Kat chuckled as she watched Harper spin by the door. She glanced at her watch and noticed that it was -12C this morning. She reached for a thick sweater for herself and a doggy snowsuit for Harper.
The sky was beautiful, a fitting light show for Uncle Carl’s last day on earth. The sun was starting to rise, and the horizon was lit with gold and pink light. The air was cold but dry: a rare occurrence on the shores of Georgian Bay where the lake-effect was more likely to cause snow squalls and whiteouts than dry air.
Well bundled in her snow pants, thick coat, and wooly hat, Katherine was comfortable. She glanced down at Harper, almost completely camouflaged by her doggy snowsuit, and chuckled. The puppy was earnestly chasing her own shadow as she pranced along the snow packed sidewalk.
“I’m not sure you’ll ever catch that Harper.”
“Got it! Got it! Got it!” replied Harper, wagging her tail and giving up the chase. They had arrived at the off-leash dog park, and Katherine could see many of Harper’s friends already running around while their owners chatted in a circle of frozen puffs of breath. She bent down to remove Harper’s leash, and put both hands on the dog’s head while she looked into deep chocolate eyes.
“Are you talking to me girl?”
“Frenz! Frenz! Frenz!” Startled, Kat sat back on here heels as Harper ran towards a Golden Retriever and a Springer Spaniel. Both dogs looked up at Harper’s arrival, and greeted her with a welcoming happy dance.
Katherine joined the owner’s circle.
“Happy Monday!” she exclaimed to the group.
“Right back at you!” called Marcus, who owned Sunny, the Springer Spaniel that was currently tugging a stick with Harper.
“Did you have a good March Break? I hope you were able to connect with family despite the lockdown?”
“Thank goodness for Zoom” replied Katherine. “I don’t know what we would do without technology right now. Has anyone heard the latest news report? Do they expect the lockdown to end soon?”
“Stick! Share stick? Zoom! Zoom!”
Katherine startled. Was she losing her mind? Maybe the pandemic lockdown was starting to play games with her head. She glanced at the other people in her group, but no one appeared to notice anything odd. Marcus was telling everyone that the morning’s news predicted another 3 weeks before a lessening of travel restrictions, but that restaurants were still allowed to serve limited clientele.
“Will the Phoenix run another series if the schools stay closed Kat? My daughter and I watched every one of them. Couldn’t get through the stay-at-home orders with out them.” Marcus pulled her attention back to the group.
It reminded her suddenly of watching the news the night the pandemic had been declared, feeling her stomach go hollow and the hairs on the back of her neck rise. A faceless predator, stalking silently among the crowds, striking down random victims at will. Social distance and masks had felt like weak weapons in the face of mass casualties.
The world watched in horror as the virus marched across tightly knit communities in Europe and devastated Canadian nursing homes. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer became king and queen of the grocery aisles, while fear and isolation lurked on every door step. Kat had had enough. She hadn’t gone through losing Ryan only to end up a victim to loneliness. She fought back. She created live-play performances, produced in local kitchens and zoomed around the world. They had been an instant hit, and her followers numbered in the millions.
Marcus was watching her intently.
“I know that look. Man, that makes me happy!” He slapped his thigh while chuckling. White plumes of breath exploded over his head. “She’s got something planned for us. I knew it! I knew Kat London wasn’t going to leave us alone in our houses for another 3 weeks of virtual school!”
Warmth bloomed in Kat’s chest and she smiled at the man. “Watch your inbox Marcus. Your kids will have something to do. I’m not ruining the surprise though, so not another word.”
“Harper, come!” Kat turned towards the dogs, and Harper obligingly dropped the stick and ran over to receive her treat. Both Sunny and Heather, the Golden Retriever, galloped over with Harper.
“Treats! Treats, Wanna treats!” Kat heard the soft voice that she now thought of as Harper’s mixed in with a clipped British accent and a mellow contralto. Three dogs stared longingly at her treat pouch, and Kat handed out cookies while trying to stay calm. Maybe she had eaten something strange for dinner last night? No way was she hearing 3 dogs talking in her mind. Was she?
“It’s too cold to stand still. Anyone up for a walk around the park?” Heather’s owner, Nancy, stomped her feet to warm her toes as her breath hung in white clouds around her face.
“We runs now!” Kat watched as Harper leaped over Heather’s back and started gallumping down the path that circled the park. Heather shot after her friend, easily outdistancing the smaller dog.
“Runs like wind Little One!” Kat once more thought she heard the distinctive contralto voice.
“It would appear that I’m joining you for a walk Nancy. How have you been lately?”
“Uncle Carl’s passing has hit all of us downtown merchants pretty hard Kat. I’m not going to lie, I feel worried about the future of the downtown core.” Nancy’s normally proud voice was low and hesitant. She and her husband Mark Mason owned the Middlecove hardware store, and were the most successful retailers in town. Nancy drove a Mercedes SUV and Mark drove the biggest Dodge Ram truck that Kat had ever seen. It was rumoured that one of the Masons would be voted in as town Mayor when the current incumbent retired.
“What’s going on? I only heard about Carl a few hours ago. Poor man. I was shocked.”
“Yeah. Listen, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just forget about it, ok?”
Kat stopped in her tracks and put her hand on Nancy’s shoulder.
“What is? Can I help somehow?”
Nancy turned towards Kat “I just don’t know Kat. Will you go to the funeral?”
Kat nodded while searching her friend’s face, surprised at the abrupt change in topic. Stress lines were etched in Nancy’s forehead and her cold-weather induced red cheeks were at odds with the dark shadows under her eyes.
“We hugs.”
“We snuggles.”
“We luvs!”
Suddenly Kat and Nancy were surrounded by two furry bodies pressed against their legs. Nancy flung her arms up in the air as she slid on some ice, and Kat lunged forward to catch her before she hit the ground. The dogs bounded away and Kat and Nancy started to laugh.
“Count on those two clowns to lighten the mood!”
“We helps!”
“We runs like wind!”
Kat looked at Nancy, but the other woman didn’t give any indication that she too could hear other voices.
“Yeah, why don’t you go to the funeral Kat. See what you think, and we can talk later.”
Kat mulled the conversation over as she walked home with Harper. See what she thought about what?
Comments