Through the Mirror and Into Snow (2 page)

V
AL’S
M
OM
F
ROZE
I
N
P
LACE
as she caught sight of the strange animal sitting next to Sir Lexington. The top of a tall narrow table leaned against some hay bales. The animal had tucked itself into one of them, buried up past its head and front paws, only its back and tail showing. It was a large gray beast, at least the size of Sir Lexington, but had a long bald tail.

“Is that a rat?” she said softly to herself.

As a caretaker of animals, I am supposed to love them all, but rats still make me shudder. I knew Val’s mom had rats for pets when she was a teenager and she didn’t want to be afraid of this one. That’s what her mind told her anyway. Her racing heart begged to differ; I could almost hear it pounding from here.

“A rat could not possibly be this big.” She leaned in just a little for a closer look. Other cats were sitting next to it as if it were one of them. “Surely the cats wouldn’t keep company with a rat, even if there are special ‘food chain’ rules around here.” Her voice was getting softer. The anticipation was killing me. It was hard to keep myself from jumping out and shouting ‘boo!’ so I could watch her jump.

“Maybe Lex has a new friend with mange and the poor thing lost all the hair on its tail. That has to be the answer.” She went in even closer, took another good look then jumped back. She had her final thought on the matter that won the argument. “If it were a cat, it would be begging for food with the others.” After dropping the food she called for the dogs and ran for the house.

Did I forget to mention the dogs? There was Otter, a chocolate lab mix, who was appropriately named because of her love of the water, and Dottie, who you could probably guess was a Dalmatian mix, who especially loved Val’s mom and was never far from her side. You are looking at one happy gnome. Both dogs are female, so the only ‘watering’ I get is when it rains.

As timing would have it, Val’s dad was out of town for a few days on a business trip. “How come things only happen when he’s away?” she grumbled as she ran to the house. As hard as he tried to stay on top of repairs, something would always go wrong while he was away. As small as the disaster would sometimes be, I always caught her saying ‘there are just some things better left for a man.’ She had her own pink tool box filled with everything she might need, also in pink, but she preferred to put odd jobs on the ‘Honey-Do’ list for Valerie’s father. Yes, she did use the pink hot glue gun on my hat, but that’s another story.

Even though he was a couple hundred miles away and couldn’t do anything about the situation, her mother had to call him anyway. She would find comfort in at least being able to talk with him about it.

Seeing that it was her on his caller ID, he answered with the usual, “Hello, my darling.”

She screamed back. “We have R.O.U.S’s in the barn!”

He laughed at her excitement. “What?”

“There are R.O.U.S.’s in the barn!” She was laughing at what she blurted out as well, but still slightly shaken up.

As I mentioned before, Valerie’s mom loved a variety of movies and books about princesses. The movie
The Princess Bride
was one of her favorites. They laughed often over quotes from that movie. This one in particular fit extremely well. As a matter of fact, that movie was one of the first movies her parents watched together when they were just beginning to date. Although annoying to the other couple watching it with them, they both continued to quote the movie almost word for word. As it turned out, her dad enjoyed the movie long before meeting her mom. Her parents truly were a great ‘fairy tale’ match right from the beginning.

“Rodents of Unusual Size? In the barn? What did you see?”

She explained the large beast and its bald tail. Again he laughed. Together they decided it had to be a possum. That was the only logical explanation.

He assured her it would be okay to go back out. “It wouldn’t attack you unless you get it cornered and scared, but try to steer clear of it anyway.”

“All right. I’m not thrilled to have to go back out there, but I don’t want to leave Leroy in the pen. He hates to be left alone in there.”

“Why don’t you take the dogs with you for back up?”

“So Otter can lick it to death?”

Again he laughed. “She’ll chase it away if nothing else. Don’t go through the barn. Go around to the pen from the side door. As a rule, they don’t like people. You probably scared it off. No offense, my darling.”

“Ha-ha. Things like this never happen when you’re home.”

“You need me.”

“Says my knight in shining armor who missed his chance to rescue me this time.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“You’d better. See you in a few days.”

The girls heard the excitement in Val’s mother’s voice and came running down the stairs wondering what the commotion was about. After she hung up, she explained it to them. Of course they wanted to go out right away to see it.

“No, you are not! Who knows if it has rabies or some other disease? Animals like that don’t usually go where there are people nearby. You two stay put.”

