by Wesley Banks
He held them out towards her and she took them, one in each hand, holding them away from her body as if they might try to bite her.
"The pups need their final deworming. I’ll take them to the house where we keep all the meds. They're not old enough yet to make it through the night without making a mess. Scoop it up and toss it in the bucket. Make sure you check along the back of the pen. They don't like to make a mess where they sleep, but occasionally it happens."
Katie looked down at the bucket and realized the brown spots scattered along the sides weren't dirt.
"You're kidding, right?"
"When you're done you can rake the hay out, as well."
Kyle walked across the barn and returned with a wheelbarrow and a rake. "Put it in here and I'll bring a new bale in to spread."
“You’re serious?”
Kyle didn’t say a word.
"I was kind of hoping to spend some time with the dogs. So that I could actually write about them.”
Kyle stood still for a moment in front of Katie, just looking at her. He rubbed his arm across his forehead, catching a few beads of sweat. He repeated what he had said earlier, but this time Katie didn’t feel like the words were meant to hurt her, but to help her understand. "How can you write about something you don't understand?"
"Well, I was kind of hoping I could learn from you. Maybe watch you with the dogs."
"You watched me with the dogs for hours earlier today. What do you think more watching is going to do?"
Katie hadn’t been sure that Kyle had seen her earlier, but now she found herself a little embarrassed. As if watching him play with the dogs was a secret ritual that she was never meant to see.
"Well, I figured I could watch them up close and really get to know them."
Kyle's hands went to his hips as he shook his head with disapproval. "Come with me," he said.
She followed him across the barn until they were standing in front of an empty pen. He unpinned the latch, opened it, and walked in.
"Tell me what you see."
Katie hesitated. The pen didn't look much different than any of the others. She looked around, knowing this must be some type of test.
There must be something about this pen.
"I don't know. There's no dog in this pen. It's empty."
Kyle walked out of the pen, latching it closed behind him, and stood directly in front of another.
"And what do you see here?"
Katie quickly walked over and stood next to him. There was a simple wooden name post nailed to the top board. It read, “Belle.”
In the back corner of the pen was a single dog. She had a shaggy white coat with large black spots. Her head was black as well, and accented with symmetrical tan markings on her eyebrows and jaw. Even lying down, Katie could see the bulge in her stomach.
"She's pregnant."
"Yes. She is. But what do you know about her?"
Katie thought to herself, Well, I know she's pregnant...
"You know nothing about her. Understanding comes only through experience."
With that, Kyle walked back to the pen containing the five puppies and marched them out of the barn.
Katie just stood there silently. She looked at Belle until the dog finally lost interest and laid her head back on a patch of hay on the floor.
How is cleaning up dog poop going to help me understand these dogs? Nothing he said made any sense.
But what other options did she have? She looked down at the date on her watch. In less than three weeks she owed her agent a rough draft. She wanted to sit on a bench and write about each dog as Kyle trained them, not clean up after them. She picked up the shovel leaning against the top rail and the dirty bucket that lay next to it. At this point, she didn't really have a choice.
Chapter 10
After falling asleep immediately after dinner, the next morning Katie awoke with ease. Shoveling dog poop and raking hay may not be hard work for a lot of people, but it was the only work Katie had done besides write in years. Her arms and shoulders were sore and her feet still hurt from walking around the property. She raised her arms above her head to stretch and turned from side to side. Even that little motion caused pain in her sides.
She would have preferred to wake up to a nice hot bath, but she prepared herself for the shock of the cold water as she stepped into the shower. Unbelievably, the first drop of water against her skin was warm. Not hot, but definitely not cold, either.
As the warm water ran through her hair and down the small of her back, she almost forgot that she had gotten up early to see the dogs. She was hoping that Kyle would repay her hard work yesterday with a little bit of time to watch him train the dogs today, and maybe even answer some questions. A few minutes later, that hope was gone.
After she got dressed she made her way to the kitchen table, where she had begun to lay out her notes thus far for the story. Something caught her eye. As she walked past the front door she noticed a yellow piece of legal paper stuffed between the door and the doorjamb.
She opened the door and pulled the note inside. It was folded meticulously in three even halves and on one side, in all capital letters, was her full name: Katherine Price.
She unfolded the note, held it in front of her, and read:
November 5, 2007
I fixed the hot water.
Breakfast is wrapped in tinfoil and sitting in the oven.
I will be gone most of the day with the dogs.
Medicine chests are sitting on the steps. Please clean them out and inventory.
Rigging is hanging at the far end of the barn on hooks. Please clean and inventory.
Lunch is at noon. Dinner is at 6 p.m.
Doc will be gone again.
Katie groaned as she crumpled the paper in her hand and tossed it on the table with her other notes.
For the next two days, she woke up to find a new note on the door each morning. Clean the nameplates, check the pens for any loose boards, prepare the food, clean out the water bowls, organize the files. No matter how early she woke, a fresh piece of paper was there with a list of things to do for that day. None of which ever included spending any time with the dogs.
