CHAPTER 10

By this time, after the many conversations in our barn, I'd realized one day, after he'd been absent for longer than usual, that I had pretty much stopped thinking of Nibble as a dog and come to see him as Irving Allen, biophysicist, trapped in a dog's body. What bothered him most as a result of his recent experiences was the problem of whether people should just sit back and accept the various changes in their lives brought about in the name of science, or whether they could somehow assert their right through referendums to be informed and pass judgment on so-called scientific 'advances'. If scientists were becoming hostage to government and business, in whom was final authority to be vested? Certainly if the common good was the goal, it was obvious something had gone wrong. Later on, I subscribed to several scientific journals of that period which I read to Nibble to keep him abreast of things and found his comments devastating. We spent many pleasant winter afternoons in this way and, as I always looked forward to his visits, you can imagine my consternation when, after an absence of three weeks in February, word reached me that he had been injured.

Moon, nee Crystal, brought the word. It seemed Nibble, led on by his overactive nose, had run off on one of his compulsive hunting expeditions. After three days when he hadn't returned, Moon was sent to sniff him out. It took her a day to cover his circuitous trail but she finally found him, half dead from lack of food, his foot caught in a trap. Trapping was illegal but recently there had been many poachers with small game traps.

"I should have been smarter," Nibble remarked, when he finally returned. "But I had no experience with traps. Lucky I didn't get my nose caught... I kept sniffing the bait... it didn't smell very good but I was curious why a smelly piece of meat should be lying out there... then I made the mistake of putting my foot on it and the damned thing snapped closed. The spring was simply too strong... I had the option of chewing my foot off or waiting 'til Crystal showed up. I was sure she'd get nervous and come after me."

'Even though I found him I had a lot of trouble convincing our owners to follow me... had to go back and run around their house whining and barking. They thought he was out on some romantic adventure... it wouldn't have been the first time he'd gone romancing and not come back for several days...'

"Dogs will be dogs" Nibble interrupted wagging his tail and looking sheepishly at Moon. "You know you're the only one in my life, in many lives it seems, but sometimes..."

"I know... but sometimes you have to prove you're still a man,' Moon blinked crossly, 'Any way... I managed to get them to follow me and open that trap... it's taken his paw two weeks now to heal.'

Are you ready to continue your story I asked Nibble, or would it be too much of a strain?. You stopped at a very crucial point.. if you remember, you were at an Animal Shelter somewhere...

"I'm not sure I can," Nibble, his head between his paws, rolling his eyes. 'Of course we want to go on,' Moon declared with a yip, 'Irving, try to remember where you left off.'

"I've forgotten... seems to me it's becoming a habit, forgetting I mean."

I have it all written down, I said, while you were gone I typed up everything you told me... you left off where the two of you were locked up in that Animal Shelter.

"Ah yes," Nibble raised his noble head and yawned, "well that was a close one... we were about to be exterminated, but... Hold on... before I continue with our trials and tribulations, let me fill you in on what was happening with Miss Greenfield."

Oh com'on," I protested. Can't you begin where you left off?

"Patience, my friend..." Nibble curled his lip up over his front teeth and and tried to smile, "Miss Greenfield's part in this story is as important as ours... Yes... while we were suffering there at the Animal Shelter, she was suffering elsewhere."

"That video conference with McKantor, Stark and Rostov had really upset her and she scrapped her plans to drive North that afternoon., checked into a motel near Atlanta, gave way to her anguish and got drunk alone. Two days later when she finally sobered up things looked worse... her opposition to Stark and his plans had been a huge mistake because her happiness was Mike and she'd lost him."

"Later that same day she got on the phone, tracked him down in Baton Rouge and after a long talk, he agreed to come to Atlanta for the weekend where they spent three, wonderful days together, but no amount of reasoning or tears on Rae's part could alter his decision to go it alone. She offered to give up her crusade against the slave project, promised to come back and live with him in his trailer, even proposed marriage, but he flatly refused... accused her of being a 'do-gooder' and warned her that she was going to get into a lot of trouble... declaring that he'd been poor all his life and it didn't make any difference what she said about it, if you really hadn't been poor, you couldn't imagine how much hatred you could harbor inside yourself for the very rich... feelings you couldn't get rid of even if you wanted to... feelings that were bound to ruin any relationship. And so the weekend had ended and Mike had walked out of her life for a second time."

