“You’ve seen the dogs?”Leeza asked.
“Yes, I know them all very well.”Selene smiled for the first time since she arrived.
Rene, Rhetta and Leeza stared at her.
She looked troubled by the stares they were giving her.“Sorry.I didn’t mean to...”
“I think they are just amazed, Selene,” King explained.“Those dogs do not befriend people.”
“No, they don’t.”Colt nodded.“They tend to eat people.”
“They are my only friends.”Selene nodded.
The girls kept staring at her as they looked stunned.
“Our dogs were trained to...”Rhetta paused and shook her head.“Track, hunt and even kill.They only come to us when we use the known signals.Ain’t no one out dere that they kin to, ‘cept for us.”
Selene looked upset at the edge in her voice.“I-I never thought...”
“Selene is not just anyone, girls,” Maudie cut in with her explanation.“And those dogs know it.They know she’s a kind soul and wouldn’t hurt them.”
Reecie agreed, “They are special canines and they know she is a pure soul.Un ange.”An angel.
Selene stared at Maudie then at Reecie.She couldn't believe what they were saying about her.
“So, you have been watching people in the swamps for a long time,” King concluded.
“Yes and I was watching when you returned,” Selene told him.“I thought Ms.Maudie was gonna boot you back out.”
Chuckles went around the table.
“You knew about that?”King took his turn in shock town.
Nodding, she added “I know ole blue too.And he was a special guest at your weddings.”
The table full of people again had their startled looking gazes on her.
“I bet he did not befriend you, though did he?”Boomer asked her with a teasing grin.
Selene paused at the question and replied, “He likes his snout to be rubbed and he loves skinned chickens.”
“What in the...?”Clive spoke up as he stared at her in disbelief.“You mean to tell me that mean ole gator lets you pet him?”
Nodding, Selene went on, “The day he got old Herman Pope was a good day.That war was too long in the making.Poor Blue.Now he’s got young’uns all over the swamp.”She smiled.
“So, you grew up watching all of us?”Harry asked her.
She nodded.“I sort of watched and listened so I wouldn’t feel so...alone.”
“But you never came forward?”Mickey asked her.
“I almost did.”Selene shrugged.“There were a few times when I was going to get um...involved and help you all but I was always afraid that you would chase me down and kill me.”
“Why would we EVER do that?”Mickey exclaimed in shock.
“Because I am scary when you see me at first.Like the She-beast.”
The room went totally silent once again.
