Twice Lucky

by Mardi Alexander

“I’m so sorry—”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  Mac held up the map. “I was so absorbed in the map and didn’t notice you. I really am sorry.”

  Having recovered, Sarah laughed lightly. “I’m sorry too. I was busy trying to get out of here after a long day and wasn’t watching.”

  Sarah looked at Mac and tilted her head, trying to remember why she looked so familiar. The woman in front of her was very striking, with long, wavy chestnut hair, cutting a very classy figure in the uniform. She wouldn’t be someone who was easy to forget and yet…wait, the eyes, clear blue crystalline with a hint of storm-dark edges. And the uniform. Fire uniform. “Fireman Mouse!” she cried out triumphantly, having finally remembered.

  Mac looked down at the ground, her face as red as a beetroot, which only made her eyes look bluer.

  Sarah shook her head slightly. She must have been more tired than she thought—what an idiot she must look. “Sorry, long day. You look quite different to the other night. That was you who brought the couple in from the MVA, wasn’t it?”

  Mac looked up. “Yes, that was me.” She extended her hand. “I’m sorry, it was late the other night and I don’t think I introduced myself properly. My name is Mackenzie James, from the local fire station. Please, call me Mac.”

  Sarah took the hand offered in hers and warmly exchanged the handshake. “Hi, Mac, I’m Sarah, Sarah Macarthur.” A person could get lost in those eyes. “You were looking at a map?”

  “Ah yes, sorry.” As if realizing she was staring, Mac broke eye contact and looked at her map. “I’ve been given the job of doing the inspections and fire training sessions this year. I was coming to see Bella and Rob, to see how they were doing after the other night, and I thought I would get a head start while I was here and just try and get a bit of an idea of where a couple of things were, rather than stumbling around like a lost sheep on Monday.”

  Sarah laughed. “Don’t you mean a lost Mouse?”

  Mac joined in. “Touché.”

  Sarah moved in and leaned over to have a look at the map. It was very detailed. She was pleased she didn’t have to read it. Maps were not her forte—it was much easier to navigate around a human body. Fatigue was suddenly forgotten. “Was there any place in particular you wanted to have a look at? I’m off shift now and could help, if you wanted.”

  “Seriously? That would be great. I won’t keep you long. But if you could just point me in the direction of the maintenance facilities, like the workshop and the laundry, that would be great. I just wanted to walk past and make a note of where they are for next week, if that’s okay.”

  “I’ll do better than that, I can take you there if you like. It’s behind this building and around the corner, sort of set back. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  “Thanks, Sarah, that’d be great. I didn’t mean to trouble you.”

  “It’s no trouble, follow me.” Sarah felt a little buzz. It’s no trouble at all. I think I could actually find myself looking forward to Monday’s inspections, go figure!

  The map quite forgotten, Mac had to really concentrate on where Sarah was taking her. Mac couldn’t remember the last time she went on a date, let alone the last time someone caught her eye. But she wasn’t blind and she still had a pulse and was most certainly enjoying the unexpected company. Maybe the chief was right. Who knew, maybe this gig wouldn’t be too bad after all. The safety classes were compulsory for all hospital staff, so she was definitely going to run into Sarah at least one more time. Besides, it would be good to have a familiar face in the crowd. Or at least that was what she was telling herself.

  Sarah walked Mac around to the workshops, the laundry, the incinerator, and the back of the kitchen areas, pointing out various features of each as they went past. On a few occasions Mac asked a couple of quick questions, pausing to add some notes on the maps. All up, the tour took about forty minutes.

  Back at the corner where they first started, Mac held her hand out again to Sarah, who readily gripped it. “Thanks again, Sarah. You’ve given me a great head start for next week. I really am grateful for you taking the time to show me around.”

  Sarah smiled quite openly and returned the handshake. “It’s been a pleasure. I look forward to seeing you next week.”

  “Cheers. See you next week, then.”

  Mac realized they were still holding hands and sheepishly let go of Sarah’s. Sarah waved and headed off to the car park while Mac folded her map and turned to go inside to see Bella and Rob.

