Breathless

in mirrors many times, and he showed no interest in his reflection.
    Riddle’s ears twitched, and he scurried out of the closet.
    Returning to the bedroom, Grady found his two guests at the son of Ireland’s bed, watching their new friend with interest. Evidently they had been drawn by the wolfhound’s snoring, which was indeed impressive.
    In the bathroom, after Grady squeezed toothpaste on his brush and turned on the cold water, Puzzle suddenly sprang onto the closed toilet seat and sat prairie-dog fashion, watching him with interest. Half a minute later, Riddle ascended to a position on the side of the bathtub, as intrigued as Puzzle appeared to be by their host’s dental-hygiene regimen.
    After he finished brushing, they watched him floss. Theywatched him wash his face and trim a hangnail and wipe splashes of water off the countertop with a towel.
    When the time came to toilet, Grady shooed them out of the bathroom and closed the door.
    No sooner had he taken the throne than a soft, rapid, irregular rapping arose at the door.
    “Go away,” Grady said.
    The sound came again:
rap-rap-rap, rap-rap, rap, rap-rap-rap-rap-rap
.
    “I didn’t go out in the yard and stare at you when you were peeing,” Grady reminded them.
    Rap-rap, rap-rap, rap-rap-rap-rap-rap-rap
.
    “Good grief.”
    The rapping stopped.
    When he heard one of them sniffing along the crack between the bottom of the door and the threshold, he considered renaming them Nosey and Snoopy.
    The silence that followed the sniffing was welcome, but then seemed to have a suspicious quality.
    Although the skeleton key had long ago been lost, the old door featured a keyhole. Grady leaned sideways on the toilet, lowered his head, and clearly saw a luminous golden eye on the farther side of the keyway.
    “You’re a little Peeping Tom. You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
    The golden eye blinked.
    By the time Grady washed his hands and returned to the bedroom, Puzzle and Riddle were on his bed, lifting his pillows to peer under them.
    “Off, off,” he told them.
    They dropped his pillows, sat on his bed, folded their hands on their bellies, and watched him.
    Having been awakened after such a short snooze, Merlin yawned extravagantly.
    Grady went to the empty dog bed, fluffed it, and said to Puzzle and Riddle, “Here. This is yours.”
    They stared at him attentively but didn’t leave his bed.
    In the closet, where he kept a few dog toys, Grady selected a blue monkey. He returned to the bedroom, knelt beside the empty dog bed, and squeaked the monkey to entice Puzzle and Riddle to come to him.
    Merlin grumbled, displeased to be disturbed.
    A different toy might possibly lure the pair to their proper place. Instead, Grady decided to show them what was wanted, as he might show a puppy.
    He went to his bed and scooped up Puzzle. She not only allowed herself to be lifted and carried, but she also curled into the cradle of his arms, exposing her belly, bending her forelimbs at the elbows and the wrists in an expression of happy compliance.
    When Grady put her down in the big fleece-covered dog bed that he intended for her to share with Riddle, he said, “Stay,” as if the commands of canine-obedience school were universally understood in the animal kingdom. He gave her the blue monkey to keep her occupied.
    At his bed once more, he scooped up Riddle, who proved to be as cooperative as Puzzle. Grady carried him to his appointed lodgings—where only the plush blue monkey waited.
    With Riddle still in his arms, he turned and saw Puzzle on hisbed again. He deposited Riddle with the blue monkey and returned to his bed for Puzzle.
    She virtually leaped into his arms, nearly knocking him down. But no sooner had he turned to take her to Riddle than he heard the monkey squeaking on his bed behind him.
    Merlin no longer grumbled. Head raised, ears pricked, he watched with interest.
    Instead of taking Puzzle to the empty bed, Grady put her down beside the wolfhound. He lifted one of Merlin’s sturdy forelimbs and draped it over the golden-eyed animal.
    “Stay,” he told Merlin.
    In a sterner tone, narrowing his eyes like Clint Eastwood, he issued the same command to Puzzle. He also extended his arm in an accusatory fashion and pointed a finger at her.
    She cocked her head to the right.
    Grady turned away from her. As he crossed the room to get Riddle and the damn monkey, Merlin and Puzzle sprinted past him and leaped onto his bed.
    Riddle put the monkey