by B R Snow
“Then what?”
“Then we either cut back on the food or we start panicking.”
I laughed long and hard at that one.
Then I decided the Muskie weren’t interested in what I had to offer and I put the boat in neutral. I put my fishing rod away for the season then stretched out on the padded cushion that ran along the transom. Chloe decided she wanted some time with her Mama and jumped off Josie’s lap and hopped up onto the cushion and tucked herself against me out of the wind. She licked my hand and fell asleep as I stroked her fur.
We sat quietly for several minutes in the cold and wind. Despite the weather, the River was beautiful at this time of year and the silence this morning was overpowering.
“The last boat ride of the year always makes me a bit melancholy,” I said.
“Spring is just around the corner,” Josie said.
“What?”
“Of course it’s a very long corner,” she said.
“You don’t have to wait until spring to get back on the River,” I said.
“Suzy, you can try to sell me on it until you’re blue in the face,” Josie said. “Which I’m sure it will be about an hour after you start. But there is no way I’m going ice fishing.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” I said.
“Yes, I do. Frostbite and brandy.”
We both heard the boat before we saw it. It soon appeared in the distance, and when the driver saw us, the boat veered toward us and slowed as it approached. Jackson waved, and we saw Sluggo in the seat next to him. Josie caught the side of Jackson’s new boat and tied it off against ours.
“Fishing for Muskie?” Jackson said.
“She was,” Josie said. “I’m drinking hot chocolate. You want a cup?”
“No, I’m good, thanks,” he said. “I’m just taking the boat out for a final run. But I think it’s a bit cold for Sluggo out here, so I’m heading back.”
At the mention of Sluggo, Chloe perked up and barked. She put her paws up on the side of the boat and peered at her friend in the other boat. Josie laughed and lifted her up and handed her to Jackson. He set Chloe down, and the dogs spent a few minutes getting reacquainted before huddling next to each other under Jackson’s seat.
“I stopped by your new place yesterday to have a look,” Jackson said.
“So you were snooping,” I said.
“I’m the Chief of Police. I don’t snoop,” Jackson said. “It’s going to look great when it’s finished.”
“Yes, it is,” I said. “We’re pretty excited about it.”
“Everybody is excited about having Chef Claire in town,” he said. “You know, I’ve been thinking about asking her out.”
Josie and I looked at each other and smiled.
“What?” Jackson said.
“I think it’s a great idea, Jackson,” I said. “But you better hurry.”
“Why?”
“Because Freddie told us the same thing yesterday,” Josie said.
“I can’t believe it,” Jackson said. “I ran into him last night, and he didn’t say a thing about it. That little sneak. We were even talking about Chef Claire at one point.”
“Oooh, there’s some competition for Chef Claire’s heart,” I said, laughing.
“Let the games begin,” Josie said. “And you were worried that we might get bored this winter.”
“Not anymore,” I said, laughing. “And since she’s staying with us, we’re going to have a front row seat.”
“And they’re both coming for Thanksgiving dinner,” Josie said. “This is perfect.”
“It’s nice to know that I can always count on you two for support.”
He leaned down to pick up Chloe and handed her back to Josie. Chloe hopped back up on the cushion next to me. I pulled a plastic bag of cookies out of my pocket, gave her two, and tossed the bag to Jackson. We watched as he fed the final three to Sluggo one at a time.
“I visited Alice the other day,” Jackson said, rubbing Sluggo’s head.
“How is she doing?” I said.
“She’s a mess,” he said. “But I guess that’s what can happen when you lose sight of what’s really important.”
I let it go. Alice was going away for a very long time, and Jackson was devastated by the thought that his former summer intern had come very close to killing him. But nothing we said could change anything, so I stayed quiet.
“I need to run,” Jackson said, starting his boat.
“It’s a great boat,” Josie said.
“I’m still in shock,” he said. “I’ve never won anything before in my life.”
A few weeks ago, we were finally able to conduct the raffle for the boat that should have been given away the night that Roger the Engineer was killed. To the surprise and delight of everyone in town, Jackson had been the lucky winner.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” I said, grinning at Josie.
“Oh, nowhere,” he said. “I guess I’ll head back into town and maybe grab some breakfast.”
“And swing by to say hi to Chef Claire?” Josie said.
“You guys aren’t going to let this go, are you?”
“Not a chance,” I said.
“Thanks for the warning,” he said, pushing his boat away from ours, and heading off in the direction of the town dock.
“This is going to be fun to watch,” Josie said.
“It certainly is,” I said. “Fifty bucks says Jackson gets a second date with her before Freddie.”
“You’re on,” Josie said. “But you have to agree to let it play out. No interfering.”
“Would I do something like that?” I said, doing my best to sound offended.
Josie shook her head and stared at Jackson’s boat that had almost disappeared.
“You know, it’s funny how life works sometimes. And how quickly things can change. One minute Jackson is at death’s door, the next he’s fully recovered and lucky enough to win a hundred thousand dollar boat in a raffle.”
