California Fire And Life

8

The dog probably got out when the firemen broke in, and it's probably traumatized. The Vale kids will be worried about the dog, and anyway, maybe it'll help them feel a little better to get their dog back.

Jack kind of likes dogs.

It's people he's not so crazy about.

Nineteen years (seven with the Sheriff's, twelve with the insurance company) of cleaning up after people's accidents have taught him that people will do about anything. They'll lie, steal, cheat, kill, and litter. Dogs, however, have a certain sense of ethics.

He finds the Vales' dog hiding under the lower limbs of a jacaranda tree. It's one of those little fru-fru dogs, a house dog, all big eyes and bark.

"Hey, pup," Jack says softly. "It's all right."

It isn't, but people will lie.

The dog doesn't care. The dog is just happy to see a human being and hear a friendly voice. It comes out from under the tree and sniffs Jack's hand for some kind of clue as to his identity and/or intentions.

"What's your name?" Jack asks.

Like the dog's going to answer, right? Jack thinks.

"Leo," a voice says, and Jack about jumps out of his geeky paper overalls.

He looks up to see an older gentleman standing across the fence. A parrot sits on his shoulder.

" Leo," the parrot repeats.

Leo starts wagging his tail.

Which is what Yorkies do for a living.

"C'mere, Leo," Jack says. "That's a good dog."

He picks Leo up and tucks him under one arm, scratching the top of his head, and walks over to the fence.

He can feel Leo trembling.

There's that thing about people resembling their pets, or vice versa? Jack always thought that applied to just dogs, but the parrot and the older gentleman kind of look like each other. They both have beaks: the parrot's being pretty self-explanatory and the older gentleman's nose being shaped just like the parrot's beak. The man and the bird are like some interspecies kind of Siamese twins, except that the parrot is green with patches of bright red and yellow, and the older gentleman is mostly white.

He has white hair and wears a white shirt and white slacks. Jack can't see his shoes through the hedge, but he's betting that they're white, too.

"I'm Howard Meissner," the old guy says. "You must be the man from Mars."

"Close," Jack says. He offers his left hand because he has Leo tucked under his right. "Jack Wade, California Fire and Life."

"This is Eliot."

Meaning the parrot.

Which says, " Eliot, Eliot."

"Pretty bird," Jack says.

"Pretty bird, pretty bird."

Jack guesses the parrot's heard the "pretty bird" bit before.

"A shame about Pamela," Meissner says. "I saw the stretcher go out."

"Yeah."

Meissner's eyes get watery.

He reaches over the fence to pet Leo and says, "It's all right, Leo. You did your best."

Jack gives him a funny look and Meissner explains, "Leo's barking woke me up. I looked out the window and saw the flames and dialed