Page 32 of Death on Riddle Road
This swing away from Donna and Hattie — two of her favorites — indicated she thought something was off about the puppy.
“Is something wrong—?”I started calling out to Donna.
But three things happened together.
LuLu stopped dead in her tracks.Murphy galloped on.And Donna ordered, “Murphy, stop.Hattie,no.”
Surprised at the sharp order, Murphy slowed.Then we all heard aclacksound.
Hattie had snapped at Murphy.
Hattie.
True, the clack meant she’d made no contact, except with her own teeth, so it had been a warning only.But even that...
Hattie?
Gracie altered her loop and cut between Murphy and the two dogs with Donna.She herded her pal toward us.I closed the gap and grabbed Murphy’s collar.
LuLu went to Clara and Gracie came to me.
The only participant still moving was the puppy, who gamboled around like it had discovered the greatest game ever.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”Donna picked up the puppy.
“Whose puppy—?”
She cut me off.“It’s not the puppy.It’s Hattie.Possessive.Jealous.Out of her mind.”She turned to her dog.“If you don’t stop this ridiculous behavior, I will put you in the car alone.”
Hattie’s head drooped.
“I would think so,” Donna said to her.“No, you don’t get to go see Clara and Sheila like nothing happened.You stay here and lie down.”
Leaving her dog lying where she was while looking as if her heart were breaking, Donna strode away with the still-squirming puppy.
“Will you release your dogs to come over here, please?”she asked.
We did, including instructions to “Go see Donna.”
She put the puppy down and watched as the three older dogs made its acquaintance.At one point, Donna said a low, “Hattie” and I saw her dog, still at a distance from the others, had gathered her legs under her, prepared to get up.She sank back down at that word from Donna.
In another minute or two, Murphy grew bored with the newcomer and sprinted away, with a backward look over his shoulder.This was an invitation to the trio’s favorite game, sometimes with LuLu in the lead, but mostly Murphy.Rarely Gracie, because she preferred to chase until she was at the shoulder of the leader, letting her herd this way or that, depending on which shoulder she’d picked.
LuLu and Gracie streaked after Murphy.With a yip, the puppy lumbered in pursuit.
Donna clucked her tongue.“Best thing for him.He’ll never catch them, but it will run some of that energy out of him.As for you,” she added to Hattie, “you old fool.”
Hattie pulled her gaze back from tracking the puppy to look at Donna, who went to her, crouched before her, and took her graying muzzle between her palms.
“You do not — ever — do that again.”
Woman and dog stared into each other’s eyes.The dog emitted a short sigh.Donna ruffled her dog’s ears and patted her on the head, then rose and said, “Okay.With me.”At the picnic table, Hattie went into a down without being told while Donna took a seat on the top.“You can come join me.”
With Hattie already in her place, that order had to be directed at the humans in the vicinity.
Clara and I obeyed, also sitting on the top.I might have mentioned that male dogs enjoyed peeing on the picnic table seats, so the regulars used them only as a step up to the safer top.
“I didn’t see what happened.What did she do?”Clara asked Donna in a whisper.