  “Hey, Mac?” Mac turned to see Sarah waving at her. “Bella had a baby girl!”

  Mac waved back. “Thanks! See you.” Mac detoured slightly and headed towards the gift shop.

  Chapter Six

  Mac enjoyed visiting Bella and Rob and meeting their new baby daughter, who were all doing well. Mac didn’t normally follow-up on people she helped out on the job, but sometimes it did happen. There were days when they got to see things that no human being should have to see, but in the end, someone had to. A feel-good outcome—like Rob and Bella being okay and a baby safely arriving in the world—was the thing they all fought so hard for. That was what motivated hurried steps, tumbling out of bed in the middle of the night when the pager sounded off. The happy endings helped make their job all the more worthwhile.

  She had spent a pleasant evening at home, adding a few more things to her school programs and catching up with Maree and Terri on the phone, getting some more details about the dogs on run six. Their stories were all sad tales: abandoned rather than being looked after in old age, thrown off a truck and never collected, found in an abandoned building. The pup with blinking eyes had been left in a box at the gates of the refuge in the middle of the night. He had obviously been neglected, but other than that, not much was known about the dog’s history.

  Mac loved a challenge; she couldn’t wait to see the animals again. Next morning she was up at five, into her runners, footsteps pounding down the road to the refuge. Last night she had cooked some chicken and saved some extra bits for her new friends. As timing would have it, she met up with Maree again as she came through the gate. The noise was almost deafening. It seemed everybody was up and excited, ready for breakfast. She ran over and gave Maree a hug. “Morning.”

  “Hey, gorgeous. Two mornings running.” Maree froze on the spot and her eyes went huge in horror. “You haven’t quit your job have you?”

  Mac burst out laughing and put her arm around Maree’s shoulders as they walked, arms around each other, to the office. “No, nothing like that. The boss has given me a change of scene for a month, doing inspections and education classes, which means I get to work regular-people hours for a while. So unless we have one of those movie-scale epic disasters, my plan is to be here most mornings, if that’s okay with you two.”

  Terri walked around the corner and dove straight in for a group hug. “If what’s okay with us two?”

  “Mac here is pretending to be a normal person for a month, with regular job hours. So she wants to come and play with us and all the fur babies in the mornings.”

  Terri whooped in delight, then stood back. “Hang on, Mare, did you say she’s pretending to be a normal person? Yeah, good luck with that!”

  Mac mock-punched her on the arm, put her arms around both women’s waists, and they all walked into the main office together. Mac turned around to face them. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a crap friend lately. I’ve missed this—I’ve missed laughing with you guys, and I miss your cooking. Hey, are you guys doing anything weekend after next?”

  Maree and Terri looked at each other and shook their heads.

  “Because I have been such a crap friend of late, how do you feel about coming over to my house for some dinner, music, wine, and general catch-up? And yes, I will cook for you.”

  Maree and Terri looked at each other, failing to keep straight faces. Terri turned to Maree and in a semi-mock-whisper said, “Oooh a night out would be good. And it would be good to catch up with Miss Miss
ing in Action over there, but she said she was gonna do the cooking. Is that wise?”

  “Hmm, yeah,” Maree answered in kind. “Remember the last time she cooked? We had to order in pizza and sit outside eating while the smoke cleared from the house.”

  “Oh yeah, and then there was the time when—”

  Mac was chuckling and held up her hands in surrender “Okay, okay, so cooking’s not my thing. But I’ve got this covered. Really.”

  Terri and Maree both looked at each other and then back at Mac, not looking at all convinced.

  They were all laughing now. “Seriously guys, I will do dinner.”

  Terri was giggling. Maree slapped her playfully on the arm. “Okay, then we’ll bring the wine, how’s that?”

  “Super! Okay, lock it in.”

  Maree looked at her watch, then to Mac. “You happy to do the same routine again this morning? Kittens, then run six?”

  “Too easy.”

