"Pops, why is Mama crying?"
"You don't worry about that sweetheart, now why don't you run along and find that rascal Randall huh? The two of you do some playing together."
"Okay."
The young puppy left without any complaint, stopping only briefly to cast one more glance at her mother, who was choking back sobs in an unsuccessful manner. She shook the image from her head and did her best to ignore the increasingly softer cries, even as they were easily carried through the air. Ultimately though, her attempts were successful. Her feet always moved faster than her mind could.
Before she knew it, she was tramping across the dusty ground of the rural area that she called home. No one could say it wasn't where she had grown up. Her mere presence there was a declaration unto itself. It was all that she had ever known. The large church tent on it's outskirts, the bulky brick building which was something called a bank, the occasional sight of horses prancing down the road, it was all home to her. Some of those horses, she had occasionally worked to befriend, although none of them ever stayed long enough for them to get to know each other well. Still, horses were friendly, she liked them.
It made some of the more boring days holed up with her parents more bearable when she could at least watch a horse stomping across the dust, cowboy in the same stride taking the lead. There had been a time where she thought it might be easy to mount and ride a horse, even for someone with as short a stature as her, but after witnessing a man fall off and hit the ground with a hard thud, she decided that the ground resting calmly beneath her feet was better than seeing the world from the sky.
She crossed over a small wooden bridge, situated above a river long ago affected by a drought. Some of the more unhinged animals she had met insisted that there was water if one knew where to look, but she'd only ever seen them licking up sand. Dry, coarse sand. She hated the stuff. It was irritating and got everywhere, no matter the care she took. And on occasion, if she observed the dry riverbed for long enough, she could swear that she saw snakes slithering around.
In the stuber of her own thoughts, she failed to notice the legs of the man she was about to crash into. And so when she did, they both released a cry of surprise, but quickly relaxed when they met each other's gaze.
Sebastian Bach.
The town's local ranch owner and a favorite on karaoke nights.
To most strays, every human was a thing to avoid. It was never pleasant to spend the day walking around with sore ribs or a trampled tail. And while that did hold true for most humans, Sebastian was a completely different breed of the strange monkeys. Where most chased a stray away from their bins, Sebastian openly fed any dog brave enough to approach him. Some had even built up the courage to seek a pat or two from the man.
He was kindest to Peg most of all, who'd come across him once in the middle of a rare storm.
She could still recall the night he had brought her to his home, let her stay there for the night and even sang to her in that sweet, soft gentle voice of his when she was too scared of every single clap of thunder to fall asleep.
"Well now girl, where are you off to in such a hurry?"
She didn't answer, too excited by his presence to even bark.
"You thirsty?"
That time she did bark. Her throat was parched.
"Well that's too bad. There ain't never water in this town. Are you hungry though?"
She barked again, feeling the dry thirst scratching against her throat in tandem with the tightening of her stomach's many pipes.
"That's really bad cause you know like the rest of us that there's barely ever enough food to go around. Horses eat better 'an any of us out here."
She whimpered in defeat.
"But I do got something for those ears of yours! C'mon it's this way."
With little else to do with her day, she eagerly followed after him, jogging lightly to keep up with the quick pace of his dirty boots.
A horse from out of town trotted past her and she had to resist the urge to say hello when it was clearly in a rush to be somewhere. She wondered where. There was never any reason to rush anywhere in the place where they lived.
She sneezed and wrinkled her nose when a small gust of wind blew a bit of sand into her face. Almost falling behind, she quickly made sure to catch up when it became apparent that they were headed in the direction of the ranch. Already, off in the distance, she could make out the town's most regular drinker, who broke from his self-imposed trance when they both came within sight.
"Hey Sebastian wha'd'ya think you're doing leading the strays everywhere! I don't need anymore fleas on my pants."
"Oh get off your high horse John," Sebastian shot back playfully. "Now wake up and tell me where in the seven deserts is my guitar?"
"How would I know?" he drawled lazily before pulling a small bottle from his jacket.
