Saints Among Us (17 page)

“Well, I guess I’ll work with Jules one last time,” June said, naming the woman in charge of the room where the well cats were housed. “Shall we meet back here at eight forty-five?”

“All right. I’m going to the CCU. See you in a little while.”

It was nearly seven already. She had said good-bye to Mark, a parting that had ended with a tender hug between them. Her spirits had been lifted, but now she felt sad about leaving all her furry charges. She stopped in the cat room to see how “her” kitty was doing.

Alice’s heart sank when she saw that the little cat with the head wound wasn’t in her cage. Had she taken a turn for the worse during the night?

“What happened to our wounded kitty?” she asked as Gina appeared in the doorway leading to the dog room.

“Oh, don’t panic. She’s fine,” said Gina hastily. “Sorry to give you such a scare. Luther took her into the meds room because that’s the only quiet place in the whole joint and he wanted to evaluate her a little bit.”

Alice couldn’t resist. She slipped into the meds room, closing the door behind her. “Do you mind if I watch?”

Luther was on the floor with the cat. “Not at all.”

The cat had heard Alice’s voice and came stepping daintily toward her. There was a table leg in the way and Alice sucked in a breath of dismay as the cat headed straight for it. But at the last minute, it slowed and cautiously moved around the leg. It walked in an odd little circle to the right before straightening itself out and coming closer.

“Did you see that? She can walk. And I think she can see.”

Luther nodded. “I think you’re right. She has some sight—not much, but some—and that may improve as her brain heals. We’ll just have to wait. The circling also is brain damage. But given the blow she must have taken to the head, just having her on her feet moving around is a victory.”

“I’m so glad.” She hesitated for a moment. “Will the circling go away?”

“It may or it may not. If it doesn’t, it still might lessen. Either way, it doesn’t necessarily mean she can’t have a good quality of life. I have a brain-damaged cat at home, and he gets around just fine. We’ll just have to watch her for the next few weeks.”

Alice marveled to herself at the change in the veterinarian since the day she first met him. She supposed that since he was a vet, she should have expected him to own pets, but the thought really never crossed her mind.

“I’m leaving today,” she told him.

“You are? That’s unfortunate. I suppose since you’ve been here so long, I assumed you were permanent. But now I remember Mark mentioned something about your owning an inn.”

“Part of me wishes I were staying,” Alice confessed, “but the other part is eager to get home. I miss my family and the inn.”

Luther’s expression sobered and she remembered that he had lost his father recently. “Yes, I’m going to my sister’s house after I leave here, and I feel the same way.”

Alice hesitated. “I have a question for you.”

“If I can answer it, I will.”

“What would you think if I were to take the cocker spaniel with me? Not to keep forever, but I could take her into foster care until I can find the right someone for her. My friend June—you know, June from the cat room—knows a vet at home who might treat her for free if you think she’s healthy enough to travel.” By the time she finished, she was rushing through her speech.

Luther’s eyebrows rose. “You know you need Joe’s permission, not mine or Mark’s, to take a dog.”

She nodded. “I can’t keep her. I already have a cat. I want your opinion on her health. I value Mark’s opinion, too, but since he knows me personally, I wanted to get someone else’s thoughts on the matter.”

“My thoughts on the matter…I think that dog would love to go home with you, Alice, and Joe will be thrilled to let you take her. I think a vet with the proper equipment needs to take a thorough look at that mass. It does look malignant, but you never know until you biopsy it, which we cannot do here. And even if it is malignant, if it is contained and hasn’t spread to organs, she might have a chance. However, you have to face the fact that you could be dealing with a terminally ill animal that might not have a lot of time left. What will you do then?”

“I’ve thought about that,” she told him, although her voice quivered at the mere thought of the little dog’s dying. “If her life expectancy is brief, I’ll keep her. She deserves to be comfortable and loved after all she’s been through.”

Luther nodded. “Then I think you should take her.”

