Chapter 2

Daisy gave them a surprise when they all moved toward the dining room for dinner. She followed along with Nick – until he went through the door to the hallway, whereupon Daisy sat down at the doorway and just stayed there. No one even noticed until they were entering the dining room. Then they all stopped and looked, and there was Daisy, sitting and waiting at the entrance to the hall, watching them.

"Huh," Nick said. "She's not gonna move from room to room until we tell her to, is she?"

"Apparently not," Victoria said, "and frankly, I'd rather not have her in the dining room or the kitchen."

Jarrod said, "Daisy – stay."

Daisy pricked up her ears, and then turned around and went back into the foyer. She circled around in place and lay down near the small table there, where she could watch the family in one direction and the front door in another.

At bedtime it was the same. One by one the family climbed the stairs, until only Nick and Jarrod were left sharing brandy in the living room. Daisy stayed as Nick's footstool, until Nick finally said, "Well, I'm going to bed."

"Good night, Nick," Jarrod said and stayed in his thinking chair as Nick got up and headed for the stairs. He started up. Jarrod's "Hey, Nick," made him stop on the fourth step up.

Nick turned and looked at Jarrod. Jarrod pointed at Daisy, waiting dutifully at the foot of the steps, looking up at Nick. Nick chuckled. "It looks like she really has adopted me."

"If you don't want her to go with you, tell her to stay down here," Jarrod said. "She'll stay where you put her."

Nick actually had to give it some thought. When he was a kid, he remembered having a dog who slept at the foot of his bed. It was comforting in its way. But Daisy was a guard dog. She had her duty to do. She was just waiting to be told what it was.

"Daisy, stay," Nick said.

Daisy turned and lay down beside the small table in the foyer. She gave a big sigh and closed her eyes.

Nick and Jarrod smiled at one another. "You brought home a good fee, Pappy," Nick said.

Jarrod smiled and continued sipping on his brandy, while Nick climbed the stairs. Once on the second floor landing, he looked down and saw Daisy resting beside the table. With a smile, he went on to bed.

XXXXX

Daisy stayed right where she was until Silas got up in the morning. She had met Silas the night before and was ready to do his bidding, but she had business of her own to attend to. As Silas came in to light the lamps in the morning, just as the sun was coming up, Daisy got up, approached him, and scratched his leg.

Silas laughed. "Outside, is it, Miss Daisy?" He couldn't help calling her "Miss Daisy." She just seemed to command the respect. Silas let her outside and went about lighting the lamps, then he went back to the kitchen to get breakfast ready.

Nick was the first one down – and he stopped when he saw Daisy wasn't where he had left her the night before. He looked around, surprised to find he was worried, until he heard a single "Woof!" outside the front door. With a smile, he remembered and he opened the door.

Daisy trotted in, turned around and sat down to face him, waiting for whatever his orders would be now. Nick gave her a scratch behind the ear. She wagged her tail. "Daisy, stay," he said.

Daisy took her place by the table in the foyer – it appeared it was going to be her "on duty" spot. As each person came down to breakfast, they petted her and wished her good morning before telling her to stay. Daisy did as she was told.

"That dog is amazing," Victoria said as the family ate together.

Audra gave a glance into the foyer where Daisy was lying and smiled. "I'll bet the orphans would love to meet her."

"Not just yet, I don't think," Jarrod said. "We need her to get accustomed to being here, so she knows this is the house she's supposed to guard. Give it a week or two, and then Nick will take her to town with you."

"Me?" Nick asked.

"You're the one she's adopted," Jarrod said. "She'd be most comfortable leaving the property with you."

"I don't know. She looked pretty comfortable when you rode up with her."

Jarrod smiled a little. "Nick, turn around and just have a look at her. See what happens."

Nick did that. The minute his eyes were on Daisy, her ears pricked up and she lifted her head, ready to do whatever Nick wanted. Nick smiled and said, "Daisy, stay," and she lay back down again.

Audra laughed. "She's yours, Nick."

"I wonder why," Heath mused. "I mean, what is it about Nick that made her adopt him?"

"He's most likely to get into trouble without her," Jarrod said.

"Funny," Nick said.

"I think she knows a softee when she sees one," Audra said.

"I just hope she knows trouble when she sees it," Nick said. "It would be good to have an early warning system around here."

"She's it," Jarrod said. "Just pay attention to how she reacts to different people, see if it pans out. I'm not saying throw somebody out if she doesn't like him, but see if her instincts are that good. Keep an eye on somebody she doesn't like."

"What does she do when she doesn't like someone?" Heath asked.

"A low growl," Jarrod said. "A very alert look in the eye without a tail wag to go with it. She'll let us know."

XXXXXXX

Over the next week, Daisy settled in as if she had been there all along. She was always at her "on duty" spot, unless someone ordered her somewhere else or she had to go outside. She had tail wags and attentiveness for everyone in the household, but still saved her special attentions for Nick. And Nick was falling in love, too.

Daisy was on duty when Jarrod was about to leave for the day. He gave her a scratch on the head, and she gave him a tail wag. "See you later, Daisy, stay," he said.

The knock at the door came just as Jarrod was reaching for the knob to go out. He opened the door, and there stood Phil Archer. Startled, Jarrod said, ""Phil! I'm surprised to see you out our way. Come in."

Archer removed his hat and entered, saying, "Thank you, Jarrod. We need to talk."

"Oh?" Jarrod said, leading Archer to the living room. "Has something happened?"

"Yes, and I thought I'd better talk to you personally."

Suddenly, Daisy raised her head and gave a low growl. Archer froze, looking toward her lying next to the table. "What's that?"

Daisy's growl grew prolonged. Her eyes were set on Archer.

Jarrod was not surprised. Nobody liked Archer much. "It's all right, Daisy," he said to the dog. "Stay."

Daisy stopped growling. She laid her head back down but did not take her eyes off Archer.

"New guard dog," Jarrod said. "I got her as a fee in one of my cases."

"Can she stop staring at me?" Archer asked.

Jarrod thought the man was beginning to sweat. He smiled but stifled a laugh. "Probably not. You're someone new and she's figuring you out."

Jarrod knew that was a lie. Daisy had already figured Archer out and come to the same conclusion as everyone else who ever met him did. Jarrod led Archer a little further away from her.

"What can I do for you, Phil?" Jarrod asked.

Archer kept an eye on Daisy for a moment but then looked back at Jarrod. "We have a problem I thought I'd better talk to you myself about. Nat Springer came into town yesterday."

"Nat?" Jarrod said, surprised. "I wonder why he's around. There's no big case to attract his attention here."

"There wasn't yesterday," Archer said. "He said he was going to rent a horse and head up to the mountains to go fishing for a few days. But now he's in jail instead."