching her cook. She had also noticed that Judith was uneasy when the kids came by during her visit. Lynn could teach Judith to cook; she could not teach her to like children. Was this going to be a problem?

When they sat down to eat, Judith said, “You make it look so easy.”

“It has become easy. Our family has always worked hard and played hard. They're good eaters, even the less-than-successful recipe attempts.”

Judith ate in silence. Then said, “You mentioned the dog's toenails. And the fleas and ticks and bathing. There is so much to pets besides—well, you know, calling ‘din din' and they come running. Like the commercials. I feel disadvantaged. Like I spent my whole life in a sterile lab jar.”

Lynn opened her mouth in amazement and closed it again. What an alien world. After breakfast she started her call list. Judith had written all the numbers in a small, neat hand. The woman was well organized and efficient.

Ten minutes later Lynn sighed and laid aside the phone. “Nope, no one has heard of a lost dog. The humane society and the vet in Detroit Lakes are all posting his info. I'll make up cards and post them on bulletin boards at the feedstore and a couple of other places. We have an appointment with Herb at eleven. You want to go with me, er, us?”

“Sure. Maybe my father wasn't totally wrong about pets. You know, he's going to stink up your car.”

Lynn probably couldn't teach her to love dogs, either. “I'll spray it after.”

The phone rang. “You have a dog, G'ma?”

“Sorry, Miss Priss, he's not to keep.”

“Oh. Can I come see him?”

“After school if he's still here.” She clicked off after the good-bye and smiled at Judith. “You remember Phillip and Maggie's daughter.”

“Of course. She's a charmer.”