  As before, Mac did the kittens first. She had a bit more time this morning, so each and every kitten got loads of attention and extra cuddles before she was done. She talked to each kennel occupant and left them treats before going back to start the cleaning with the old cattle dog. “Morning, princess,” she crooned and was pleasantly surprised to see the old dog wag her tail in recognition this morning. Mac cleaned out her kennel and sat on the floor next to the old dog, feeding her some of the leftover chicken. She pulled a brush out of her pocket, showed it to the dog and allowed her to sniff it, then gently started brushing her.

  Mac finished by gently scratching behind the old dog’s ear. “How was that, princess? You like that? I think you do. How about we have a beauty session each morning, hey? How does that sound, hmm?” The dog leaned into her and wagged its tail and Mac scratched her behind her ear. “It’s a date, then. Same time tomorrow then, my lady. I had best be off and see to the youngsters.”

  She did the same with the hunting dog, although he was slightly more stiff in his reception. Poor bugger had probably never been brushed in his life. Still, he didn’t object and barked cheerfully once at her as she left as if to say thanks.

  The terrier was still pacing and wasn’t interested in the chicken. She noticed he hadn’t really eaten much of his breakfast either. She would talk to the girls about him. He was too highly stressed. Mac left, a hefty ball of concern weighing heavily on her mind for the little dog.

  Lastly there was the kennel on the end. As before, there were blinking eyes. Today however, she didn’t put out the nibbles near the bed. Mac went about her business and cleaned the kennel. Then she sat down on the floor about two feet from the bedding. “Hey, little eyes. Last night I made some chicken dinner and I cooked a bit extra and brought it in to share. I was kind of hoping that you and me could get together over a piece of shared bird.”

  While she was talking, Mac brought the chicken out of her pocket and was shredding it into little pieces. She gently tossed one piece right on the edge of the bedding. The eyes blinked double time, and a small black nose appeared and quivered as it scented the chicken in the air. A pink tongue quickly darted out and snared the morsel. Mac kept up the dialogue.

  “Now normally, I am a crap cook, and my friends Maree and Terri agree completely on this, but”—she tossed some more chicken just a little farther away from the bedding and closer to her by a couple of inches—“I was especially careful last night and chose the best piece of chicken.” A golden muzzle appeared from under the bedding and snagged the second piece before retreating, so Mac tossed another piece, a little farther out and closer to her.

  “I thawed it out and cooked it in a pan.” Mac held her breath as a whole beautiful golden head slowly appeared to take the chicken, and this time it did not retreat but stood statue still and waited.

  “I confess, I used a smidgeon of butter when I seared it.” Another piece of chicken was released barely two inches from her. The dog would have to come all the way out to get it. “I thought perhaps the butter might just give it the little winning edge of approval that I was looking for.”

  Mac placed the rest of the chicken directly alongside her outstretched thigh. The dog emerged ever so slowly, as if magnetically drawn, mesmerized, by the hypnotizing power of the chicken, to cautiously eat the remaining titbits beside her. Mac made her movements slow, so as to not alarm the dog. “And I was kind of hoping for some feedback from you guys here this morning on what you thought.” Mac ever so gently put her hand on the shoulders of the tiny golden body, who initially froze at the contact, then continued eating the chicken as Mac stroked the furred back.

  It was a tiny body, still a puppy really, hard to tell how old. It was skinny. Too skinny. It broke her heart just a little. Mac gazed over the pup from head to toe. She could count each of its ribs quite easily. It was a little girl, the colour of sun-ripened wheat from head to tail, with the tip of the tail white as if someone had dipped it in paint. She had a dark nose and walnut-coloured eyes. What was it with the brown-eyed beauties this week? Probably a mixed breed. Looking at her paws, she guessed at maybe a middle-sized dog when she grew up. Given her poor start in life, Mac suspected she would probably remain a small-framed lass.

  Mac held the last piece of chicken in the palm of her hand in the middle of her lap. “You know, I watched a movie once, about a child in the woods, raised by her gran, I think.” Mac stopped patting the puppy and let her eat the last of the chicken on the ground. “Anyway the gran had a stroke and eventually died, and this girl was living a bit wild, on her own. She was a blond young wild wisp of a lass, a bit like you really.” The puppy had finished the food and realized that the only piece left was in Mac’s lap. If the puppy wanted to take it, it would require an enormous leap of faith.

