White Fur Flying (2 page)

But why didn't he talk? Was he afraid? Was he sad? He must have talked once, maybe when he was a baby. When he was little? Maybe he had talked last week.

Why not now?

Daddy finished his coffee.

“I have to go. I have dogs and cats and one donkey to see,” he said. “You want me to take Lena to the clinic? She could be a bother here.”

“Lena. Bother,” said Lena.

Mama smiled. “It's okay. We can put the cover on her cage if she talks too much. That quiets her.”

“Funny,” I said. “There's a boy next door who doesn't talk and a parrot inside who talks all the time.”

“And a man who drives a black car and comes and goes slyly,” said Alice.

“Slyly?” I asked.

Alice nodded.

“He's not a king,” she said. “He's a spy. Spies don't talk much. They just spy.”

Daddy smiled.

“Could be,” he said. “Though you seem more like a spy than Mr. Croft.”

“I'm a writer,” said Alice.

“Kind of like a spy,” said Daddy.

Alice smiled as if she knew that.

The phone rang and Mama answered it.

“Hello. . . . Oh yes. . . . Uh-huh. . . . Uh-huh.”

“Uh-huh,” said Lena, making us laugh.

“I have a leash for her, by the way,” said Mama. “See you in the morning, then.”

She hung up the phone and leaned down to hug May. Mama's face was very serious.

“May's going to her new home tomorrow?” asked Daddy.

Mama nodded and Daddy put his arm around her.

“I'll miss May,” he said.

We'd all miss May. But what Daddy meant was that he knew Mama would miss her most. Mama had rescued May.

“Well, May has a great home in the country,” said Mama with a small smile. “With a pond. With a family who will love her. And . . .”

She stopped suddenly.

“And what?” asked Daddy as if he knew what.

“I got a telephone call last night. There are two more dogs coming,” said Mama.

Daddy didn't say anything.

“I had to,” she said. “They wouldn't be alive in two days, so I'm taking them.”

“Two,” said Daddy.

“Two. I have to drive across state to pick them up. One is young.”

Daddy nodded.

“Two,” he said, beginning to laugh.

“Two,” said Lena, laughing with Daddy.

The Crofts' house was the only other one we could see from our house. Ours was old. The farmer who owned all the land around it had lived here with its uneven wood floors and lavender wavery glass windows, its five fireplaces and three closets. When the farmer retired, he built the house where the Crofts lived.

The dogs had almost a half acre fenced in for running and digging and sleeping under trees. There were still cattle and horses in the fields surrounding our house. Sometimes Kodi spent time watching over the cows from his side of the fence. It was a Great Pyr's job in life to guard the herd. Kodi kept watch over them in his own way.

The fence was where I found Alice and Phillip, sitting cross-legged with the dogs.

Alice was talking.

“And my father is a vet. He takes care of small and big animals. Mama rescues Great Pyrenees dogs so they won't be killed. We have a talking parrot inside. You can come in to see her if you want.”

Kodi and May lay on either side of Phillip, Kodi's big head on his lap.

“Did Mrs. Croft allow Phillip to come inside the fence?” I asked Alice.

“Yes. I told her he was coming over for a visit. I said I'd walk him home when he was ready.”

“And?”

“She didn't say anything,” said Alice.

I laughed.

A door opened and shut next door. Mrs. Croft stood on the porch.

“Come home soon, Phillip,” she called. “We have to go shopping before lunch.”

“No, thank you, Mrs. Croft,” called Alice.

Mrs. Croft's mouth hung open with surprise.

Alice stood up, and Phillip stood too.

“Phillip's having lunch at our house,” she called. “Don't worry. It will be healthy.”

Alice took Phillip's hand and they walked toward the house.

“The queen watches,” said Alice softly. “Come, royal doggies.”

Kodi and May walked on either side of them like guardian angels.

I looked back. Mrs. Croft had gone inside. A little slice of sunlight marked the place she had been.

chapter 5

“Car,”
said Alice, peering out the kitchen window.

“Car,” said Lena.

Mama stood very still for a moment.

“Okay,” she said. “They're early.”

