"Come on, why don't we take the dogs for a walk?" Angus asked. He pulled the curtain aside and let the sunlight in our bedroom. I turned away, letting the bright touch my hair instead of my eyes. I heard Cooper bark and he jumped on and off the bed, shaking the thing. Atlas nudged his wet nose against my leg and I reached down to give him a scratch under his chin. "They could use some exercise."

I stood up and stretched. The weather was unreasonably nice for a late winter's day. And I could always use a bit of fresh air. Angus grabbed their harnesses and leashes and hooked them up. I made to grab my trainers under the bed when I noticed the nightstand drawer was open just a tad. The label of the bottle could be seen and I quickly closed the drawer with my hip. 

Angus didn't need to worry.

"Here you are," Angus said handing me Atlas' leash. He opened the door for us. "After you."

Not ten steps into the walk the boys decided they had to piss. Atlas used our neighbour's grass and Cooper pulled Angus a little further down the footpath. We caught up and saw them in the Popplewell's front yard. Cooper's leg was high in the air. "Good boy," I said. 

"Not if Wanda comes out an' sees us," Angus said looking over his shoulder. "They're home, ya' know."

"Serves her right," I grumbled. 

"Ya' wouldn't be sayin' that if you were holdin' the leash," Angus said. The front door opened and we both froze, turning toward the house in suspense. Little Sheryl came out in one of her new birthday dresses that was now covered in maple syrup. Cooper was taking a long time to finish up. Sheryl saw him and gasped.

"You got a puppy!" She came running over at lightning speed and Cooper finally put his leg down to run towards her. Atlas hid between my feet. Cooper stood on his hind legs to lick Sheryl's face. He was taller than her. 

"Come on, Cooper, lay off," Angus said patting his leg. Cooper, forced to pick a side, chose Angus and went to stand by his feet, his head down. "Good boy." Cooper perked up after the neck scratch. 

"You got two puppies!" Sheryl said after seeing the quivering Atlas. 

"Well, one's a puppy," Angus said stroking Cooper's ear. "The other is an old timer." Cooper tugged on his leash wanting so badly to lick Sheryl's face. "Where's your mum?"

"Oh, there you are, Sheryl," Wanda said coming out of the house in loose slacks and a large parka with a fur trim. She was wearing designer boots with heels. "You ran out of the house so quickly that I didn't get a chance to....oh, it's you two,"she said upon seeing Angus and I. She nearly screamed at the sight of our dogs. Cooper wagged his tail and Atlas quivered some more. I pet him. Wanda put a hand on her chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you had...company..."

"They're the newest members of the family," Angus said proudly. "Since we're not havin' kids an' we both like dogs, ya' know..." Wanda reached a tentative hand toward Atlas and he barked at her. I'd never heard him bark before. "Sorry about that, he's not as comfortable around people."

"Oh, but he seems quite comfortable around you," Wanda sneered staring straight at me. "Birds of a feather, it would seem. Or, dogs, I should say." I huffed. 

"Maybe your dog would like to meet 'em," Angus said. Wanda grimaced. 

"I doubt that," she said. "By the way, Angus..." Wanda reached into her enormous parka and pulled out a couple of envelopes. "These are for you." There must have been at least ten of them all marked with Angus' name. "I was just about to deliver them to your house, as a matter of fact."

"What are they?" Angus asked taking them. 

"Bit of post that was delivered to our house by mistake," Wanda said. "From someone named Bette Catherine?" I could see her face turn up in a saucy little grin and I shuddered. 

Not this loon...

Angus sifted through every one. "This is a lot," he said in disbelief at the sheer quantity of requests for him to plow Miss Bette. I wanted to laugh but my heart wasn't in it. Angus shook his head and held the pile of post out for Wanda to take. "Ya' may as well throw these out. I don't need 'em."

Wanda's saucy little grin turned into a spoiled frown. She tried hiding it behind her bright teeth. "But...but it's such a waste of paper," she said. "To throw these out in the rubbish would be disrespectful to your little fan."

"It's disrespectful to keep sendin' me this shit while I'm already happily taken," Angus said, still holding out the envelopes. I could have beamed at Wanda's visible reaction to Angus' choice of words. "It's a waste of paper even writin' 'em."

Wanda was taken aback. We got soaked from all her sputtering. "B-b-but she must have worked hours into the night writing those for you! You could at least give them a little look."

"No thanks," Angus said. "I'll jus' throw 'em away. Come on, Cooper." Cooper stopped playing with Sheryl and trotted beside Angus while I gently tugged on Atlas' leash. The glare Wanda gave me was murderous. Sheryl wished us a farewell and Angus and I walked the dogs down the footpath away from her house toward a rubbish bin. He tossed the envelopes inside and continued down the street. I felt a pleasant warmth in my chest when I felt him take my hand. 

**********

Atlas and Cooper sniffed around the area we had chosen to stop in. The park was bare; people were scarce and trees were naked. The dogs could only go as far as their leashes would allow and taking the leashes off wasn't allowed. They both used the dunny several times and kicked up dirt behind them when they finished. Atlas sat down to have a lick while Cooper sat under a tree and watched some birds. Angus and I sat in the grass. 

"Nice day," Angus said shielding his eyes from the sun. "Should have worn the ol' budgie."

I smiled but I didn't respond. Atlas had enough of licking and came to sit by me, shedding some fur on my clothes. Cooper barked at the birds, his beautiful houndish howl rattling the leaves. Other than him it was quiet. Peaceful. Tranquil. We were left alone to our thoughts. 

I didn't like that.

Before I could do something to distract myself Angus spoke. "How've ya' been?" he asked. His face was full of concern. 

Was my downward spiral that obvious?

"Fine," I said. 

"Hannah Ruth," Angus said taking my hand. I could feel him staring at me but I kept my eyes on the grass. Atlas rolled onto his back, basking in the sun. "Don't give me that."

I didn't want to talk about it any further. I leaned against his shoulder, holding back any stray tears that might fall. I needed something to change the subject with. "How's your mum?" I asked.

"Mum's alright," he said wrapping an arm around me. I knew he wasn't letting the topic of me go so easily but he humoured me for a bit. "Think it's been a bit rough for her without Dad..."

Cooper gave up on the birds and climbed on Angus' lap. Angus gave him scratches and pets. Cooper gave him slobber stains on his jeans. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"All of you." Angus sighed. "It's hard losing a parent." 

"He was always older," Angus said. "To me, anyway. Ya' know, bein' the last of eight an' all...my folks were always older than the other kids'. An'...I kinda figured they'd go when I was pretty young....but now that it's happenin'..." He picked at the grass. "I don't like it."

"How are the others?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Dunno. Haven't asked 'em. Mal's probably similar to me...but say, Margaret or John, ya' know...they've had our folks in their lives for so long...this is such a drastic change an' I don't know how they're copin'. Us Youngs, ya' know, we don't really...talk a lot."

"Neither do I," I said and suddenly wished I hadn't said that. 

"I know," Angus said. "An' it worries me sometimes 'cause I can see you're not as fine as you say."

I needed to change the subject again. "Wanda looked upset when you didn't want those letters," I said. 

"Well, that's tough shit," Angus said. "If Wanda wants to read that smut she can fish it out of the rubbish for all I care."

I snuggled into him. Bette Catherine, if she indeed was a separate entity from Wanda Popplewell, could hold Wanda by the ankles while she fished for the smut. But something told me Wanda had ill intentions. Our postman had never delivered anything to the wrong house before. 

The dogs fell asleep on our laps.