38.

NATURALLY, IT HAD BEEN Emma who let all the animals out. As the squad car pulled up to the curb, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She still couldn’t remember convincing Billy to join her in her caper. She couldn’t remember getting on the back of his motorcycle and taking him on a tour of the park. She couldn’t remember showing him the Snake Mound burial ground, or telling him about the Howards, or taking him past the children’s playground, and explaining that it had been fenced off for reconstruction after a suspected arsonist left it in ashes.

Emma couldn’t remember getting Billy to drive over to the little High Park zoo, or how he had stopped her when she tried to hop the fence to “go say hello.” Emma didn’t remember Billy deciding it was time to go home after that, and depositing Emma on the doorstep of 66 at around two am. Nor did she remember only pretending to go back in the house, and instead, returning to the zoo on her own. Sadly, she also didn’t remember the joy in her voice as she belted out the words to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” just before unlocking all the gates to the pens, and leaving them wide open.

Emma didn’t remember any of these things but still, in her gut, she knew. She had been the one to let the animals run free. Later, the incident will make her laugh to herself, and even feel a twinge of pride in her actions, though it will take her some time until she gets to that point. First there will be charges laid, and lawyers to consult, and a court case to attend, and then sentencing. It won’t be until Emma has finished her community service that the whole episode will settle into a memory that makes her smile.

Naturally, Rachel took care of everything. The settling of the will, the sale of the house, as well as arranging Emma’s legal defense. Still, the whole week could have left Rachel in much the same frame of mind that we found her in if it weren’t for one small momentary lapse, one moment of forgetfulness, which became the catalyst for everything.

Rachel blamed herself, of course. She should have double-checked that the garage was empty. After all, it was she who had plugged in the Easy Bake Oven on the day of the garage sale. Some haggler was hell-bent on a discount, unless Rachel could prove it worked, so she had taken the old oven into the garage and plugged it in. Then she and the potential buyer had argued for fifteen minutes, the result of which was his walking away. Rachel had been annoyed, and must have walked away as well. It’s impossible to know for sure, but it was easier to blame herself. If someone else had been responsible for burning old 66 down to the ground, she’d never be able to let it go.

It’s a shame the house didn’t make it. It really was the most beautiful home you’d ever seen. I can almost feel those stones now, just thinking about it. Obviously, they cancelled the sale, and the new owner’s money was refunded. The lot was sold eventually, and a new house was built on the land. But it looks nothing like the old number 66.

Emma took her cut of the insurance settlement and used it to revamp her website, attend the Animal Communication Symposium and to pay for advertising in those free magazines you get at health food store. It surprised Emma, as much as anyone, that the story of the grieving pet psychic who emancipated the animals from the High Park zoo attracted so much attention. She was interviewed on radio and television news shows. A group of animal activists even created a Facebook page to share her story. Emma became a hero, and was booked months in advance for her animal communication sessions. The news stories never mentioned the fact that Emma offered animal medicine consultations as well, but people must have found out through her website. She didn’t have as many of these clients as she did for her pet psychic business, but the ones who did come to see her left knowing that Emma truly had a gift, and they were finally one step closer to healing whatever it was that ailed them.

As for Rachel, the biggest change came from something seemingly inconsequential. It wasn’t as if her life transformed overnight, or as if anything really earth-shattering happened at all. She didn’t suddenly decide to become a Hari Krishna or to climb Mount Everest or train for the Boston marathon. What she did do was start a garden, right there, on the balcony of her condo. At first it was just tomatoes, basil and parsley — practical plants that would help her save a bit of money on groceries. But then she planted some sweet peas, and built a trellis for them to climb. She bought a lavender plant, and kept her patio doors open so its fragrance could fill the condo when it bloomed each spring. And when the nights were warm and clear, Rachel would take out her father’s old telescope, and sit out on her aromatic balcony, renaming stars.