"You had it last night at the town's karaoke you drunk fu-"
She lamented the fact that she hadn't been allowed to go to the town's karaoke. Randall had been the first to inform her of the event, which hadn't been all that surprising to her, considering that he always had his ear to the ground. In any case, she had been in a terrible mood the evening prior and almost hadn't slept in her silent rage. The only solace she took was the way in which a select few sounds were carried to her ears by the breezy night.
"There she is!"
He had a guitar held up to the side of his face. It was pitch black, but had a heavenly white outline, it seemed to mold perfectly into his hands where the strings touched his fingers before running off past the obtusely wide sound hole. Given the way he rocked it back and forth, she could only assume that it was as precious to him as she was to her mother.
"You come here just to make out with your guitar in the middle of town?" John commented snidely. "By all means, don't stop. Maybe some real woman will come by and feel sorry for you."
"Women are overrated anyways," Sebastian replied before slowly strumming a pattern across the guitar. His fingers glided between a C major, A major, G major, E major, and D major. To her it was all magically memorizing and so she watched and listened, pondering in the back of her mind if he would begin to sing or not. "How's that for making out John?"
"Sounds pretty bad. As usual."
Sebastian laughed before strumming another note, "Don't listen to him girl," he said to his guitar and to Peg simultaneously, "he wouldn't know the difference between good and bad. Let alone good and bad music. Not when he spends all day, every day in the saloon and with his eyes on every last women who crosses his sight. He's a bit of a...tramp. No?"
"Hey who you calling a tramp?"
"He's a tramp," his fingers ran up and down the strings. "And I love him. Don't I love you pal?"
She tilted her head at the way John sharply held up one of his fingers.
Sebastian strummed another few chords, "He breaks a new heart everyday. He's a tramp and also a scoundrel and a rounder and a cad."
"Guilty as charged," John professed, raising his bottle before taking another swig.
"You can never tell when he'll show up he gives you plenty of trouble," his fingers moved faster now, alongside his words. "He's a tramp he's a rover and there's nothing more to say. If he's a tramp he's a good one and I wish that he would pull up his damn pants! Jesus John, how drunk are you?"
"Drunk enough to call you a hypocrite," John half-slurred from the barrel he now occupied, belt doing nothing to keep his dignity.
With a sigh and the shake of his head, Sebastian continued:
He's a tramp
But they love him
Breaks a new heart
Ev'ry day
He's a tramp
They adore him
And I only hope
He'll stay that way
She couldn't help herself and let out a loud howl once he came to an end, trying to keep in tune as much as possible.
"Great, you're teaching 'em to sing now too. Never gonna get any sleep around here ever again."
Sebastian ignored him and instead looked down at the small Tibetan spaniel with a hand on his hip and a crooked smile across his lips.
"Well ain't that something. Glad that someone around here appreciates the value of good music...here's a little piece I been working on. Just for you."
And then he was at it again, hands in sync, fingers in sync. She could have even sworn that she saw his feet sway this way and that a few times. It was a sight to behold and surely better than anything that the town's karaoke could have possibly produced.
"Hey Peg."
"Shush."
She silenced the dog that had come to sit next to her.
"Right foot, left foot, tap back."
"Peg?"
"Shush."
"Turn around, stamp, swing."
"Peg it's just that uh-"
"Shush!" she turned to glare at him. "What part of shush don't you understand Randall?"
He glanced away sheepishly, "Gee sorry, it's just that the church is starting up soon and I-"
"The church," Peg suddenly perked up eagerly. "Why didn't you say so sooner?" she turned to Sebastian and barked in excitement.
"Headed out already? I was just getting started, welp, I'm sure you've got important...business to get up to. See ya' later girl."
She accepted the way that he pet her head and then turned back to Randall, "Let's go."
"Yeah," he trotted in place for a moment and then spun around, "race you there!"
He then bolted off without warning.
"Hey no fair!"
"You're late."
"Aren't I always?"
"Later than usual."
Maribel took her seat. It was the same place that she always sat, just out of reach of the shade under the only tree that could be found for miles. It wasn't far off from the town. Never needed to be. Under the hot sun and unrelenting droughts, it fought and fought. Refusing to wither and die away. The same could be said for it's owner, although she sometimes had a difficult time believing that DeWitt was as old as he claimed he was. Wasn't it easier to trust someone with the age of experience?
