Ch.7, Pt.2: After, she went downstairs…
After, she went downstairs in a purple terrycloth bathrobe. The kitchen was a mess, with the abandoned dishes still on the table, chairs pushed away from the woodstove, and dirt tracked in by the firemen. A sooty smell of smoke hung in the air. The first thing she did was go around the house opening windows, resolving to call a chimney inspector on Monday. The crisp, fresh November air flowed in, mingled with warmth from the bright sunshine. It looked like a beautiful day.
Katherine was desperate for a pot of hot tea, and plugged in the full kettle. While it heated, she starting cleaning up the dishes until a cool breeze convinced her to get dressed. Coming back downstairs in jeans and a thick sweatshirt, she unplugged the steaming kettle and sipped gingerly at a mug. She finished washing the dishes, dreamily handling the plates and cutlery he had used until the stabbing fear forced her to put him out of her mind. She wiped down the counters and cupboard doors with a cleaner, replacing the smoky smell with a pleasant lemon fragrance. With the kitchen all straightened and shined up, she sat back in a chair with a second mug of tea. And oddly, the thought of food did not appeal. “Morning sickness!” flashed through her mind but she dismissed it in irritation. Not yet.
She looked at Noodle happily chewing on a stick of firewood, and remembered reading that a puppy was ready for training when it could respond to its name. “Noodle,” she called, and he turned to look at her, tilting his head as if asking a question. Let’s try it, she thought.
She took the long leather puppy leash and held the door open for Noodle to go outside. She snapped the leash onto his leather collar, and let him have plenty of length, so that he didn’t feel restricted. He didn’t seem to notice the leash at all, and Katherine took care to keep it that way. Cheerfully, she invited him to walk with her to a large patch of lawn in front of the stable, and he eagerly trotted along beside her.
Taking a deep breath, she said “Sit,” and gently held his head up while pressing down on his rump with her other hand. Then she praised and petted him, and he stood up, wagging his tail. They walked a few paces, and Katherine said “Noodle, sit.” He didn’t respond, and she repeated the command clearly while gently folding his legs into position. Again she praised him as if he had obeyed, and again they took a little walk. Noodle’s tail wagged as if it were a game. When she stopped and gave the command, he did nothing until she bent down, but before she touched him, he sat. This time her praise was genuinely joyful. Noodle bounced up and licked her face, and she laughed. Then the training session continued, with short walks and stops and the sit command, and praise afterward, whether or not Noodle performed perfectly. Once or twice she gave a quick twitch to the leash to keep his attention focused on her. Half an hour later, he was promptly sitting at each command, and starting to look bored.
In wonder, Katherine took off the training leash and started a playful romp as reward, murmuring words of affection, rubbing his belly, letting him take her hand in his mouth, folding her hand around his jaw and shaking it. When your dog responds to its name, she remembered reading, it can learn a new command every day. She didn’t believe it, but resolved to try teaching him the stay command tomorrow. She sat back on her heels and looked at the house, wondering what she should do next. There was still so much decorating to do and renovations to decide, but the house only made her think of Rick, and then she felt sick worry again. She looked at the stable, considering what she might do with it, but her first meeting with Rick flashed in her mind. She looked beyond the stable at her fields and trees, and decided to go for a long walk. It’ll give me something else to think about, and also might prevent a pregnancy. If women who want to conceive are supposed to lie on their backs with their hips elevated, it makes sense that immediate exercise might prevent conception. She went into the house to put on her hiking boots, and then set off with Noodle trotting close beside.
Behind the stable the first field began. The crop had been harvested and all that remained were stalks and stubble among great clods of earth. Looking closer, Katherine saw dried yellow kernels of corn scattered over the ground. On the rise of ground in the distance, Canada geese stretched their long necks and stared, giving occasional honks of warning. Some walked swiftly away, closer to the safety of the others.
Katherine and Noodle took the edge of the field, where grass and turf made a clean, more level surface. Noodle never strayed from Katherine’s feet, and kept up without a whimper. A few geese began pecking at the corn on the ground while the rest kept watch. Katherine walked along an old fence line that bordered the next field. Trees and shrubs grew wild and densely on both sides of the cedar rail fence which was tumbled down in places. Small birds flitted away into the deeper cover of the trees. At the end of the cornfield Katherine turned around and looked back at the house. Only the roof and chimney showed. She closed her eyes as scenes of last night’s fire flashed through her mind, and turned to climb up the mound of fieldstones bordering the fence.
As she stretched her legs over the top rail, she felt a strange numbness in her hips. Hopping onto the ground on the other side, she was surprised to feel her legs weaken and threaten to buckle underneath her. But remember how much you used your body last night. You’re just tired, with good reason. Noodle was squawking unhappily on the other side of the fence, and she turned to look for a low opening big enough for him to squeeze through. He rushed into her guiding hands, and as she petted him, she remembered running her fingers through Rick’s hair. He rises up on one elbow and brings his head close to her, and she relaxes into the pillow. Shaking her head to clear the memory, she clapped her hands once and set off briskly.
Forest grew at the far edge of this field, which was planted with a low-growing leafy crop that reached the hedgerow of bushes. Walking was harder for Noodle here; he had to leap up and over the growth. Katherine kept an anxious eye on him, wondering whether she would have to carry him if he grew tired, but he kept up eagerly. His first big walk, she thought.
At the edge of this second field Katherine walked along the fence looking for the tractor path that wound through the forest. She came to an opening in the fence line, and started on the wide path into the woods. Dense tree trunks made it darker here, and it was quieter. The wind didn’t touch her, but she heard it passing high overhead. The silence was like a man breathing in his sleep. Noodle whimpered and brushed up against Katherine’s legs. Gray trees surrounded her, with only a few dried leaves still clinging on the branches. As she walked she scuffed up the fallen leaves. Noodle grew confident and ran barking and trying to bite them as they floated down. After a few mouthfuls of crumbling leaves, he sneezed and ignored them.
The path curved around and up a slight rise where huge moss-covered boulders broke the surface of the ground. Then the land sloped gently down and there were more cedars and other evergreens. Katherine breathed deeply and seemed to taste fresh green. In a hollow, the track skirted a small pool of water. Fallen trees were tumbled around the edge of the bog, and Katherine found a clean, dry section of log to sit on. Noodle sniffed the rich black earth and started off on a meandering trail that only he could sense, the white tip of his tail wagging.
As Katherine sat still, she began to hear bird calls, or perhaps the birds started up once she remained quiet for a while. As she relaxed and let her mind drift, she heard the unmistakable calls of a blue jay, and some chickadees. If other birds were calling, she didn’t know because she couldn’t recognize their sounds.
Ch.7, Pt.3: She gazed into the dark pool… » »