She had tried pleading with Doc, but since he was the only doctor in town, he was gone most of the time dealing with more important problems, especially since Mrs. Perry’s baby had been born. That left Katie to spend most of the days doing chores by herself. Well, not entirely by herself.
Belle was fifty-seven days into her gestation period, which Katie had learned from the scattered conversations she’d had with Kyle over the past few days. That meant she was due any day now. That also meant that Kyle had to leave Belle behind each morning when he left with the dogs.
Kyle had quarantined the dog, though, so it wasn’t like she was by Katie’s side. No one was to enter her pen, except Kyle. Period.
Still, it was nice to feel Belle's presence whenever Katie had a chore in or around the barn. Every now and then she would stop outside Belle’s pen and just talk to the dog. Sometimes, she talked to her about the story and the progress she was making, or about potential plot lines. Other times, she asked Belle about Bishopville, or Doc, or the other dogs. Or occasionally Kyle. All right, more than occasionally, Katie thought grudgingly.
At the end of the third day, Katie hung the empty silver pail on a nail near the barn entrance. She took her time as she walked towards Belle’s pen. She stopped at the first pen and traced her hand over the wooden name plates that hung from the gate. Saint, Solomon, Samson, Rev, and Angel. All the names of Biscuit’s puppies. They were likely sleeping under Doc’s house at the moment, or perhaps chasing Biscuit around. It seemed odd that Kyle let the puppies roam around during the day, but he was the expert, not her.
Cotton, Peanut, and Apple were the next three. Katie referred to them as the “crop dogs,” because she assumed they were all named after crops in South Carolina.
There was an empty pen next to Cotton and then there
was Belle, towards the middle of the barn.
Kyle and the dogs would likely be back soon and they’d find their food and water bowls filled and waiting.
Katie sat down and pulled out her notebook, which she had jammed between one of the slats in front of Belle’s pen. Katie leaned her back against the smooth wood and pulled her knees to her chest to use as a writing desk. She heard Belle get up, pad over to the gate, and lie down just behind Katie. Only a one-inch piece of timber separated them. It had become a sort of ritual for Katie and Belle over the past couple days.
“Hey, girl,” Katie said, turning towards Belle. She slid her hand through the space just above the toe board and rested it on Belle’s side. Her hand rose and fell with each of Belle’s breaths.
“You have any wonderful dreams while I was out there sweeping floors, scrubbing feed bowls, and re-bedding stalls?” Belle looked up and let out an audible breath through her nose. Katie moved her fingers back and forth behind the dog’s soft ears.
“I know what you mean. Every day can’t be full of dreams.”
Katie turned back around and jotted down a few notes. The sun was low and she could see the individual rays of light pour into the barn. Little specks of hay and dust floated amongst the light. It would make a beautiful cover, if she ever actually finished the book.
“I just don’t get it,” Katie started again, turning the conversation to the topic she’d been dwelling on most lately. “What does he have against me being here? He feeds me all these lines about, ‘you can’t have understanding without experience.’ But how am I supposed to get any experience when he takes all the dogs with him and leaves me here alone?”
Katie looked down at Belle. “You know what I mean.”
She looked around the barn for a few minutes in silence, thinking about the whole thing. “What would you do if you were me?” Belle groaned as she shifted her weight atop the hay. “I’m sorry, girl. You have bigger problems, huh? I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”
Katie leaned her head back against one of the horizontal boards and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. Having forgotten her train of thought, she set her notepad and pencil down, and let her mind wander. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for her to fall asleep on the barn floor.
Chapter 11
“Miss Price,” Kyle said. “Miss Price.”
Katie opened her eyes to find Kyle squatting a few feet away from her.
“Miss Price,” he said again.
She leaned to the side to grab her notebook and quickly wiped what felt like a few drops of drool from her lip.
Oh God, please tell me he did not see that.
“I’m sorry. I must have fallen asleep.”
“Dinner is ready,” he said. He stood and reached out his hand.
She leaned forward and took it, then paused at the feel of his warm fingers. She could feel his calluses on the sides of her hands and the strength in his grip as he pulled her to her feet. Her weight shifted forward slightly as she stood, and she was suddenly very close to him.
Why is he even being nice to me? Is this him being nice to me? I don’t know why I even care.
Dinner was already on the table when they walked into the house. Katie looked around for Doc, but saw no sign of him.
“Doc out again tonight?”
“One of Mr. Willis’ cows had a problem birthing,” Kyle said.
“Is there anything he doesn’t do?”
Kyle looked back at her from the kitchen, and thought for a minute. “Not really.” He poured two glasses of lemonade and sat down across from her at the table.
Kyle cut his chicken into small rectangular pieces and mixed it with his rice and peas. Katie just watched.
He used his fork to scoop up a bit of rice and then stabbed a piece of chicken on the end. Katie just watched.
Halfway through chewing his first bite, he looked up at Katie staring at him. He swallowed and said, “Is something wrong?”