"This launched Rae on an emotional roller coaster ride... she blamed herself for everything... was too old and set in her ways... was rigid and petrified, fossilized, stale, moldy, obsolete, worn out... all these thoughts playing through her head like a broken tape recorder. Driving North after dropping Mike off at the Atlanta airport, dismal visions of a lonely old age so preoccupied her thoughts that she missed a crucial intersection and became lost"

"Blinded by tears which she could no longer keep back, she peered desperately through the rain spattered windshield for a road sign. Then suddenly there was a dull thud, she felt something mash against the wheels of her truck and thought she saw a body thrown across the road. Jamming on her breaks she skidded to the shoulder, where, afraid to get out or to go on, she sat paralyzed with fear, listening to the whir of the windshield wipers keep time with her heart beat. The night was black as pitch. She hadn't passed another car for miles. Could her nerves be playing tricks with her? Could someone have thrown something under her wheels thinking to lure her out into the night and rob her? Rummaging in the glove compartment, she found her EverReady, threw on her rain gear and stepped cautiously outside. Searching the shoulders of the road, her eyes alighted on an object a few yards behind the truck. As she watched, it moved and to her immense relief as she ran toward it, she could see that it was not human, had four legs and antlers. A young buck. Her heart melted... the creature gazed up at her through huge dark eyes and struggled but couldn't move. Cold rain poured down relentlessly as Rae sprinted to her truck, backed it up so that the door of the trailer was above the animal, and after a number of attempts, secured a rope around it's chest and shoulders, and managed to winch the creature into a position where she could push it inside. Sliding the trailer door shut, she stood panting for breath, her wet grey hair plastered against her forehead. 'Mercy,' she exclaimed to herself, 'What next?' "

"A few miles down the road she came to a phone booth and glancing down at the directory realized that she must be near a place called Highland, North Carolina. Dialing the operator, she told her what had happened and asked for advice. The operator told her this was really the business of the Police Department, but as it was so late and raining so hard Rae had better take her animal to the Highland Animal Shelter which was just a few more miles ahead on the same road. Returning to her truck, Rae set her jaw firmly against fatigue and drove on.

'Our fundin's been cut off for this kinda work ma'am,' the fat attendant drawled when Rae arrived and told him her story.

'Funding cut off,' replied Rae her lower lip twitching, 'please, I'm so exhausted I could sleep in one of your cages. What am I supposed to do? That buck is still alive.'

'You could take him to the Vet, I reckon, see if he can't patch him up.'

'Couldn't the Vet come here?' asked Rae, looking around. 'I'm really not up to driving another mile... you seem to have plenty of room here to keep the poor thing."

'S'pose I could call him,' the attendant drawled. 'It's awful late though. Might cost you some bucks if I have to get him outta bed.'

'I'll pay whatever's necessary.' Rae said.

'Yes, Ma'am,' the attendant said, warming up.

'You think you could help me get that poor thing out of my trailer and inside here?'

'Well, Ma'am, that's not really my...'

'Show me where to put him then,' Rae interrupting angrily, 'I'll drag him in here myself.' As she turned to go out, seeing she was determined to get her way, the fat attendant grumbling at the late hour put on a slicker and followed her. Later, as they sat waiting for the vet to arrive, Rae listened to the yelps and wailing which echoed through the building. 'You have a lot of stray dogs here, I suppose?' she ventured.

'More than we uster,' Ma'am... trouble is since our budget got cut... costs about seventy bucks to get a critter outta here even if it's yours.'

'Shocking!'

'It is... that's more 'n most folks can pay... ain't that we're getting so many more of 'em, we just ain't findin' homes for 'em like we uster.'

'What happens to them?'

'The ones we cant sell or give away or whose owners don't come and pick them up... those ones we have to put down

'Mercy!' Rae exclaimed 'I hope you don't shoot them or stab them to death... '

'Oh no, Ma'am, they gets the needle.'

"At this point," continued Nibble, "Crystal and I were lying as close as possible on either side of the chain link fence that separated us. Although we were exhausted, we found ourselves unable to sleep. Having survived four days in the 'facility' as it was called by the inmates and having outlasted all the dogs we'd come in with, we were sure that although the attendant was devoted to hounds, there was no way he could delay our execution past five the following day."