"Would I be correct in assuming that today's little meeting is broaching the subject of my outstanding debts to you?"
"Yes...you would be correct."
This was a tender, but easy game that she usually played. Sending the ball back and forth in their initial conversations had at first been tedious, but eventually she had learnt to grow fond of them. As long as she could keep him sniffing the bait and staring at it as opposed to biting at it, she knew that she would win each and every time. No matter the risk, no matter the potential losses.
"Well then let's get down to business, it would be a shame after all if I came all the way out here for a little heat rash and nothing more wouldn't it. Please tell me DeWitt, what's on your mind?"
His next words most definitely surprised her, "Charlie...you love him, no?"
"Not quite seeing where you're going with this, but yes, of course I love him. Never loved anyone anymore than I love Charlie."
"Yes I thought so. You and him always seemed so lonely before meeting. Before I introduced the two of you."
"Uh huh, you can say that again."
"Mhm, the way you two look at each other. Is that what real love is all about?"
"Maybe, but I don't quite s-"
"Or maybe it's little Peg who has most of your adoration."
"Well," she chose to humor him, supposing that this was his best attempt at making small talk. "As troublesome as the little tyke can be, I do definitely love her too."
"And have you ever thought of what she might want to be one day?"
Maribel faltered for the first time that day. The first time in a long time.
"DeWitt are you trying to make a point here?"
"Debt is a strange thing Maribel. It effectively means that you are an asset to the one you owe, a piece of property to be used when the time calls. Living things hate being owned, that I can attest to. Some would rather run away then live their days out as an asset. But then the question remains: what shall become of their debt?"
"I have a hope in my heart that a kind soul would forgive debt in that sort of funny situation."
He shook his head lazily, "No, no my dear. It is inherited. Just as the sins of the father is passed to his son, so too is the way that debt operates."
"You're never this cryptic DeWitt," she laughed, attempting to fester off some of the tension in the atmosphere. "What's going on?"
"Maribel," his voice finally took on a classic bluntness, "you've garnered a large debt to me and I don't believe that you have any intention of paying it off."
"Okay now I know you're joking," Maribel gave him a pointed stare. "I'm in here most everyday of the week entertaining you and your little friends. And if it's not that I'm running all over town, sometimes out of town to do all those favors you ask of me. It's not easy work you know, did I tell you about the incident with the train? What about the one with the pit bull? Dangerous job I tell ya."
"You owe me."
"Yes and I'm working on not owing you anymore, can't you see that?"
"You owe me and yet you found the time to start a family-"
"Since when has my personal life mattered to you!"
"-found the time to fall in love-"
"You introduced us! How much more can I do when I put my neck on the line constantly!"
"-and even had a child-"
"I don't have to listen to all of this!"
She stormed in the opposite direction, intending on leaving the same way which she had come. Then his next words chilled her:
"-a child which will have to assume the debt you so carelessly left behind."
"You leave her out of this," Maribel snarled.
"I'm not an uncaring dog Maribel, but I do care for what is owed to me and I don't care for what must be hurt along the way to sufficiently collect that debt. You've done plenty of talking, now, allow me to do the talking. Allow me to tell you where you will go and what will become of them..."
And as she sat down, scared of the ramifications of running, she listened. And as his words dragged on, so too did her heart to the bottom of her stomach.
"C'mon!" Randall yelled back at her. "There's the tent right over there! Run along this here wooden plank, should keep your paws from getting all burnt on the sand."
Despite her tired panting and the way that her tongue had automatically lolled out, Peg kept on running. Already, she could hear the organ, one of her favorite instruments. And if she listened closely enough, she could swear that a guitar was being played in the same manner that she had just seen Sebastian playing.
"Randall! Wait up!"
"Don't you know it's rude to be late for a service," he looked back to her over his shoulder with a cheeky expression. "No need to be even later."
His words frustrated her, but she followed nonetheless and was soon greeted by the shadow of the tent, a blessed relief from the hot sun.
"Here we are," Randall announced once he deemed that they were close enough. "We'll have to go watch from round back, don't wanna risk getting kicked or trampled on and all that." He led the way as she trailed behind him and it struck them both then how close they really were as the music resonated in their ears and sent vibrations throughout their body.