May knew the people who were adopting her. She had met them twice—once here, once at their house. I couldn't remember their last name, but their first names were easy. They were both named Tom, man and wife.

“How can that be?” Alice had asked. “Two Toms?”

“He's Tom and she's Tommy,” said Mama. “Tomasina, I think.”

Alice snorted. And from that time on they were known as the Two Toms.

I watched them get out of the car. The man Tom smiled at the woman Tom, who carried a pot of flowers. They walked up to the porch.

May put her nose in the air and woofed. She was brushed. She was wearing her new green leather collar.

Mama opened the door.

When May saw the Toms, she ran to them and wagged her huge feathered tail.

“May!” the Two Toms said. They often said the same thing at the same time. It seemed to cut down on confusion.

“Don't allow her to jump up on you,” warned Mama. “She's too big for that. Say ‘off.'”

“Off,” said the Two Toms.

“Off!” said Lena loudly.

“Hi, Zoe. Hi, Alice,” said the Tom woman.

“Here's her leash,” said Mama. She handed them a folder. “And here's the paperwork you'll need for your vet: a list of her vaccinations and early health records. You'll see she's healthy.”

The Tom woman leaned over and gave Mama a kiss on the cheek. She handed Mama the flowers. “We thank you. We'll keep in touch, Claire.”

“Call me if you have any questions,” said Mama. “I'd like to hear how she's doing. She's a good girl.”

Surprisingly, it was Alice who had tears. She hugged May, who was loving all this attention even though she didn't understand what was about to happen.

I looked at Kodi, who stood to the side. Tom the man went over and patted Kodi, and Kodi wagged his tail.

But he knew. Kodi always knew that when a new dog came, that dog would go away again.

I moved over and put my hand on his head. He looked at me with those smart black eyes.

When the Two Toms and May went out the door, Kodi left me and walked to the window and looked out. He watched May stand by the car. We all stood there.

May got into the backseat. She turned her head and looked at us for a moment.

Then she was gone.

It is dark night, only the night-light glowing, when I feel something move next to me in bed. I turn over and see his big face next to my face. He has stretched out on my white down quilt.

White on white.

I smile in the dark and put my arm around his big, soft, furry body.

“It's all right, Kodi,” I whisper. “There will be more dogs soon.”

Kodi sighs a dog sigh.

He sleeps. All is quiet again.

chapter 6

In
the morning Alice, Mama, and Daddy were looking out the kitchen window.

“What's there?” I asked.

“Kodi,” Mama said.

Kodi was standing at the fence, looking down the road where May had disappeared.

“He misses May,” said Daddy.

“I'll go,” Mama said.

But I touched her arm.

“Look,” I said.

Phillip walked down the yard toward Kodi. He stopped partway. We could see his lips move. Kodi turned around to look at him, then bounded away from the fence and ran to Phillip. They walked together down to the grove of trees and stopped to look out over the fields of cows.

“He talks,” I said. “Phillip said something to Kodi.”

“It seems so,” said Daddy.

“How come he doesn't talk to the rest of us?” I asked.

“Maybe he doesn't have anything to say to us,” said Alice.

“No. Phillip has lots to say,” I said. “Lots.”

My voice sounded loud in the quiet kitchen.

No one said anything.

“He thinks many things. And those things are trapped inside of him. Maybe something happened that made him afraid to talk,” I said.

I looked out the window.

“Except to Kodi,” I added softly.

“Kodi and Phillip are friends in some way we don't know about,” said Daddy. “And it doesn't have much to do with words.”

“Kodi liked Phillip from the very first,” said Mama. “You know how Kodi sometimes leaves food for a new dog when we take that dog in, as if he knows the dog needs more? He's that way with Phillip. He's a caretaker.”

“You think Phillip needs more? Like a rescue dog?” I asked.

“I do,” said Mama. “Don't you?”

Alice sat down at the table and took out her journal.

“Poor Kodi. The dogs come and go and he's always left behind,” said Alice.

“Maybe that is what Kodi and Phillip know about each other. They're both left behind,” I said.

“Hey, with a very nice family!” said Daddy.

“Don't know that about Phillip's family,” said Alice.

Daddy took the cloth cover off Lena's big cage. “What do you think, Lena?”