A Gentleman in Charleston and the Manner of His Death: a Novel by William Baldwin

Author:William Baldwin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

CHARLESTON, THE END OF FEBRUARY 1889

On that particular day his father seemed displeased. Over what, Thomerson could not say.

His father had returned from New York the week before, and soon his mother was to leave for Washington. She would visit his Uncle Asa, and his Aunt Abbie would be there, too. But for now the boy had both his parents at home and his sister, of course, and Hélène. For now they were all together, standing on the back piazza. His father had rung for dinner to be served, and they waited a moment before entering the house—he, his father, his mother, Anna, and the Swiss governess, Hélène. Then suddenly came the sound of scuttling, of claws scratching up the steps, and there rising towards them was a creature more ravenous wolf than dog. Still, Thomerson did recognize the animal, this playmate of his entire young life, his father’s faithful old setter bitch Nellie. The boy stood paralyzed as, with slobbering jaws stretched wide and eyes afire, the dog sprang straight towards his face.

Thomerson ducked—for there is an instinct guiding even the most city-bound lad—and the monster passed over his head and fell sprawling on the piazza floor. But at once this Nellie, this nightmare vision of their domestic animal turned, crouched, and readied herself for a second attack. But his father stepped forward, caught her by the loose skin of the neck and held tight. The snapping jaws came down on empty air. Yes, certain tragedy had been averted, but the dog continued to twist in his father’s grip while their puppy, Bruno, the Newfoundland, who at six months was already as large as a pony, came bounding up the stairs to join the fun. The sight of this new arrival only increased Nellie’s thrashing tenfold, and now not only son and father might be bitten but also the puppy.

Oddly enough (even at that moment this struck Thomerson as a nightmarish incongruity), except for his father, no one seemed capable of acting. The boy was stunned. His mother stood frozen like a dead-white statue of alabaster. Anna looked on in puzzled consternation, as if all that occurred might be an act upon the stage. And Hélène seemed totally unconscious of the danger now facing the family and herself as well. In fact, she was laughing. But his father understood that with the bumbling Bruno added into the melee, his battle was a losing one, and so he shouted in a manner the boy recognized from his father’s stories of the War. His father had used that angry bellow long before on the battlefields of Virginia: “Catch that dog—Catch that dog and drag him off! Catch and hold him!”

It was Anna who obeyed. She snatched the Newfoundland puppy around the belly just up from the hind legs and pulled for dear life. Thomerson joined her. Hélène made some motion in that direction though actually did nothing. But the battle had turned, and their father dragged Nellie away—Nellie snapping and

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