"You have to admit your life's been filled with contrasts since you met me, I said, trying to make light of our circumstances."

'You mean my lives,' Crystal exhaled, 'One has often read about people condemned to die, but experiencing it is a little different, isn't it?' It's quite certain we'll go into another body but we can't really be positive, can we?

"Of course not."

'Even if we could there's the question of just what kind of body we'd get and having to go through the whole thing all over again... the scary part is not knowing what's going to happen next.'

"Or you could see it as exciting rather than scary"

'Everyone wants to know what's going to happen next,' Crystal sighed. "Isn't that why mathematicians, astrologers and scientists are so popular?

"There is really no way of knowing the next moment, I replied... you've got probability and that's it... no certainty."

"Just then the cage lights flickered and as the door opened we got our first glimpse of Miss Greenfield. Of course, we didn't know who she was. 'How depressing,' she was whispering to the attendant, 'all these fine dogs how sad they look. It must be very difficult for you working here, a dog lover like yourself.' "

'It is, Ma'am," said the attendant, rising to Rae's flattery. 'I sees many a good dog here I knows belongs to somebody or has or oughtta... near breaks my heart sometimes. Take them two hounds over there, for instance.'

'Where?'

"Stand up quick so she can see you, I ordered Crystal. This may be the woman Ramu promised us. So we stood up and wagged our tails hopefully."

'You mean the two who just stood up?' Rae smiled gently at us.

'Yes, Ma'am, male and female. They was brought in together 'bout four days ago, stays together even though they's in separate pens... four days... the attendant sighed... 'I kept 'em one day overtime, hopin' somebody'd claim 'em but nobody has... them is blooded Coon Hounds, ma'am, Black n'Tans... worth eight hundred dollars apiece, if they're worth a dime.'

'Shading her eyes from the bare light bulb,' Rae squinted at us. 'I held my head high, sniffed the air with my aristocratic hound nose, let my lower lip quiver emotionally and groaned. Howl, I grokked Crystal, talk to her... sing like Jenny did perhaps we'll get out of here. Crystal bugled soulfully... Pointing at me, Rae burst out laughing."

'What's wrong?' the attendant asked.

'Nothing... nothing at all. Only that one, the male, he keeps looking at me and... well of course he's a dog so he can't be... but he looks just like my father, Julius, may he rest in peace... his upper lip used to twitch just like that.'

"The attendant's eyes rolled in their sockets. It was obvious he thought she was crazy. Then the veterinarian arrived and they went back through the door and we were alone again."

'Ramu's promise, indeed,' Crystal grumbled.

"Somehow her voice sounded familiar, I frowned, staring at the door... oh well, she's gone now, no point in getting our hopes up and she didn't look like the type to be in the market for two hounds like us."

"No sooner had we settled ourselves, however, than the door opened again."

'They ain't free, ya know,' the attendant was saying. 'They'll cost seventy apiece, but that's chicken feed for what you're getting'.'

Our hopes soared.

'Just what will I be getting, I wonder?' Rae asked herself aloud. 'I don't even hunt.'

'You'll be gettin' some mighty fine company, Ma'am,' the attendant drawled, 'and lottsa laughs. George Washington himself kept Black n'Tans... hounds is smart and there isn't a dog livin' that's as lovin' as a hound... most comical too and good watch dogs.'

'... might need that,' Rae said. 'You sound like an authority.'

'Uster run hounds when I was a kid, Ma'am There's all kinds a hounds, but these Black 'n Tans is tops... just look at them beautiful long ears.'

'She's going to take us she's going to take us!, Crystal whined in anticipation. 'I can't believe it... Oh Ramu, forgive me for not trusting you.'

"Rae held out her hand. I stepped forward and nuzzled it, then returned immediately to Crystal's side.

'You sure you want both of 'em, Ma'am? Females is a big problem - always comin' into heat and all that. You don't have to take 'em both.'

'Look how they're standing there together... Mercy!... I wouldn't dream of separating them.'

"That settles it then," The attendant beamed and produced two leashes. "By rights I should charge for these here chains but seein' as you're gonna take 'em both, I'll throw 'em in free."