“Thank you.” Alice beamed. She bent and stroked the cat, which had settled down at her feet and was placidly washing herself. “Get well, little one. I hope you find your family or a wonderful home.”

Joe laughed when she asked him about taking the cocker. “I planned on it,” he said, showing her a chart on which he already had written her name. “I knew you’d never be able to leave that little dog behind.”

June’s eyebrows almost merged with her blonde hair when Alice asked her how she would feel about taking the dog along. “Of course. That’s fabulous, Alice. Once we get back to civilization and my cell phone works, I’ll call my vet and explain the situation. Before I came down here, he told me that he would donate the initial treatment fees for any animal I brought home.” She grinned. “And besides, I sort of forgot to tell you we’re also taking the two tiger kittens whose mother died.”

“June!” Alice was laughing. “We’ll never be allowed to go away again, you realize?”

They arrived that evening at a modest motel along the interstate in Virginia just above the North Carolina border. While both women were longing for hot showers and soft mattresses, they felt it would not be ethical to sneak the animals in as several of their fellow volunteers had told them to do, so Alice went inside to speak to the desk clerk. If the motel wouldn’t let them have the animals in their room, perhaps the SUV could be parked near the back of the lot and the two women could sleep there with their pets.

“Hello. I would like a room for two,” Alice said in response to the pleasant-voiced brunette who was manning the desk. “However, we have a special situation.”

“Oh?” The woman cocked her head.

“We are returning from a camp in Florida where we worked with an animal-rescue group for the past two weeks. We have a small dog and two cats—all in kennels—traveling with us. These pets will be placed in foster care while we try to locate families for them.” Alice sucked in a breath, prepared to plead her case.

“Oh, honey, that is so sweet. You folks all are angels.” To Alice’s relief, the woman began to nod. “We’ll make a special exception for you, even though we normally only allow service animals. I have a room right next to the east exit. It’s a big room with plenty of space for your babies, and there’s a grassy area yonder where you can take them to potty. Just please take a bag and clean up after them.”

“Thank you so much.” Alice pulled out her credit card. “You have no idea how much I appreciate your kindness. This trip has introduced me to so many extraordinary people with huge hearts.” She finished her transaction and received key cards for herself and June.

“Once you get them settled, we’d love to see them if they’re calm enough,” the woman said. “But we understand if they’re too traumatized. If I’d been able to take time away, I’d have gone down there too. It just broke my heart seeing all those animals on TV, so scared and hungry.”

Alice thought of Whitley, the shepherd who nearly hadn’t made it. “It was heartbreaking in some ways,” she agreed. “But I felt that we really made a difference. I wish you could have seen how many people came. I never would have imagined there were so many people willing to sacrifice their vacation time or their sick pay. There were volunteers from all over the country.”

The woman’s eyes were shining. “I don’t have any more leave until the start of the new year, or I’d love to do that.”

“Oh, you could,” Alice assured her. “They are going to need help down there for a very long time. Months, I’m sure. Here.” She picked up one of the pens at the registration desk, and the woman handed her a piece of paper torn from a hotel notepad. “This is the Web site address for Camp Compassion, the place where I worked. They are trying to get information out regularly, but right now news has to be driven to an open post office and sent to the lady who handles the site. The man in charge at the camp is Joe MacAfell, and this is his cell phone number. There’s no service out at the camp right now, but I hope there will be soon. If you’re serious, Joe would love to have you go on down.”

“What could I do? I love animals but I don’t know all that much about taking care of them.”

Alice laughed. “That’s exactly how I felt before I went. Don’t worry. If you have two hands, they will find work for you. I walked and fed dogs, cleaned cages and helped give medications. My friend June did a lot of laundry and helped in the cat room.”

She spoke with the woman a bit more, sharing information about the experience. As she walked back out to the car to direct June to their room, it occurred to her that she just had done exactly what Joe wanted: She had spread the word and gotten someone else to consider volunteering. She was the new Shelby! The thought made her chuckle as she hopped back into the passenger seat and waved the key cards at June. “They were delighted to help, and all five of us have a room.”

