I had caused this terrible injury and all the aftermath. And no matter how many times I told myself that John Quayle was responsible, the truth still breathed loudly in my ear.
Teo had promised to bring Bismarck to the town house in the afternoon with everything I’d need for the days or weeks I had him. We’d gone over simple commands and signals. But watching one of the trainers put another dog through his paces, I knew there had been nothing “simple” about turning Bismarck into the dog who had distracted John Quayle long enough for Teo to take him down.
The dog and the man who had saved my life. The man who had lost his leg and his profession because of me.
I shopped afterward to distract myself, stopping at the grocery store for supplies for tomorrow night. The girls and I were invited to my parents’ house, and I’d promised to bring dinner. I planned to enlist Holly and Noelle to help make a vegan meal we’d all enjoy.
Other than cooking, we had an entire weekend ahead of us. With that in mind, after lunch I stopped at a craft store and asked for recommendations. I emerged with red and green headbands to decorate, and instructions and supplies to make reindeer from colored paper and cardboard tubes. Christmas was around the corner. And Wendy’s town house needed signs a holiday was on the way.
My final stop was our local discount store, where I bought Frisbees, quick-fill water balloons and a nature bingo game. I hoped we were set.
At home I walked to the school to pick up the girls. The younger Mrs. English was out front making sure children went in the right directions. She smiled when I joined her.
“Holly will be out in a minute. She went back inside to get her sister. Noelle is taking her time this afternoon.”
“How’s Holly doing?”
“She’s not as tired, but she still seems worried.”
“I think children always worry when their parents are away. She’ll feel better after her mother comes home.” As would we all.
“She might benefit from some counseling. But I’d want her mother’s permission. Could you have your sister phone the school?”
I told the truth, just not all of it. “I doubt that’s possible. Wendy’s hard to reach. She’s traveling in remote areas.”
Younger Mrs. English was no fool. “Got your hands full, don’t you?”
“More than I can say.”
“I think the girls are lucky to have you.”
I thought that was funny since I had no clue how to be an aunt, but as Holly and Noelle came out, older hauling younger, I thanked her. Job finished, Holly left Noelle to drag along behind.
“We have a surprise coming this afternoon,” I said.
Noelle perked up. “Is Mommy coming home?”
“Daddy?” Holly asked.
Mentally I kicked myself. The “no clue” thing had reared its ugly head. “I’m sorry, but no. Something else you’ll like though.”
“Not someone.” Holly was paying attention.
“Comes with a someone. You’ll see.”
“I’m hungry,” Noelle said, and I waited for Holly to tell her she wasn’t. Holly seemed to associate snacking with the onset of a fatal disease. But today she didn’t say a word.
At home I heated caramel sauce in the microwave and pulled out a plate of fruit I’d cut up. I added pretzels and set everything on the counter, dipping an apple slice into the sauce in demonstration.
Noelle dug right in. Holly sucked on a pretzel, but even she gave in eventually and started to dip.
By the time there was a knock at the front door, the girls had snacked, changed clothes and done their homework. I knew once Bismarck arrived, they would be unlikely to cooperate with me.
They were happily watching their rationed half hour of television, something featuring rainbow-hued animals with squeaky voices, so neither tried to beat me to the door. In fact they were so deep in TV la-la land, I doubted they even heard the knock.
Teo on my doorstep felt like a gift, even though his visit was business. I had insisted on paying for Bismarck’s services. The payment was a barrier we could hide behind, probably forever.
“Biz.” I scratched his ears. “You’re going to like it here.”
“How did your nieces take the news?”
I looked up. He wore the same shirt he’d worn earlier, but he’d changed into sweatpants. I wondered if he was afraid the girls might find his prosthesis frightening, and I felt what was now a familiar pang. Did children ask him questions? Did adults turn away?
He was waiting for an answer. I managed a smile. “I wanted Biz to be a surprise. Will you please come in until we’re all settled?” I paused. “Unless you have to be somewhere else?”
“I’m not planning to drop my best friend and run. We’ll see how he does. He’s not a youngster anymore. He may not take to this the way we want him to.”
He and Bismarck came in, Biz by his side, and I led them both into the great room where the girls’ show was in its final minutes.
“Here’s my surprise,” I said. “This is Teo Santiago, and his dog, Bismarck.”
The girls rose at exactly the same moment. Holly grabbed Noelle and pulled her close, as if to protect her.
And yes, up close, Bismarck was a little scary. This wasn’t the first mistake I’d made today.
I went over and laid a hand on each girl’s shoulder. “Bismarck is friendly. He’s not going to hurt you. He’s my favorite dog pal, right, Biz?”
“He looks like a wolf!” This from Noelle.
“He’s not a bit like a wolf.” I wished I could tell them how Bismarck had saved my life. But they didn’t need stories about bad guys and near-death experiences. This time I saw the mistake ahead of time.
Teo squatted next to Bismarck, as easily as he once had, with slightly different technique. He shifted his center of gravity, swung the leg with the prosthesis a bit, and then squatted down with the other, taking the first leg with him.
