Elloway Dog Park
Gansey called 300 Fox Way with a certain strain in his voice, and though it was pleasant enough, Blue had gotten better at detecting stress or disquiet in his tone.
"Well, I was going to walk dogs…"
"Oh, that's fine," he said rather quickly. "I'll just do some more research."
But it clearly wasn't fine, as he'd been doing research for a solid week without pause. He wouldn't have called if he had something else to do, to let his mind wander.
"Meet me at 1008 West Main Street in about a half hour, okay?" she asked, tugging her sneaker on while she spoke.
Gansey sounded suspicious but willing when he asked, "Why?"
"Do you want to get outside today or what?" Blue demanded, snagging her dog-walking bag.
"Yes, okay. I'll be there."
"Good. Bye."
"Okay, goodbye, Blue."
She shook her head at the phone as she set it back in the cradle, wondering what was wrong with Gansey. A national pastime, she was sure.
She picked up her regulars, a pit-bull named Zeus, his favorite playmate Pomeranian named Cards, a chocolate Lab with a pompous attitude named Augustus, and Tak, a ridiculously undignified Doberman Pinscher that constantly tried to get Augustus to join in his game of roll-in-the-next-stinky-puddle-we-see. After they were all leashed and ready to roam and run, she headed for Main Street to meet Gansey.
He was already waiting there with the Pig, leaning up against it wearing his boat shoes and a collared blue shirt (which she thought was just him trying to be funny), head tipped back to absorb the sun. He had on sunglasses and he'd mussed up his hair at some point, probably trying to catch a breeze.
"Gansey," she said by way of greeting, stopping a yard away to keep Tak from completely losing himself in the thrill of meeting someone new.
Zeus let out a deep bark of joy, setting Cards rolling around on the ground and trembling with excitement. Augustus sat when she yanked their leashes, as if proving himself above the others.
Gansey jolted at the sound of Zeus's bark, then just stared at the assortment of canines in front of him. "Ah…"
"I warned you I was walking dogs," she reminded him.
"Yes, you said dogs," he admitted, taking off his sunglasses slowly. "However, you didn't mention horses, bears, or rats."
Blue rolled her eyes. "The vocal one is Zeus. Tak is the one who is trying to lick you."
"Is that what he's trying to do?" Gansey asked pleasantly. He did not approach Tak, however relaxed he pretended to be.
Blue smiled to herself. "Yes. The small one is Cards, Augustus is the Lab. If you want to walk with me, you can take his leash and Cards, since they're the easiest to handle."
Gansey looked conflicted for a moment, caught between not wanting to be rude and take the easy dogs, and his clear trepidation for approaching the drooling beasts—despite their friendliness.
"Just take them, Gansey."
He took the leashes and seemed to gain confidence that Augustus didn't immediately yank away. Cards tried, but he weighed a whopping ten pounds, so it didn't even register.
"Why did you call?" Blue asked, tugging at Zeus and Tak to get them walking. "We're going to a park, by the way."
"Okay." Gansey seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "I called because I needed to get out for a bit, I suppose. And because Adam is working, and Ronan is at home."
"What about Noah?"
Gansey slanted her a look. "He's having a little trouble sticking around, and he's not exactly the most thrilling of company, Jane."
Blue glanced down at the dogs. "You don't seem bored to me," she said with a smirk.
"Yes," he admitted, staring at the dogs he was guiding, "I seem to have more engaging company at the present."
Blue had also learned that the more his vocabulary built up to sound like what she imagined his father sounded like, he was really at a loss.
"Once we're at their park, we can let them run around for a little while. I can walk them back myself." She brushed her bangs off her forehead. "But, really, what were you planning on doing today, if I weren't walking dogs?"
Gansey shrugged. "I'm not sure. Adam is busy, as is Ronan." He glanced at her warily. "When I said he was at home, I meant—the Barns." He had trouble getting it out, the words sticking, she assumed, because he wasn't used to having so much of Monmouth to himself.
Blue realized with dim alarm that she was noticing too many little things about Gansey. If she wanted to keep herself safe, and him safe, she should've been finding ways to distance herself, not the other way around.
"I have to admit, I'm at a loss as to what to do next, Jane," he said on a miserable sigh, cautiously petting Augustus's head.