The veterinarian appeared at the door.

'She's takin' these two hounds off my hands.'

'You're sure they don't belong to someone in town?'

'If they did, they don't now,' the attendant grinned with an air of finality.

'I'd better give 'em their shots then, no tellin' what they've picked up here," said the vet. "Bring 'em inside.'

"Walk calmly, I grokked Crystal as we were led out. Don't let your enthusiasm run away with you and don't jump on her."

'Look at those tails wagging,' Rae laughed, 'they look like they know I'm going to take them.'

"The dogs left behind in the cages set up a mournful howl."

'Dogs is psychic, of that I'm sure,' the attendant observed philosophically... Just hold 'em still, I'll get the shots from the 'frigerator.'

'Don't get the wrong ones, Jimmy,' the Vet laughed.

Jimmy returned with six hypodermic needles.

'So many?' Rae gasped.

'Rabies, tetanus 'n distemper,' the Vet said, bending over us. 'Hold still, you two, this won't hurt at all.'

"We stood unflinching as the needles were jabbed under our skin."

'They'll be a little groggy for a day or two, nothin' to worry about,' Jimmy smiled, 'If you have any problems just phone me here in Highland.

"I wanted to jump up and kiss this kind silver haired lady in her coveralls and pearls, but restrained myself and settled for a few eloquent wags of my rear end and an ecstatic groan."

'How very well behaved they are,' cooed Rae.

'Yes, indeed, Ma'am, they been real quiet and good mannered... seems like they was trained by a professional... that's why I kept'em an extra day.

"Although he'd given us an extra day and I knew I should have been more than grateful to Jimmy, I'd had enough of him... and so apparently had Rae. Pressing a wad of bills into his hand and another into the vet's, she took charge of us."

'Don't worry about that buck, Ma'am, he's gonna recover,' Jimmy said.

'Thanks for everything.'

'No mention, Ma'am.

"Outside it had stopped raining. We stood at the entrance sniffing the air of freedom and looking up at Rae. In the parking lot neon lights buzzed against a pink dawn."

'Of course, aristocratic pooches like you won't want to get your feet wet, will you? My father always hated getting his feet wet but I'm afraid you're gong to have to... come on then."

"Touching noses with me, Crystal remarked on our good luck. Keep your toes crossed, I advised, remember she thinks we're aristocrats... maybe she's joking but she said I reminded her of her father... act dignified and maybe you'll remind her of her mother."

'...and what if she hated her mother?

"Then try being grandmotherly... As we jumped into the trailer, however, and caught a whiff of the deer who had nearly sacrificed itself on our behalf, we forgot our manners and went mad. Losing complete control, I howled like a banshee while Crystal bayed and pawed at the carpet."

'Oh dear,' Rae said, 'I'd forgotten you were hunting dogs... Mercy! This will never do... blood all over the place, what a mess... you'd better come up front with me.' "Closing the trailer door she directed us to the cab of the truck where we found seats upholstered in sheepskin, a soft woolen blanket to curl up on and in no time we were back on the thruway heading east."

"As the scenery flew by, our rescuer explained how we happened to meet. 'You see, that buck crossed the road just as I was coming along and I hit him. Brought him to that animal shelter to have him fixed up, poor creature, and that's how I met you two...' she glanced over at us. 'You can calm down now... nothing bad is going to happen to you... ever.' "

"Talking to us in this reassuring human way, we calmed down immediately, curled up together and while Crystal snoozed, lulled by the melodious voice of this smiling lady, I pondered the meaning of Ramu's intervention and the twist of fate which had again snatched us from the jaws of death and possible further transmigrations. Was there something to be learned from all this... a secret which I had failed to grasp?"

