Mrs. Elliot from the board of selectmen phoned to say there’d been complaints about Sable.
“Who complained?” I asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Mam snapped. “She’s bothering folks. That’s all you need to know.”
“I want to know who complained!”
“You just cool off, Tate Marshall,” Mam said.
“No, I won’t!” I stomped out of the kitchen onto the porch. Sitting on the cold step, I nearly froze my backside. My feet cramped as the chill crept up through my boots.
Sable sat beside me, her brown fur warm in the sun.
I put my arm across her back and leaned into her side.
“What kind of neighbor complains about a dog?” I asked. “It’s not like other dogs never come on our property. They get into the compost and dig up the garden. But we never complain.”
Sable panted softly, staring off into the snowy woods.
Mam turned on the radio loud. Pots and pans clanked in the kitchen.
When Pap came in for a cup of coffee, Mam gave him an earful.
Pap listened, hardly saying a word. When Mam’s storm had blown itself out, Pap left the kitchen, heading straight for the shed. He found a heavy chain, hanging against the back wall. Pap hooked one end of that chain to the side of the shop. He hooked the other end to Sable.
I couldn’t look at her. Sable wasn’t a dog you chained. Pap and Mam were treating her like Raye Cather treated her dogs. Sable pleaded with me to set her loose. I didn’t dare. When I left in the morning for school, she howled so pitiful, it made my teeth hurt.
By the end of the week, though, Sable figured out how to get loose all by herself. Once she discovered the trick of freeing herself from the chain, she wasted no time in finding trouble again.
The day Sable brought home a brand-new mat that people use to wipe their feet on, Mam blew.
“Get rid of that dog,” she said.
“No!” I cried, wrapping my arms around Sable.
“It’s too much, Tate,” Pap said. He spoke so soft, I could hardly hear him. “We can’t keep her anymore.”
“I’ll tie her up, Pap,” I said. “I’ll tie her up so good she’ll never get loose.”
“You know you won’t,” Pap said. “She needs someone with her all the time. She needs training. At the very least, she needs a good fence.”
“We could build a fence, Pap. Together.”
Mam shook her head. “I’ve put up with her long enough, Tate. The dog’s nothing but trouble. She’s got to go.”
“No, Mam! Pap! Please!”
Mam turned her tall back on me and picked up the phone, calling neighbors, trying to find out who the mat belonged to.
I ran with Sable up to the secret place, without a coat even. Sable sat close beside me.
“You’ve gotten yourself into hot water with Mam before,” I told Sable. “It’ll be all right. I’m sure it will.” But my heart beat so hard, I could see it thumping through my overalls.
“Maybe Mam will forget about that mat after a while, Sable.”
Sable pushed her nose down my neck.
“Anyway,” I said. “That’s what we’ll hope for.”