Blue's resolve to distance herself, thin and weak as it was, dissolved. In the face of such dejection, who could harden themselves? "You're not the only one," she admitted. "I want to find my mother." She kicked at the sidewalk. "I wish she'd have explained some more. Why did she go? How did she know to go? Where did go anyway?" She shook her head in frustration, patting Zeus's head when he butted against her leg anxiously; she ignored Gansey's somewhat distressed noise. Her most important question was left unsaid: Why didn't she take me? Or tell me? I am her daughter.
Gansey didn't respond to these questions, or the unspoken ones. "How did you find these beasts?"
Blue sputtered out a surprised laugh, and for the remainder of the short walk, she told Gansey about how she met each owner and dog in turn.
She passed out treats at the entrance of the dog park, then hurled a ball through the air for Tak and Cards to chase. Augustus went about sniffing the grass. He would cover every inch of the park before he'd play.
Zeus waited anxiously for his rope, then, when Blue brought it out, he snatched it from her fingers with a snapping of his powerful jaws that had Gansey jerking in surprise, though Blue knew from experience that Zeus had precise aim.
Unfortunately for Gansey, Zeus also knew an easy target when he saw one, so, dingy once-white rope clamped in his jaws like prey, the blue-nose pit ran toward Gansey at full charge, tail slashing the air in glee, eyes bright with anticipation of mischief.
Blue called out a sharp NO! but it was far too late—Zeus had already planted his paws on Gansey's chest, knocking them both to the grass. Gansey let out an indecorous gurgle of surprise as he went down. Biting her lip fiercely to hold back laughter, she shuffled toward the pair carefully.
Zeus had his face directly above Gansey's, tail wagging in delight, ears forward, waiting for Gansey to snatch the rope.
"Zeus," Blue said in a strained voice, "off now. Drop the rope!"
"Don't drop the rope!" Gansey gasped out quickly. "Then his mouth is empty."
Laughter threatened to burst free. With a herculean effort, Blue bit it back. "Zeus, off! Come here! Want a treat?" she tried, holding out a biscuit.
Zeus's whole body began to tremble with his fierce tail-wags, but he dropped the drool-covered rope on Gansey's face. Then he proceeded to swipe a huge, wet tongue up Gansey's cheek, imprinting a look of complete and utter astonishment on the young patrician's face that finally had Blue shaking with laughter, unable to contain it.
Apparently concerned, Zeus abandoned his game with Gansey and trotted to Blue's side, nosing her ribs in an effort to comfort her.
Tak loped over to join in, giving Gansey a cursory bark before wiggling up against Blue.
"That wasn't funny," Gansey said, sitting up.
The sight of his hair standing up on one side in particular, stiff with Zeus-drool, had Blue collapsing into fits of mirth again.
"It was," she gasped, holding up two fingers, "a little bit."
His lips started to twitch, eyes lighting up. "You work with these brutes a lot?" he asked when her laughter had calmed some.
Blue nodded. "All the time." She scratched the dogs and assured them she was alright until Zeus grabbed the rope, enticing Tak to play tug. "Has Adam said anything…about making that cave safe?"
Gansey shook his head. "He's seemed…distracted, so I hope that means he's figuring something out. I wish he'd keep me in the loop…" his eyes went far away for a moment, as if thinking about Adam purposely keeping things from him, especially things pertaining to Glendower, was hard to bear. "But I'm sure if he figures it out, he'll tell us, and we'll find them both."
Blue knew he was talking about her mother, but she wasn't quite ready to talk about Maura again. She hadn't sounded very calm when she'd spoken about her before, so she didn't want to risk sounding hysterical. "You think that's where…Glendower is?"
Wisely, Gansey nodded. "Yes, I do. It seems almost…logical, doesn't it?"
"In a horror movie way, I suppose." Blue wondered what it meant that the cave had shown up where the stream that Gansey noticed and played with had been. She wondered if her mother was really underground, and she wondered mostly if Gansey and the boys would help her find Maura even if they found Glendower first.
"We aren't going to go down there if it's not safe, Blue," he said in a lower voice than he'd been using.
Blue stood up and took the ball from Cards, throwing it as far as she could again. "That's smart, I guess. But Maura didn't wait for it to be safe."
She could sense Gansey's discomfort at that, probably because he could find no way to reassure her and remain honest.
Augustus regaled Gansey with his presence, plopping his bottom next to Gansey and keeping his head high, though it was clear he wanted to be pet. Tentatively, Gansey stroked a hand down Augustus's back.
