Gaits of Heaven

all.
    Barbara doesn’t exactly miss the squirrels, or at least she doesn’t miss the gray squirrels. The distinctive black squirrels that inhabit Cambridge are another matter. They are somehow more attractive than their gray cousins. With a laugh, she says to Portia, “Black like me.”
     

CHAPTER 11
     
    Only when I was actually placing the serving dish on the dining-room table that evening did it belatedly hit me that the vegetable I had chosen for Caprice’s first dinner at our house was none other than the traditional staple of canine weight-reduction diets, namely, green beans. Steve, seated at one end of the table, took a quick glance that darted from the green beans to Caprice and from Caprice to me. His face went blank. His handsome countenance was not, however, the family body part that worried me. No, what concerned me was Leah’s mouth, inside of which were pretty white teeth that she chronically failed to use in the service of biting her tongue. In this case, my specific fear was that Leah would make the obvious association between the green beans on the table and No More Fat Dogs, in which Steve and I repeatedly and enthusiastically urged our readers to substitute that low-calorie legume for large quantities of fattening dog food.
    “Leah,” I said hastily as I took my seat, “would you pass the salmon to Caprice, please? Caprice, I hope that fish is all right. Not everyone likes it. If you don’t want it, don’t eat it.“
    “It’s fine. Fish is fine,” Caprice said. “It looks delicious. This is so nice of you to have me here. I’m sorry to impose. I just don’t know where else...” Her voice broke off.
    “You’re not imposing,” Steve told her, “and don’t think about going anywhere else. You’re welcome here.”
    “We want you here,” Leah added. “And Holly and Steve have both had their mothers die, so—”
    “We were older than Caprice is,” Steve said.
    “Holly wasn’t all that much older, was she?”
    “Leah,” I said, “could we not argue about it? The point is that we’re glad to have Caprice here.”
    “For as long as she wants,” Steve said. “Speaking of which, we should go over the house rules about the dogs. If Holly hasn’t already?”
    “Steve, could you pass the green beans, please?” Leah asked. “Thanks. The first rule about the dogs is that the malamutes steal food. Sammy isn’t too bad, but Rowdy and Kimi are awful, especially Kimi. And be careful about who’s loose together. Kimi and Rowdy are fine together, and India and Lady are fine, and Rowdy can be loose with them. So can Sammy. But Rowdy and Sammy supposedly can’t be left alone together.”
    “There’s no supposedly about it,” I said. “They’re both intact male malamutes, and that’s that.”
    “And,” Leah continued, “Kimi and India really, really can’t be alone together. Good salmon, Holly. Thank you.“
    “You’re welcome. Then there’s Tracker.”
    “The cat,” said Leah. “She scratches.”
    “She doesn’t scratch me,” said Steve. “India, Lady, and Sammy are good with her individually, but not all three dogs together.”
    “It’s Rowdy and Kimi you really have to watch out for,” I said. “They weren’t raised with cats, and they’re predatory. But I’m working on it.” Steve and Leah both laughed. “I am! My great strength as a dog trainer is persistence. We are making progress.”
    “And then there’s Pink Piggy,” Leah said. “We forgot him.”
    All color drained from Caprice’s face. “You—”
    In unison, Steve, Leah, and I assured her that our menagerie did not extend to a Vietnamese potbellied pig.
    “Pink Piggy is Sammy’s favorite toy,” Leah explained. “Pink Piggy has a squeaker, so Rowdy and Kimi can’t play with him because they’d tear him up and probably eat the squeaker. Sammy kills the squeakers, but they’re replaceable. The point is, though, that Sammy loves Pink Piggy, and we’re afraid that Sammy might defend him from the other dogs. Any of the other dogs. Except Lady. She’d never steal anything from anyone.”
    For some reason, Caprice was smiling. “I can’t even tell all the dogs apart,” she admitted. “India is the German shepherd, and Lady is the pointer, and the other three are malamutes.”
    “So,” said Steve, “you’re starting to be able to tell them apart.”
    “You know Kimi,” Leah said. “You already knew her from school.”
    And to my amazement, Caprice gave an impish smile