Mack has never lived with two people at once. There have been visitors, even overnight guests, but never two people under the same roof, sharing a bed and bumping into each other in the hallway. He watches Ed and Alice as they go through their days. Her tongue language includes recognizable words like dinner; his, the word no. Ed says no to Alice a lot. Mostly when she asks him a question. “I don’t know.” “No thanks.” “How should I know?” When they talk to each other, the sentences are short, and even a dog can tell that it isn’t conversation as much as routine fact finding. The interesting thing is that when he is alone with either of them, their tongue language is smooth and flowing, filled with nuances and that chirpy sound that humans make when they are amused. Suddenly, they are using a word with him that he recognizes is what they want to call him. Buddy. That’s okay. It’s a familiar term and he’ll respond to it if that’s what they want.

What’s hard is that they spend very little time in the same room. Buddy/Mack, still new to the double responsibility of two humans, goes between the television room and the kitchen, staring first at Ed, then at Alice. They should be in the same place; that’s what his herd-dog requirements ask. Then Alice moves to the television room and Ed disappears into the bathroom. Buddy/Mack waits patiently, sitting just inside the archway so that he can monitor the television room and the bathroom. Ed comes out, and he wags his tail in relief. Okay, now he can move Ed into the same room as Alice. But Ed slips past him, giving him a pat on the head, going into the bedroom to watch the other television.

This is the first day that Alice hasn’t been at home with him. Buddy/Mack recognized the word work, so he thinks that she may come back tonight smelling like food. That’s what Justine always smelled like when she told him she was going to work. Food. Buddy/Mack licks his chops in anticipation that maybe tonight these new people will present him with a treat from work. After their daily ride, Ed has also left him alone in the house while he is outside. Buddy/Mack would like to tell Ed that he’s perfectly dependable about staying in the yard, but he has no way of letting Ed know that. So he jumps onto the couch, circles, and buries his nose beneath his tail. He’ll doze a little, one ear positioned to catch the sound of returning humans.