Blue watched in astonishment as Augustus, the mighty and pompous Augustus, completely lost his dignity and rolled onto his back, exposing his belly and wagging his tail in simpering pleasure.
"Blue…?"
She cleared her throat. "He wants you to rub his belly," she said slowly. "It's a good thing. A really good thing," she stressed, getting down on her knees next to the dog.
"Then why do you look so stunned?" Gansey demanded, carefully extending his hand to stroke Augustus's ribs; he writhed with delight, tongue flopping out. Gansey seemed to get in the spirit of things and began scratching vigorously.
"Because Augustus usually thinks himself too, uh, refined to disgrace himself and act like an actual dog. Mostly I thought he thought he was a cat." She eyed the chocolate Lab, who was gazing, upside down, at Gansey with adoration.
Gansey, grinning down at the dog, said, "I guess it just depends on who he's disgracing himself with." He blinked and flicked his eyes up to hers, chin still tipped down a little. He hastily looked back at the dog.
Blue looked at Augustus too, and watched Gansey scratch and rub. He had big hands, she noticed, and not unmarked. The hands of a rich boy who had explored and climbed things and dug through rough earth to reach his prize, the hands of someone who always held out a helping hand to his friends, even if they didn't want it.
She blinked and looked away, annoyed with herself. It's the heat, it's cooking my brain, she decided. "Maura told me something about my father right before everything happened on that night with…Whelk," she said cautiously. She had blurted it out before thinking, trying to distract herself from stupid thoughts.
Gansey had stiffened, but he continued to pet Augustus. "Oh?"
"His name was Artemus. And he…she told me he appeared right after she and Persephone and Calla did some sort of ritual. They think he was trapped in Cabeswater, and they let him out."
Gansey looked up at her, his eyes narrowing slightly, brows pulled down. Interest made his eyes brighten. His head tipped slightly to the left, an indication that she should finish.
"He disappeared when I was born." She picked at the grass. "I don't mean that he abandoned us," she added fiercely when she saw sympathy rise in his eyes. "He literally disappeared."
"Oh." Gansey took a moment, rubbing his bottom lip as he was prone to do.
"I'm not sure what it means for me, except that makes all of us connected to Cabeswater." She straightened a little. "The trees knew me as the psychic's daughter," she breathed, her gaze lifting to the young cottonwood next to them. "Do you think he's in Cabeswater, still? Or again, I should say." She glared at her sneakers. She adored Cabeswater, and the idea that trees could know a person, could recognize her and talk to her. But so far, it seemed to have taken both of her parents from her.
Carefully, Gansey said, "It sounds like a possibility." He seemed to rally himself, something she'd seen him do only when any of the other guys were upset. "But that doesn't mean he's lost forever. I think it has something to do with the ritual they did, and your…ability. And I think all of this can be reversed if we go about finding Maura and Glendower."
Blue took a moment to examine the conversation, and her feelings. Glendower. That was why Gansey was looking still. Glendower. Don't forget it. The moment they'd had under the stars felt far away and too close and she was starting to regret agreeing to let him tag along.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "For inviting me along. I might've gone crazy if I'd had to stay there alone for another minute."
Blue sighed. "You invited me," she mumbled.
He lifted an eyebrow. "What?"
"The helicopter. You invited me that first day." She shrugged.
"Yes, I see how that's made your life better." He sucked in a breath and let it out sharply. "I apologize for that." He cast around for another topic. "How is it with Mr. Gray living in your house?"
"You mean with him on our couch? It's…fine. Mostly everyone is focused on finding Maura or cooking. Calla has been doing some readings, as has Persephone, but not as many as they used to do before in the summer." She sat up a little straighter. "I think they want to have a meeting with you guys soon, to discuss strategy or something. At least, strategy is the word Calla used yesterday."
"How many different recipes can she have with bacon?" he asked with a small smile.
"You don't want to know." Blue grimaced. She feared she wouldn't ever get the scent of bacon out of her clothes. "I—how's Ronan's little brother?" she asked awkwardly. "And, um, Ronan?" she didn't know how to ask after Ronan's welfare, since he made it very clear that he wasn't interested in hers. But his younger brother, Matthew, had made it clear to her that he didn't mind her company.
"Fine. They're thrilled that Mrs. Lynch is well again. Living at home for the most part." He looked troubled. "Ronan comes back some days. I think he's trying to make a decision."