Grabbing the doorknob, she called for the dogs to go with her, just like her husband suggested. They happily interrupted their naps for another chance at running outside, especially since the rain had stopped. She hurried to the pen and let Leroy out as fast as humanly possible then sprinted back to the house. The girls were still standing in the kitchen when she got back. She closed the door and fell against it, catching her breath.

They laughed at her. “Did you see it again?”

“No, thank goodness.”

They went back upstairs to play after mumbling a brief, “Bummer.”

It should have been obvious to Val’s mom that they were not about to let an adventure go unattended. Should have, but wasn’t. They were plotting to go out as soon as she went to bed.

“Have you ever seen a possum before?” Samantha asked Valerie, suddenly very excited at the prospect of an adventure.

“One time the dogs chased one back into the forest. Other than that, I’ve only seen a stuffed one at the Science Museum. Have you ever seen one?”

“Nope, only pictures. Your dad says they’re not mean; we have nothing to worry about. It’s not like it’s far away; it’s just to your barn. We’ll run out to see if it’s still there then come right back in. I really want to see one up close.”

“Fine by me,” Valerie said, giving in without a fight. For as long as I’ve known her, she was never one to turn down an adventure. She quickly located two flashlights, which was a great accomplishment considering the condition of her playroom. Usually ten minutes after a friend’s arrival, a small army was required to help clean it up. At nine o’clock, they made their way down the stairs to begin their quest for the possum.

M
UCH
T
O
T
HEIR
D
ISAPPOINTMENT
, the girls discovered the light on in Val’s mom’s bedroom when they tried to sneak downstairs. They went back up and played a card game to pass the time. It was one they had invented themselves and played almost every time they were together. I don’t think the game had any real rules, none that an adult or any self-respecting gnome could follow anyway. With overhearing things like ‘you can’t do that unless you have a hat on’ and ‘you can only do that on a Tuesday,’ you would expect there to be fights breaking out over someone cheating, but somehow they had their rules, whatever they were, all figured out. My brother, Michael, cheats at cribbage. There is no way we’d figure this game out in a million years. I’m already three hundred; the old saying ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ comes to mind. With their game involving checkers and chess pieces as well as monopoly money, I simply didn’t want to even try to understand it. Their clever imaginations never ceased to amaze me or their parents.

Time flew while they played. The winner this time was Samantha. Valerie assured her there would be a re-match the following day. They went down the stairs again with Valerie leading the way. They were mindful of the creaky places and clung close to the wall. The light in her mom’s room was still on so they detoured into the kitchen for snacks instead of going outside. On the way back, they stopped at the computer desk.

“Look, Sam. It’s the book my mom has been writing. We should read it.” I knew the look in her eye. It always meant she was up to something. She was throwing caution to the wind and willing to risk getting into trouble, the little stinker. “If she’s still up, she must be reading. We could be waiting for a while. This will give us something else to do.”

“Didn’t you say she had a file on the computer for her book and that it was titled ‘Read this and Die,’ Val?”

Valerie laughed. “Yes, but this isn’t in the computer now, is it?” She tucked it under her arm and walked back up the stairs. The little dickens; I think the pair would have made great gnomes.

When Val’s mom had first mentioned she was writing a short story, it had taken them by surprise. Valerie had never known her mom to write anything except a grocery list in her life. When her mom said it was a fairy tale with the two of them as the main characters, she couldn’t wait to read it and hounded her mother constantly for the pages. When Valerie discovered the folder on the computer, her mother immediately installed a password for it feeling the death threat for the folder name wouldn’t do the trick. Val couldn’t believe her luck in finding it printed out.

They read for a long while, thoroughly enjoying the crazy stunts and funny personalities her mom had given the two of them. The way she had them portrayed was never far from the truth, but of course the girls didn’t see themselves that way. They giggled their way through the pages until it was well past eleven o’clock.

Valerie suddenly stopped reading and shrieked. “I almost forgot about the possum!” She realized she said it a little too loud and covered her mouth with her hand. “Let’s get going,” she whispered. “I’m sure my mom is asleep by now.”

They went down the stairs a little faster than they had the first time around. As soon as they reached the kitchen they heard Otter begin to whine. Otter never skipped a beat. If someone was up, she was to be petted and let out of the penned area. She and Dottie shared the large bathroom and laundry room area off the kitchen. Even though they could jump the baby gate, they behaved and stayed put at night when they were told it was bedtime. A simple snap of the fingers by Valerie’s dad brought them obediently running for their homemade dog beds and a good night pizza-shaped treat.

