Storm Watcher (4 page)

Bored, Luke prowled around the house the next morning. He’d already walked both Hounddog and Moondoggie, watched two hours of the Weather Channel, and cleaned out his backpack. Finally, he jumped on his bike and pedaled to Storm Watcher Kennel. Willajean and Megan ran a chubby German shepherd named Tanner through a scent trail in the training yard.

With hardly a hello, Willajean sent Luke to fetch dogs. Before he left, Megan raised her eyebrows at him. Probably wondering why he was here, but Luke just shrugged, not sure either.

He spent the rest of the afternoon laying tracks through the cornfield for the dogs to follow. He placed scent pads filled with small treats along the route to encourage the dogs to follow his scent from one pad to another. Then he wrapped the dog treat in the glove at the end. The leaves of the corn tickled his calves as he walked through the rows, careful not to step on any plants. Willajean had said the change in terrain would be a challenge for a few of the dogs. Tracks laid on the grass were the easiest to follow, then parking lots. Woods and city streets were the hardest.

The sun blazed and sweat soaked his T-shirt as Luke completed five different tracks. Luke marveled as Willajean or Megan ran behind each dog. These dogs were smarter than his brothers. The bloodhounds and German shepherds stayed on his scent path and discovered the gloves. As an extra reward, all the dogs were praised, then treated to a rowdy game of Frisbee. Fun for the dogs, Luke, and Megan.

“Luke, get lost,” Willajean ordered.

“What?” Luke’s mouth hung open, stunned by her harsh words.

“Lost in the woods.” She pointed to the trees surrounding the farm. “Tracks in a cornfield are okay for AKC titles, but I’m training Lance to be an air-scenting search and rescue dog.”

Puzzled, Luke asked, “What’s the difference?”

“A tracking dog tracks with its nose to the ground, focusing its attention on contact and ground scent. But an air-scenting dog picks up
airborne
human scent.” Willajean bent over and scratched Lance behind his ears. “Once, at a demonstration, I saw a dog find a specific man in a large crowd. The dog’s nose was in the air the whole time. Amazing.” Willajean shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe what she had witnessed.

Willajean gave Luke a white towel. He wiped his sweaty face on it and handed it back. Then he hiked through the woods for a half an hour, crunching through the dead leaves, and zigzagging past bushes before he found a great spot to hide next to a fallen tree. Dirt still clung to the roots, and its leaves were still green. Luke laid flat, breathing in the scent of wet earth. Insects buzzed overhead. How long should he wait? What if Lance didn’t find him?

After a while, other sounds reached him. The shuffle of a small animal, scurrying through the underbrush. Birds flying from limb to limb, calling out to each other. A loud mockingbird perched nearby, showing off by singing all its songs. Luke counted the different calls for something to do. Thirteen. Not bad, little bird.

A distant bark silenced all the noise. Then the unmistakable tread of footsteps and jingle of dog tags. In no time, the German shepherd leapt over the tree trunk. Excited, Lance jumped on Luke, licking his face and slobbering all over him.
Eww
.

“Lance, heel,” Willajean said, coming up behind the dog. “Sorry about that. He’s young yet. Another six months should help him mature.”

Luke had learned more about dogs during the one week he’d worked at Willajean’s than he had in a lifetime living with Dad. Fascinated by Willajean’s knowledge, he had turned his days off into half-days. Plus there’d been no rain and no storms. Luke almost felt – not quite normal – but better than he had since Mom died.

When they finished training on Friday afternoon, Willajean called to Luke, “Come with me, Lost-and-Found. I want to show you something.”

Luke’s heart did a tight double squeeze in his chest. He hadn’t been inside the house yet. And what did she mean by
lost-and-found
? Perhaps she was merely referring to his daily task of getting lost in the woods.

She led him through the house. He gawked at all the rooms they passed. One after another. This place was humongous. Boxes were stacked everywhere. But a few areas had been unpacked. A flat, wide-screen TV that had to be at least fifty-two inches hung on the wall of the living room with a brand new video game system underneath. Luke wanted to stop and drool over the tall stack of video games, but didn’t.

The longest table he’d ever seen filled the dining room. It would make a great bike ramp. Stopping in an enclosed sun porch, Willajean pointed to a large wooden whelping box. Sprawled inside was a sleeping bloodhound, surprising because seven puppies roughhoused nearby.

