From Away by David Carkeet

Author:David Carkeet [Carkeet, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781590204573
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2010-03-04T05:00:00+00:00

Two hours later, he was closer to finding Homer’s password only in the sense that he had eliminated a few dozen of the infinite number of candidates. The light was starting to fade. He went to the front window. The wind whipped the trees in the distance. The snowshoes had fallen over—he could see their tips just beyond the front edge of the porch roof. It looked cold out there.

The dogs resumed their banging on the little door. They must have heard his footsteps. He sighed and went down the stairs and into the kitchen. He had seen no dog food in the house—he would have noticed it immediately—but his eye fell on two sticks of smoked salami on the counter that he had bought in Burlington. He got down on his knees and examined the door. It was large for a dog door, so large that Denny wondered if it originally had had a different use. It was hinged at the top, and two sliding bolts low on each side held the bottom closed. If he set the salami down just inside the door and unbolted it and ran like the devil, would the dogs chase him or would they stop to eat? Maybe both—he imagined them eating on the fly as they chased him, working the salami like a freight-car hobo chomping on a stogie.

He had another thought. Instead of unbolting the door and feeding the dogs inside, he could feed them outside, as far from the door as possible, and then unbolt the door and flee to safety. After they ate, the dogs would try the door again, come inside, and spend the night where it was warm.

As he peeled the wrapper off the salamis, he realized he would need four servings—two for now and two for breakfast—and he cut them in half. What else did dogs need? Water. He filled a ceramic bowl and set it on the floor. He found a tray in Homer’s pantry and set the four salami portions on it. Then he took a packaged submarine sandwich from the fridge, along with a liter of root beer and a bag of potato chips. After just a little hesitation, as a reward for his efforts, he added half of a coconut cream pie. He carried the tray upstairs and set it on the bed. With the computer room connecting on one side and the bathroom on the other, all of his evening needs would be met. He shut the two doors that led from these side rooms into the hall, sealing himself safely in the bedroom.

He went to the double casement window next to the bed and worked one of the cranks. The window was stuck from disuse, but it opened after a few bangs. He poked his head out. He was directly over the dog pen door. The two dogs, their heads cocked back, stared up at him. They were at his mercy. What a wretched condition, he thought—to depend utterly on someone for food.

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