“He doesn’t speak?” asked Alice.
“No,” I said.
“No,” said Lena.
“Why?” asked Alice.
I shrugged.
“Okay,” said Alice. “I can talk.”
I smiled.
“You sure can,” I said. “You and Lena.”
“He doesn’t have to talk,” said Alice.
“That’s what Mama said.”
But why didn’t he talk? Was he afraid? Was he sad? He must have talked once, maybe when he was a baby. When he was little? Maybe he had talked last week.
Why not now?
Daddy finished his coffee.
“I have to go. I have dogs and cats and one donkey to see,” he said. “You want me to take Lena to the clinic? She could be a bother here.”
“Lena. Bother,” said Lena.
Mama smiled. “It’s okay. We can put the cover on her cage if she talks too much. That quiets her.”
“Funny,” I said. “There’s a boy next door who doesn’t talk and a parrot inside who talks all the time.”
“And a man who drives a black car and comes and goes slyly,” said Alice.
“Slyly?” I asked.
Alice nodded.
“He’s not a king,” she said. “He’s a spy. Spies don’t talk much. They just spy.”
Daddy smiled.
“Could be,” he said. “Though you seem more like a spy than Mr. Croft.”
“I’m a writer,” said Alice.
“Kind of like a spy,” said Daddy.
Alice smiled as if she knew that.
The phone rang and Mama answered it.
“Hello. . . . Oh yes. . . . Uh-huh. . . . Uh-huh.”
“Uh-huh,” said Lena, making us laugh.
“I have a leash for her, by the way,” said Mama. “See you in the morning, then.”
She hung up the phone and leaned down to hug May. Mama’s face was very serious.
“May’s going to her new home tomorrow?” asked Daddy.
Mama nodded and Daddy put his arm around her.
“I’ll miss May,” he said.
We’d all miss May. But what Daddy meant was that he knew Mama would miss her most. Mama had rescued May.
“Well, May has a great home in the country,” said Mama with a small smile. “With a pond. With a family who will love her. And . . .”
She stopped suddenly.
“And what?” asked Daddy as if he knew what.
“I got a telephone call last night. There are two more dogs coming,” said Mama.
Daddy didn’t say anything.
“I had to,” she said. “They wouldn’t be alive in two days, so I’m taking them.”
“Two,” said Daddy.
“Two. I have to drive across state to pick them up. One is young.”
Daddy nodded.
“Two,” he said, beginning to laugh.
“Two,” said Lena, laughing with Daddy.
The Crofts’ house was the only other one we could see from our house. Ours was old. The farmer who owned all the land around it had lived here with its uneven wood floors and lavender wavery glass windows, its five fireplaces and three closets. When the farmer retired, he built the house where the Crofts lived.
The dogs had almost a half acre fenced in for running and digging and sleeping under trees. There were still cattle and horses in the fields surrounding our house. Sometimes Kodi spent time watching over the cows from his side of the fence. It was a Great Pyr’s job in life to guard the herd. Kodi kept watch over them in his own way.
The fence was where I found Alice and Phillip, sitting cross-legged with the dogs.
Alice was talking.
“And my father is a vet. He takes care of small and big animals. Mama rescues Great Pyrenees dogs so they won’t be killed. We have a talking parrot inside. You can come in to see her if you want.”
Kodi and May lay on either side of Phillip, Kodi’s big head on his lap.
“Did Mrs. Croft allow Phillip to come inside the fence?” I asked Alice.
“Yes. I told her he was coming over for a visit. I said I’d walk him home when he was ready.”
“And?”
“She didn’t say anything,” said Alice.
I laughed.
A door opened and shut next door. Mrs. Croft stood on the porch.
“Come home soon, Phillip,” she called. “We have to go shopping before lunch.”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Croft,” called Alice.
Mrs. Croft’s mouth hung open with surprise.
Alice stood up, and Phillip stood too.
“Phillip’s having lunch at our house,” she called. “Don’t worry. It will be healthy.”
Alice took Phillip’s hand and they walked toward the house.
“The queen watches,” said Alice softly. “Come, royal doggies.”
Kodi and May walked on either side of them like guardian angels.
I looked back. Mrs. Croft had gone inside. A little slice of sunlight marked the place she had been.