“The King’s Road? That’s what you call it?”
“Yes, but once it passes the fork, it’s Kingdom Road. If you were to choose to go left at the fork, you would be on Seafront Road.”
“Where are they going? I mean, after Dora’s house, and Leah’s farm, and the store Dora’s brother keeps.”
Woody looked surprised. “Does he still keep it? I’m amazed. What does he have to sell, I wonder?”
“I don’t know. I just know he gives them new shoes to replace their broken ones.”
Woody laughed, delighted. “Dora and James! Up to their old tricks! The answer to your question is I don’t know, and I’m sure they don’t. Just away. Away, away, away.”
The wolves had been silent, but now they began howling again. It sounded like dozens of them, and I was very glad I’d reached Woody’s house of bricks when I had. Radar whined. I stroked her head. “The moons must be out.”
“According to Adrian, there’s only one in your make-believe kingdom. As one of the characters in Mr. Cornell Woolrich’s book says, ‘You was robbed.’ Would you like a slice of cake, Charlie? I fear you may find it a trifle stale.”
“Cake would be wonderful. Do you want me to get it?”
“Not at all. After all these years here—it’s quite the cozy den for an exile, don’t you think—I know my way around very well. It’s on a shelf in the pantry. Sit still. I’ll be back in two ticks.”
While he got the cake, I helped myself to more lemonade from the pitcher. Lemonade seemed to be the go-to drink in Empis. He brought a big piece of chocolate cake for me and a sliver for himself. It made the cake we got in the high school caff look pretty lame. I didn’t think it was stale at all, just a little stiff around the edges.
The wolves abruptly quit, again making me think of someone pulling a plug on an amp that had been turned up to eleven. It occurred to me that no one in this world would get that reference to Spinal Tap. Or any other movie.
“I guess the clouds are back,” I said. “They go away, right?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not since he came. It rains here, Prince Charlie, but it almost never shines.”
“Jesus,” I said.
“Another prince,” Woody replied, once again with the broad smile. “Of peace, according to the braille Bible Adrian brought me. Are you replete? That means—”
“I know what it means, and I sure am.”
He stood. “Then come sit by the fire. We need to talk.”
I followed him to the two chairs in his little parlor. Radar followed. Woody felt for Catriona, found her, and picked her up. She lay over his hands like a fur stole until he set her on the floor. There she spared a haughty glance for my dog, gave a dismissive flick of her tail, and strolled away. Radar lay down between the two chairs. I had given her a share of my chicken, but she ate only a little of it. Now she looked into the fire as if deciphering its secrets. I thought about asking Woody what he’d do for supplies now that the town of Seafront had joined the evacuation, but decided not to. I was afraid he’d tell me he had no idea.
“I want to thank you for the meal.”
He waved this away.
“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”
“Not at all.” He reached down and stroked Radar’s back. Then he turned the scars that had been his eyes to me. “Your dog is dying, and there’s no time to waste if you intend to accomplish what you came for.”
10
Full of food, safe in the house of bricks with the wolves silent for the time being and the fireplace warming me, I had been relaxing. Feeling content. But when he said Rades was dying, I sat up straight. “Not necessarily. She’s old, and she’s got arthritis in her hips, but she’s not…”
I thought of the vet’s assistant saying she’d be surprised if Radar lived until Halloween, and fell silent.
“I’m blind, but my other senses work quite well for an old fellow.” His voice was kind, and that made it dreadful. “In fact, my ears have grown more acute than ever. I had horses and dogs in the palace, as a boy and young man I was always out with them and loved them all well. I know how they sound when they’re rounding the final turn for home. Listen! Close your eyes and listen!”
I did as he said. I could hear an occasional pop from the fireplace. Somewhere a clock was ticking. A breeze had picked up outside. And I could hear Radar: the wheeze each time she inhaled, the rattle each time she exhaled.