Sister's Keepers

by Belinda White

  Once that item was checked off our to-do list, we drove by the old homestead. I'd dug through my paperwork from selling the house and called the number I had for the buyers, but it was disconnected. No forwarding number either.

  When we got to the house, there was a for sale sign in the front yard. After parking in the driveway, we got out and walked to the front door. Taking a chance, we knocked but there wasn’t any answer. Next on Rose's list was to check for signs of any alarm systems. There weren't any in plain sight and none of those irritating security signs littered the yard, either.

  Which made sense when we made our way to the back of the house where they had taken down the curtains. The house wasn't just empty, it was vacant. As in stripped to the walls of furniture and fixings.

  "This should make it fairly easy," Rose said. We had finally talked Jed into sitting this one out with MacDougal, making this a girl's only outing. Rose wasn't sure how our extremely law-abiding agent of the Federal Government would take to being a part of an illegal break-in, and we couldn't trust MacDougal not to pull some trick that would alert the owners to our being there. As Lily had a huge exam the next day to study for, that made us a party of three. Me, Rose, and Dell.

  In a matter of seconds, Rose had the back door standing open, and we made our way into the house and to the top of the basement stairs. Rose and I started down, but Dell stopped at the top with her hand to her head.

  "I-I can't go down. I'd hoped I could now, but I still can't," Dell said.

  "That's okay," Rose said. "We can use you up there anyway as a lookout. If anyone comes by, let us know as quick as you can."

  Dell nodded, and Rose and I went on down the steps. The basement was the same as I remembered. Chilly and slightly dank from being underground. An absolutely unnatural place for a wolf. At least for this one.

  When we reached the bottom, Rose glanced under the stairs first. There, embedded in the concrete, slightly raised from the rest of the floor, was a long iron bar. A faerie lock. Pluck a duck. My parents had known after all. And they hadn't fully trusted Dell with their secrets. I glanced upstairs nervously. What had I gotten us into?

  Rose raised an eyebrow but never said a word, making her way over to the furnace. Jed was right, it was a tight fit behind the furnace. Not a place you would want to hang out and look for secret doorways. Which of course made it the perfect place for one.

  Within a couple of minutes, Rose found the release mechanism and a section of the wall swung out barely enough to allow entry to the tiny room. Luckily for us, Rose had thought to bring a flashlight. The daylight hours were almost over and very little light was making its way into the basement, let alone the room beyond.

  The hidden room was maybe five feet deep and eight feet wide. Not a room to spend time in. Bookcases lined the walls on all sides. Five in all. The flashlight's beam revealed one mostly filled with gray journals, and two with journals bound in leather that looked much, much older. One bookcase was devoted to mythic and faerie lore. That must have been my mother's research section. The last bookcase was devoted to storage of odds and ends that didn't make much sense at the time. I was betting they would once we read the journals.

  I looked at Rose. There was no way we were carrying all these books and stuff out of there today without help.

  "Do we call for the guys?" I asked.

  Rose shook her head. She had brought two collapsed boxes and packing tape down with her. She would have made a great boy scout. Always prepared for everything.

  "We might bring them tomorrow to finish up if we can get Jed past his moral issues. Right now, let's pack up as many of your mother's journals as we can. They are where we need to start." Her eyes cast a coveting glance on the older books. "Although to be honest, I can't wait to get a gander at the wolf chronicles. I'm not sure any rabbit has ever had that privilege."

  "Well, it's only fair since you've shared the rabbit chronicles with us. Share and share alike I say."

  Rose gave a short laugh. "Who would have thought a wolf and a rabbit could become a family?"

  "A very sneaky and conniving rabbit, that's who," I answered, smiling. When Rose had asked for my help last year mentoring a new were-child (Lilith), she had refused to let me in on just what she was going to change into. The fact that she shifted hours early gave us all a turn. Especially since it came at a time when I was in wolf form and we had a Luparii assassin tied to a chair. Good thing we keep our human intelligence even in fur form, or Lilith's first change would have been her last.

