Page 10 (1/2)
He had passed into an altered state of consciousness, into a trance of delight
At ti pencil pass through the paper without puncturing it, laying down its graphite beyond the page, as if constructing an ih an infinite nuood artist can create the illusion of three dimensions; but as these many-petaled patterns were refined, they blossomed toward him and simultaneously invited him to fall aithin them His pencil seeful hieroglyphics that earlier he’d gliination if not in fact, brighter than they had been previously Then, as the drawing appeared to flower toward hi a, that could never be adequately drawn, yet his pencil worked, worked-
Through the roo down the pencil and thrust to his feet, knocking over the chair
Not a simple sound but , rustle and flump, deep throb and ruffle, crumpcrump-crumpcrump Loud, but not a blast Not heavy like the hard crash of thunder, but heavy like the subsequent roll
He felt as if he had been folded into the sound-as if it were a great blanket-folded into it and shaken out, folded in, shaken out
Concussion waves thruh his teeth, traveled the hollows of his bones
Sudden silence surprised hi resonance had seeht had been shaken apart, like the voice of an earthquake speaking deep within the breaking earth, but it lasted only three or four seconds
For afor the phenomenon to repeat
After a hush had held the kitchen for half a minute, Brian went to theand peered out, half expecting to see a colu in the distance, evidence of an explosion The sky was clear
The attraction of the unfinished ie on the art paper re revelation returned
He set the fallen chair upright and settled at the table once more He picked up the pencil
As his hand ainst paper, further detailing the abstract iain, but not loud this ti approached in the kitchen behind his happily lapped at the large water bowls lined up just outside the kennel, in the shade of the enorht Fred, Ethel, Nickie, and Hugo back to the blanket on which As settled on the lawn at a distance, as they had been before the gas implicitly, but they were still wary of people, even of those who had rescued the of wheat-free cookies She gave treats to Ethel and Hugo, while Aht the six ghost dogs to their feet They approached hesitantly, tails swishing
Amy’s kids made her proud as they eased away-albeit somewhat reluctantly-to allow the newcoue, the breeder dogs finessed the cookies frohtest contact with a tooth, and none of the six tried to snatch away the bag of goodies
"Ever been bitten by a puppy-mill breeder?" Amy asked Renata
"Nope They come here covered in sores, some half-blind froes hardly bigger than thereedy hateful bastard, never knew a gentle touch or any kindness They ought to savage us But they have the softest hts, A about the hell of sory and helpless
Most puppy far operators kept a thousand or more in cruel conditions These animals did not truly live, merely existed, and in perpetual black despair
Their litters had a hope of a real life, but not the breeders And becausethe quality and ienetics of the breed, many of the puppies would suffer diseases and joint conditions that would shorten their lives
Responsible pet stores like Petco and PetSs, but didn’t sell puppies
Other stores, Internet merchants, and newspaper advertisers who clai far anis
An A was a purebred, not that it had been bred humanely Every year, hundreds of thousands of puppy- in desperate conditions, caave talks at schools, at senior centers, to any audience that would listen: Accept a rescue dog Or buy from a reputable breeder recommended by the parent club for each breed, such as the Golden Retriever Club of America Go to anis die for lack of a ho, and you’ll be repaid tenfold Give reat horror
Her audiences were always attentive They applauded Maybe she reached so the world It couldn’t be changed So s was proof, to her, that the world was fallen and that one day there would be-s a year from misery and pre treats, three breeder dogs shied away after a few , but one-Cinna to take a chance, I’onna be one of your soul-savers"
As had a spiritual purpose The opportunity to love a dog and to treat it with kindness was an opportunity for a lost and selfish human heart to be redeemed They are powerless and innocent, and it is hoe treat the hu us that surely determines the fate of our souls
Cinnamon turned to look at Ament is a circle Hate is a snake that turns to consume itself from the tail, a circle that di Pride is such a snake, and envy, and greed Love, however, is a hoop, a wheel, that rolls on forever We are rescued by those e have rescued The saved become the saviors of their saviors
When Amy left the Last Chance Ranch with her three kids, she turned slowly onto the county road, hesitating long enough to read the license plate on the Land Rover
As she headed west, the other vehicle shed the shade of the jacarandas and followed Maybe the driver thought she was too naive to recognize the existence of a tail Orfollowed
Chapter 21
The rustle and hiss and crumpcrump-crumpcrump rose behind Brian, quieter than the first time, almost stealthy He turned in his chair to look, but he relanced at the ceiling, wondering if windon the roof But therevealed aas still as that on an airless world
As he worked obsessively on the center of the current drawing of the dog’s eye, he broke a lead point A second A third
While he sharpened the pencils, only the crisp scraping of the X-acto blade punctuated the expectant hush
At its loudest, the unidentified sound had seemed terrible not because it struck fear in hiested an i power
Born in a tornado, Brian had considerable respect for the chaos that nature could spawn and for the sudden order-call it fate-that was often revealed when the apparent chaos clarified This strange sound of many parts had a chaotic quality; but he sensed in it his fate
Pencils sharpened, he returned to the drawing
Moain, he was pretty sure that it had co had reestablished its hypnotic hold on hi revelation Discovering the source of the sound was a less urgent task than coht and shadow at the center of the i seemed to fold open to fill his field of vision