“Lovely,” Aila said, “and speaking of a flogging, I was surprised you went pretty light on him and Kelcy for pulling that train ride stunt today. I swear I knew nothing about it. Mom’s claiming innocence but I have my doubts.”
“It’s always been hard to stay mad at him,” Dan said, “and damn near impossible lately. I mean, seriously, what do we have to complain about? When you add those pups into the mix, and Kelcy, and Meem, well, I was sorely outgunned. You know how that feels, right?”
Aila bit his neck and said, “I was outgunned a few minutes ago.” She took his hand and turned her backside to spoon into him as she said, “I had very little to do with this one. Mom and Kelcy got everything lined up for their trip up north.”
“And they had an answer for everything,” Dan said, chuckling, “His schoolwork, the train, the bus, the border crossing, parental letter, passport, they even had Lindsay fill out rabies certificates. They were well prepared, and those damn vests are too fucking funny.”
“Oh God, those vests,” Aila said, stifling her laugh into his elbow, “They love those bloody things. Did I tell you Spot was jealous of Smudge’s vest so Mimi embroidered the Underdog ‘U’ on his? He showed it to me three times.”
Dan was laughing now, too. He whispered into her hair, “If that dog ever meets Polly Pureheart we’re in big trouble.”
Dan pulled his wife close. They continued to laugh about their odd pups, loving mother, and their unique kids until they started to drift off.
Sometime later Aila stirred again in his arms.
She said, “I gotta ask you. When exactly did you buy Ben’s early birthday presents? The satellite phone was a fantastic idea. I was a little nervous about keeping in touch when he’s in the middle of nowhere up there. You know Hamish, he disappears for weeks at a time with no word. And that mini-tablet for the pups was pure dead brilliant.”
Dan traced a line down his wife’s backside and took a full handful of her bottom. He said, “Oh, I picked them up that next day. I was ready to agree to let him go after our New Year’s Eve chat with Kels. Even though I was a little lit, she was still plenty convincing. I was just enjoying all the special meals and sex you’ve been serving up this week.”
“Mmmm,” Aila purred, pushing herself back into her husband’s new firmness, “That was just selfishness on my part.”
Down the hall in Ben’s room Spot and Smudge were chatting, listening to the parent’s conversation, and their second round of love making. The pups were cuddled up together at the foot of the bed as Ben snored quietly.
Spot had one of his toe flaps extended and was scrolling around a map of Canada on their new small tablet. They had connected the sat phone’s USB tether to test out the satellite internet connection.
Smudge was tapping the phone’s display and flipping through its other apps.
This thing is super cool, Spot said, We should get one for One Ear. She could track the weather, learn about tick-borne illnesses…maybe dental hygiene…
Smudge laughed and said, We could, except she’s not overly interested in anything she can’t chase, eat, or pee on. She put down the sat phone and rolled onto her side next to her brother. She asked, You excited?
Yeah sister, I can’t wait, Spot said, I hope we get to see a moose…and an elk… and a bear. Oh wait, a wolf! Now that would be awesome to see a wolf.
I don’t know, Smudge said as she stretched and put her head on his rump, Based on what I’ve been reading we’d barely be a snack for even a medium Canis lupus. Smudge put her little chicken plush toy under her chin as she closed her eyes and said, I’m not so sure about this trip, most dogs don’t like to hear they’re going to a dog farm up north.
Chapter 9
It had been a few years since Mimi had been in the small parking lot of Papa’s old factory, which was now the new vet clinic. She looked past the plowed drive and across the road where she could see the woods of her farm.
To the north were the remains of the burned down vet clinic where Ronnie had been killed just a few months earlier. It was just a charred slab and a parking lot now, with a real estate banner bolted over what had been the original animal clinic sign.
Seeing the old clinic always brought up a mix of memories for Mimi. The horror of that terrible night but also years of Ronnie’s welcoming smile. A lovely smile on a far too thin girl who’s heart was warmer than a dog’s wag.
