Jacob's Ladder (2 page)

“It's strange that Willie didn't hear anybody,” Rose said as she handed Mary her mug and sat down beside her. “He doesn't miss much around here.”

They both glanced out the front window, trying to imagine where the new camper was parked. They held the cups of coffee in their hands, waiting for them to cool.

“Maybe he already came and left,” Rose said.

Mary considered the possibility. She took her first swallow, made a clucking noise with her tongue.

“That has happened, right?” Rose asked.

Mary opened the top drawer of her desk and found a sugar packet. She opened it and poured the contents in her drink. “Some,” she said.

“Well, that's probably what it is if they aren't over in the last row.” Rose nodded.

Mary stirred her coffee. There was a pause. “Ms. Lou Ellen get off her cane today?” she asked, tired of thinking about the mystery camper and his or her whereabouts.

“Yep. She's getting her walking license,” Rose replied. “She's been immobilized and motorized and accessorized for longer than I thought she could manage. I suspect if that doctor doesn't release her today, she might just find a new use for that stainless-steel cane he gave her.”

Mary smiled. Both women knew that Ms. Lou Ellen's hip fracture and surgery late in the summer the previous year had been a true hardship. The recovery period had taken longer than anyone expected, as there had been a few complications and the older woman was not one to sit around feeling content about being infirm and obeying orders. She had managed a difficult number of months.

“She say she good as new,” Mary added. “I tell her she good as old.”

Rose laughed. She took a sip of coffee and placed the mug on the desk in front of her, then looked out the window again.

As if on cue, Ms. Lou Ellen had come out of her cabin and began walking on the path to the office. Both women watched her.

There was nothing odd about her being out and about, for she often came by to join her two friends for morning conversation. But Rose noticed right away that something was different about this trip Ms. Lou Ellen was making to the office. This time, she was not alone. Following behind her was a skinny, three-legged black dog. They hobbled together toward the office. The women were stunned to see such a sight because they both knew that Ms. Lou Ellen didn't have a dog and she had always made it perfectly clear that she did not like them very much.

“Well, my, my,” Rose said to Mary as they stared at the older woman walking in their direction. She moved toward the office unhurriedly and carefully, using the cane as the doctor had ordered, while the dog, which the women in the office could now see clearly, limped behind her. The older woman appeared to be speaking to her new companion. She hesitated, as if she had thought of something, made a remark in the dog's direction, and laughed. Then she started walking again.

Ms. Lou Ellen made it to the front porch steps, slid the cane beneath her right arm, reached for the railing, and pulled herself up the four steps. She turned around to her new friend and he stumbled up next to her.

“Somebody open up and let us in. It's freezing out here.” She had made it to the front door.

Rose stepped around the counter and opened the door. Ms. Lou Ellen moved in beside her, while the dog stood on the porch.

“It's all right, darling,” she said to the animal. “These women are harmless.”

The dog backed away and walked over to the corner of the porch. As if he had been commanded, he sat down and then slid his front paws forward, stretching into a prostrate position.

“Well, I guess somebody trained him right,” Rose said as they both stared at the old mutt, who lay in the corner watching the women.

“I suppose,” Ms. Lou Ellen replied as she turned around and headed into the office.

Rose pulled the door closed. She stood behind it, staring out the window at the dog.

“Where did he come from?” she asked as Rhonda's mother moved to the table in the center of the room and stood beside it. She was wearing a dark skirt, a thick wool sweater, and a raincoat. The hood fell across her eyes and she pulled it away.

“Who knows,” she replied. “He just showed up at my door this morning, crying.” She balanced the cane against the wall beside her and slipped her coat off. She threw it on the back of the chair and sat down.

“He sounded like an old hant. I heard him out there whining and carrying on, tried to shoo him off. Darn thing wouldn't leave.” She nodded and winked in Mary's direction, her way of asking for coffee.

“He must have been out there an hour before I opened the door and finally peeked out.” She settled in her chair as the other women listened. “When I did, well, of course, I realized right away who he is.” She blew out a puff of air.