“Woo-hoo!” June let out a whoop that must have startled Alice’s cocker, because there was a short, sharp yip from the kennel in the back. “God is good!”

Chapter Fifteen

A
s they approached Acorn Hill, both Alice and June grew quiet. The town looked the same as it had when they left…so how could they feel so changed?

As they drove along Acorn Avenue, Alice murmured, “I feel so different.”

“We are different. We have met people with the same commitment to animals that we have, people willing to step outside their comfort zones, people from diverse backgrounds.”

Alice glanced at her watch. “It’s almost time for the evening feeding back at the camp.”

“I would be finishing laundry and then going in to help Jules bottle-feed those kittens who came in orphaned on Friday.”

“And I’d be in the CCU with Gina. Did you see the little black terrier that came in last night?”

“The one with the leg that looked’”

“Broken. It was. Luther stabilized it. He planned to splint it today. I hope that went all right.”

There was a silence in the vehicle. Alice suspected June was feeling the same reluctance she was to step back into the “real” world. Knowing they probably would never see most, if any, of their fellow camp volunteers again created a stunning sense of loss.

“The worst part,” said June, “is that we can’t even call them for an update.” She put on her turn signal and deftly veered into the driveway at the left side of the inn.

Home.

An immense sense of peace stole over Alice despite her sadness. Oh, she was going to miss everyone at camp, but she could not wait to see her sisters again!

June did not drive into the parking lot. Instead, she stopped beside the walk that led to the back door. They had so many things to unload that it would be silly to take any more steps than they had to.

Alice pressed her hands together, thinking about the canine guest her sisters soon would be meeting. She hoped Louise would not be too upset. Alice could count on Jane’s heart to melt once she laid eyes on the cocker spaniel, but Louise was wooed less easily. She would have things to say about dog hair on the furniture, making sure the dog didn’t bite anyone, and keeping the dog out of the kitchen…all eminently practical things that would make a great deal of sense, things with which Alice could agree.

However, with the new perspective Alice had acquired, a little dog hair did not seem like such a big deal.

Wendell was a different story. Alice bit her lip. The family feline was cuddly and affectionate, and she hoped that would not change with the introduction of the new animal. There simply was not a good way to explain to their cat that the dog was only a temporary addition to the household.

“Alice! You’re home!” The back door flew open and Jane appeared at the rear of the inn.

Louise was right behind her. “Hello, dear. Oh, we have missed you. Thanksgiving just wasn’t the same.”

“Nor was it for us.” Alice spoke into Louise’s shoulder as her older sister pulled her into a surprisingly fierce hug.

“My turn,” Jane proclaimed as her sisters parted. “We’re so glad you’re back.”

“You just want me to get back to work, don’t you?” Alice teased. As Jane released her, she walked to the back of the SUV, where June was just opening the doors.

Her sisters both greeted June warmly.

“What can we do?” Jane asked. “Load us up.”

Alice and June glanced at each other.

“Uh-oh.” Louise was astute at reading body language. “What was that look for?”

“What look?” Alice was sure she had not “looked” any particular way.

Jane ducked behind Alice. “Oh my goodness!”

“What?” Louise looked somewhat alarmed.

Alice laid a hand on her arm. “We have a short-term guest.”

“A guest?”

“All of them?” Jane had seen the cats too.

“No.” Alice smiled at Louise. “I promise you right here, right now, that this is a temporary situation. I brought home a dog.”

“A dog.”

Alice nodded. “It’s a female, a small female.” June had opened the cocker’s kennel and slipped a lead over the dog’s head. It jumped down, shaking itself vigorously. The moment it stopped, it made a beeline for the grass beside the gravel.

“She’s housebroken,” Alice said weakly.

“Indeed.” Louise quirked an eyebrow up. “And how do you think Wendell is going to like her?”

