Holiday Homecoming. Pamela Tracy
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He’d rarely looked so stern when talking with her.
Satisfied, he said, “There were too many people here last night, so I didn’t get the chance to ask. That thing I went after really was a wolf dog, huh, like Yoda?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it. She had the long legs of a wolf and I recognize the snout. I must have walked back and forth across two miles this morning, but I couldn’t find her. She’s skittish. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Skittish?” Grandpa asked.
“Yes,” Meredith answered. “Plus leery. You’ve heard me talk about Yoda.”
“The wolf dog you use for public relations back at BAA. Your favorite.”
Meredith always felt a little guilty when people remarked that Yoda was her favorite. She loved all the animals, even BAA’s grumpiest camel who liked to spit on her. But she and Yoda did have a special bond.
“Obviously, you managed to get him to trust you.” Grandpa finished his orange juice, but he’d only eaten a tiny corner of of the hash browns she’d prepared, maybe two bites of one sausage, and he’d scrambled the eggs a bit more so she’d not notice he’d not even tried to eat them.
Hmm...
“He was my first assignment. Somewhere, under all Yoda’s fear, was a dog who wanted to be loved.”
Grandpa pushed his plate away. “You always had a way with animals. Remember Blackie the cow?”
“I remember her following me around.”
“She trailed behind you whenever you were on horseback. Your grandma and I always considered Blackie somewhat of a guardian. We thought if you fell off, she’d drag you home with her teeth. Now, finish telling me about Yoda and wolf dogs.”
“Well, your visitor looks a lot like Yoda, maybe a bit bigger. I figure she’s at least half wolf. If I had to guess, I’d say that she was here searching for her owner.”
That seemed to worry Grandpa. He’d been starting to relax, just a little, but now he went back to the pinched look. Meredith hurriedly added, “She was most likely a pet, one that got a little too hard to handle and so her owners tried to release her into the wild.”
“I don’t think so.” Grandpa sounded sure.
“It happens more than you’d believe.”
“So,” Grandpa said, “ignorant people drop an animal like Yoda off in the forest thinking maybe he’ll find a wolf pack in Arizona? I don’t think I’ve seen wolves in the wild in the last fifty years.”
“And whoever released our wolf dog didn’t take the time to remove her collar. That’s just wrong.”
“Maybe they just didn’t care.”
“I hate to think that,” Meredith said. “I’d rather believe that the wolf dog got loose and couldn’t find her way back. Maybe somebody’s looking for her.”
Grandpa gazed out the window. “I doubt it. That wolf dog’s owner might be sending a message, a warning.”
“What? Grandpa, why would you say that?”
His lips pursed together. “I just know.”
Meredith wasn’t sure about this sudden change in Grandpa’s mood, but pressing would probably just make him more irritable. “Whoever lost the wolf dog had good intentions,” she said. “They just get overwhelmed.”
Meredith could manage a whole animal habitat without getting overwhelmed. And yet she’d not been back in Gesippi but twenty-four hours and she already felt the crush of responsibility. This elderly man sitting across from her was the only one who’d truly understand.
“It was strange having both Jimmy and Danny in the kitchen talking with me.”
“Danny’s moved on,” Grandpa said. “His fiancée’s nice. I’ve talked to her a time or two. Her name’s Holly. She rides her bike up and down Pioneer Road on occasion. She likes my chickens.”
“He deserves happiness.”
“Always,” Grandpa agreed. “You talk to Jimmy about anything special?”
“He asked why I didn’t marry Danny.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That I didn’t love Danny that way.”
“Did you tell him who you still loved?”
Standing, she gathered up their breakfast dishes and asked, “Do you need help getting to your bedroom and getting dressed?”
“No. And don’t try to change the subject.”
“I’m not trying to change the subject. I am changing the subject.”
No way was she going to talk about Jimmy Murphy. Ten years put a lot of dirt over the casket of unreturned love.
Grandpa waited a moment, then nodded. In the time it took Grandpa to stand, walk to his bedroom and shut the door, she finished clearing the table, washing the dishes and putting everything away.
The phone rang just as she set the towel on the edge of the sink. Her first impulse was to answer it, but this was Grandpa’s place, and she needed to remember that. After a moment, she heard him answer.
“This is Ray Stone... What? I can’t hear you. Speak a little louder.” She was about to knock on his bedroom door and offer to help, when apparently whoever was on the other end must have made himself heard.
“No,” said Grandpa, “I’ve not lost a wallet or any money. Really? That’s interesting, but my wallet’s on top of my dresser. I’ve no idea why my phone number would be in a wallet containing that much money.”
The conversation ended, and when Grandpa didn’t call for her, she decided it wasn’t her place to pry. She headed for the small hallway bathroom and brushed her teeth, redid her ponytail and then went outside to sit in Grandma’s rocking chair and call Luke Rittenhouse. Next to her, he understood Yoda the wolf dog most and would be able to help her with this new animal.
“We can’t take another wolf dog,” he said, surprising her. Used to be, he’d open BAA’s doors to any animal. “Yoda’s struggling to find his place, and he’s been at BAA for years. Technically, wolf dogs are not wild animals. They’re pets.”
“So’s your beloved iguana.”
“My iguana is a not-so-wild wild animal that someone attempted to turn into a pet. Your new wolf dog is a hybrid, so it clearly falls under the pet category. I know there are rescue—”
Meredith protested, “You know as well as I do that there are more wolf dogs than there are people and places that will take them. We’ve already done the legwork with Yoda. And this new one will be harder. She’s been in the wild. Yoda never was.”
“First you have to find her,” Luke said calmly. “Then we’ll worry about what to do with her.”
“Easy for you to say,” Meredith muttered, frustrated.
Luke laughed before asking her a few questions about the birds and giving her an update on Ollie the orangutan who, like Meredith’s grandfather, was losing the battle of aging.
The moment she hung up she realized that Luke hadn’t told her how Yoda was faring. Which meant there was something Luke didn’t want her to know.
She started to redial, but Grandpa shuffled out from his bedroom. He’d lost weight. She could do something about that, like make him eat a second helping of her hash browns and three bites of sausage. He had less hair. She didn’t care; he was still handsome. His hands shook. After a moment, The Price is Right blared on the television. Grandpa’s favorite show.
“I don’t need to go see Doc Thomas,”