“I’m impressed,” I said.
“This took a long time to learn, and I won’t be down here long.” He raised his voice as he slung his arm over the dog. “Girls, Bismarck used to work for the police, and so did I. He’s protected me a dozen times. He’ll do anything to help the people he loves.”
He used Bismarck to steady himself and stood again. “Your Aunt Ryan doesn’t even like dogs, and look how much she likes Bismarck.”
“I do so like dogs. I just like Bismarck more.” I held out my hand. “Holly, you first. He loves to have his ears scratched.”
Ten minutes later, after Teo captured their loyalty forever by mimicking the silly voices of their television cartoon, the girls took Bismarck to their bedroom to show him where he was going to sleep. I had no say in the matter.
“They’re cuties,” Teo said. “I don’t remember you saying much about them.”
“I probably didn’t. I hardly knew them. They’re a little prissy. Are all little girls worried about gaining weight and getting dirty?”
“You’re asking me?”
Teo had a large extended family. I remembered, sadly, that his parents had liked me as much as mine had liked him. He had brothers, three of them, and a sister. Nieces and nephews were just part of the scenery, and despite feeling overwhelmed, I’d liked them all.
“I am asking you,” I affirmed. “How many nieces do you have now?”
“Five. They roll in the mud and sweat a lot, but they clean up nicely. I wouldn’t use prissy to describe them. Even the bookworm takes karate lessons.”
“Instigated by her uncle, no doubt.”
“Every one of them eats more than I do.”
“As I remember, you could pack it away.”
“Are we going to do this? Pull out all the old memories? To what end?”
“Maybe I’m trying to edge out some of the bad memories with better ones. So when we look at ea
ch other, we don’t always see a psychopath intent on killing both of us.”
“Think that’ll work?”
“I don’t know. But you’re here and Bismarck’s upstairs. We must be making progress.”
He looked down at his watch. “I need to make tracks. You have everything you need, and I wrote more instructions. My cell number’s on the bottom. Call me if you have any questions.”
I liked having his cell number. I’d already given him mine. I promised I would take care of Biz.
“Two little girls and a dog. When will you have time to work? Isn’t Out in the Cold due for another season sometime in the future?”
“You know about my podcast?”
“You’re not the only one who asked a few questions.” He smiled, just a little, and let himself out the front door.
Teo had been asking questions about me. Maybe he’d even listened to some of my episodes.
I was still smiling when I went upstairs; Bismarck was listening as the girls explained who slept where, whose drawers belonged to whom. I couldn’t blame my nieces. German shepherds are intelligent, almost noble. I was sure he understood the essence.
I paused in the doorway. “I can’t remember. Have you ever had a dog?”
“Mommy says they’re dirty and they smell.”
“Bismarck’s definitely not dirty, and he just smells like a dog. I think it’s a good smell.” I realized I was criticizing my sister. “But I can see how some people might not,” I added quickly.
“Why did the cop with the funny leg leave him here?” Holly seemed to think this was a perfectly normal question.
I was surprised she hadn’t commented on Teo’s prosthesis while he was here. “Teo left him here because I told him a dog would be a nice addition for a while.” I paused. “And you noticed his leg?”
“We’ve seen lots of legs like that. And arms.”
Their father was military. They’d probably seen plenty of returning soldiers and sailors with even worse injuries.
I made dinner suggestions, but could have offered fried skunk tails and they’d have agreed, just to get me out of the bedroom.
Dinner was chicken nuggets I made from scratch. I had to ban Bismarck when they tried to sneak him food.
After dinner they were still so wound up and excited I resorted to desperate measures. “Instead of a story, would you like to look at your mom’s scrapbooks?” Here or not, Wendy was still a powerful presence. I hoped the scrapbooks might encourage them to talk about their feelings.
Noelle was excited. “I would!”
Holly did the classic Holly-shrug.
I retrieved the photo scrapbook from Wendy’s bottom drawer and brought it into their bedroom, leaving the other for another time. “Whose bed?”
After they debated, we sat on Holly’s. Diplomat and gentleman that he was, Bismarck curled up at both their feet. Noelle plopped herself in my lap, maybe for a better view of the book, or maybe because photos of Wendy made her miss her mother more. Whichever it was, I snuggled her closer and even snuck a quick kiss on top of her little blond head.
I opened the book. “I bet you’ve seen this a bunch of times,” I said.
“No.” Holly didn’t elaborate.
I opened to the first page of my sister’s Kodachrome childhood, a studio portrait of a bald Wendy on her tummy, propped up to smile at the camera. “What a cute baby, huh?”
Noelle squealed in delight. Holly reached over to pet Bismarck. “Does Daddy have a scrapbook?”
“We’ll ask your mom when she comes home.”
“He showed me pictures once. He liked to play basketball.”
She sounded so wistful I wanted to hug her, but I had to take things with Holly one inch at a time.