  Rose just grinned. She knew it was true.

  The journal bookcase had four rows of books. The last row was empty and the next to last was only half full. Those empty spaces brought a touch of moisture to my eyes. If my mother's life hadn't been stolen from her, those shelves would have been filled by now.

  We probably overstuffed the boxes that Rose had, but as determined as we were, we made them all fit. Rose was determined because the answers we needed might be contained in any one of them. I was determined because these were books filled with my mother's handwriting. My mother's life. No way was I leaving even one of them behind.

  Of course, we planned to come back for the others, but these weren't leaving my sight until I'd read each and every one of them. Imagine. Me looking forward to days upon days of reading. Maybe a wolf could change its fur, so to speak.

  Once the boxes were stuffed and taped down I carried them up the steps and out to the Jeep. Rose's game leg would barely allow her to do the steep stairs, let alone carry heavy boxes of books. I'm figuring each one weighed roughly a thousand pounds. Sometimes love is really, really heavy. By the time they were loaded, I was sweating in the chill evening air.

  We were halfway back to Rose's when I got the frantic doggie message. The puppies were coming!

  I floored it. A small portion of my mind seemed to notice that Dell was no longer complaining about having to wear seat belts. In fact, both she and Rose seemed grateful for them on the rest of the ride to Rose's. Rebel's thought had seemed panicked and while it may have just been first-time father's syndrome, I was worried that something was wrong. I was really glad that we had ferried the dogs to stay with Lily before heading out. There are some things that paws just can’t do.

  Jed had already checked into his hotel room for the night, springing the extra for a neighboring room for MacDougal. Rose called to alert them and have them meet us there.

  When we burst into the house, Lily had the vet's office on speaker phone and they were talking her through the delivery. She glanced up at us quickly, then back down to what she doing. There were tears in her eyes.

  One puppy was lying in the bed beside Maggie and seemed to be doing fine. The one in Lily's hands wasn't breathing. She was rubbing it with a towel trying to simulate the motions of breathing.

  I opened the pup's mouth and shoved my little finger down its throat to see if anything was lodged. I pulled something solid out and with Lily's next rubbing motion, the pup made a sound.

  "It breathed," Lily cried out to the person on the phone. She was crying in earnest now, holding the pup next to her ear so she could hear it better. "It's breathing."

  And now so was I. I had forgotten to there for a minute.

  The voice on the phone came back. "Okay, I can hear other people there. Are you okay now?"

  I grabbed the phone, taking it off speaker. "Is there a vet you can send out? Someone on call?"

  "We don't do that for normal deliveries, only if something goes wrong. Lily seems to have a handle on this. You should be okay now. Vet house calls off hours can be pretty pricey." She was giving me the brush off.

  I glanced at Lily's stricken face. She didn't have a handle on this. Not by a long shot. "Look, I'll pay the price, just send out your emergency vet. Please?" How do you explain that these puppies were relatives to a non-were? The line was pretty thin by now, but it was there. These were my little cousins we were talking about. Not to mention Reb's lady.

  Mag
gie started whimpering and I could see the next pup start to make its first appearance into the world. Behind me, I heard a thump and felt the floor vibrate slightly. The voice sounded annoyed but agreed to send one out. "Remember I told you it was expensive. They will expect payment while they are there."

  "Not a problem," I said. "Do they know where we are?" I asked Lily. She nodded, not yet able to speak through the tears. I hung up and went to Maggie to help the next pup. Lily was still holding little miracle number two and didn't show any signs of letting her go.

  "Rose, could you get me some water?" I asked. I glanced over my shoulder when I didn't get a response and saw Rose lying flat on the floor. That must have been the thump I'd heard. Rose had fainted.

  Number three came out fine and breathing on his own, thank the Creator. In the brief space between three and four, I checked on Rose, who was starting to come around. Dell and I helped her get settled onto the couch. She started to apologize, but I wouldn't hear of it. Everyone had their limits, even super rabbits.