"I am loved by the king and it makes me want to sing."
"I am loved by the king and it makes me want to sing!"
"I am loved by the king and it makes me want to sing."
"I am loved by the king and it makes me want to sing!"
"I am loved by the king and it makes me want to sing. When my arms and hands have given up on fighting, I will sing. When my legs have given up on walking, I will sing. When the plague shuts down my body, I'll look to the sky with my brightest smile and sing to the king."
They sat down and peered through an opening where Peg watched as a man walked across the stage shouting. She couldn't tell whether he angry or excited or both, but it put her suddenly on edge. Once he had backed down, the choir and their band began anew.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
She unknowingly began to stretch further off of her paws, trying to get a better look despite the limited circumstances. Soon enough, her paw began to softly tap against the ground.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
She began to nod her head to the song and sway in the rhythm, Randall was no longer next to her and the tent had been plucked from the ground.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come
This grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright, shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
Peg threw up her head for the second time that day, relishing in the joy of the organ as the choir's voices died down and began to clap in time with their band. She howled until her throat was dry and sore, until Randall had joined her and until they were chased away by a very angry preacher and a group of church-goers.
"Pops, why is Mama crying?"
"You don't worry about that sweetheart, now why don't you run along and find Randall huh? The two of you do some playing together."
"Okay."
He watched as she trotted off. Keeping as close an eye as he could on her until she scampered through enough of the dust and past most of her favorite horses. Sometimes he lamented the fact that she would inevitably lose her innocence, other times he simply accepted it. In that moment he felt a strange mixture of the two, not helped by the sobbing of his significant other.
"Charlie I-I-'
She tried once some of her composure had returned, but almost immediately broke back into another fit of tears. On any other day and under any other circumstance, he might have had a lot more sympathy. He wasn't an uncaring dog afterall. But after every warning he had ever given her, everything she had ever asked of him, his patience had finally worn thin.
But. He did still love her.
"Maribel, come here," he pushed against her gently, urging her to cry into his shoulder. An invitation she gladly took up. "Everything's gonna be," a sigh escaped his lips quicker than he could help it, "everything's gonna be okay alright?"
For a long time that was how they stood and he thought through all the possibilities, all the ways that he could face her again, all the things that he could say to her. All that needed to be confronted.
He remembered his vows to her. His promise to stay by her side through thick and thin, no matter the challenges they might face. He had taken the oath with an unheard of sense of eagerness, it seemed so obvious at the time. He loved her so dearly and there was never a dull moment in their budding relationship. Surely this woman that he had grown to love would be perfectly suited to weather the challenges that awaited them.
And then he had caught her indulging where she shouldn't.
She had cried and begged. Promised that the mutt she had brought home was just that: a mutt to be enjoyed and then forgotten the very next day. Despite his hurt, one which had very quickly turned to anger, he had still found it in his heart to forgive her.
Then she brought home another mutt.
And another.
And another.
Eventually she had either gotten too good at hiding it, or he had gotten to accustomed to it to find the effort to care much longer. In any case, it had drove a larger wedge in their relationship than he cared to admit. He loathed her adultery and swore that he would never love her as he once did. Never love her in the way that he desired.
Yet here she was, crying on his shoulder and begging for a way out.
So the cycle went on.
"Maribel, listen," Charlie reasoned and gently stepped back, allowing her the room to steady herself. "Just tell me, okay? Tell me what he said to you."
She lifted her head from where it had been suspended and took in a shaky breath of air, "H-he's gonna hurt us Charlie, he's gonna hurt you and Peg and it's all because of me."
"Okay well, this ain't our first time dealing with him. I'm sure that if you just head back and talk to him we'll-"
"No! No I can't go see him and neither can you."
"Why not?"
"He wants what he's owed and he won't take no for an answer."
"I'm sure that there's something we can say and something we can do about it."
"You and Peg need to leave."