  Mac kept her voice steady and calm. “She had her own language and when she met this man they had to learn to talk to each other. Eventually they became friends.” The puppy, in the slowest of motions, put one paw on Mac’s thigh. Mac didn’t move. Two paws. Three. Then slowly, ever so slowly, the fourth leg was raised and the pup crawled onto Mac’s lap to nuzzle her hand, where the last of the chicken lay.

  “I remember Jodie Foster played the role in the movie. It was breathtaking. I can’t remember if it was a true story or not.” Mac started to stroke the puppy’s back. “Anyway, the movie and the young girl were called Nell. Y’know, you kind of remind me of her in a way.” The puppy looked up at her and seemed to figure Mac was okay. The newly christened Nell had a full belly, was sitting in a warm lap, and had a gentle hand running down her back in a warm, rhythmic motion. Nell yawned, then turned around three times before curling into a ball, falling fast asleep up in Mac’s lap. This was the ultimate gift of trust offered to Mac. She knew the enormity of it and tears coursed down her cheeks as she continued to stroke the puppy’s back. “So I guess you liked my chicken, huh?”

  *

  As predicted, Sarah had spent her first day off cleaning the house, grocery shopping, washing, and throwing open the windows, encouraging fresh air to sweep the house clean. That was one thing about working nights—the house rarely felt fresh. She left in the dark and came home as the sun was up, only to shut everything closed to keep out the light and noise so she could get some sleep. But here it was, daylight, and she was home. Sarah had a smile on her face all day. Luxuriating over a nice cuppa on the balcony felt positively decadent. Funny, she had forgotten how the simple things like sunlight and free time felt so damn good.

  The spare rooms for Jean and Thomas were all ready to go. Right on five, Sarah headed across town to pick them up. First they went into the mall and picked up a new video game for Thomas for the weekend. They happened to go past the pet store. Thomas tugged on Sarah’s coat and pointed to go inside. Both Jean and Sarah looked at each other and smothered a smile. Sarah nodded and they all went inside.

  Thomas walked around the store, carefully looking at all the accessories for any and every pet imaginable with a very thoughtful expression on his face. Someti
mes he would stop in front of a particular item, look at the price and the varieties on offer, and then move on. It appeared he deliberately left looking at the animals on display until last, almost like he was savouring it. He worked his way past the fish, the mice, guinea pigs, and rabbits. There were only two puppies in the store and they were both curled up, fast asleep. Finally he walked to the kitten enclosure and there he stood, fascinated. He watched them all with great intensity. He laughed at their tumbling antics and their bumbling pouncing manoeuvres. They were all colours and a mix of sizes, but he kept coming back to a clutch of tiny kits who were obviously still working out how their bodies worked.

  It was getting on time for dinner. Jean signalled to Thomas that it was time to go. Thomas put his hand to the glass and sighed, dutifully turning to join Sarah and his mum as they walked out the door. As it was an early birthday outing for the family, dinner was Thomas’s choice. He picked a Japanese restaurant where they had been once before. Thomas didn’t like the food so much as the chef who gave a fantastic floor show as he chopped and tossed food around like a well-seasoned showman, getting Thomas to hold up a dish at one end of the servery while he diced carrots in the air to have them land into Thomas’s bowl. Sarah and Jean laughed at the chef and Thomas’s antics.

  All too soon it was time to head back to Sarah’s. Thomas fell asleep in the car on the drive home. Jean carried him into the house and put him straight to bed while Sarah poured them each a glass of wine. Sarah put on a new CD one of her work colleagues had recommended.

  Jean walked in, grabbed her wine, and crashed down on the couch next to Sarah. “Mm, this is nice. Hey, who’s the CD? Sounds great.”

  “It’s The Waifs. Alice at work put me on to them—they’re great, aren’t they?”

  “So, tell me, how’s work? And when was the last time you had a couple of days off? How nice.”

  “Yeah, I know. I was just thinking this morning how nice it was to be home. I even enjoyed cleaning the house—how sad is that, huh? God, I must be getting old.”