At least that’s what had happened the last few times she’d been injured. Particularly with head injuries. She hadn’t ignored her wound during her shower, but she certainly hadn’t given it as much care and attention as she could have. But then again it seemed very much like she’d had so many of these types of injuries that she was almost blasé about them. Except for the pain.
Outside, she sat down on the edge of the riverbank and smiled into the morning sun. The river that had caused her so much cold discomfort yesterday, today it twinkled as it moved through the rocks. The water level had dropped off too. She understood that it depended on the rain and the mountains, and that it could rise and fall on a regular basis in a pattern that the weather forecasters could probably understand, but, for her, it was new and different every day.
It was much less of a force today though. She watched as several ducks swam upriver toward her. She smiled in delight, and, when they got closer, she immediately checked to see where Mugs was. And, sure enough, he was headed down the sidewalk to join her. When she called out to him, he picked up the pace, and, with his ears and jowls flapping in the wind, he raced toward her. Sitting on the sidewalk, cleaning himself, was Goliath. Mugs bounced by Doreen, half knocking her over. She laughed, pulling him into her lap.
“You’re a sleepyhead,” she muttered, as she scratched him.
He gave a light woof and snuggled in closer. She held him close, grateful for how much he had enriched her life. He’d been her saving grace when she’d been married, but she felt completely differently now because she was a whole different person. Yet Mugs had come from that life to this one right along with her. He was part of her history, but, more than that, he was a big part of her future.
When her phone buzzed beside her, she looked and laughed when she saw it was Mack. She quickly texted him back. I’m fine.
Sleep?
Slept well, woke up early. Just now having coffee at the river.
Great.
He didn’t say anything else, so she just put her phone beside her, and, with the dog still half on her lap and half on the ground, she just enjoyed being alone for a few minutes. Finally Goliath walked over and rubbed his body all along her side. She chuckled and gave him a good cuddle too. Thaddeus was busy walking back and forth along the edge of the river. She slowly reached for the rest of her coffee, tossed it back, and said, “What’s up, Thaddeus?”
Thaddeus spun, as if startled at hearing his name, but he stared at her. “Thaddeus. Thaddeus.”
“Yes, you’re Thaddeus,” she said cautiously, as she looked at him. “What’s the matter. Are you upset?” At that, his head bobbed up and down, as if he were answering her. She wasn’t sure what was going on. “Thaddeus, are you okay?”
“Thaddeus upset. Thaddeus upset.”
She reached out her hand, and he hopped onto the back of it, then walked up her arm.
“Thaddeus not happy.”
She wasn’t sure if he was using the language the way it was intended, but he was breaking her heart with his words. “What’s the matter?” she whispered, as she gently nuzzled up against his cheek and head.
“Thaddeus upset,” he repeated over and over again.
“What would make Thaddeus not upset?” she asked, but, of course, he couldn’t answer. She groaned. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” she wailed.
He nudged her. “Thaddeus upset.”
“I got it,” she said, “but I don’t know how to fix it.” It seemed like that acknowledgment helped though because he settled down on her shoulder again. It wasn’t long before her phone rang, and she looked down to see it was Nan. She picked it up. “Hey, Nan. I’m doing fine.”
“Are you?” her grandmother asked worriedly. “I really don’t like that you keep getting all these head wounds.”
“I know,” she said gently. “And I’m sorry. I don’t even know what happened.”
“Well, that’s why I’m partially bothered. I mean, you were at a funeral, for heaven’s sakes, and I was there too. But you left ahead of me,” she said.
“I was just wandering around after Rosie’s funeral. It was just, I don’t know,” she said. “It was such an odd thing to realize all that woman had done.”
“I know,” Nan said, her voice heavy. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“After Mack brought me back,” she said, “I laid down for a nap and ending up sleeping all night.”
At that, Nan stopped and then hesitantly asked, “What do you mean, after Mack brought you back?”
Doreen stopped and realized that Nan didn’t know about the last bit of excitement. “Oh my,” she said. “I do have something more to tell you.” Then she explained about the triumphant return of Thaddeus and also about the discovery of the message on his ankle.
“Oh, my goodness,” Nan cried out. “That’s such a clever bird.”
“He sure is,” Doreen said, laughing. “Even now he’s sitting on my shoulder, and a few moments ago he kept saying, ‘Thaddeus is upset.’ But I can’t figure out why he was saying that.”
“I’ve never heard him say that phrase before,” Nan said. “That’s a little scary.”
“I know,” she said. “It’s definitely distressing, and I don’t want him to be upset, but I don’t know how to make him feel better either.”
“I wonder how he could possibly tell us about that message on his ankle.”
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “Mack will look into it, as well as more about the little boy.” At that, she stopped and asked, “Do you know anybody with a little boy named Isaac?”
“No, I don’t,” she said, “not a one, and I do know lots of little boys.”
“Well, you know lots of little boys who have probably grown up to have little boys of their own,” she reminded Nan. “You’ve been here many a year.”
“Yes, indeed,” she muttered, but her voice was distant, as if she were thinking. “But I don’t think I’ve ever met an Isaac.”
“Well, this little guy was maybe five,” she said. “He looked so skinny. His clothes were dirty, but it looked like recent activity, as if he’d just spilled his breakfast or something.”
“Well, five-year-olds do that on a regular basis,” Nan said, “so that’s perfectly normal.”
“The other kids didn’t seem to be bothered by his presence there.”
“But that’s kids too,” Nan said.
Doreen thought about it and realized her grandmother was correct. “And none of them may have had anything to do with Thaddeus disappearing and then showing up with the note.”
“And, if they had seen him on the river, or even flying in the neighborhood, he would have caused quite a commotion,” Nan reminded her. “He’s not exactly your normal-looking local sparrow.”
Doreen burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s so true,” she said. “He’s anything but ordinary. So it’ll be that much more of a challenge to figure out who sent that message.”
“And while that’s part of the mystery right now,” Nan said, “let’s not forget that somebody attacked you. That’s the real mystery we have to solve here. We can’t have somebody going around town attacking you whenever they get mad or upset, or they just happen to see you,” she said. “That’s not okay.”