Between the Causeways: Inspired by a true dog story by Jeremy Campbell

Author:Jeremy Campbell [Campbell, Jeremy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Langston Press
Published: 2022-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

April… again

O

utside, the April sun beamed down, shimmering across the lake by Bell and J.D.’s home. The dog family galloped in the yard, enjoying a break in springtime humidity that arrives between the winter thaw and storm season. BayLeigh, the sheepadoodle, chased her twin retriever siblings through fields beside their house as the elder dog pack leader sat beside the water’s edge.

Every April nature comes to life again in Langston. Ripples in the lake pulsate as fish jump, ducks bob their heads below the waterline searching for food and turtles poke their wrinkly faces above the surface. On days like this, it’s not unusual for the dogs to leap in the water to chase a hatchling. J.D. placed a board stretching from the lake bottom up to the grass, just in case Skye wanted to take part in the tradition. A swim was likely too much for her tired, old body. Everyone knew that. But after she used the ramp to walk out on the frozen water last winter, anything seemed possible now.

Bell got the idea to build the ramp to help ease her concerns about the old dog’s elderly limitations. What if Skye fell in and couldn’t get out? What if she hurt her legs trying to jump up on land? What if…what if…what if?

Bell doesn’t know all the answers, but sees it as her job to protect her clan in every way. As Skye sat by the water, her blue eyes squinting in the sun, a family of Canadian Geese walked up her ramp. Gosling after gosling followed the mother goose, while the dad hung back, looking around for any threats to his flock. Skye didn’t seem to qualify as a threat to these geese, as they paraded in front of her. At least eighteen babies strolled behind the mother goose.

Some of these babies were born to the mom and dad, but most were not. The pair serves as nature’s foster parents with a chosen flock and a chosen family. Canadian Geese bond for life, and if a gosling loses its way from its birth parents, another mother and father instinctively take them in. This hard-working mom had her wings full as she led the long trail of tiny goslings up Skye’s ramp one by one. The flock lived in Bell and J.D.’s neighborhood, regularly swimming in the nearby cove. J.D. called them “Brad and Angelina” because of all of their foster goslings. Sometimes, J.D. teased Bell that Angelina was a lot like his wife—always working to care for creatures in need.

Chirp. Squeak. Squawk.

Inside the house, Chester knows when company is coming. Somehow, he predicted a disturbance to his daily routine would soon arrive in the form of a child. Maybe all of Bell’s fluttering around to sweep the floors, tidy up the dog beds, and clear off the kitchen table were his indicators. Whatever tips the bird off, also ticks him off. He’d been squeaking and squalling all day as if he were reporting complaints to J.

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