REST TIME

 

 

CHAPTER 13

W

e made two trips down to the end of the road before Bob arrived then had to make one more trip to make sure everything was in order for the winter. We spent a couple of days with Bob while something called inventory was done, then the boat arrived and we made the return trip to Madeira Park or Pender Harbour or whatever.

  When we got there John was quite excited when he was told that he was going to some place called Thurston Bay and should be ready to go the very next day. We had hardly unloaded our stuff from the boat when Senior arrived. Boy was it good to see him!

  We loaded the truck (there wasn’t very much) and headed down the road. This time I sat up front but as it was starting to be a bit chilly the window was kept closed.

  When we got home Mom was waiting for us and I gave her one of my royal greetings. Hey home was pretty good1 I checked out the yard and nothing seemed amiss, when I spotted the two cats I decided to show them that I was pretty glad to see them again but they both got in a bit of a huff when I started rolling them off their feet, obviously my renewed vigor was not to their liking.

  I had been wondering if I would be going to this Thurston Bay place but that was not to be.  The next morning after saying goodbye John got on the bus out in front; I didn’t realize it then but this was to be the start of him being gone and short visits would become the norm.

  I soon returned to my routine before the weeks on the lookout.  I gained back a bit of weight but still enjoyed the short walks to and along the beach. Sometimes the cats would come too. Well actually Paddy did, Patches always stopped where our property ended. About Christmas time I started to feel some serious twinges in my joints (Mom said I had arthritis) and then one day I realized I could only vaguely make out things more than a few yards away. I figured that Mom and Senior must have finally learned to communicate with very little talking as I rarely heard any words and when I did they were sort of a mumble.

  I wasn’t unhappy although I did miss that guy who was supposed to be my master. I started sleeping a lot and sometimes when the cats crowded into my bed I’m afraid I got a bit grumpy.

  But as it does, time continued to march along and the weeks turned into months. Periodically John would show up for a day or two and each time I would get a feeling of rejuvenation and we would play some of our old games or simply have a sit down together. At first I didn’t notice it but those visits of his got fewer and fewer, but each time he showed up I would greet him in the manner that he expected and although we didn’t rough and tumble like we once did we would have sedate romps together. When we went for a walk I found that some times it was hard to keep up. Obviously he had become stronger and more energetic.

  Finally on his infrequent visits, he started playing a trick on me. He would sneak into the house while I was asleep then wait for me to wake up and find him. As I was now in the habit of sleeping a lot, I had the notion that sometimes he may have been in the house quite sometime before I woke up and sensed his presence. But when I did wake up I would still treat him to my usual greeting even if most of the time it caused pain in my legs and back.