“I don’t know,” Alice admitted. “But it will be very short-term, just until I find the right foster home, and I probably can keep them separated if I have to.”

“It’s a girl?” Jane knelt in the driveway. “Hello, pretty girl. How are you?”

“She may not like’”

But the warning Alice had been about to deliver was unheeded as Jane reached out and stroked the dog’s soft head and ears without incurring so much as a lift of the lip. Alice and June both stared.

“Well,” said Louise, “she is rather pretty. Tell us her story.” As she spoke, she too knelt and stroked the cocker spaniel. Alice was dumbstruck by the sight of her proper sister Louise kneeling to pet a dog.

“She came in our very first night at Camp Compassion,” June began. “And she—Alice, will you look at that?”

The dog rolled over on its back, inviting Louise to pat its belly. The position exposed the ugly tumor for all to see.

“Goodness, what is that?” Louise asked, her hand never faltering as she patted the little dog’s belly up above the affected area. It was exactly the way Alice petted her little friend.

“Oh no. Is that a tumor, Alice?” Jane looked stricken.

“It is.” Alice said reluctantly. She had not anticipated both her sisters actually liking the dog, and she hated to tell them that the cocker spaniel’s life probably was limited. “It’s why I brought her. No one else wanted her. She was there two whole weeks,” she added indignantly. “Other cute, small dogs were taken by rescue groups but no one would take her once they learned she was ill.”

“What’s her prognosis?” Louise turned to look up at Alice.

“I don’t know,” Alice admitted. “Mark and the other vet, Luther Spade, think it looks malignant, but there was no way to biopsy it. June says her vet will donate some of her care.”

“You should have seen her down there.” June jumped in to bolster Alice’s explanation. “She adored Alice. No one else could even pet her without getting growled at.”

Jane and Louise both looked back down at the dog, lying on her back with her legs splayed, tongue hanging out, the picture of doggie contentment. “This dog?” they said in unison.

June and Alice both laughed. “This dog,” June said.

“You said this is a temporary situation,” Jane said suddenly. “Do you think you’ll have to…?”

“No. At least I hope not,” said Alice. “What I meant was that she would stay with us only until I can find a good foster home for her.”

“A few days? A few weeks?” Louise was still patting the dog’s belly.

“Either. It simply depends on how long it takes the right person to step forward. I’ve been praying about it.”

“We will too,” Jane assured her. “Does she have a name?”

Alice shook her head. “I wasn’t sure if I should name her.”

“Well, she can’t just go around nameless,” Louise said. “It could be some time before we find her a foster home or her own family is located.”

“Alice, you’re the one who saved her. You should name her,” June said as she began to pull Alice’s things out of the back of the SUV.

“But I can’t think of anything interesting or original,” Alice protested.

“Traveler,” Jane said. “That’s exactly what she’s been doing.”

“That’s not a name for a pretty little female,” Louise protested. “How about something like Amanda or Heather?”

Jane rolled her eyes. “Ick! Maybe Cinder or Soot, since she’s got a lot of black on her?”

“No,” said Alice, “I’ve got it.”

Both her sisters stopped and looked at her.

“Miracle. Because she is.” Alice was near tears. “If you had seen the shape many of these animals were in when they arrived, you’d know just how miraculous it is that she’s doing so well.”

“Miracle. I think it’s perfect.” Jane rubbed a hand up and down Alice’s back in a comforting gesture.

The sisters made short work of unloading Alice’s supplies from the SUV. When that was done, they met June’s kittens, and finally they exchanged hugs and thanks with June before she drove home.

Alice set up the kennel in the corner of the kitchen. Miracle was sniffing happily along the cabinets beneath the kitchen counter, searching for crumbs, Alice supposed, when she heard Jane give a small gasp.

Alice turned to see Wendell poised in the doorway.

All three sisters froze. Wendell’s tail puffed up right before their eyes.

Miracle turned and saw the cat, and Alice braced herself for a quick intervention if the dog tried to chase Wendell. But to her astonishment, Miracle only stared at the cat for a long moment, then broke the eye contact and went back to snuffling around the kitchen.