"On we drove as the lady beside me spilled out her thoughts: memories of her childhood, a long tale of how she'd escaped the bondage of her father's fortune, her various jobs and her affair with a man she called Mike. 'Those who make the fortune usually have fun with it,' she mused, 'Grandfather had a lot of fun... had his own railway car and station... traveled all over racing his horses in Lexington and Saratoga... shooting in the Dakotas. Then off to Europe every spring buying up everything in sight... built ridiculous mansions in places like Newport and up on the Hudson... They say the second generation is supposed to hang on and make more money... Father was trained for that, poor man... how to hang on tenaciously... never had a moment's peace... and me, frighted to death, never took a cent of it... yet it's just cost me the only man I ever loved...what does that mean?' "

"As tears trickled down her cheek, I listened intently drawn to the sound of her voice, lilting, strangely familiar, hopeful and pleasant, a voice which immediately put you in a good mood and might easily have convinced you to do anything it's owner wished. Persuasion, that was it. Suddenly I was certain I had heard that voice before, but where? The answer which came to me seemed too preposterous and Ramu's prophetic powers more impressive than ever. Pretending to sniff the dashboard, I scrutinized her carefully out of the corner of my eye and became certain I had never seen her, but equally certain that I had heard her voice before.

"Closing my eyes I tried to sleep but as she droned on I realized with a start there certainly had been one voice in the recent past which had been very important to me... the voice of Rae Greenfield on the phone that fateful night at my Lab in Connecticut... Miss Greenfield, the fabled spinster, the person responsible for that fatal attack of conscience which had cost me my life as a human and sent me to dogdom... my brain reeled as this prospect and its implications unfolded. Nuzzling Crystal's ear affectionately I woke her. I know this sounds crazy, but believe it or not, I think this lady is actually Miss Greenfield... you recall that name don't you?"

Crystal stretched and yawned. 'How could I forget it... come snuggle up and get some sleep I can see you're exhausted.'

"You never heard her but I talked to her for hours that night...the night I killed all my creatures."

' So what,' Crystal sniffed grumpily.

"I can see you're too tired to understand what has happened to us, but Ramu was right all along, he told us to be trusting and hopeful and everything would work out... he knew in advance what would happen, but how?"

"Just then Rae's voice broke in, 'You know where I'm taking you two... well, we're on our way to New York City... yes... you'll have to learn to walk with leashes... restrict your bowel movements to certain times and places... Mercy, I don't suppose you're housebroken.' "

"New York. See? Ramu is arranging everything."

"Later that day we stopped at a motel. A room was engaged, but seeing us the clerk warned Miss Greenfield that we were not to be taken inside. As soon as the sun had set, however, Rae appeared with hamburgers and French fries, walked us stealthily between rows of parked cars so we could relieve ourselves, then smuggled us into her room. While she showered and got ready for bed we lay down politely and watched our first TV as dogs... a strangely jolting experience.

"As she crawled between the sheets, Rae apologized for going to sleep on us. 'Sleep,' she sighed, 'what a waste of time... but we don't want to have an accident do we... still such a long way to go...' She yawned and fell sound asleep. Slyly, Crystal eased herself up onto the soft blankets. Clambering after her I nuzzled Rae's neck and she woke up. 'Mercy,' she whispered sleepily, 'you mustn't climb up on the bed. I don't think it's allowed... what would the management say? I kept nuzzling her, however, and soon she was giggling. 'Well why not?' she smiled and grabbed my ears, 'to hell with the management... if heroes of old could sleep with their hounds, why can't I?... besides, they're very stingy with the heat in here.' She lay back on her pillow, sighed and started talking to herself again, 'New York... nearly thirty years since I've been there...almost a life time but what adventures I've had... what wonderful memories... I shouldn't complain but now thanks to that monster Starker... oh Mike where are you... why aren't you here when I need you?' "

" My ears pricked up, the hair on my neck stood on end and I bellowed.

'Shh... shush...' Rae whispered, 'you want to get us kicked out of here?'

"Crystal did you hear that? she said Straker....this has to be Miss Greenfield... Oh Ramu Mantodae you've outdone yourself!"

Crystal was already up, whimpering and passionately licking Rae's face. 'Mercy, whatever did I say that has excited you so?... My goodness doggies do calm down.' "

"After a valiant effort to control our wild joy we settled down on either side of our heroine and buried our heads dutifully between our paws. She snapped off the light. Through a small window moonlight flooded the room. 'The moon, how I love it,' she sighed and patted Crystal's neck.'Shall I call you Moon?... Moon and Dew I think so because you're so fresh... and you old friend,' she whispered, lifting one of my ears, 'somehow I feel I've known you forever... Shall I call you Julius? Yes, Julius D. Nibble after my grandfather... when I observed your patronic nose back there at the Animal Shelter I knew that's what I'd call you...' she shrugged. 'God only knows, I suppose you could be Grandfather... as they say, 'truth is often stranger than fiction'."