“Here’s the litter. They were born on June first, so at the end of July you can take one home – a belated birthday present.”

“Uh…yeah that’s great.” Luke tried to get excited about his birthday tomorrow, but without Mom it just wouldn’t be the same. No off-key singing. No girly-color wrapping paper. No over-cooked cake. He swallowed. How could the things that had annoyed him so much before be missed so much it hurt deep down inside? He’d actually been trying to forget about his birthday. And although the blood pups were super cute, they grew into big dogs just like the three they already had at home. Did he even want one?

“Do you have a name picked out yet?” Willajean asked.

Luke hadn’t considered names. He cleared his throat. “No. But I know I’d like a female.” For Mom. Plus Dad couldn’t say no to that.

A papillon raced into the room, barking and yipping, obviously agitated. Willajean picked the dog up. “Well, you might want to wait until you get to know your dog. They have distinct personalities. Isn’t that right, Sweetie?” Willajean asked the papillon. Sweetie squirmed, and Willajean set her down. She raced to the door, then stopped and glanced at Willajean. She whined.

“What’s the matter?” Willajean followed the dog.

Luke stood in the sunroom, uncertain if he should go or stay.

After a couple minutes, Willajean came running back with a white mass in her arms and Sweetie yipping at her heels. “Lady’s in labor. She’s early. Luke, quick, get that white box off the shelf.”

“Uh.” Luke stammered, but he spotted the box and struggled to get it down.

When he placed it on the floor, Willajean pointed to a bag full of towels. “Use them to cover the bottom.”

He spread them out.

Willajean laid the dog on top. “Go get Megan, please.”

Luke ran to the kennel’s kitchen.

“Where ya been?” Megan asked as soon as he burst into the room.

“Lady.” He gasped. “In…labor.”

“Already?” Megan washed her hands.

How could she be so calm?
Luke wanted to rush back to the house, but kept pace with Megan. By the time they returned, poor Lady was panting and shaking.

Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, Megan helped Lady while Luke and Willajean watched. He was unable to tear his gaze away. Lady strained, and a blob came out her back end, followed by a gush of blood. Gross. The blob didn’t resemble a puppy at all. Covered with a see-through film, it had a string that went back inside Lady.

Megan moved the blob closer to Lady’s head. Lady chewed off the sack, and cleaned the pup with her tongue. Really gross.

Megan pointed to a gooey mass and said, “That’s the placenta, and this is the umbilical cord.” She held the pup up, and Lady cut the cord with her teeth. “You gotta make sure the mother dog doesn’t chew off the puppy’s tail.”

When the pup was clean, it squeaked and squealed.

“It’s a girl.” Megan guided the pup to a nipple to suck.

Then nothing happened.

“Only one?” Luke asked disappointed.

“Probably not,” Willajean said. “It takes time. Do you want to help with the next one?”

Shocked, he glanced at her. “Can I? Really?”

“Of course.” She smiled. “This is a natural process. Lady doesn’t really need any help unless there’re complications. We like to be on hand to guide the pups to feed and make sure none of them are accidently smothered under Lady or in the towels. Unfortunately, it happens.” Willajean
tsk
ed. “You’ll need to wash your hands and put on gloves first.”

Luke ran to kitchen, scrubbed his hands and arms up to his elbows, dried them, and raced back. He didn’t want to miss the next one.

“You might as well get comfortable,” Megan said. “This could be awhile.”

“Do you want to call your dad and let him know you’ll be late?” Willajean asked.

Luke glanced at the clock – four thirty. “No, he won’t be home until six or seven.”

“Okay, guess I’ll start dinner. Do you like mac and cheese, Luke?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Willajean left.

Ten minutes later, Lady grunted and another puppy blob slid out. Luke gently pulled the slippery and warm pup closer to Lady’s head. Beyond cool. When all the yucky stuff had been licked off, he helped the pup find a nipple.

Two hours and one bowl of mac and cheese later, Lady finished giving birth. She had three females and two males in the litter. Willajean praised Lady.

“Wow,” Luke said. “That was the coolest thing I ever saw.” He grinned, but his smile dimmed. In eight weeks all the puppies would be sold, and Lady would be without her babies. And just as bad, the babies would be without their mother. Just like him.

“It’s a shame you can’t keep all the puppies,” Luke said.

“I already have too many dogs.” Seeming to sense his mood, Willajean added, “Once the puppies are weaned, they no longer need their mothers. They’re different than us. Besides I couldn’t think of that many names.”