  I glanced over at Lily who was still staring hard at the little pup in her hands. If it stopped breathing again, we would know instantly. I'm not even sure she was blinking.

  The front door burst open, startling me. Jed came rushing into the room.

  "Is she okay?"

  "So far, yes. Lily managed to save one of the pups that came out not breathing. She's keeping an eye on it to make sure it's okay." Actually, both eyes and both ears, too. "We've got three so far and the vet should be on the way." I looked at him. "They didn't want to send one out, but I said we'd pay whatever it costs. Split it with me?"

  I hate to admit the relief I felt when he nodded. My very limited budget would only stretch so far.

  He went over to check on Maggie and some of the tension left me. It was good to have an Alpha mate to depend on. Maggie seemed glad to see him too. She was still pretty out of it from pain, but the tail still worked its wag. He was still making over her when the vet arrived.

  Rose got up to let him in. After clearing us away from the immediate area around Maggie and her pups and making sure Maggie was okay for the minute, he pried Lily's fingers from number two.

  "I just want to check him," he said. "I'm a vet, I'll take good care of him. I take it this is the one that wasn't breathing?"

  Lily nodded, letting go very reluctantly.

  The vet, whose name we later found out was Dr. Townson, gave the pup a cursory examination and pronounced her healthy. "She must have just needed a jump start," he said. "A good thing for her that you were here and knew what to do. Good job."

  Lily fairly glowed and even let him place the pup by his siblings without too much protest.

  Dr. Townson then turned back to Maggie who was obviously still in labor. He looked at Rebel who was standing very protectively over her. "He knows I'm here to help her, right?"

  I looked at Reb. He wasn't being aggressive, just wanted my okay to let the doctor close to his girl. I nodded to him and he backed off, but only far enough to let the doctor in. He planted himself where he could watch the vet's every move.

  "How long since the last puppy was born?" Dr. Townson asked.

  I glanced at the clock and thought back. "Probably about half an hour or so."

  The vet frowned and started checking her out even closer. After another ten minutes with no puppy and Maggie growing more and more agitated, he looked up to Jed.

  "I'm afraid the pup is caught. It's not too uncommon with dogs of this size because the heads are so large." Dr. Townson glanced at the rest of us, then back to Jed. "I'd like to clear the room if I could. And I'll need some towels and water."

  "Will she be okay, Doc?" Jed asked.

  "Like I said, this isn't anything that far out of the ordinary. And we've caught it pretty early considering everything. She should be fine. And I'll do what I can for the pup, too. It just depends on..."

  Jed swallowed but nodded. I helped Rose up and started to lead her and Lily into the kitchen. It wasn't perfect, but at least we'd be out of sight.

  Lily hesitated. "Do we take the puppies with us?" she asked.

  Dr. Townson smiled at her and nodded. "That would be fine. It might be helpful to not have Maggie too worried." He looked at Rebel. "And I'd really feel more comfortable if you'd take him as well. He might take exception to what I have to do. And you don't want me to have nervous fingers for this."

  Rebel wasn't happy about leaving Maggie's side, but he did. Being Alpha has its perks. Instant obedience is one of them.

  The vet watched Rebel follow us out of the room. I glanced back over my shoulder at Jed. He was standing firm. Well, number one he'd known Maggie longer than any of us, and number two he was an Alpha too.

  I settled the others at the kitchen table and gathered the towels and water for the vet. Once I delivered them, I scurried back to the table. There are some things normal people just don't want to watch.

  Dell had been silent through all of this. She and MacDougal were already in the kitchen when we got there. MacDougal gave up his chair for me and looked at the purple chair in the corner with a sigh and then sat on the floor next to Rebel.

  A harrowing half hour later for all of us kitchen dwellers and Jed walked into the room carrying a little bundle of golden fur. I swallowed.

  "Is it..."

  Jed grinned. "It's fine. The biggest one of the bunch, and a little Rebel for sure. And Maggie's going to be fine too. Dr. Townson was really a godsend."