The glass doors set into the new clinic’s curved glass front wall whisked open as Ben, Mimi, and Aila neared the entrance. They crossed a plush doormat with the clinic’s logo, and walked into the open lobby. There were two rows of modern curved wooden benches on either side of a center aisle that led to a matching curved reception desk. The lobby colors were bright and tasteful, and everything looked crisp and clean.
Mimi was impressed, and a little sad. The building had been her husband’s small printing factory for several decades. After he retired it had sat abandoned for a few years until he could finally bring himself to sell it. She was glad to see it had been cleaned up and put to good use. Still, she missed the noise and the dirt and the hustle and the friendly workers of the shop. She recalled watching her smiling, handsome husband shaking hands, laughing, and clapping his close family of team members on the back.
“Looks a sight better in here than the old days, and better than that tired old clinic across the street, doesn’t it?” Mimi asked Aila.
Aila grabbed her mom’s hand and conveyed everything she needed to with just a small squeeze. All she said was, “It’s lovely.”
“Hey sis,” Ben called out as he ran towards the counter.
A round woman in a snug red sweater with a large Christmas tree on the front was seated on one of the waiting room’s benches. She was slouched, bow legged with the tongues of her unlaced boots flopping out. She gave Ben and the nicely put together women behind him a sour look as they passed. The fat cat in the small pet carrier on her lap spoke for the woman with a low growl.
Kelcy and Lindsay were standing together behind the reception desk looking over Carol ‘Mari’ Marinson’s shoulder as she squinted through her reading glasses at a computer screen. Both Lindsay and Mari were dressed in crisp white tailored wrap around tunics, and Kelcy wore a cute fitted pink smock that tied at the side. Aila was instantly proud. Her daughter looked very professional standing next to the two women.
Lindsay was tapping her pen on the screen and said, “Let’s move all of these to next Tuesday.” She looked up and waved, and said, “Hey there! You guys come to see Dr. Kelcy saving the world, one grumpy cat at a time?”
The Christmas tree lady didn’t find that overly funny, nor did her grumpy cat.
“Hey Mom, hey Meem,” Kelcy said as they caught up to Ben at the counter.
Mari looked up from her computer screen and said, “Hello Jean, and hey there Aila. Feels like I haven’t seen you in a coon’s age. How are you?” Mari had worked part time at the old clinic for decades, and back in the day had changed Aila’s diapers more than a few times.
“Peachy,” Aila said with a smile, “How’s the family?”
“Oh you know, too many grandkids to count, but we get by. Nice to be back at work,” she said, “What do you think of our new digs?”
“Amazing,” Aila said, “All of this in a few short weeks.”
“I know,” Mari said, leaning forward and whispering, “The benches in this lobby cost more than my car.” The phone on the desk tinkled pleasantly and Mari picked it up.
“Come this way,” Lindsay said and motioned for them to come around the counter and follow her through a pair of automatic sliding glass doors. Before she turned to head back into the lobby she said, “Okay Kels, this is your tour. I’ll meet you guys in the conference room in a bit.”
Kelcy nodded, and walked them down the bright exam hallway. She pushed through a wide wooden door with a large paddle handle that let into one of the exam rooms. As the lights came on automatically Ben whistled at the room’s cuttin
g-edge equipment. There was a motorized multi-position table and exam lights that could be positioned with a remote. Even the curtains closed automatically and the lights could be dimmed with a touch of the monitor pad by the door.
Kelcy demonstrated some of the sleek equipment mounted on rolling carts that fit seamlessly into custom cutouts along the back wall, including a high speed dental unit and a portable ultrasound. Mimi picked up on Aila’s pride and they shared a nod as Kelcy operated the equipment and described their functions with confidence. Every surface was clean enough to eat from, and there was tastefully framed artwork on the walls instead of the ancient posters for dewormer that adorned the old clinic.
