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Chapter fourteen
Four years ago: before he had a name.
The black Labrador puppy plopped his tiny, nine-week-old butt down upon the newspaper in the open wooden box and tilted his head quizzically up at the man staring down at him.
His brothers and sisters were playing roughly in another corner of the birthing box, growling and barking at one another, uninterested in their new visitor.
It was as if they could not see him. But he was there, standing above him.
The puppy did not understand why, but he was fascinated by this one.
There had been others that had come to look at them, males and females, young and old, but none had interested him like this.
"Hello there," the man said, and the puppy could understand the words as if they had come from one of his own kind.
"Hello," the puppy responded with a yip.
"You're a cute one, aren't you?" The man slowly reached down with one of his large hands, allowing the puppy to sniff.
He liked his smell and licked one of the man's fingers in affection before lifting one of his paws and placing it within the man's hand.
"My name is Remy," the human said.
The puppy barked, not yet having a true name. In the language of dogs, he informed the man that he was fifth-born of seven.
"Well, Fifth-Born of Seven," Remy said to him. "How would you like to become part of my pack? Me, a female, and you."
The pup turned his gaze toward his brothers and sisters, who were still playing roughly in the corner. First of seven had seven of seven pi
"Leave pack?" the puppy asked, lifting his head to look back up at the man.
"Leave this pack to become part of another," Remy answered. "They'll all be leaving this box soon as well to go to other packs."
Fifth-Born of Seven thought about this for a moment.
"Sad," the pup whined.
"Yes, for a bit, but you will be very much loved in your new pack."
"You love?" the pup asked Remy.
The man smiled, showing off his large teeth. The master of the pack for sure, the pup knew.
"I will love you very much," Remy said, and Fifth-Born of Seven knew that this one's words were true, and that he would love this man very much in return.
"Female?" the puppy asked, sniffing the air for traces of her. He could smell her scent on the man's clothes. That too was a pleasant smell.
"I know she will love you too."
The puppy climbed to all fours and turned his head to look at his brothers and sisters at play.
He knew he would miss them at first, and wondered if they, in turn, would miss him.
"Will you join my pack?" Remy asked him again.
The puppy turned away from the old pack to look at the new.
"Yes," he barked, his tail wagging in equal parts excitement and fear.
Remy smiled again and bent forward, picking him up and removing him from the box where he had come into the world.
It was a big world outside the box, filled with new smells and frightening noises, but as he nestled into the crook of the human called Remy's arm, he sensed that this was the begi
"You'll need a name," Remy said as they left the only world Fifth-Born of Seven had ever known.
He held the puppy out before him. Their eyes co
"I think your name will be Marlowe," the male said, and kissed him gently on top of his head before returning him to the crook of his arm.
"Marlowe," the pup repeated, his eyes suddenly very heavy, the need for sleep overwhelming him.
"Good name," Marlowe agreed, not having the strength — or the will — to remain awake any longer. Feeling perfectly at ease, he fell fast asleep, dreaming of ru
And of how very much he would be loved.
"Where?" Marlowe asked from the backseat of the car. "I told you already," Remy said, trying not to sound a
"Ashlie's house. You're going to Ashlie's house."
Marlowe grumbled something Remy didn't quite catch, but he was sure it had to do with his displeasure of being left behind yet again.
The Bergs lived on Mount Vernon Street, which was only the next street over, and they could very easily have walked, but the rain had yet to let up. It was nice that Ashlie's parents shared her love of Marlowe. They had no problem at all taking care of him for Remy, especially knowing how difficult things had been for him since his mother had fallen ill.
Remy double-parked in front of the Bergs' brown-stone, then opened the back door, standing in the rain, waiting for Marlowe to exit.
"C'mon boy," he said, urging the dog out. "We're going to see Ashlie now."
Marlowe didn't move.
Remy leaned in to the car. "What's wrong?" "I go," Marlowe said, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"You can't come with me, pal. It's too dangerous."
"No," the dog said stubbornly, draping his head over the back of the seat.
The heavy rain thrummed against the metal roof as Remy stood, half in and half out of the downpour.
"Listen," he finally said in his firmest tone. "I don't have time to fool around right now. It's very important that I get to where I'm going so I can take care of business and come back to get you."
Marlowe lifted his head to look him in the eyes.
"When?" the dog asked.
"As soon as I'm done," he explained. "I have to go and help Casey and her friend… and then I'll come back. Okay?"
The dog thought for a moment.
"Must come back," Marlowe said, and Remy could sense genuine sadness emanating from the animal's words. "Pack gone. Just Marlowe. All alone."
Remy reached into the car, tenderly rubbing the side of his best friend's face. "I'm not going to leave you alone," he promised the animal. "Nobody's going to break up our pack, okay?"
Marlowe's tail flopped feebly.
"Let's go in and see Ashlie. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back and get you."
The dog's mood seemed to brighten a little bit. "Park?" he asked hopefully.
Remy chuckled at the animal's attempt at blackmail. "Sure, you get out of the car now and I'll take you to the Common when I get back. Deal?"
Remy held out his hand to the Labrador and Marlowe lifted his paw to be shaken.
The deal was struck.
"C'mon, pal," Remy said, extracting himself from the backseat.
"Remy," Marlowe called to him.
He stopped, crouching to look into the backseat of the car.
"Loveyou," the dog declared.
"Love you too," the angel responded in kind.
And satisfied by this answer, Marlowe jumped out of the car and trotted up the steps to the Bergs' front door.
Remy knew how the dog was thinking: The quicker they got this business out of the way, the quicker he could come back and take him for his walk.
It was a plan that Remy could get behind. He only hoped that when this was finished, there'd be a world — never mind just a park — to come back to.
Remy kept the good-byes brief, but as he turned to leave the brownstone, Ashlie's mother threw her arms around him in a hug, kissing him lightly on the cheek, whispering in his ear to be strong.
He continued down the steps, hoping that he did have it within himself to be as strong as he was sure he would need to be.
He was just about ready to drive away when he heard a horn behind him and saw a car pull up, flashing its headlights. He got out of the car, slamming his door closed, and approached the car. The window slowly lowered and Steve Mulvehill looked out at him, cigarette dangling from his mouth.