“About fifteen minutes,” her mother said. “I just want the macaroni and cheese to crisp up nicely.”
Cool. She liked macaroni and cheese. And Zack loved it.
Her father noticed the feather, and leaned over to look at it more closely. “Well, that’s awfully pretty. Where did you find it?”
Emily pointed out at the road. “On our way home.”
Her father squinted at it, through his glasses. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen plumage like that before. What on earth kind of bird could it have been?”
Not on earth, was Emily’s guess.
“Maybe we should take it over to the biology department, and see if they can identify it,” he said.
Emily shook her head. “No, thanks. I don’t really want to know.” Which was totally and completely true. “I just maybe want to hang it over my desk, and be able to look at it.”
“Well, it’s certainly spectacular,” her mother said. “We can get a little frame, to protect it, if you want.”
Emily nodded. “That would be great, thanks.”
They ate dinner out on the deck as the sun went down, and the moon slowly rose over the quiet sea. None of them really spoke, because it was nice just to be together, and outside, and enjoying the evening.
“Oh, look!” Her father pointed up. “A shooting star!”
Emily glanced up just in time to see it streak across the night, followed by a second one. “Hey, there’s another!”
“Right between Orion and Sirius,” her mother said.
Emily knew that Orion was a constellation of a man, who was maybe an archer or a hunter. “What’s Sirius?” she asked.
“The Dog Star,” her mother said. “According to the myth, he was Orion’s dog. It’s supposed to be the brightest star in the sky.”
A man, and his dog.
Well, of course. What else could it be?
Zack barked happily, and Emily bent down to give him a huge hug.
“It’s perfect, isn’t it, boy?” she said.
She could have sworn that he actually nodded at her, and then he leaned against her, looking up with adoring brown eyes. Brown eyes, with maybe a little speck of gold.
They all watched as the two shooting stars journeyed across the sky, leaving behind two small bursts of golden light at the end of their path.
Emily smiled, feeling as though—even if it was just for a moment—everything in the entire world was exactly the way it should be.
That everything was absolutely perfect!
A Square Fish Book
An Imprint of Macmillan
DOG WHISPERER: THE GHOST. Copyright © 2012 by Nicholas Edwards.
All rights reserved. For information, address Square Fish,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
ISBN: 978-0-312-37096-1
Square Fish logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
First Edition: November 2012
mackids.com
eISBN 9781466828056
Dog Whisperer Page 15