  The godsend had followed Jed. "I don't know about that. I guess my office did all they could to talk you out of bringing me in. I'm glad you didn't listen to them." He reached down and rubbed the top of number four's head gently. "He's the last of the bunch and Maggie is resting. She'll be out of it for a while, but we really should get the pups in with her. They'll need to start nursing soon."

  The doctor looked at Rebel and smiled. "You know, I don't believe I've ever seen a better-disciplined Shepherd mix. And unless I'm mistaken, there's a little wolf in there somewhere, too, which makes it doubly impressive." He hesitated. "You know if you're looking to find homes for the pups when they get weaned, I'd be interested." He looked at Rebel again. "Really interested, actually. We could even make a trade. The pup for my house call."

  "Sorry, Doc," Jed said. "You'll have to settle for cold hard cash for this one. These pups are family. You just don't give family away."

  "Maybe one of the next litter, if we get too overwhelmed," I said. No promises, but if Maggie started having a litter or two a year eventually we'd have to do something. And I could think of worse people to let have a pup.

  Dr. Townson glanced at Jed and then back to me. "I'm afraid this litter will be it for Maggie. She won't be able to have anymore."

  I looked at Rebel. "Now don't you go getting sad, old man," I said, tearing up myself. "You have four good pups here and that's plenty for anybody."

  Reb huffed, then brushed out past the vet to go sit with his lady.

  The doctor smiled. "The offer stands if he has any other pups by a different partner."

  I had to stop myself before I spoke. I guess that would be normal for a normal dog. But Rebel was anything but normal. "I don't see that happening," I said slowly. "But if it does, we'll keep you in mind."

  Jed wrote the vet a check for an astronomical amount and sent him on his way. Then we settled in to watch the pups and Maggie, discussing puppy names back and forth.

  Puppy number one was almost entirely black with a white blaze down her nose and under her chin. Number two was the carbon copy of his Husky mother. Number three must have come from an old latent gene because she was snow white. Of the pups, she was the smallest. Number four was a definite miniature—if you could call the large pup miniature—of Rebel.

  "I don't know about pups one and three," said Lily, "but for the miracle pups how about Ben and Dante?"

  Ben and Dante.

  Perfect.

  Chapter 14

  WITH ALL THE PUPPY commotion, D
ell and I didn't get the night to ourselves to play catch up. And the next day didn't fare any better. We couldn't afford to keep paying motel bills, even if my friend Mindy who owned the motel did give us a hugely discounted rate.

  We took a look at all of our options. A bigger house was definitely in order, but we also had to do something quickly to solve the problem, at least temporarily.

  Jed made the suggestion that we all move to his house in Greenwood, but his heart wasn't really in it. I mean, yes, his house did have four bedrooms which would be great, but that would put us about an hour's drive from Rose and Lily. Too far if things started happening fast. Like a faerie apocalypse.

  We were sitting on the cabin’s porch and MacDougal seemed to be confused. "It's having trouble seeing the problem I am." I swear he got more Irish with each passing day. "If'n I was in me own realm, I'd be sleeping in yon barn and happy to get it. A little straw makes a fairly comfy bed." He mistook our looks. "Not as nice as your beds of fluff, but workable to be sure."

  Jed and I just stared at each other. Then we stared at the workshop. Sitting there practically empty with all that space just asking to be used. As I did most of my stone carving at the mill in Spencer now, the workshop didn't really serve any purpose at this point.

  "There isn't any running water out there, and the only heat source is a pot-bellied stove," I said.

  Jed had his thinking look on. "It's getting on in March, so we shouldn't have too many really cold nights left. And there is electricity so we could always get one of those big electric heaters to last until warmer weather."

  I nodded. "And there would be access to the house for restroom use and showers." Four people and only one bathroom. Things could get ugly.

  Jed noticed my hesitation. "It would only be a temporary fix. We'll have to find something much better for the long haul. But for now, it should see us through a couple of months at least."