“You said that papillons are tough dogs. But you have one dog called Sweetie and another called Lady. How come?”

“Well, Lady’s real name is Painted Lady, which is a species of butterfly. Sweetie’s real name is Mourning Cloak, another species, but she’s the sweetest dog I’ve ever owned, so no other nickname would stick.” Willajean shrugged. “I was trying to be clever by naming my papillons after butterfly species, but some of the names tanked, like Swallow Tail, and I get strange looks at the AKC events.”

“Does that bother you?” Luke thought about how much effort his brothers put into naming their dogs, hoping to sound way cool.

“No. Actually if I don’t get at least one odd look a day, I start wondering what’s the matter.” She laughed at Luke’s expression. “See, now I’m all set for tonight. Megan will be happy. I don’t have to embarrass her at the mall.”

“Not like it ever stopped you before,” Megan teased.

A wave of sorrow swept over Luke. He’d teased Mom about always embarrassing him at Jacob and Scott’s swim meets. She’d stand on the bleachers and cheer at the top of her lungs.

“I have to be loud,” she’d say. “So the boys can hear me through the water.”

On his bike ride home, Luke thought about Willajean. She was straightforward, almost blunt. Plus she treated him like an adult and hadn’t tried any of those touchy-feely “how are you
really
doing?” conversations that his aunts and uncles started every time he’d seen them since Mom’s death. He hated those.

His gloomy mood changed the instant he turned the corner. A red Prius was parked in his driveway. Luke coasted his bike into the garage, dumped it on the floor, and raced into the house.

“Grandmom,” he yelled.

She was in the kitchen cooking dinner despite it being seven thirty. After a quick check to make sure his brothers weren’t home, he gave his grandmother a hug.

“How’s my working boy?” She squeezed him once, then let go. “You’ve gotten a foot taller at least.”

“That’s impossible, Grandmom. I saw you last month.”

“Well, then I must have shrunk. Now tell me all about this new job of yours. I’m so proud that you had the gumption to get a job this summer. And happy birthday,” she cried.

“It’s not until tomorrow,” he said, hurt that she had forgotten the date, something he would expect from Dad, not Grandmom.

“I know. I wanted to be the first one to tell you.” She stirred her steaming pots.

The spicy smell of garlic mixed with a heavy tomato aroma meant she was cooking one of her special Italian dishes. It didn’t matter that he’d eaten. His mouth watered in anticipation.

“Where’s Dad off to now?” he asked. The arrival of his grandmother usually meant Dad would be gone for awhile.

“North Carolina. Some Boy Scouts are lost in the Smoky Mountains. They needed extra dog teams. He’s hoping to be back by Monday or Tuesday.”

Dad would miss his birthday. Again. He shouldn’t feel disappointed. Dad and Ranger were one of the best SAR teams on the East Coast. Last year they’d rescued a group of lost hikers. Yet Luke needed Dad to do some rescuing at home. Since Mom had died in March, they’d all stumbled through the days like zombies. So far Easter and Mother’s Day and the twins’ birthday had been painful reminders of the huge hole in their lives, which Dad ignored.

The loud entrance of his brothers interrupted his dark thoughts. They pecked Grandmom’s cheek and tried to run off, but she took a firm hold of their hands.

“Wait just a minute. I want to take a look at my blond-haired boys, who are growing into fine young men. You two look just like your father did when he was sixteen.” She rambled for a long while.

Luke enjoyed watching his brothers squirm, and he smiled outright when they finally dashed up the stairs.

Grandmom harrumphed as she dumped the cooked spaghetti into a colander. “That’ll teach them. Trying to use the old peck-and-run maneuver on me.” A puff of steam rose from the sink.

After dinner, Jacob and Scott again bolted upstairs, but this time with the excuse that they had to get ready to go to the movies with friends. Luke clicked on the TV, turning to the Weather Channel. He hadn’t checked the weather since this morning and needed to get caught up.

The reek of cologne gagged Luke before his brothers even made it to the bottom step. Grandmom intercepted them at the door with an arsenal of questions and instructions.

“Has your father given you the sex talk yet?” Grandmom demanded.

“
Grandmom
,” Jacob cried. His jaw hung open in pure horror.

Luke stuffed a throw pillow into his mouth to stifle his laughter. If only he had a camera or a cell phone. The shock on Jacob’s bright red face would be great for future bribery.