"I nuzzled her ear."

'And you must always think of me as Rae.'

"And so, the three of us chugged northward in Rae's rig with stopovers in Maryland and Pennsylvania where Rae warned various family members that she was going to fight Straker over the Slave Issue."

"What a mistake that was. I could see her long years of frugality and self-imposed hard work had awakened a kind of demonic energy inside her that frightened her relatives, who became very nervous at the idea of making a public fuss over some ethical principal. At our last stop in an elegant town house on Rittenhouse Square, in Philadelphia, we were actually thrown out by one of her old second cousins who might have done in Rae with his cane had not Crystal intervened."

"Our arrival in New York was equally inauspicious. The Greenfield mansion off Fifth Avenue had been closed for over twenty years and Rae had called ahead to Larsen McKantor to have it opened and cleaned but of course nothing had been done. Expecting thick carpets and warm fires in the fireplaces, instead we were greeted by a locked gate, behind which a dismal heap of limestone loomed up menacingly."

"It was eleven in the evening on a wintry Saturday night. An icy wind out of the West blew snow from Central Park. Exasperated, Rae paced up and down in front of the building, returned to the trailer and soon produced a small propane blow torch with which she determinedly proceed to cut the lock out of the gate. Accomplishing this, she attacked the massive oak doors which refused to budge. Red nosed and furious, she kindled a small fire in the trailer's wood burning stove and we all went to bed. Next morning we awoke freezing and hungry. Blowing her breath into her hands, Rae leashed us and we stumbled after her through the snow to a nearby phone booth where she tried to call the unconscionable Larsen McKantor. Failing to rouse him, we proceeded up Madison Avenue to a coffee shop where Rae ordered ham and eggs which she shared with us. After that, we returned to the phone booth again and stood in the cold for fifteen minutes while she tried the number repeatedly without success. Our feet were now so cold we could barely walk. Leading us back to the truck, Rae started up the engine and turned on the heater and we sat there, wondering what would happen next."

"Recovering her composure and determination... for Rae was a very determined lady... she procured an ax from her tool box, opened the gate again and attacked the oak doors, stoking the fire in the trailer's stove with the pieces that splintered off. Observing this scene from the trailer, we watched as a small group of early risers, dog walkers and church goers gathered in front of the gate. Unperturbed by their wise cracks, however. Rae continued to batter down the door but before long a squad car pulled up and two policemen, arguing vociferously with her and insisting she accompany them to the local precinct station, hustled her off. We growled menacingly from our vantage point inside her trailer but no one noticed."

"Shortly after that, a city tow truck pulled up and Rae's rig, with us inside, was towed to a city parking lot where vehicles parked in the wrong places were impounded until ransomed by their owners. Afraid we might be seized for not having licenses if the trailer were searched and being separated from Rae, we hid under a bunk where we remained for some time until at last a distraught Rae appeared, accompanied by an elf-like old man with long white hair and flowing beard."

"Finding us unharmed, Rae cried with joy and dabbing her tear stained cheeks with a handkerchief, introduced us to Hopkins."

'This is Hopkins... Hoppy for short.' she smiled through her tears, 'I'm trying to coax him out of retirement... Hoppy, these are my new friends, Moon 'n Dew and Julius D. Nibble.'

'Hello there,' chuckled the old man, peering at us suspiciously out of watery blue eyes and patting us vigorously, 'Aren't you a pair though?'

"We wagged our tails approvingly and had an interesting conversation with Hopkins as Rae drove through the snowy streets. Arriving back at her house, we passed through the doorway which had now been properly opened and repaired and Rae cried out, 'Belly of the Beast,' and yodeled as we advanced through the marble foyer and up the sweeping staircase... echoes resounding through vast chambers."

"Removing a dust cover from one of the drawing room sofas, she plopped down. 'I suppose we could stay in a hotel but hotels and dogs don't go together, do they? Besides, if my plan is to succeed I must appear impressive... wouldn't you agree that most people would find this dump impressive, Hoppy?'

