They sit side by side in front of the computer. Alice logs on to her brand-new account and asks for “dancing dog” in the search bar. “Watch this.” They wait while the array of dog-dancing clips load. There’s Buddy, a little triangle placed over his body for her to click on. “Jen’s so smart with these things. But, really, it isn’t hard. Now watch.”

The tiny square opens up to reveal their dog bowing and crawling, leaping and pirouetting. Dancing for all he’s worth, his open mouth so much like he’s smiling, keeping uncanny time to the Beatles’ music.

Ed and Alice sit still. He’s dancing to “Help”; he’s dancing with someone else.

“That’s not Buddy.” Ed pushes away from the computer. “Obviously similar, but not our dog. Where’s the clip with our dog?”

“I’m sorry, I thought it would be the first one.” Alice slides the cursor down the array and finds the one she knows is theirs. “I guess he’s not the only Sheltie who likes to dance.”

“Some coincidence.” Ed has his hand on Buddy’s head, cupping the narrow skull with his whole hand. “Just find the right one. I’m beat.”

This time Alice has the right clip. She plays it twice for them and they both laugh where they should at the sight of Alice and Buddy performing their impromptu pas de deux, but underneath the enjoyment is the thought of another dog, so similar, doing the same thing.

“That’s wonderful. Really neat.” He logs out of the program and shuts down the computer. “Well, time for this one to go out.”

Alone in the third bedroom, still in front of the computer, Alice hears the slider open as they go outside. She worries that Ed won’t have leashed Buddy. She worries that he’ll dash off after some night creature and disappear. In a moment, she hears the slider open, listens to Ed talking to Buddy and the distinct sound of the clip end of the leash banging against the wall as Ed hangs it up. She lets out the breath she’s been holding.

Chapter 40

40

Alice is at the library and Ed is left at home. It’s raining, which is a good thing, as it’s been a very dry month so far. Still, it keeps him inside, bumbling around the house, looking for a task that will occupy him. He wants to get back to wire-brushing the cemetery gates, but that will have to wait. Buddy patiently follows Ed around the house: down into the basement to get a screwdriver, back upstairs to fiddle with the loose doorknob, back down into the garage to pull a fresh box of crackers out of the Costco closet, upstairs to make lunch, then into the third bedroom, where the computer lives.