“I’m just shocked you aren’t leaving me another note. I’ve gotten accustomed to spending the days and nights by myself. And apparently you’re talking to me now, too?”
Katie was a little shocked at herself when she heard the words leave her mouth. But they were true.
Kyle didn’t say a word. He just finished chewing.
“I’m sorry,” Katie said. “It was just a long day.” She ran both of her hands through her hair, feeling all the loose strands that had come undone from her ponytail. She looked down at her food. She was so frustrated she didn’t want to eat, but she knew if she didn’t she’d end up back at the cottage starving until breakfast.
Kyle set his fork on his plate and took a sip of his lemonade. “We haven’t had a lot of guests since Hannah passed away.”
She looked up. Kyle rested his forearms against the edge of the table as he spoke. “Hannah?” Katie said. “Doc accidentally called me that my first day here. I thought he’d just forgotten my name. Who is she?”
“She was Doc’s wife.”
“That’s who Doc built the cottage for…” Katie said.
Kyle nodded.
Katie took a bite of her chicken. It was grilled and marinated in what tasted like Italian dressing. It was good.
“What was she like?”
Kyle smiled.
So he smiles, too.
“You would have liked her.”
“How so?”
“She wasn’t from around here.”
“Where was she from?”
“Doc really doesn’t like to talk about her all that much.”
Of course he doesn’t. Which I’m guessing means you’re done talking about her. Figures.
Katie moved what was left of the chicken around on her plate. She had so many questions running through her mind now. She wanted answers about Hannah, but she could see that was a dead end, at least for tonight.
She tried another question. “What about your family? I mean, I know Doc is your uncle. But, what about your parents?”
Kyle put his fork and knife on his plate and walked it to the kitchen. “I’ll be outside when you’re done.”
So, we can’t talk about Hannah. You won’t talk about your parents. And you’ll talk about the dogs, but just not with me. Brilliant plan, Katie. Write a book about a bunch of dogs and the least talkative men on the planet.
Kyle walked Katie home in silence, keeping a few paces ahead of her the entire way.
She thought about trying to start another conversation, but she thought better of it. Her last question had hit a sore spot she could tell, and he obviously needed some space. So, when they arrived at the cottage Katie didn’t even say goodnight. She just walked right past him and into the house. The solid white door closed behind her.
* * *
Kyle looked down at King, who was standing next to him. He shined the flashlight out in front of them a bit.
“That went better than last night, don’t you think?”
King cocked his head sideways.
He sighed. “You’re right. That didn’t go well at all.”
Chapter 12
The next morning, Katie woke up without any more patience. Either Kyle would let her spend time with him while he trained the dogs and stop dodging her questions, or she would leave.
And maybe that’s the point of it all. Maybe he wants it that way, she thought. How had she even made it five whole days in this place?
She didn't care. Today was Thursday, and her agent would be calling on Friday for an update. She hadn’t spent most of the week doing chores in some barn for nothing. She needed her story, and the most she had so far were a myriad of descriptions about the few times she had seen the dogs—most of those about Belle or King.
Katie never got the chance to vent her frustration that morning, however. As soon as she reached the kitchen, it was clear that something wasn’t right. Unlike previous mornings, there was no note stuffed in the door.
Katie looked around outside, under the mat, beneath
the steps, even twenty or so feet in each direction from the house, thinking the wind may have somehow blown it away, though the trees were as calm as ever. There was no wind. In fact there was no sound at all. She didn't know what it was exactly, but something definitely felt wrong.
How is it that the one thing I’ve come to hate each morning is also the one thing I’ve counted on?
Without hesitation, she took off for the barn.
As she walked, she couldn't stop her mind from guessing what could be wrong.
Is one of the dogs hurt?
She walked faster.
Has something happened to Doc?
She began to jog.
Is Kyle okay?
She broke into a run.
Moments later, Katie reached the barn nearly out of breath. She looked into the barn, but Kyle wasn’t there. A second later, she heard the familiar squeak of the screen door opening and she saw Kyle exiting Doc’s house. For a moment she smiled, mostly in relief at the realization that he was fine. Maybe she had finally earned his trust and there weren’t going to be any more stupid chores.
Her smile quickly faded.
His demeanor seemed as collected as always, but when he looked at her she noticed the calm in his eyes was gone. He didn't say a single word, but kept walking past her towards the barn.
And then she saw his hands.
He was carrying one of the steel toolboxes that held medical supplies for the dogs—the same ones she’d cleaned out earlier this week. But what alarmed her were the red stains that streaked down each forearm. What alarmed her was the blood.
Katie quickly scanned the empty lot near the house, where Doc parked his truck. It wasn’t there. Figures. Before she knew it, her legs were moving as she followed Kyle into the barn.
"Kyle," she called after him.
He didn’t stop walking, but yelled over his shoulder. “Not now, Miss Price.”
Katie jogged after him anyway.
He turned abruptly to face her. She almost ran right into him. The look in his eyes was like a heavy weight pressing down on her.