“Fine,” she said. “See that you do.” He rolled his eyes at that. Then she nodded and said, “I have to look after Thaddeus. If this is upsetting him, you know I have to make it right.”
“Because it upsets the bird?” he asked.
“That and other reasons. But that’s good enough for now,” she said. “When you guys are done, lock up, will you?” And, with that, she patted Thaddeus on her shoulder. “Come on, guys.”
“You’re not going up the river, are you?” he asked.
She stopped as she headed down and contemplated the water. “It rose again last night, didn’t it?”
“It sure did,” he said. “Better take the street.”
She nodded. “I guess I can do that much.” And, with Mugs and Goliath, she started around to the front of the house and up, going past the cul-de-sac and heading toward the bridge. They crossed over to the other side and back down again.
She muttered to Thaddeus, “It’s so much easier when the river path is passable. Much faster too.”
He didn’t appear to perk up at all. They kept on walking, until they were within about a block of where she had seen the little boy. She stopped, then looked at Thaddeus and said, “You tell me where to go now. Where’s big guy, big guy?”
Thaddeus immediately looked at her, flapped his wings, and said, “Big guy, big guy.”
“Which direction?” she asked. She pointed down one way and took a step, but immediately Thaddeus pulled back. She pointed in another direction and got no reaction. Then she went to step in the direction of Isaac’s, and immediately Thaddeus leaned forward, as if he were showing her the way. Or at least more interested in that direction. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes on this direction,” she said, with a smile, and set off with a jaunty step.
Chapter 16
Doreen walked casually, as if they were out for a stroll, letting Mugs inspect bushes, Goliath racing forward, then stopping and throwing himself down on the sidewalk, waiting for her. She laughed, bent over, and tickled his belly, then kept on going. They passed the area where the kids had been playing and moved on toward where she’d seen Isaac at the small house. She walked up the block and around because that was the path he had disappeared on, and she was thinking that maybe he went to another area from the backside. As she headed around the block, she realized it was a cul-de-sac and what appeared to be a lot of townhomes.
As she walked, she whispered, “Anything yet on big guy?” Thaddeus leaned forward and stared avidly ahead of her. But she saw nothing in terms of a different reaction. She sighed. “I’ll need a bit more than this.”
But he wasn’t giving her very much to go on. Still, she kept going. She walked up the cul-de-sac, all the way around the corner. She kept a smile on her face, seemingly enjoying the beautiful Monday morning. There didn’t appear to be any action outside, which wasn’t unusual, not if the kiddos were in school. But were they now? Doreen shook her head. It was hard to say what was going on, but nothing odd was here.
As she headed down and around the corner again, she caught sight of the path that Isaac had disappeared into. She walked up to it, and, with Mugs at her side, they followed it. There were several offshoots, which made it confusing, but just meant that the local kids had made their own routes to their various houses. She followed a couple that led to dead ends. When she got back to the main path, a big man stood there. “Oh, sorry,” she said, as she almost ran into him.
He glared at her. “What are you doing here?”
“We came out for a walk,” she said with a bright, cheerful smile.
He studied the dog and the cat. “Nobody walks their cat.”
“Well, mine likes to go for walks,” she said defensively.
He snorted at that. Then he looked at the bird, and his eyebrows shot up. “What’s with the bird?”
“He likes to go for walks too,” she said defiantly, not liking anything about his attitude at all.
“Right,” he said in a slow, drawn-out voice. “Sure he does.”
“He does,” she said, then looked over at Thaddeus. “Don’t you, buddy?”
Thaddeus just stared at the big man in front of him, and his eyeballs circled a little bit wildly.
“What’s wrong with him?” the big man asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said, studying Thaddeus. She shifted him so he was on her forearm. “You okay, Thaddeus?” She reached out and gently stroked him and felt a little shiver working through his body. “Well, he’s obviously upset about something,” she said, studying the man carefully.
He put his hands on his hips and towered over them. “He’s probably not used to big men,” he said.
“Maybe not,” she said, “and he does have specific people he likes and dislikes.” And then bravely she added, “Particularly people who abuse others.” He stopped and stared. She shrugged. “Not that I’m saying you do or you don’t.”
Shoving his face forward, he said, “Lady, you need to get the hell out of here.”
“And why is that?” she asked, aiming for a bravado she did not feel.
“Because busybodies like you can get into trouble when they open their mouths at the wrong time.”
She smiled. “Isn’t that funny. You’re not the first person to tell me that.”
“Gee, what a surprise,” he said. “Now get the hell out of here. This isn’t your place.”
“It’s not your place either,” she said. “This is public property.”
“But my place backs onto it,” he said, “and you’re bugging me.”
“Call the cops then,” she said in a sunny tone of voice. “Because I’m allowed here, just as much as you are.”
He took a step forward, and she refused to budge. Immediately Mugs backed up and started barking at him.
“Shut the dog up, or I’ll kick him,” he said.
“Kick him, and you’ll have all of us to worry about,” she snapped. “And then, when the cops come, you can bet I’ll have something to say about a man who threatened me when I was on public property.”
“You get the hell out of here,” he said. “We don’t need troublemakers around here.”
“Yeah, and who’s we?” she asked, looking around. “It looks to me like there’s no we here at all. Just you. So take your bad attitude and go back home, where you belong.”
He stared at her in astonishment. “Now you’re ordering me around?”
“Why not?” she said. “You just ordered me around.”
“Fat lot of good it did me,” he said, growling.
“Yep, you’re right,” she said. “But, if you treat me nice, I might just leave. I might not though, and I’ll probably come back. I like little Isaac.”
Immediately he stopped, and his face went stiff. “What do you know about Isaac?”
“He’s a beautiful little boy,” she said, with a bright smile. “I’ll come back and visit him often.”
“You leave that little boy alone. He’s been through enough.”