“Yeah, I guess life can be funny like that,” I said, looking off into the distance.
“Suzy?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know how you did it, but I think you had something to do with Jackson winning that boat.”
“Why on earth would you think something like that?”
It started to snow and the flurries soon intensified.
“Look at that,” I said. “It’s starting to come down hard. And it’s cold enough for it to accumulate. Let’s get out of here and go grab some breakfast.”
“I could eat.”
I started the boat, and I hunched down in my seat to avoid the wind. Boating season on the River was officially over. I slowly headed for town. Just because the season was over didn’t mean I couldn’t squeeze every last drop out of it.
I felt Josie staring at me but focused on my driving.
“Suzy?”
“Yeah,” I said, giving her a quick glance.
“You rigged the raffle, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I have my moments.”
Here’s an excerpt from the next installment in B.R. Snow’s Thousand Islands Doggy Inn Mystery series:
The Case of the
Caged cockers
Chapter 1
On a frigid, snowy Thursday, Thanksgiving came and went. The entire day was filled with great conversation in the company of good friends in a warm house and a menu that even the all-too-modest Chef Claire had to admit was one of her best. Friday’s dinner was a repeat of the previous day’s turkey with all the fixings that was as good if not better than the original. Between the two dinners, Josie and I embarked on a wild flurry of snacking that shattered all of our previous records for gluttony and bad table manners that caused my mother, at one point on Friday afternoon, to wonder out loud who the alien was that bore a striking resemblance to the daughter she had raised.
We had dressed
for Thanksgiving dinner, but by the time the pumpkin trifle and an apple pie topped with a brandy caramel sauce that was a total knee-buckler were served, Josie and I had swapped out our dinner attire for the snacker pants we were still wearing when the weekend rolled around.
The pants were taking quite a beating this year but seemed to be holding up.
Friday started with a breakfast turkey quiche that disappeared in ten minutes. That was followed later in the day by a turkey sandwich, a bowl of pumpkin trifle, a hot turkey sandwich with gravy, a slice of apple pie, then another sandwich in that order followed by a long nap.
Or as my mother called it; a tryptophan coma.
I had to hand it to her. She was definitely on her game this holiday season.
Friday night, Chef Claire made a turkey gumbo that brought tears to my eyes.
Saturday, she made two different kinds of turkey soup. One was a traditional version; the other was a rustic Italian tomato bread soup with homemade turkey sausage. Josie and I were still debating which one was better, but since there was still half a pot left of each, we weren’t in any hurry to make a final decision.
On Sunday night, I hit the wall and was officially turkeyed out. Josie had agreed, but I think she lied to me because the next morning I’d caught her in her office at the Inn gnawing on a turkey leg.
Now I was sitting at the dinner table across from Josie and wondering aloud how was it possible for me to be hungry. Chef Claire came in from the kitchen carrying a tray filled with bite-sized appetizers that were steaming hot. She set them down on the table, and I stared down at the tray, then looked up at Chef Claire.
“I’ve wanted to test this idea out for a long time,” Chef Claire said.
“Well, if you’re looking for two guinea pigs to try it out on, you’ve come to the right place,” Josie said.
“What are they?” I said, staring lovingly at the fresh baked objects that were no more than two inches long.
“Try one, and then you tell me,” Chef Claire said.
Needing no encouragement, I picked one up and popped it into my mouth. As I chewed, a flood of memories raced through my head.
“That’s incredible,” I said. “How did you do that?”
Chef Claire beamed with pride and selected one from the tray. Josie followed suit. As she chewed, she stared at Chef Claire.
“I call them One Bite Thanksgiving,” Chef Claire said.
“Good name,” I said, nodding. “Because that’s exactly what they are. I swear that one bite reminded me of Thanksgiving dinners from years ago.”
“How is this possible?” Josie said, reaching for another.
Chef Claire grabbed one of the one-bite wonders and carefully cut it in half.
“I made a Chinese dumpling dough, and then I layered a thin slice of turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, and cranberry, then put a dollop of gravy over the top and sealed them tight. I did these on the stovetop, but I have another batch steaming at the moment.”
I picked up one of the halves and examined it carefully. How it was possible to recreate an entire holiday dinner in an object that was less than an inch high was beyond my comprehension abilities, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue the point.
I decided to postpone my earlier decision about being turkeyed out for another day and helped myself to another. Just as I was reaching for my fifth one, my phone rang. I wiped my hands and mouth and answered the call.
“This is Suzy. A delivery at this time of night?” I looked at Josie. She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t think we ordered anything for delivery tonight… What do you mean the contents are expiring?”
I frowned, and Josie sat back in her chair listening closely.
“Yes, I see… Who is this?”
The call ended abruptly, and I set my phone down on the table.
“That was odd,” I said. “Whoever that was said there’s been a delivery at the Inn and it’s outside the door. And they said we should hurry up and get it because the contents are expiring.”
