Women & Dogs … (another short story)

Gerrard had flown up to Montreal to attend the Curator’s Conference on the Visual Arts hosted by the Museé de Beaux Arts. A four-day symposium from Friday to Monday, he was going to be gone until late Monday night. Janet was on her own at the house for the first time in probably eight years. She was looking forward to the time alone. Not that there was anything wrong between he and she, she was just looking forward to some time alone.

He called her when he got there. It had been a hellish flight, he slurred, with a threat of re-routing, a result of the heavy snow storm, how’s it with her? He sounded a little drunk. She looked out the window at the fading daylight and said, everything’s fine here. And meant it. Hanging up, she worried for a second that perhaps she hadn’t been attentive or concerned enough.

Jasper, their pure-bred black lab, was panting at her side and wanted to go out for his evening run. As she pulled on her boots, scarf and overcoat she thought how this simple pleasure was often denied her. Gerrard usually walked Jasper after supper, after his day at work. Jasper loved going for his nightly rambles with Gerrard. It was some kind of Master-Hound thing that she stayed out of intentionally. She had Jasper with her in the house all day long anyway.

Janet put on his lead, ‘Wanna go Jasper? Wanna go?’

They headed off into the night together. He panted along beside her, thrilled at this excursion with a new body. He tugged at the lead dragging her on at a faster clip than she intended. She knew he would wear himself out soon enough, so she played along with his urgency and began to trot along happily behind him. At the park they both broke into a quick euphoric run and bolted towards the distant open air skating rink. A few other dog owners were there at that hour, post dinner, pre bed, and it was clear that Jasper knew these other dogs. Janet pulled up on the lead and released Jasper. He bound over to visit his yapping friends. The dogs went haywire.

An attractive woman of thirty or so waved at Janet and yelled, “We missed Jasper yesterday!” Yesterday? Janet wondered as she trudged on towards them through the snow. Where was Gerrard yesterday? She knew Gerry had taken Jasper out, but, perhaps he had not come up here to the park. She waved back, and as she walked on towards the rink, she yelled back, ‘I don’t know.’ Not that it mattered.

Jasper and two other dogs raced past her towards the woodlot, hot on the tail of some stressed-out black squirrel.

The attractive woman and her female friend began slowly making their way over to Janet. Soon they exchange greetings. The attractive one said, ‘We usually see Gerrard around this time of night. Is he alright?’ Janet affirmed this, and added, he’s in Montreal for a few days at a curator’s conference. The other woman said, ‘I didn’t know Gerrard was a curator’. Janet looked again at the attractive woman and suddenly felt very foolish for being so friendly with strangers. Though, she reasoned with herself, dog owners are generally a reasonable and reliable lot. These women knew Jasper, they must therefore know something of Gerrard. Surely they had shared words together as dog owners do – watching their animals go through their respective rites & rituals of seduction, dominance/submission.

The woman said, ‘Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself, my name is Barbara, and this is Annette’. Annette pulled up her toque so that Janet could see into her big brown eyes and smiled at her. Janet replied, “I’m Gerrard’s wife, Janet.” Annette and Barbara exchanged a quick look.

The dogs came running back towards them barking and twirling madly. Damn, said Barbara, that dog of mine is nipping again. She scolded the smaller of the three raving dogs and put him back on the lead. ‘Bad boy, bad boy Scotty.’ Annette and Janet also retrieved their mutts, and put them back on their leads. Janet said, ‘Well, I think I’ll take Jasper a little further on up to the ravine before it gets too dark.’ One of the girls commented, yes, you can see he still needs his run.

The group split up amicably. The two women turned and began to wander back towards the edge of the skating rink. Their leads got entangled again as the dogs scampered back and forth between the them. Janet continued on up to the edge of the woods and found the beaten path down into the ravine below. It was getting awfully dark. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest thing to do to head down into the gully at this time of night. Jasper tugged at the lead eager to barrel down into that enveloping darkness but Janet held him back. ‘No Jasper. No. Not tonight.’

When Annette and Barbara got back to the skating rink edge, Annette asked, so what did you think of her? Barbara pulled on Scotty’s lead, untangling the mess, ‘Not much really. She was kind of a non-entity. I always thought Gerrard was the type of guy who’d go for some kind of trophy wife the way he talks and carries on. You know how he is. I never would have expected him to be with someone like her. She seemed so absent-minded and fey, not really ‘with it.’ She pulled Scotty’s leg out of the double knot. ‘Know what I mean?’

Annette laughed, ‘O’ Barbara Cruella! Why? because he has such a fine looking trophy dog?’ She patted the muzzle of her own mad mongrel and cooed, ‘who’s a good boy? who’s a good boy? hmmm?’

Janet and Jasper continued along the edge of the woodlands. She figured that at least they would both get some stiff leg exercise if they stuck to the perimeter before they turned around and began the long walk home. She released Jasper’s lead again and he tore ahead along the rim. She walked along behind his galloping nose, content to view the city lights down below.

It was an enchanting place to be up there on top of the reservoir as that gentle snow began to fall. The air was perfumed with a whiff of wood smoke. The trees squeeked together gently. Twinkling stars were visible high over head. Orion’s Belt, the Dippers, Medusa’s Medula. It was a lovely night. She wondered of the others who must come up here for their quiet moments. To find this quiet calm, this soulful serenity. She felt a sort of vague gratitude. To feel so centered. Up here. Life was so good.

She thought of Gerrard. She was sure that he too had walked along this woodland parameter beneath the stars. This year would be their twelfth anniversary. Twelve years together. It had been a long time, with both wonderful ups and miserable downs. They had been through so much together. Basically grown up together. Graduated and played and socialized and worked together. They had grown into each other over all those long years. Like a sock and a shoe. Dependent and dependable.

Janet thought of her aging parents. Married for 57 years. It seemed an improbable eternity to her. She brushed some loose snow off the front of her coat. She did not expect to be married to Gerrard for 57 years that was for sure. Janet stopped dead in her tracks. What would make her think such a thing? She and Gerrard were very happy. She stared off into the black ravine. Weren’t they?

Panic whistled up the back of her mind. Some unwhispered truth seemed ready to explode into her upper cortex.

She called out to Jasper, ‘Jasper! Jasper! Come here!’ She began to walk briskly towards his running form. ‘Jasper! Come Jasper! Come!’ He freeze-framed in mid air, pricked his ears, turned his head, and then came running back towards her at full speed. Jumping up onto her front, he panted a slobbering welcome. She smothered him in hugs manhandling his squirming body until he lay down on the snow and turned up his belly in surrender. Janet stood over the dog and wondered again. Am I leaving Gerrard? Is he leaving me? And if anyone was leaving, why were we staying together now if things are falling apart? She thought of the man she had married and had slowly grown to know so well. How could it be that they were not meant to be? Were they that bored with each other?

She began to walk home with Jasper close at her side. He padded along quietly, panting, no longer pulling ahead.

At the house, Janet closed up the downstairs, turned off the lights and retired upstairs to their bedroom. Jasper stayed downstairs curled up on the front hall rug waiting for Gerrard to come in. She did not call him up to her. She stood at the top of the banister looking down and could only think – Gerrard can have the dog.