He was taken aback by her words and instead of immediately replying, he found himself studying her face, noting that she still looked beautiful in spite of her tears. Wet and flattened fur and she still looked beautiful. Heavy bags under her eyes, decorated by creases from too many moments of stress and she still looked beautiful. Her once shiny coat turned dull and gray from sleeping in too many wrong spots at the wrong time and she still looked beautiful.
"Curses, I'll never be able to not love her."
"If that's what you want, but where'll the three of us go?"
"Just you two, he'll follow my trail 'till the ends of the Earth if he has to, but he'll lose track of you two quickly."
"Maribel I-"
"I'm sorry Charlie, this is just how it has to be."
His composure broke somewhat, "How did we get here?"
"Charlie, I-"
"How come this is the way things have to be huh? Don't you remember what we promised each other? The way we'd always be together through it all. Why do you get to break that promise," his voice began to crack as tears welled to the brim of his eyes. "Why do you get to leave me and our girl behind when-"
"Shhh."
Sensing that it was her turn to comfort him, she leaned forward and caught his head in her shoulder, "I never forgot what we promised each other and I'm sorry that I have to be the one to break it, but this is it. This is the only way that you and Peg don't get hurt by my mistakes."
"I'm gonna miss you."
"I know. Hey Charlie?"
"Mhm?"
"You won't ever let her forget me will you?"
"Never in a million, billion light years."
He only wished that he was enough of a dog to actually keep that promise.
"Ma, what does it mean when one dog calls another dog a toad?"
Peg shrunk back slightly when her mother released a scandalous gasp.
"Now where in tarnation have you been going around hearing words like that?"
When she didn't answer Maribel gave her a stern glare, "Peg..."
"It wasn't me Ma! It was Randall who said it! One of the other strays stepped on his paw and he called 'em a toad under his breath."
"That boy can count his lucky stars that he don't have a ma to bite his tail off for using such unruly language," she shook her head disapprovingly. "One of these days that mouth of his will run him straight into trouble."
She stayed silent for several moments and then convinced that she herself was in no trouble: "So what does it mean?"
"Don't you go worrying yourself about all of that now sweetie. It's bedtime now."
Peg frowned, "Usually I go to sleep way later than this."
"And who prey tell taught you how to tell the time?"
"Myself."
"Yourself?"
"Yup. If you look closely," and she raised her head and squinted her eyes at the dark sky, "when that big, shiny star up there is right under those stars that look like half a cowboy's hat, that's usually when I go to sleep. Right now they're still too close together, so it's way too early."
Maribel tilted her head at the sky, "Huh. You're real smart you know that? Got your grandma's brains, too bad you got stuck with my mouth."
"Grandma?" Peg perked up.
Immediately sensing the incoming request, Maribel quickly said, "No."
"Not even one?"
"No."
"Not even a little t-"
"What's there to tell? Your grandma was a smart dog who thought she was too good to waste her time taking care of me so she...hardly ever did. There's everything you need to know about her."
"Oh."
She felt slightly guilty, seeing the way that her daughter deflated, but before she could say anything to make it up, Peg was already back to her usual cheery self.
"Well if I gotta go to bed early can I at least hear a song?"
Seeing no harm in it, Maribel quickly agreed, "Sure. Which one?"
Peg stood for a moment, humming in thought, "How about my favorite? The one Sebastian likes to sing?"
"You still hanging around that human?" she gave her a skeptical look.
"He's not just any human. He's my friend."
"Randall is your friend sweetie."
"Randall's boring."
"He's also a dog."
"He also says a lot of bad words, which you don't like. Also, Sebastian's the one that gave me my name."
"Alright you win," she sighed. "Now settle down already."
Peg obediently did as she was told, spinning in a single circle before curling into her mother's side.
Hush-a-bye you sweet little baby and don't you cry any more.
Daddy has gone to his stockbroker's office a keepin' the wolf from the door.
Nursie will raise the window shade high,
So you can see the cars whizzing by.
Home in a hurry each daddy must fly
To a baby like you.
Hush-a-bye you sweet little baby and close those pretty blue eyes.
Mother has gone to her weekly bridge party to get her wee baby the prize.
Nursie will turn the radio on
So you can hear a sleepy-time song,
Sung by a lady whose poor heart must long
For a baby like you.
"Don't ever let 'em tell you who to be."