At the end of the exam hallway Kelcy held up the key card clipped to the lanyard around her neck, and with a big smile and a wave of her hands she appeared to magically push the automatic frosted glass doors aside as they approached.
She took them into a large treatment room. It had a high ceiling and the pristine walls and floors were bright white. Aila noticed the floor wasn’t tile, it was one continuous piece of some kind of subtly dimpled white material that also curved up the walls. The room held several surgical tables that were islands of shining equipment. Each table could be sectioned off with plastic walls hung from tracks in the ceiling.
Kelcy led them to the back corner of the room and waggled her eyebrows before holding up her lanyard again. The plastic curtain wall slid aside to reveal a special surgery area. The hardware around the gleaming table in the room made the treatment room equipment look like toys. Its walls seemed to have every conceivable manner of high tech medical hardware built into one uninterrupted console with a curved row of monitors above it.
Mimi had been a nurse in her earlier years and knew how to use most of the equipment at the old vet clinic. She couldn’t identify half of the kit in the room. Everything had a touch screen, and sleek curved lines, and every attachment and accessory fit neatly into its own recess.
“Yowsers,” Ben said, “You could build a dog in here.”
“My thought precisely,” Mimi said.
“I’ve only been here a week,” Kelcy said, “So I have no idea what half of this stuff does. But it’s aww-soooome”
Aila high fived her daughter and said, “Oh man Kels, looks like you fell into the right job.”
Another plastic curtain wall slid aside as she walked in front of it, leading to rows of shiny cages and perfectly stacked supply shelves. They passed through another key-carded doorway and into the back of the clinic. The floor changed from white to hardwood and the walls and doors took on an upscale office feel. The room was a large circle, the high ceiling was one large skylight, and there were a half dozen sets of frosted glass doors spread equally around the room’s wall. In the center of the room was a low round table ringed with sleek chairs.
As they were taking the tour Mimi had been trying to orient herself inside the building. She quickly lost track after they left the huge glass lobby, which had been little more than a front door and a reception desk when her husband owned the building. Somewhere in this back area had been rows of thumping, dirty printing presses and equally dirty men scurrying around a loading dock but there were no signs of the old shop floor now. It looked like they had stepped into a downtown architect’s office.
Kelcy crossed the room and waved her keycard at a set of double glass doors. They slid open and she led her family into a large conference room.
Running down the middle of the room was a long dark table ringed by padded chairs. In the center of the table was a sleek gray stalk that housed what Aila took to be a multi-camera video conference system. On the side wall two huge displays were flanked by a rack of audio visual equipment behind black glass and a small touch screen that controlled everything in the room. Motorized shades covered the windows on the opposite wall, and built into the cabinets at the rear of the room was a glass front beverage cooler, fully stocked.
“Jesus Christ,” Aila said, and then added, “Sorry.”
Kelcy laughed and said, “Yeah, you expect to see something like this in Dad’s building, not so much down here in Pembury.”
The rooms frosted doors slid open and in walked Lindsay, followed by a tall man in a white physician’s coat that looked more like a sports jacket.
He strode up to Mimi and Aila and presented his hand. “Marty Osipoff,” he said, “we drop the doctor thing around here. It’s great to finally meet you guys.” He gestured to the chairs and said, “Please, sit,” and to Ben he added, “You must be the famous puppy life saver I’ve been hearing so much about. Can I buy a hero a drink?”
Lindsay brought over a tray of cookies, and they sat at the table and chatted for the next hour.
Marty was charming, and his slight southern accent was as easy on the ears as he was on the eyes. He immediately picked up on Mimi’s accent and asked about her childhood home. When he heard it was Inverclyde he said he had been there once, and remembered it as a place you could get homesick for after only a single visit. That was received with nods, and a big smile from Mimi.
