, “Hey Dad isn’t it funny, we used to have a Colonel next door and now we have a Major. They both laughed but I never did see what was funny about that.

 

CHAPTER 9

I

 really liked Port Hardy; my personal kingdom was quite large, and as it bordered onto Major’s area I really had a great deal of forest to roam in and I could claim it all except for the area where Major might wander a bit.

  I also had the whole beach on both sides of me for quite a distance, there was one other dog over a couple of properties towards town, he looked a lot like me except he had reddish blonde hair, the first time he came out to or at least appeared to challenge me I just let him know there was a new dog in town. He was a bit of a sissy and he never bothered me again.

  Later I expanded my territory all the way to town. I got along well with everyone and the only place I avoided was the wharf where a couple of Springer Spaniels had established territorial rights.  That little bit wasn’t worth arguing about.

  John’s school was just past where our driveway turned off the main road, so visiting there was quite easy.  However he didn’t seem to have much time for me when he was at school, so I usually just made a brief stop then would head out on my own. There were not as many grouse as there were at Pender Harbour, but there were lots of squirrels and then there was always that elusive rabbit, so between the rabbit and the squirrels and frequent trips into town my days were pretty full.

  I occasionally went through the fence to check on Major, he finally conceded a spot to me on a step just below where he liked to lay. Grudgingly he told me a bit of his story. He had been brought here as a very small pup and it was his understanding that he was half wolf. I didn’t know what that meant and he wasn’t too sure either. When he was younger he would go out to what he called ‘camp’ and put in a few weeks each time. But he really liked being close to his lady (strangely her name was Mom also) and after a while it became his full time job to look after her. But now he was tired and couldn’t see or hear too well. One day he actually hinted that he was glad I was there to keep an eye on things.

  One day when I went to visit Major he wasn’t there. He had disappeared. I noticed that his humans were quite gloomy for a while and for a few days after his disappearance wouldn’t let me come to visit.  Then one day his Mom came over to our yard where I was sitting. She called me to her and said, “You miss your old friend too, don’t you, I’m sorry I’ve been mean.” She gave me a treat of a ball made of pure meat. “You come and visit us anytime, Jerry.”

  There was a lot more rain at Port Hardy and when it rained all day I was usually invited inside. There were two stoves that I found were great places to just lie and soak up the heat. The one was in the kitchen, it didn’t always smell so good as it burned some kind of smelly liquid but it was close to where all our meals were prepared. The other was in the living room and it burned wood and it could really belt out the heat. Needless to say that was my favorite spot.