'It'll cost a pretty penny to get it back in shape,' observed Hopkins examining one of the draperies which fell apart in his hand, 'and where will you keep these dogs?'

'There's a garden out back,' Rae replied, 'After the snow melts, we'll build a nice dog house out there... but that's where you come in, Hoppy... these pooches... will you look after them? They've had a hard time and need pampering... you can have the car, anything you need... please say you will.'

Hopkins looked hesitant. 'Really don't know much about training animals, Miss Rae... if you remember your father would never allow animals in the house.'

Rae smiled conspiratorially. 'Remember the two white mice you once smuggled in for me?'

'And remember when they escaped and jumped up on your father's desk?'

'Oh Hoppy,' Rae pleaded, 'please say you'll come back and help me out... I need someone to lean on... suppose I shouldn't have adopted these pooches just now but... you should have seen their expressions there in that awful animal shelter."

'Expect I'd have done the same thing, Ma'am,' Hopkins, eying us suspiciously.

'Then you'll stay?'

'How could I refuse you, Miss Rae?'

"Hearing the word pamper, we stood up and began wagging our tails.

'You know, Hoppy, there's something peculiar about these dogs... I think they understand what people are saying.'

'You don't say,' Hopkins, looking skeptical.

'Yes, I do say and I don't mean in the ordinary way either... I think they're psychic."

'Yes, Ma'am.'

'Do you ever think we humans might return as animals?' Rae reflected. 'I often have.'

Hopkins pulled at his mustache and looked thoughtful. 'I'm a good Christian, Miss Rae, I wouldn't put too much stock in this reincarnation stuff if I was you... dogs are dogs and humans are humans... I'm sure they both have their own heavens... don't think God would mix 'em up."

"A few days later a cleaning company descended on the Greenfield mansion... carpets were steamed... electricians burrowed into walls replacing wiring rats had chewed... a platoon of scrubbers scoured the marble floors while another waxed the wooden paneling and a team of experts debated the restoration of the many paintings which hung on the walls... and for the next month we lived in the ground floor servants' quarters, hiding from the noise and confusion."

"Fearful that we might become disoriented, bite one of the workmen or slip out an open door and run away, Rae ordered that we be tied up during the rehabilitation process. Taking pity on us, however, Hopkins suggested we be allowed to accompany him to Central Park each day. A thaw had set in, temperatures were balmy, tantalizing odors filled the air and the park proved enormously interesting. There, near the pond where children sailed toy boats and Hopkins liked to sit, we began to meet other wrecked souls who, like ourselves now the inhabitants of dogs' bodies, could remember at least one life back. Intellectuals, former artists and politicians, each with his or her own theory of canine rebirth, rubbed shoulders and sniffed bottoms with, ex-tycoons , kings of finance and captains of industry now prowling as dogs the turf they once had owned... or thought they had."

"Such a one was a neurotic dog called June. June, a former wealthy business man, had jumped from his fortieth floor executive suite when his company was taken over by a large conglomerate and, to his dismay, awakened as a female Skye Terrier given to his daughter as a birthday gift. You can well imagine the rage and humiliation felt by this one time bull of the marketplace, his hairy female body looking more like a rag mop than a dog, as he was jerked and trundled around the Park by a disgruntled red faced maid called Elizabeth whom Hopkins had befriended."

"While they sat on a bench passing the time of day Crystal and I would exchange stories with June. Not only had his sex change embarrassed June terribly, but living with his former wife and children in the very apartment he'd inhabited as a human... watching them fritter away his fortune, cringing at the callousness of their remarks about him... was driving him mad... Worst of all he now had to suffer the indignity of watching his widow make love to a succession of handsome young boy friends."

'Wish I could figure out what's wrong with that dog,' Elizabeth would complain to Hopkins, we do everything for her... you've never seen such pampering... special food, every toy you can think of, trips to beauty salons and the psychiatrist. You can't believe how ungrateful she is. The more polite people are to her, the snappier she gets and just last week she bit one of my Madam's gentlemen friends... the psychiatrist tells Madam that June's problem is she was weaned too early... can you beat that? Charged her two hundred fifty dollars!'

'We are living in the Last Days, Elizabeth,' Hopkins would moan, pursuing his favorite topic, 'you have to expect strange things... strange and terrible things... the Bible says so.'