Wendell advanced with a stiff-legged stride that would have been amusing if Alice hadn’t been so tense. He stopped a scant foot from the dog. Miracle turned and stared. She gave an experimental little yip and Wendell hissed. Miracle took a step back, appeared to shrug off the threat, and with a happy little bounce, lay down and rolled over onto her back. She wriggled this way and that before flipping to her stomach and resting her head on her paws, watching the cat.

Wendell simply looked down his nose at this display of canine idiocy. Then, as all three sisters stared, he stepped forward and butted his head against the dog, turning to rub across the dog’s nose with his shoulder and flank.

Alice drew in a breath. “Thank the Lord,” she murmured.

“Pardon?” Louise moved her gaze from the animals and looked at Alice.

“I’ve been so worried about how you all might feel about me bringing home a dog that could become quite ill, and I’ve worried about how Wendell would react.”

“Wendell,” said Jane succinctly, “is still the king of this roost.”

The sisters chuckled as they turned their attention to the things that Alice had brought back. Most items were taken straight to the laundry room. Louise hung the sleeping bag over the porch rail to air out for a few hours while Jane began emptying the large cooler Alice had taken on the trip.

“You won’t believe all the things I’ve received for the crafts fair,” she told Alice. “In the two weeks you were gone, my room began to look like I was holding the craft show there. We moved everything over to the Assembly Room for storage just about the time I thought I was going to have to sleep in your bed for a while.”

“Gracious! That sounds like a lot.”

“You will not believe it until you see it for yourself,” said Louise. “Jane, Sylvia and Florence succeeded beyond anything Aunt Ethel could have dreamed.”

“Is there going to be room for everything? The Assembly Room doesn’t sound large enough.”

“Aunt Ethel decided that the Assembly Room was too limited a space. She talked a wedding planner over in Potterston into providing a tent by giving them a booth at no cost to display their services. Then she was worried that it might be too cold outside, so she has vendors coming to sell hot chocolate, apple cider, hot dogs and funnel cakes. One man has a cider press demonstration that people can try. A woman is going to demonstrate carding and spinning raw wool, and the 4-H Club is coming to talk to the crowd about the puppies they are raising to become guide dogs.”

Alice shook her head. “I knew when I first heard her talk about the idea that this crafts fair was going to be more than just a small, beginner’s attempt. She doesn’t do anything halfway,” she said fondly.

Louise was pointedly silent, and Alice remembered the tiff between her sister and their aunt. She was getting surprisingly tired, considering that she had slept well in the motel the night before and had done nothing but drive or ride for the past day.

“How is your Advent service coming, Louise?” she asked, trying not to yawn.

“It’s not for Advent,” Louise reminded her. “It’s a new undertaking in honor of a saint named Lucia, or Lucy. She was a Christian martyr.”

Louise went on at length to explain about Lucia and her crown of lights, and about the procession, which would involve handmaidens, and something called star boys. She recited the words of each of the songs she had found and was teaching the children.

“And they have special foods that I’m going to help with,” Jane added.

By now, Alice was so tired she was having trouble following the conversation. When Jane asked if she would like to go upstairs and see some craft donations that had yet to be sent to the Assembly Room, Alice felt forced to shake her head. “My heart is willing but I am exhausted,” she said. “Would you two mind if I went to lie down for an hour or so until dinner?”

Jane and Louise both stared at her for a moment. Then Jane quickly said, “Of course not, Alice. I imagine you must be beat after all that work and travel.”

Perhaps it was Alice’s imagination, but she was afraid she could read hurt feelings in her sisters’ reactions. But for once in her life, Alice did not have the energy to try to smooth things out.

She dragged up the stairs to her room and slowly slipped off her outer clothing. Then she donned a light robe and moved onto her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments.
Lord, please watch over my friends who are still at camp. Let them be joined by new volunteers, and let them find every animal in need
.