Invasion

his eyes as if he were trying to dispel the shadows under the pine boughs. "Then, whatever it was, it went by here just before we came out of the woods, huh Dad?"
        That was true enough, although I hadn't thought about it. "When the storm's finished, maybe we can come out and look for new tracks," I said.
        "On snowshoes?"
        "Have to use snowshoes if the snow's over your head."
        "Great!" he said, dismissing the mystery that suddenly.
        If we could all remain small boys in at least one tiny corner of our minds, we would never end up in private, locked rooms in silent hospitals, staring at walls and refusing to speak…
        "At least we can follow this trail until it turns away from the house," I said.
        He gave me his hand, and we bent our heads against the wind, keeping a close watch on the odd prints as we climbed the slope. The holes were repeated in exactly the same pattern until we were halfway up the hill to the house. At the mid-point of the slope, the prints stopped in a much trampled circle of snow. Toby found the place where they struck off once again toward another arm of the pine forest.
        "It stood here," Toby said. "It stood right here and watched our house for a long time."
        Indeed, the animal, whatever it might be, seemed to have come out of the woods solely to stare at the farmhouse and, once its curiosity was satisfied, had gone away again. But I didn't like to think that was the case. There was some indefinable alien quality about those prints-which were so unlike anything I had ever before encountered that made me at first uneasy and eventually somewhat frightened. That fear, as irrational as it might have been, only increased when I contemplated the thing standing here on this windblown slope, watching the farmhouse where Connie had spent the entire afternoon' alone.
        But that was ridiculous.
        Wasn't it?
        Yes.
        What was there to fear?
        It was only an animal.
        I was being childish.
        "Maybe it was a bear," Toby said.
        "No. A bear's paws wouldn't leave a trail like this."
        "I can't wait to go looking for it on snowshoes."
        Well, that's for another day," I said.
        "Come on."
        He wanted to look at the prints some more.
        I kept hold of his hand and started toward the house again, setting a faster pace than we'd been keeping. "Remember that hot chocolate!" But I wasn't thinking about hot chocolate at all.

----

    2.
        
        By the time we reached the sun porch at the rear of the house, the wind had the fury of a bomb blast. It followed us through the door, driving a cloud of snow onto the porch.
        We did the traditional things people do when they come in from a cold day: we stamped our feet, slapped our arms against our sides, whooshed! out our breath, and commented on the clouds of steam. By the time we had stripped off our coats, gloves, and boots, Connie really did have cocoa ready for us in the kitchen.
        "Great!" Toby said, climbing onto his chair and poking at the half-dissolved marshmallows with his spoon.
        "Don't you know any other expletive besides 'Great'?" I asked.
        "Expliv-what?" he asked.
        "What you say when you're excited. When something really strikes you as good and wonderful, don't you have anything to say except great!"
        He frowned into his chocolate, thinking about it for a second or two. Then: "Fabulous!"
        "Well, it offers variety," I said.
        Fifteen minutes later, fatigued by his long afternoon of stalking the native fauna, Toby nearly fell asleep in his mug of cocoa.
        "I'll have to take the scout to bed for a nap," Connie said. She was smiling at him, and she was very pretty.
        "I'll do it," I said.
        "Sure?"
        "Sure," I said. "I'd appreciate having something a bit stronger than hot chocolate once I get him tucked in. Do you think that could be arranged?"
        "Possibly."
        "Vodka martinis?"
        "Just the right medicine for a cold day."
        "Especially in large doses."
        "I'll mix a pitcherful. I need some medicine myself."
        "You were in a toasty warm house all afternoon."
        She smiled. "Ah, but I empathize with your frostbite so well. I can feel how chilled you are."
        "I think you're just a lush."
        "That too."
        I lifted Toby in my arms and carried him