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Teague’s final words from earlier pierced my brain.
“Think he’s coming back?”
Ash pawed at me. She believed in him. Maybe I could take a lesson.
Maybe I could stop being so guarded.
I checked the clock. After ten. Another day that had gotten away from me.
“We’d better tell Miss Adeline we’re going for our night walks.”
At her name, a few dogs bolted up the stairs before I was off the floor. The sound of their paws hopping on the hardwoods made me smile on a day I would’ve thought it impossible.
Dogs were the great healers.
I followed them to the base of the stairs and cupped my hands. “Hey, I’m running out to take a couple dogs out. I’ll be back soon.”
"Be careful. Take your phone,” Miss Adeline called.
I pocketed the device and leashed up Sadie, Muffy, and Ash.
As the back door slammed behind us and we entered the dark alley, Teague's warnings about being out late at night popped into my head. I never thought about those things much before him. But I could be extra cautious. I always was.
Muffy did his business immediately like the good boy that he was. He looked at me for his treat. I fumbled in my pocket for one and finally found it.
He munched as Sadie pulled us toward the end of the alley instead of following Muffy’s lead.
“You have no concept of cold, do you?"
She ignored me like always and headed in the direction of the park.
“Sadie, can we not go that way?”
The direction of the park still hurt too much. Seeing it earlier in the day . . . I needed some time away from it.
But she wanted to go that way, so we did.
There was no one else around. Who would be out in this cold?Is it ever going to warm up?A few cars passed every so often as we made our way down the block in the otherwise quiet night.
Sadie charged ahead until the park came into view. Where there used to be lights illuminating the perimeter, it was now a big dark hole.
Ash's steps were tentative the closer that we got. Sadie had been so sensitive to the other dog’s feelings that I was surprised she barged forward.
Muffy was in between the two, unsure whether to speed up or slow down. Ash’s body was warm against my leg where she’d glued herself to my side.
Grrr.
Ash bared her teeth and refused to go any further. She hadn’t had this reaction to the park earlier in the day. Sadie stopped. And sniffed. And barked.
Woof. Woof. Woof.
Muffy joined in but this wasn’t his playful bark. It was deep and powerful and scary.
I glanced around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. These dogs wouldn’t be barking at nothing, especially not like this. Maybe it was anger somehow at the destruction of their park. It wasn’t impossible for them to feel that even though they were dogs.
Part of me hoped it was Teague and he would appear from the shadows like the other night in the alley.
“Let’s go home,” I said. No need to stress them out any further.
