A Dog About Town by J.F. Englert

Author:J.F. Englert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780440336969
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2008-09-08T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

A NEPHEW IS INTRODUCED

THINGS GET EVEN STRANGER

* * *

THEN THE DOORBELL RANG.

“That must be Michael coming for a New Year’s visit,” Iris said.

“Who’s Michael?” Harry asked Beatrice.

“A nephew of sorts,” Beatrice said, giving Harry a strange look.

The doorbell rang again. Beatrice rose and answered it.

A middle-aged man in a corduroy jacket entered the room. He carried a bouquet of red roses.

“Hello, Beatrice,” he said. “Hello, Aunt Iris. Happy New Year—may it be profitable for us all!”

Then he noticed Harry and me and his mood grew instantly dark.

“Harry meet Michael,” Beatrice said quickly. “Michael meet Harry. Harry’s interests lie in the paranormal. He was here the night Overton died and has returned to follow up.”

“What’s to follow up?” Michael asked. “Overton died and was buried and he will not come again in glory.”

“Harry thinks he might,” Beatrice said. “Not in the body so much as in the spirit. He seems to think that he might return to haunt us.”

“How do you go about becoming certified in the paranormal?” Michael asked.

“You don’t,” Harry said.

“So you don’t have any real qualifications?”

“I’ve done a lot of reading and I’ve gone on calls.”

“I see,” Michael said. “So this is more hobby than anything else? You believe in this nonsense but not enough to try to earn a living at it.”

“Well…”

“Never mind. I don’t really care,” Michael said.

There was an awkward silence.

Michael hung his jacket over the chair and handed Iris the flowers.

“Oh, dear. Michael always needs to confront. He’s an Aries, of course, but that doesn’t excuse it. I do apologize for his behavior, but he must as well,” Iris said.

“What’s the dog’s name?” Michael asked.

The dog in question had sidled up to Michael. My tail wagged in apparent greeting, but my nose was in overdrive. Michael was shedding heavy doses of fear, anxiety and suspicion. Michael didn’t like seeing Harry in the room, not at all. And he didn’t like the apartment either because it reminded him of something that worried him very much. When he looked at Iris, however, I did notice a brief spike of attraction in an otherwise muted libido, but this was quickly overwhelmed by his more serious preoccupations.

“His name is Randolph,” Harry said.

Michael seized my chin and held my head up at a sharp angle.

“Randolph needs to trim down, doesn’t he?” Michael said, moving my head up and down in the affirmative. “Randolph needs some exercise, doesn’t he?”

I felt like biting his leg, but wrenched free instead.

“Randolph is a mellow dog,” Harry warned. “But he has his limits.”

“Michael, what’s the matter?” Beatrice asked. “This isn’t like you. I’m sorry, Harry, he’s coming across like a brute but he’s actually a professor of the decorative arts given to long-winded ruminations on brushstrokes and the application of glaze by eighteenth-century potters. Most of the time he’s very civilized. Aren’t you, Michael?”

Michael grunted.

“A drink will fix you up. I’m drinking sherry, what will you have?”

Beatrice was in the kitchen again, topping up her glass.

“Right…right…you’re absolutely right,” Michael said. “I’ll have sherry, Beatrice.

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