CHAPTER 12

T

he days and weeks that followed were the peak of my perfect life. I realize that now and I hope as he types these words that John realizes it as well. I only ever had one gift to give him and there on that mountaintop I truly felt that we were never closer.  Now I really knew what contentment was.

  We quickly settled into a routine; as long as the weather stayed warm and clear he had to stay in and around the house or the lookout as he called it.  During those times I would wander about quite a bit, there were lots of grouse to scare up and several deer lived in the vicinity. I chased them a bit but they were very speedy and I found all the hills made it difficult. I discovered I got just as much kick out of scaring them up and chasing them a few yards as I ever had when I could run all day. I always stopped for a good drink on the way back up the hill but of course I was thirsty again when I reached the top and John would grumble a bit when I emptied my bowl.

  On cloudy days we would head out together and just walk and walk. One day we found a patch of wild blackberries, those small ones that grow close to the ground. Years before I had got the knack of picking them so the two of us must have spent an hour eating those berries.  On each of these jaunts John would bring a large metal can down on his back and would fill it with water on the way back.

  The second week we were there, we got word on our radio that the grub order would be there the next day. So down the trail we went and when Bob arrived John tied a couple of boxes onto that thing again and we went straight back. When we got back I cleaned out my water bowl and asked for more. It seemed we were a bit low on water so John decided to go back down and get the can filled. I didn’t really want to go back down again, but what’s a dog going to do, I couldn’t let him do it by himself. Of course when we got back up to the top I was thirsty again and for some reason this caused an aggravation. That little cloud soon passed us by but two weeks later when another grub order arrived, I got shut up in the house. That didn’t bother me too much as it was fairly early and I preferred to sleep in a bit.

  John arrived back with his pack of groceries and no sooner was he in the door than he rummaged through the packages and came out with a box of cookies. They were those round ones with a large white gob of white stuff in the middle and were all covered in chocolate. I loved those things! As a matter of fact I liked almost anything that was sweet!

  I sort of sat up in anticipation and would you believe it he ate a bunch of them, one right after the other. He saw me watching but did not offer me even a taste.

  He sat down for a moment then spoke out loud, “We’re a little short of water so I’ll go get some; no you have to stay here, otherwise you’ll drink half what I bring.”

  I couldn’t have cared less; I was still in a bit of shock over his pigging down those cookies.