Rose and Mary waited.

“Well, friends, it's easy to see. Look in his eyes.” She touched the sides of her hair. She was spent from her walk.

Rose peered through the screen. As if he had been called, the old dog lifted his head in her direction.

“Well, what am I saying? You certainly wouldn't recognize him,” Ms. Lou Ellen said.

Rose turned to her friend, hoping that she was going to explain.

“You haven't known us long enough to recognize that memorable face.”

Rose was curious.

“It's my ex-husband. Number two,” she said very matter-of-factly.

Rose stared at her, wailing for more.

“If you had seen the man, you'd know,” she said, waving her hands in the air. “Girls, it is Mr. Lester Earl Perkins returned from the dead to bring me trouble.”

Mary poured Ms. Lou Ellen a cup of coffee, sprinkled some powdered cream in it, stirred it, and took it to her friend at the table.

“Just like that old devil to come back as a three-legged dog and hound me.” She took the coffee with a smile. “Thank you, Mary dear.”

“Phhtttt,” Mary responded. “Your dead husband wouldn't be so quick to lay in a corner if he like you say he was.” She glanced out the door at the dog. He was still lying quietly on the porch.

“Well, you're right about that,” the older woman replied. “He'd be in this room licking the likes of both of you girls.” She smiled.

“Really,” Rose said, trying to take the conversation to a more serious level. “I've never seen this dog. Did he have a collar on?” She turned to Ms. Lou Ellen.

The older woman shrugged her shoulders. “I just gave him the bacon from my breakfast, dear. I did not handle him.”

Rose opened the door and stepped out on the porch, moving over to the dog. She held out her hand and the animal sniffed it and then licked her palm. She held the dog's head up and noticed a thin, narrow red band around his neck. She pulled the collar around, but there were no tags. She patted his head and rubbed him under his neck and across his shoulders. She noticed the stump that used to be a fourth leg. There were no apparent recent wounds or markings. It seemed to her to have been an old injury.

“Looks like a mix of a Lab and maybe something else,” she said to her friends as she stood up and walked back into the office. “Funny that we've never seen him before.” She shut the door, reached over the counter, and got her coffee. “Wonder what happened to his hind leg.”

“Well, if it is Mr. Lester Earl Perkins, he probably gnawed it off just to get my attention.”

Mary rolled her eyes as she walked over to her desk behind the counter and sat down.

“Ms. Lou Ellen, I highly doubt that mutt is your dead husband.” Rose sat at the table next to her friend.

“Say what you will.” Ms. Lou Ellen smoothed her hair behind her ears, sounding particularly smug. “I just read in the
Enquirer
that Elvis roams over there across the river as an old white raccoon. And we all know the
Enquirer
reports truthfully.” She lifted her brow and raised her chin, awaiting a reply.

There was none.

“So I cannot think it's impossible for Lester Earl to make his way from the other side, as well.” She took another sip of her coffee. “They probably came together.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Rose shook her head. “Well, whether he's your dead husband come back to haunt you or whether he's just an old stray, you have to decide what we're going to do about him.”

“He stays,” she said, sounding as if she had already thought through the decision. “I'm not about to put Lester Earl in the West Memphis Animal Shelter. He'd have every female dog howling like a coyote if I stuck him there.” She turned her face toward the door and shouted, “Isn't that right, Mr. Perkins?”

The old dog jumped up from the corner and came to the door as if he had been called.

“You shouldn't play about spirits,” Mary said, watching the dog through the window. “Bad luck for campground.”

“Oh for heaven's sake, Mary, we got so many ghosts hanging around this riverbank, one three-legged dog isn't going to bring us extra harm.” Ms. Lou Ellen drank a few sips of her coffee.

“Besides, Mr. Perkins is not the harming kind. He's more of a lover than a fighter.” She winked at the other women.

“Well, whatever he is, he's going to need watching after. You really want a dog?” Rose asked.

Ms. Lou Ellen shrugged her shoulders. “He'll just lie around here until he's bored. I expect he'll go wandering before too long.” She drank some more from her mug.