"There were other cases like June. Old dowagers who'd come back as Great Danes or female Pit Bulls... a well-known debutante killed in a sports car crash who'd been reborn as a Pug in the home of her arch rival. More fascinating was how these reincarnated souls, including us, had managed to get back into the spaces they'd inhabited as humans."

"Finally the house had been restored to its former early twentieth century splendor, a staff of servants hired and Crystal and I moved upstairs. The main floor, which would later be used by Rae to bend the minds of impressionable politicians, consisted of two cavernous drawing rooms, a library lined with expensively bound volumes, a mahogany paneled study cluttered with gold bric-a-brac where Rae's father had lorded it over his minions, a formal dining room with walk-in fireplaces where her grandfather, Julius D. Greenfield, had entertained his cronies and a chapel with a pipe organ, big as a small church, where he had prayed. The second floor and third floors, formerly the domain of Rae's hapless mother, were equally depressing. Done up in early moving picture theater chic, there were bedroom suites and sitting rooms filled with faux eighteenth century furniture and copies of erotic paintings by Nattier and Bougereau, vast dressing rooms and marble baths

'What a junk heap,' Rae muttered as we toured the finished product. 'It's beyond me.'

"A puritanical old New Englander like your father never really saw it,' sighed Hopkins. ' For him, It was just something you had to have when you were in New York.'

'When this business is over,' Rae grumbled, I'm going to give it away... place gives me the willies.'

'What a wonderful place to throw a dog party,' Crystal grokked slyly, 'can't you just see us with our friends from the Park running through these big rooms?'

"Fortunately, the fourth floor proved livable. After her father's death, during that brief time when she'd tried living in New York, Rae had redone it in a comfortable way with fireplaces that worked and furniture you could relax in. Sound proofed and air conditioned, it made us feel as remote as the moon from the island of Manhattan which rumbled around us. And here it was that we began to spend many peaceful snooze-filled evenings while Rae played chess with Hopkins and began to hatch her plans. Uncertain as to how she should re-enter the world of power and sophistication which she'd avoided for thirty years, Rae quite sensibly reasoned that the quickest way to handle it would be through television... an enormous set was moved in and, to the annoyance of Hopkins who loved chess and thought TV an invention of the Devil, Rae began to watch the talk and reality shows."

'You don't know because you're a recluse, Hoppy dear, but these days people don't believe a thing unless it's on television. If I'm going to get people on my side, I've got to learn how I'm supposed to behave... what to say and what not to.'

'You're not going on television, Ma'am,' Hopkins would grumble, 'not you?'

'Why not?' I have to see what methods they're using these days to change peoples minds... who knows, I may use something stronger, perhaps even tell the truth.'

'You'll be fighting a losing battle, Ma'am. The people, the politicians, why they'll love Dr. Allen's slaves. Isn't that what they've been trying to make us into all these years? A politician's a lazy person who's interested in cornering the action, Ma'am. Slaves are just what they need... it's expensive to boss people around but slaves... I'd be careful, Miss Rae, you may get in trouble.'

'Well, I've made up my mind... the whole thing is an atrocity... cultural genocide...'

'...but you're a nice simple gentlewoman, you're not the scheming type. I don't think you should try this, Miss Rae."

'You mean I'm too simple minded to pull it off.'

'I didn't say that.'

'Well, you meant it... I know... you with all that Welsh machismo of yours...'

'Miss Rae! You sound like one of those feminists... it's not proper!"

'I just might be one,' Rae exclaimed, 'I'm tired of watching all these men mess up the world... you don't see women making monsters. I suppose you think it's proper I let the Greenfield Foundation support Dr. Allen's horror. I tell you, Hoppy, it's disgusting. You haven't seen the photographs Dr. Allen sent me, have you?'

'It's wrong, Ma'am, no denying that but you won't win, you or anyone else... it's the will of the All Mighty."

'Hoppy really!'

'Yes, Ma'am, these are the Last Days, the Bible says it. 'In the last days perilous times shall come. Men shall be lovers of their own selves, proud boasters, covetous, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unholy without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded lovers of pleasure.' Can't you see The End is coming, Miss Rae? You should get down on your knees and pray, Ma'am. Better than going on TV.'

© Elwyn Chamberlain 2009