Marty asked most of the questions as he hadn’t been in town long and was curious about Pembury, and the South Shore in general. He was also curious about the farm and asked about their family’s history in the states, and he even asked about Mr. Watt and the pups. When they talked about the old vet clinic and his purchase of the abandoned factory building Mimi complimented him on the renovation. She and Aila said they couldn’t believe it was the same place.
Eventually they got around to the subject of his new practice, and Kelcy’s new job.
“There’s really no high end animal care south of Boston,” he said. “Anyone in southern New England has to drive to Tufts for the really complex stuff. It’s a great place but they sometimes move like a herd of turtles. I think we can make a go of it offering an alternative down here. We need energetic and talented people, and that’s why we’re excited to have Kelcy here,” Marty said, touching her arm, “She soaks up information faster n’ grits, and even the mean dogs, and meaner owners, like her. How could you not?”
He smiled, and the woman in the room were quite sure Dr. Martin Osipoff left a trail of fluttering hearts everywhere he went. He was a very good looking man. Aila was pretty sure most woman wouldn’t hesitate to tell him their bra size if the doctor smiled when asking.
He was fair skinned, Mimi guessed German, with a flawless complexion and powder blue eyes. They guessed he was in his late thirties, and he had just a touch of grey creeping into the temples of his short blonde hair. He also just happened to not be married. “Too busy,” he had said. He held a pair of stylish framed glasses but Mimi never saw him actually put them on, even when checking his phone. She wondered if they were just to complete the outfit.
Aila couldn’t stop looking into his eyes as he spoke and forced herself to stare at Ben, who sipped his soda and bugged his eyes back at her, Why are you staring at me?
Aila caught Mimi looking at her. Her mother smiled a broad, knowing smile at her daughter.
Aila looked away from Mimi to Lindsay, who was telling Kelcy, “So officially we can’t hire you until you’re sixteen. We’re just considering these first few weeks to be volunteer training, with a signing bonus that just happens to equal back pay once you’re hirable.”
Mimi said, “Well I can’t tell you both how much we appreciate this, she’s been talking about this place non-stop.”
Marty’s phone chirped and he rose from his chair. Everyone else followed suit.
“Look gang,” he said as he clasped his hands, “It was super to meet y’all. I gotta run, but please come back any time to see us. Truly, I welcome the visit. Kelcy, get back to work you lazy kid. I’m sure there’s a poo stain somewhere that needs warshin’.”
They laughed and thanked Marty, and just as he was heading through the door he turned and said to Ben, “Oh, and have fun on your adventure. When you get back feel free to bring the dogs in anytime for a checkup, on the house. I
’d love to meet them, too.”
Chapter 10
The director of the FBI’s Boston field office, Douglas ‘VB’ Barton rarely had to raise his voice or state his position more than once, but he was losing an important argument.
“We’re not having this conversation again. It’s simple, take the right gear or you’re out,” VB said as he folded his arms across his chest to signify a finality that rarely worked against the tough, stubborn guy facing him.
“That helmet’s the lamest thing on this planet,” his son said, folding his arms across his chest.
VB looked to his wife who was corralling their waddling daughter and her two little friends to the tow rope for another run down the bunny slope. He wasn’t sure why she kept calling it a run as the bunny slope was essentially flat and she had to drag them on their little foot long skis.
His wife gave VB her signature, Have fun with that, look before she turned away with the three little ones. She clearly got far too much enjoyment out of his son’s ball busting.
“You gotta wear the helmet, dude,” VB said, waiting for his wife to move out of ear shot, “When you smack into a tree out there and both of your brain cells run all over your new ski jacket your mom’ll have my ass.”
The boy started a fresh round of protests but VB stopped him with a raised finger. He pointed to his Bluetooth earpiece. His son wasn’t well trained when it came to helmets, but there was no confusion when it came to his dad having to take a phone call.
VB’s son stomped off and joined the other kids in his ski class. He slammed on the helmet and shot his dad some venom before shoving off with them to the ski lift.
The Glasgow Gray: Spot and Smudge - Book 2 Page 6