“That is odd,” Josie said. “It’s so cold out there I can’t imagine what could possibly spoil before morning.”
“Yeah,” I said, starting to reach for another of the appetizers. Then I stopped. “Unless it’s alive.”
“Like a dog,” Josie said, scrambling to her feet.
We raced outside and headed down the stairs until we reached the back entrance of the Inn. There was nothing on the back porch, so we raced around the side until we reached the front. Near the door was a cardboard box wrapped in a flimsy cotton blanket. Josie knelt down and pulled the blanket back. Tears immediately welled in my eyes when I heard the soft whimpers coming from inside the box.
I opened the front door and turned the thermostat way up as Josie carried the box into one of the examination rooms.
“This is bad,” she said, carefully reaching into the box. “There are six of them. They can’t be more than four weeks old.”
“Can you save them?” I said.
“Well, we’re certainly going to do everything we possibly can,” Josie said. “Grab a bunch of blankets and towels.”
She pulled out her phone and located the number.
“Sammy, it’s Josie. I need you here now. Do you know where Jill is?...That’s great. Bring her along. Get over here immediately.”
She ended the call and refocused on what was inside the cardboard box. I returned with the blankets, and she spread them out one at a time on the floor and gently placed one of the puppies on a blanket and wrapped it loosely. She repeated the process until all six puppies were safely cocooned.
“Okay,” she said. “Remember to remind Sammy and Jill when they get here that they can’t rub or pet them until we’re sure frostbite hasn’t set in.”
“But hypothermia has set in, right?”
“Yeah, let’s hope that’s as bad as it gets. But I’m worried about one of the front legs on the little guy on the left. He’s showing signs of some serious tissue damage.”
“You mean he might lose the leg?”
“It’s a possibility, Suzy,” she said. “But for now let’s focus on making sure he doesn’t lose his life. We need to deal with the hypothermia first.”
I stared down at the dazed expressions on the cocker spaniel’s faces and heard their whimpers as I continued to fight back the tears. A few minutes later, Sammy and Jill raced inside the exam room and glanced down at the six puppies wrapped in blankets on the floor.
“You got here fast,” Josie said, cradling two of the puppies to her chest. “Both of you take a puppy and hold it like this.”
Sammy and Jill each cradled a puppy, and I picked up the other two. I briefly outlined what had happened as the four of us sat on the tile floor and did our best to get the puppies’ core temperature up.
“Thanks for coming in,” I said.
“No problem,” Sammy said, glancing at Jill. “We just happened to be watching a movie together tonight. I guess it was lucky that we were in the same place when you called.”
Josie looked at me and grinned. Sammy and Jill had been seeing each other for at least three months, but they continued to believe that no one had figured that out yet. The main ingredient in a grilled cheese sandwich was a better-kept secret. This seemed like as good a time as any to pop that balloon.
“Sammy,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“We know.”
“Know what?”
“About you and Jill,” I said.
“You do?” Sammy said, glancing at Jill.
“I told you,” Jill said, glancing nervously back and forth between Josie and me. “I’m sorry we didn’t say anything. We weren’t sure how you guys would react.”
“Has your relationship impacted your work?” Josie said.
“No,” Jill said.
“Or the way you treat the dogs?” Josie said.
“Absolutely not,” Sammy said.
“Well, there you go,” Josie said, glancing
down at one of the puppies stirring in her arms. “This little guy is starting to come around. She’s licking my hand.”
“Mine too,” I said.
Josie handed one of the dogs she was holding to Jill and stood, still holding the puppy with the damaged front leg close to her.
“Okay, I think it’s safe to slowly remove the blankets,” Josie said. “But if they start shivering again when you do, immediately wrap them back up. Suzy and Sammy, I need you to carefully check each puppy for potential frostbite. You’re looking for signs of tissue discoloration, blisters, or swelling. And if they react in pain when you touch them, make a note of that area. If you find any of those symptoms, you’ll need to run some warm water no hotter than 108 degrees and start by gently patting those spots with the water. Then wrap a dry, warm towel around them. If the spots look particularly damaged, go ahead and put a heating pad wrapped in a towel against it. But you can’t rub or pet those spots the way you normally would. Pat, but don’t rub. ”
“Got it,” I said, already pulling back one of the blankets to begin my examination. Then I glanced up at Josie. “Where are you going to be?”
“Surgery,” Josie whispered. “I’m going to need your help, Jill.”
Jill gently set the puppy she was holding down next to Sammy and stood. She followed Josie out of the exam room and headed for the back of the Inn where our surgery area was located. I knew what that meant and felt another round of tears streaming down my cheeks.
“What kind of monster leaves a litter of puppies outside in a box on a cold night like this?” Sammy said, gently rolling one of the puppies over onto its back.
“Actually, Sammy. I think whoever did this was trying to figure out a way to save them,” I said.
Sammy thought about what I said for a moment, then refocused on the puppy he was examining.
“But why would they do it anonymously?” he said.
“Now that’s a very good question.”