“He looks kind of poorly to me,” Rose said. “You want me to buy some food for him while we're out today?”

“Lovely idea, Rose. If I remember correctly, Mr. Perkins was particular to the shoulder roast, lean but tender. Maybe you could pick up a few pieces from the butcher shop in town.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a bag of dog chow.” Rose replied as she leaned back in her chair.

“Dog chow?” Ms. Lou Ellen raised her voice. “Mr. Perkins, do you hear that? Dog chow?” she asked again, and the old mutt let out a whine. He was now sitting at the door watching.

Ms. Lou Ellen smiled and lifted her cup to her lips.

Rose shook her head. “Shoulder roast, lean but still tender.”

Ms. Lou Ellen nodded. Then she stood up and slid her chair behind her. “Now, Rose dear, what time is my appointment with that good-looking bone doctor?”

Rose looked at her watch. “Nine-thirty,” she replied. “You've got an hour to powder your nose and change into your fancy underwear.” She finished her coffee and set down the mug, then took in a deep breath and continued. “I think I'll look around the park before we go, just to see if our late-night guest is still here.” She faced her friend. “Do you need assistance back to your cabin?” she asked as she stood up from the table.

Ms. Lou Ellen waved her off. “I have my own companion, thank you, dear.” She reached over and grabbed her cane, placing it in front of her. Then she pulled her coat around her and moved toward the door. “And just for your information, all my underwear is fancy.”

Rose walked over and opened the door for Ms. Lou Ellen. “Of course it is. I'll pick you up a little after nine,” she added.

“That's fine, dear. Tootle-doo.” And she headed toward the porch and down the steps.

The old mutt moved aside, waiting for the woman. After Ms. Lou Ellen passed him, he wagged his tail and followed closely behind her.

Mary watched the two limp across the main campground entrance and over to the cabin where Ms. Lou Ellen lived. “That dog bring bad news,” Mary said, drinking the last of her coffee and shaking her head.

“What makes you say that?” Rose asked. She had walked around the counter and was standing beside her friend.

“Just so,” Mary replied. “I know missionary when I see him.”

Rose looked puzzled. She thought for a moment. “I think you mean emissary.”

“Whatever,” Mary replied. “He come for reason.”

“So you think that old dog is Ms. Lou Ellen's dead husband, too?” Rose asked, surprised at the other woman.

Mary shook her head, looking very serious. “He not come from the other side, but he travel here for something. He bring bad news.”

“Okay, Mary,” Rose said as she turned around and moved over to the coat tree and grabbed her coat. “A three-legged dog has brought us bad news.” She slid it on as she headed outside.

“By the way, how many dead ex-husbands does Ms. Lou Ellen have?”

Mary paused. She was thinking. “Five,” she said. “Counting that last one she never divorced.”

“For heaven's sake, we'll have to build a kennel if they all decide to come back.” Rose shook her head and opened the door.

“And meat locker,” Mary added.

Rose laughed. “Right, filled with lean, tender roast.”

Ms. Lou Ellen and the dog had made it to the cabin. The office fell silent.

“Well, let me go and see about this mysterious one-dollar-bill camper,” Rose said as she turned back to face her friend. “Maybe he'll give us more money and we can pay Lester Earl to take his troubles somewhere else.” She smiled and the door closed behind her.

Rose made her way to the golf cart parked beside the office. She sat down and waved at Mary, who was watching out the window. She turned the key, popped the brake, and headed away from the office.

She drove first along the back side of the property, the row of sites nestled in the grove of river oaks. Old Man Willie was out front, and Rose greeted him with a wave of her hand.

The other two trailers that Lucas and Rhonda leased were in good shape, with no new rigs parked near them. She went past the pond where Thomas enjoyed fishing and glanced up the lane that meandered by the old quarry and out to his trailer. She smiled as she thought of her new lover.

She thought about driving over to see him but then remembered that he'd left early that morning to ride with his cousin into Fort Smith to buy a tractor. He wouldn't be home until the next day.