Mort was lost in the contemplation of his cup of tea.
Sitting across him, Maynard raised an ear lightly, tilting his head.
"How much time has passed till now?...", he asked.
"Four months, one week and three days..."
The wolfhound sighed.
"...She was good to me ya know? She was a dear friend... I...I don't wanna lose another one, mate..."
Mort chuckled ruefully. "You won't Maynard".
"But you need help, seriously...you are getting ...more haggard and sadder by the day...That's not what the kiddos need, nor what Saffron would have wanted to..."
The red dog frowned.
"Tell me something I don't know...it's not easy ya know?", he replied, repressing a growl.
"I... sorry, mate, I..."
The red heeler's phone rang, and his heart jumped frantically in his chest at the same time he sprang up anxiously.
It was the school principal. Dread assaulted his senses when he recognized his voice.
"First thing First, Mr Cattle. Your daughters are fine", assured the educator, sensing distress in the other dog's voice. "But it would be good if you came to our school. They are on detention...actually, only Brandy is, Chilli refused to leave her".
He sighed.
He could only hope they had not harmed themselves or other kids.
--
"¡¡¡Fwisky!!!" Bluey exclaimed with enthusiasm once Chilli opened the door.
"Hey Bluey!! How is doing the most beautiful big sister ever?!", Frisky greeted while scooping the toddler into her arms.
"Good! I changed Bingo's nappy!"
Chilli smirked. "Hey Frisky! Please come in..."
Soon the two friends were crouched over the rug at the playroom, while Bluey helped Bingo with some tummy-time.
"Easy Bluey... remember she still is very little...", advised Chilli.
"How's your dad doing, Chilli?"
Chilli sighed.
"Hes … upset for the moment..."
"Mort, upset?! But your dad is such a chill dog! I have never seen him upset...well, save for the day I met him. What have you and Brandy done this time?"
--
"HEY YOU!! MUTE!!"
"That's what the girl had call her, mute". explained the little cream coloured spaniel to Mort at the behest of the principal.
Morts heart ached and clenched like a fist. Oh, my little one...
"HEY YOU!! MUTE!!"
Chilli just raised an eyebrow at that, even if she recoiled in fear inside herself.
"Let's see if you can yelp!", yelled a girl at the same time she threw an orange to her.
Despite she had tried to cover herself, the fruit hit her hard on the face.
She was frightened, and trembling yet she didn't yelp, only tears of hurt and indignation came to her eyes.
I won't yelp for you, I won't!!, she thought.
The little pup at her side took her hand.
"Chilli, shes coming to us!"
"...I won't run", she said only for her new friend to hear.
The bully was coming to them menacingly, followed by another kids.
Fear gripped to her, like a restraint shirt. Her heart beating as a terrified bird in her chest; her lungs ready for sprint, yet she was rooted to the spot, as a little wild animal surprised for a sudden predator.
Chilli braced herself for the worst, when suddenly the bully was pulled for the scruff of her neck and hit the ground. Behind the fallen girl, a red heeler frowned menacingly.
"Brandy!!", Chilli inwardly gasped.
"Other kids alerted me about what happened Mr. Cattle, I arrived just in time; Brandy was about to hit the other girl very badly", added Mr. Sheppard.
Mort sighed and got on one knee at the level of the Spaniel.
"I reckon you accompanied my daughter Chilli through all this ordeal... thank you, little mate... You are a very good friend... erh..?"
"Frisky", said the pup, wagging her tail at the sad looking adult.
"Frisky...Thank you..."
"You can go to your classroom Miss Spaniel, thank you", instructed the principal.
Mort sighed, while seating heavily on the chair the educator offered to him, he covered his face with his hands and breathed in deeply.
Then, he looked up to the principal.
There was rage behind his stare.
The older dog wasn't surprised by it.
"What about the other kid?", asked the father.
"We have already dealt about her, Mr. Cattle. She is suspended from classes... I think you'll understand that Brandy is also suspended..."
"She was defending her sister!"
"She was about to hurt another kid, Mr. Cattle, and you know clearly that this school doesn't condone any form of violence".
Mort sighed. "I guess you are right..."
Mr. Sheppard touched Morts shoulder affectionately.
"You and your daughters need help, Mr. Cattle... Their grades have descended, but Im not talking about it... it is them whom I worry about, they need to go through all the pain of their mother's loss in a healthier way... The school psychologist already knows of their situation and will be happy to help them".
"I... thank you..."
"You can take the girls home now; they have had a very upsetting morning".
--
I should call dad. Brandy though.
I should tell him what had happened... in the other hand, he probably already knows, surely Chilli already told him.
Awww boy, what a shame...giving our father this kind of headaches at our age...
--
Chilli had cried her heart out in his lap, at the very moment he was trying to address the morning events with her... so, they couldn't talk about it... at least not today.
Right now, the pup was asleep, too tired to keep up with the day.
Brandy was alone in her room, probably sulking, but they would talk about everything tomorrow, she was not in disposition to talk anyway.
So, he was taking a shower, hoping the water could do something to calm the ache in his heart...
Suddenly, he froze and started to breath desperately. His hand grasping the tap with in something akin as a death grip.
His daughters...
¡¡No, it's not truth!! His reason yelled at him.
They, his girls...
...dying!!
"NOT TRUTH!!", he yelped.
He sat on the shower floor breathing heavily.
He wept.
--
Those Two!!, he sighed.
"Can you believe it Saffy??!"
They are full grown women and now they come with a fight like this?! Im too old for this I swear...
Mort took a sip of his cup, frowned... darted thing... he'd forgotten to add sugar.
Did I do wrong by them when you left, love? ... I swear Saffy, I did everything I could to...
--
"Oh Saffy!!", he sighed.
Sleep eluded him... again...
He turned over in the bed... it felt so huge without her... yet he couldn't muster the bravery to change it for a single bed, this had been theirs, after all.
"Im afraid, love... Im losing them? Im failing to our girls?", he whispered into the night, as he closed his eyes, trying to relax.
She touched his hand lightly.
Hers felt warm but deprived of strength; it was frighteningly light... a shadow of a hand.
"I know I have no more time ahead, my love...", she said, smiling ruefully.
"Dont say that Saffy..."
"Oh, we both know it, you stubborn dog... my doctor offered to release me so I could be at home when all ends..."
Mort froze, his eyes brimmed with tears.
"Im sorry... I would like very much to be at our home, but I refused... It seems something of your stubbornness has rubbed into me, because I need to keep trying till the end, besides, I don't want THAT memory attached to our house, I want it to be clean of it for the girls...and for you".
"Saffron... Don't say that, you won't die, not yet..."
"Stop the denial, Mort... please, it doesn't do good to us... Come here, I want to rest my head in your chest..."
He obeyed and lay down at her side so she could do as she wanted to, not bothering a bit about the nurses outside the room.
"Im happy to be your wife, Mort, and Im happy to be the mother of our girls".
She always said that...every night before going to sleep, just to be sure that Mort knew how much she loved him.
She felt Morts agitated breath... he was trying to be brave; she knew it.
"... You'll be fine at the end, Mort, and you will do good for our girls... they would become great women someday".
"How do you know it?"
"Because I trust you".
He opened his eyes and let out a ragged breath, while wiping away some tears with the back of his hand.
He sat on his big empty bed.
I must do good to our girls...
"I'm done with the crying part Saffy. What was next on your checklist? Ah, yes...
I pick myself up".