The girls decided it was best to go out the mudroom door before one of the dogs started barking. By one of them, I mean Otter. Dottie didn’t care to ever go outside unless Val’s mom was along, so she stayed behind with barely an acknowledgement of the disturbance. Otter, however, did not miss a chance to go outside with anyone at any given moment whether it was thirty below zero, raining, hot, windy or even late at night. She wasn’t giving them much of a choice about leaving her behind. Otter always managed to put herself between anyone and the door, making it near impossible to get out unless she went first. Deciding it would be best to have her along anyway, Valerie let her out. They didn’t think the possum would still be there but just in case it was, it would be a good idea to have her with them for protection or to chase it away. Okay, by protection, I mean trying to play with it; this is Otter we’re talking about.

It had stopped raining long ago, but there was still a slight chill to the breeze. The girls had light rain jackets on over their pajamas and were comfortable. You never could tell what the weather in Minnesota was going to do. Val’s mom often spent days working on a Halloween costume for Valerie but the work ended up covered by a jacket because of an unseasonal snowfall. Rain and thunderstorms came and went on their own schedule in any given month. Tornados weren’t that common, but not totally out of the question either. Everyone’s favorite conversation was the weather. Depending on how far you were driving in the day, you could usually add or take off a layer of clothes. A running joke was ‘if you don’t like the weather, just wait ten minutes.’ It was the truth.

To the other side of their kingdom, opposite the forest, was a cornfield. The fields were often sprayed for bugs. That was a wonderful bonus for them because it helped a lot with the mosquito population. The mosquito is more commonly referred to as the ‘state bird’ and has a way of sometimes ruining a great time outside if you are not completely prepared and covered with smelly bug repellent. Mosquitoes leave gnomes and other creatures like us alone. We have an understanding. It works out well for both of us. It turns out our blood isn’t as tasty as yours anyway.

As they crossed to the barn, the girls were extremely grateful for the lack of the bothersome insects this night. They didn’t stop to think about putting on any repellent. In the excitement to get outside as fast as they could, even if they had thought about it, they would not have stopped to smear anything on. The pair was always about fun first, precautions later. If I could go back and warn Valerie that sunscreen after the fact doesn’t work, I’d have spared her a long, aching night last summer. I can’t do everything, you know.

Otter pranced around them, happy for the change in her routine. She didn’t get to go outside after dark often. One night shortly after moving to the farm, Otter and Dottie had a late night encounter with a skunk. It was an experience none of them ever wanted to live again, so they remained inside after dark if it could be helped. I did take the liberty of asking the striped family in the culvert to relocate. A little sweet talk goes a long way with skunks. After all, you just can’t come right out and tell your friends they stink!

Once they were outside, it didn’t take Otter long to charge after one of the barn cats. Once in pursuit she could not be stopped. Otter didn’t hate cats; she simply chased what ran. Some cats took off at the sight of her, some rubbed up against her when she entered the barn. Some did both. It was more of a game to everyone than anything else.

Val decided she shouldn’t risk calling for Otter so she could only hope the chase didn’t lead any further than the barn. She was happy to see the dog sitting at the barn door when they got there, patiently waiting to be let in. Otter was very much a creature of habit and often sensed what you were going to do. The fact that the cats came and went through a crack in the wall by the door’s frame may also have had something to do with her waiting there. Maybe Otter simply wanted to finish the chase and was too lazy to go through one of the back doors for the horses, knowing the girls were on their way.

As if each one was waiting for the other to chicken out, Val and Sam stood there for a moment staring at each other. Valerie finally reached up to unlatch the door. Before they could walk in, Otter darted in ahead of them and started sniffing around. The trail led her to the wooden ladder that reached the top level—the hayloft. The cat must have run up it to safety. Not being quite brave or dim-witted enough to climb it and finish the pursuit, Otter continued to sniff around with a new-found vengeance.

“I bet she smells the possum,” Samantha said.

Otter circled in front of the table then sniffed along Leroy’s pen. She continued to investigate the strange smells but stayed in the barn. Right away the girls checked the table. Sir Lexington was there, eager to be loved, but he was alone. They both gave him a quick pat.

“Where’s your friend, Lex?” Valerie asked.

Samantha took her turn petting him. “We heard you had an ugly buddy. Where’d he get to?” Sir Lexington replied with his happy purr and enjoyed the late night guests.

They were so involved in petting and talking to the cats, Val and Sam had forgotten their mission for a little while. When Otter dashed over to the tack room, they were brought back to the task at hand. As they got closer, they saw she had her nose pressed up against a small hole by the doorframe and was excitedly wagging her tail. The girls walked to the door.