We progressed through photos of baby Wendy, hair so light it was almost invisible, then as a toddler in frilly dresses, in a ruffled bathing suit, on a merry-go-round with my mother on one side and my father the other. My parents looked so young and happy. Whoever had snapped the photo had tilted the camera, but it was still good enough to include here, even if it was less than perfect.
We graduated to school photos, slowly turning the pages to witness graduation ceremonies, starting in what looked like kindergarten.
There were birthday party photos, too. Wendy had been feted with extravagantly choreographed events. The girls and I paged through themes like Barbie Dolls on Parade and Cinderella at the Ball. There were always loads of kids and tables piled with gifts. During my own childhood, I’d nixed all the hoopla in favor of having one or two friends for a sleepover. I’m sure I was a disappointment to my mother, although in her favor, she never said so.
“Look at all your mom’s friends.” In addition to dance recitals, school concerts and plays in which Wendy had roles, there were also multiple pages of my sister goofing around with girls her age.
I hadn’t been born when the photos were taken, so none of the girls looked familiar. And if Wendy knew any of them as adults, I had never heard them mentioned.
“Who’s that one?” Holly pointed to one, a girl with curly dark hair and bangs that spiraled every which way. There were other photos of the same girl on the next pages, hair longer and in pigtails on top of her head, braces on her teeth, cheeks speckled with acne. We turned another page, and while Wendy had apparently never lived through an awkward stage, the dark-haired girl definitely had.
I wondered what kind of girl had been willing to spend her adolescence in Wendy’s shadow.
“Snow White and Rose Red,” I said.
“What’s that mean?”
I tried to remember particulars. “It’s a fairy tale about two sisters, one blond and one dark-haired, just like your mom and her friend.”
“And like Holly and me,” Noelle said.
“Exactly. In the story the girls protect and help a bear, and one day he turns into a handsome prince. After a whole lot happens, he marries the sister with the blond hair, and his brother marries the other.” There’d been a few terribly gruesome moments in the Grimm version, which I deleted from this version.
“Does that dark-haired girl have a real name?” Noelle asked.
I had no idea. I reached under the plastic and carefully unstuck one of the photos, but the back was blank. I was curious now. The girl seemed to be Wendy’s closest friend. I wondered if my sister was still in touch with her, or if they might even be together now, wherever Wendy was hiding.
“We’ll show this to your grandmother. She’ll know.”
Holly yawned, and we were finished for the night. I tucked them both in, raced through bedtime prayers and gave Bismarck a pat before I left the room.
After I got ready for bed, I curled up with my laptop and went to the internet sites for the Santa Fe New Mexican and then to the one for the Santa Fe Reporter. The murder of one Vítor Calvo wasn’t mentioned. Apparently there was nothing new to report.
I typed Calvo’s name into Google and breezed past the first two pages of results. Placement on the page depended on variables like backlinks, site speed, relevance and length of content. I often found the information I needed on page three or beyond.
The website of Calvo’s clinic still hadn’t posted notice of his death, not even in Portuguese. Some of his former patients had gathered for a cyber-mourning. But nothing I found helped me.
I was thinking about closing down for the night, when the door to Wendy’s room widened and Bismarck padded in.
“Well, hello.” I’d taken him out before tucking in the girls, and I’d expected him to stay put in their room. But clearly Biz had other ideas.
He came around to the side of the bed, looked it over, then gracefully jumped up beside me, lay his head on my hip and stared at me, as if to say, “You’re okay with this, right?”
“You should not be up here.”
I could swear he
smiled. And what could I do? I owed my life to this dog, and yes, he was a connection to the man I’d once been falling in love with. Was I going to make him sleep where he didn’t want to?
“I’m not sure the bed is large enough for both of us,” I warned.
He turned over, wriggled a little closer and that was that.
My cell phone rang. I lifted it to my ear.
“Just checking to be sure everything’s going all right,” Teo said.
I laughed. “You lied to me.”
“How’s that?”
“You said Biz slept in your room. You did not say he slept in your bed.”
“How’s that a lie? Why are you interested in my sleeping habits?”
I wondered if there was room for a woman and Bismarck in Teo’s bed. “He’s making himself right at home.”
“You can always push him down.”
“Sure, push a dog who’s been trained to kill off my bed. You think I’m crazy?”
“Everything else okay?”
“The girls are nuts about him. I hope they don’t find out he’s sleeping with me.”
“I talked to Pete about your break-in. The deputy who took your statement.”
“Surly guy? Balding?”
He grunted. “He seems sure it was a one-time thing, that it’s a group that makes their living that way.”
“Well, now they know the house isn’t empty.” I paused. I pondered. I finally spoke. “I’m not sure that’s all that’s going on.”
“Like what?”
“There could be more to it, but I’m probably imagining it. Clearly that’s what I’m trained for. Ignore me.”
He was silent long enough that I knew he was thinking, too.
“We’re taking Bismarck to meet my parents tomorrow,” I said to change the subject. “Does he sense hostility?”
“Your parents were never hostile to me.”
“And, you know, that stunned me.”
A Family of Strangers Page 16