"Have you told him you want him at Monmouth?"
Gansey looked horrified. "I don't want to guilt him into staying there with me. If he wants to stay with his mother, staying with me would be miserable. He's only just gotten one of his parents back, there's no reason for me to interfere with that."
"You are a sickeningly morale person," Blue observed.
He whipped his head up to stare at her in shock.
"I mean that in a different way than when I say you spend money stupidly," she added. "I don't think you know that someone can how often you put them first, but I do. And sometimes I really don't think they deserve it."
Gansey pulled his hands away from Augustus's stomach, giving the dog a light nudge. "Right. Do these dogs have to be fed or watered soon, Jane?"
And that ended that conversation. Blue was glad for it. She felt her strengths lay in other places besides emotional conversations.
"Yeah," she sighed, standing up and brushing off the backs of her legs. "There's a water dish over there, but they're fine on food until they go home."
She taught Gansey how to use the water fountain for dogs in the park, then called the dogs over. The bigger dogs waited politely for Cards to finish drinking. Augustus leaned adoringly against Gansey's leg, while Tak and Zeus nudged Blue and wagged their tails, playful and waiting.
When she shook her head, Tak stood on his hind legs and placed his forepaws on her shoulders, nearly knocking her over. Laughing, she stroked his back.
Gansey made some sort of noise before saying, "He looks like he's trying to take down his kill."
Blue rolled her eyes. "Tak is the nicest one. Cards you have to look out for."
At that moment, the Pomeranian finished drinking, so the other dogs swarmed over to the one bowl and began lapping at it like, well, animals. Gansey watched with a look of mild distaste on his face.
"What do you do after this?" he asked, deliberately turning away from the slobbering dogs.
"Well, I take them home, then I go home and try to salvage some sort of dinner for myself that doesn't involve bacon or pie. Of any kind."
Gansey nodded, skimming a hand over his hair. He looked jittery, like someone who had had too much coffee and not enough things to do; he tapped his thigh, bounced on his toes.
He looked like he needed a walk.
"Gansey," Blue said boldly, "maybe we can go to the corpse road and see if Noah is there. I bet he hangs out there sometimes. And then we can go do something, the three of us."
Gansey let out a breath, his hand relaxing at his side. "Okay. Jane, I should apologize—or thank you—damn it, I'm not entirely sure which."
With no little amount of trepidation, Blue asked, "For what? To both of those statements."
"I should be doing more research," he said with great dignity, "so that we can find your mother—and Glendower," he added rather quickly. "And I wanted to apologize for not paying adequate attention to my part of the search, I suppose. And I wanted to thank you for keeping me occupied."
Gansey didn't seem to be acting like Gansey, and it disconcerted Blue. She finally answered with, "It's not your job to find Maura. If I have to, I'll find her myself. I'm glad to have you on my side, though, looking for her. That doesn't mean you can't take a break every now and then." She took a breath to prepare herself to go on. "I mean, how long can you look at the same stuff and see the same thing over and over again before you completely stop seeing anything and you just see what you've come to expect to see? I think if you want to get anything done, you should take a break now and then so that your brain doesn't train itself to see the…same thing. You know what I mean." She fumbled the last bit because Gansey was smiling at her, a slight, barely-there curve of his lips, his eyes soft and half-lidded.
"Ah, Jane, how wise." He seemed to shake himself out of his trance. "So, let's deliver the dogs back to their homes and go see if Noah is available." He let out a chuckle that sounded more strained than his voice. "How can a dead boy be unavailable?"
Blue pressed her lips together to keep the tiny gasp inside. She didn't really like thinking about Noah as being dead, because dead usually meant gone, and she couldn't understand a world that would snuff out such a sweet person.
"That was quite cold sounding, wasn't it?" Gansey asked quietly. He sighed. "I seem completely incapable of holding a conversation with people my own age without entirely sounding like an asshole. And Helen wonders why I sound like an old man most of the time." He put his hands in his pockets.
Blue decided to forgive him, because he sounded so miserable. "Let's go, boys!" She snapped her fingers for the dogs, handing Gansey Augustus and Cards' leashes. "Gansey?"
He looked up from petting Augustus inquiringly. "Yes?"
"Thanks for thinking of my mom, too." She shrugged when he blinked at her. She knew it hadn't occurred to him to do otherwise. That was just who he was. She was starting to see that.