Local Hero

her how anyone could produce under these conditions. Yet there was a drawing board set up, and tacked to it were sketches and captions.
    “You can see Zark’s going to have his hands full when Leilah teams up with the Black Moth.”
    “The Black Moth. Holy cow.” Faced with the facts, Josh was duly impressed. Then he remembered his comic book history, and suspicion reared again. “I thought he destroyed the Moth five issues ago.”
    “The Moth only went into hibernation after Zark bombarded the Zenith with experimental ZT-5. Leilah used her scientific genius to bring him out again.”
    “Wow.” This came from Josh as he stared at the oversized words and drawings. “How come you make this so big? It can’t fit in a comic book.”
    “It has to be reduced.”
    “I read all about that stuff.” Radley gave Josh a superior glance. “I got this book out of the library that gave the history of comic books, all the way back to the 1930s.”
    “The Stone Age.” Mitch smiled as the boys continued to admire his work. Hester was doing some admiring of her own. Beneath the clutter, she was certain there was a genuine French rococo cupboard. And books. Hundreds of them. Mitch watched her wander the room. And would have gone on watching if Josh hadn’t tugged on his arm.
    “Please, can I have your autograph?”
    Mitch felt foolishly delighted as he stared down at the earnest face. “Sure.” Shuffling through papers, he found a blank one and signed it. Then, with a flourish, he added a quick sketch of Zark.
    “Neat.” Josh folded the paper reverently and slipped it in his back pocket. “My brother’s always bragging because he’s got an autographed baseball, but this is better.”
    “Told ya.” With a grin, Radley moved closer to Mitch. “And I’m going to be staying with Mitch after school until Mom gets home from work.”
    “No kidding?”
    “All right, guys, we’ve taken up enough of Mr. Dempsey’s time.” Hester started to shoo the boys along when Taz strolled into the room.
    “Gee whiz, he’s really big.” Radley started forward, hand out, when Hester caught him.
    “Radley, you know better than to go up to a strange dog.”
    “Your mom’s right,” Mitch put in. “But in this case it’s okay. Taz is harmless.”
    And enormous, Hester thought, keeping a firm grip on both boys.
    Taz, who had a healthy respect for little people, sat in the doorway and eyed them both. Small boys had a tendency to want to play rough and pull ears, which Taz suffered heroically but could do without. Waiting to see which way the wind blew, he sat and thumped his tail.
    “He’s anything but an aggressive dog,” Mitch reassured Hester. He stepped around her and put a hand on Taz’s head. Without, Hester noted, having to bend over.
    “Does he do tricks?” Radley wanted to know. It was one of his most secret wishes to own a dog. A big one. But he never asked, because he knew they couldn’t keep one shut in an apartment all day alone.
    “No, all Taz does is talk.”
    “Talk?” Josh went into a fit of laughter. “Dogs can’t talk.”
    “He means bark,” Hester said, relaxing a little.
    “No, I mean talk.” Mitch gave Taz a couple of friendly pats. “How’s it going, Taz?”
    In answer, the dog pushed his head hard against Mitch’s leg and began to groan and grumble. Eyes wide and sincere, he looked up at his master and howled and hooted until both boys were nearly rolling with laughter.
    “He
does
talk.” Radley stepped forward, palm up. “He really does.” Taz decided Radley didn’t look like an ear puller and nuzzled his long snout in the boy’s hand. “He likes me. Look, Mom.” It was love at first sight as Radley threw his arms around the dog’s neck. Automatically Hester started forward.
    “He’s as gentle as they come, I promise you.” Mitch put a hand on Hester’s arm. Even though the dog was already grumbling out his woes in Radley’s ear and allowing Josh to pet him, Hester wasn’t convinced.
    “I don’t imagine he’s used to children.”
    “He fools around with kids in the park all the time.” As if to prove it, Taz rolled over to expose his belly for stroking. “Added to that is the fact that he’s bone lazy. He wouldn’t work up the energy to bite anything that hadn’t been put in a bowl for him. You aren’t afraid of dogs, are you?”
    “No, of course not.” Not really, she added to herself. Because she hated to show a weakness, Hester crouched down to pet