“Oh,” said Angie as she blushed. “Anything else?”
“Yes, Do you want any cookies?” he asked.
“Yeah, a few,” said Angie.
“Oh good! I get to rip the head off the cat again,” George said with glee as he got up to get the cookies.
***
Ginny woke with a start. The room was way too quiet. The moonlight was coming in the window. “Damn! Patrick left the curtain open,” she thought. She rolled over to try and go back to sleep, but it wasn’t working. Ginny grabbed her crutches and headed for the bathroom. The clock on the desk said 4:28am.
“Should I stay up, or try and sleep,” she wondered as she headed back to bed. She climbed back in bed and tried to relax. They should be heading home tomorrow, but Ginny didn’t want to go back on crutches if she could help it. There was no way to live down her magnificent faceplant. She still had bruises and scratches around her face, and the ankle… There was no hiding that. Ginny snuggled down under the covers and tried to go to sleep.
4:39 am.
4:56 am.
5:03 am.
“I’m giving up!” she thought. Tossing back the covers, she hobbled over to her clothes and threw on a skirt and teeshirt. Ginny grabbed the velcro strapped boot and got it on her foot. Settling onto her crutches, she headed down the hall. When she got to the stairs, she used the banister and one crutch to get to the first floor. Then she headed to the kitchen where she could smell Sam cooking breakfast.
“Do you think there might be a cup of coffee for me?” Ginny asked as she walked into the kitchen.
“Yes. Already poured you a cup,” said Sam. “I heard you thumping down the stairs.”
“Sam, you are a treasure,” said Ginny.
“Now don’t go getting any wild ideas. Have yer coffee, but crack that three dozen eggs inta that bowl,” said Sam pointing to the eggs and bowl.
Ginny sat down her coffee and pulled up a stool which she perched. A few minutes later, she was scrambling them for Sam who had the pan almost ready.
“I never realized you started cooking this early,” said Ginny as Sam took the eggs.
“Well, most times I just do the baking, but I figured you lot would be hungry. Rabbits just don’t fill up anyone,” said Sam.
That made Ginny laugh. It was true, and the guys would be hungry. She just wondered when they’d be back. She looked up at the clock. 5:28am.
“They’ll be back soon. Buster don’t like being out once dawn is here. I think he figgers he’ll scare folks away. Most of ’em that see him think he is just one big ol husky and don’t care,” said Sam.
“You’re probably right. Grammy always said to get home before dawn,” said Ginny.
There was a clatter on the back deck that startled both women. Sam walked over and peered out the window. “Yup, it’s them. I’d better get these eggs done,” she said and went back to the stove.
Ginny looked around to see if there was anything else to be done that she could manage. Finally, she just poured Patrick a cup of coffee. It was sitting waiting for him when he walked in the kitchen door with Buster about three minutes later.
“Ginny, what are you doing down here,” he said with a touch of a growl to his voice.
“Woke up and couldn’t sleep,” she said. “And don’t you go growling at me. Either one of you.”
“I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t come down the stairs by yourself,” said Patrick.
“I did just fine. No falls. So just quit,” said Ginny. “Bossy boots!” she thought.
“Alright,” said Patrick in a way that Ginny knew she had lost a battle. He picked up his coffee and sat next to Ginny.
Buster walked over to Sam, rubbed up against her leg and headed over towards the back door. She stopped scrambling eggs long enough to let him out. Buster went out and up into his backyard abode.
“You two had a good time?” asked Sam.
“Pretty good. Didn’t catch a damn thing, but we had a good run. We walked most of the way home,” said Patrick.
“He gonna last much longer?” asked Sam.
“I don’t know. Buster might last years or go tomorrow. He tried to shift at one point, because I think he wanted to talk, but he couldn’t,” said Patrick. “I had an uncle who went the same way. Over the years, he shifted back less and less until one day he just couldn’t.”
“Will he when he dies?” asked Sam.
“I have no idea. Once again, some do and some don’t. Even seen a few go the other way,” said Patrick.
“Me too,” said Ginny. She thought about her cousins that had died young and two of them were curled up nose to tail on their own beds.
“Well, here’s yer breakfasts,” said Sam as she put platters of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried potatoes and toast down in front of them. “I’m gonna take Buster’s out to him.” She walked out the door with a plate filled with eggs and sausages.
Ginny and Patrick dug into the food. Once the door was closed, Ginny turned to Patrick. “How long does he really have?” she asked.
“Hon, I’d be surprised if he makes it to tomorrow morning. We ran maybe two miles and it literally took us the rest of the night to walk back. If I’m guessing right, he’s close to 100 years old. Maybe older. Not in the best of health either. He has a smell about him when he pants. Not sure if it is just bad teeth or something else. I went to Buster’s room before we went out for a run and there are WWI & II medals in one box. There are some old black and white photos of him and a couple of people. All dressed in 1930’s style clothing,” said Patrick.
“How did you manage to go to his room?” asked Ginny.
“I just flat out asked Sam. I wanted to know who I was running with, and I was curious if I knew his family. I don’t. I didn’t pry much further, but it looks like it was Canada rather than Montana he was from,” said Patrick.