Part 12 (1/2)
What to do?
Thor spent just over two hours in the cellar. What little sunlight filtered through the small, dusty windows was beginning to fade. He felt thankful for the deepening shadows that engulfed him.
Suddenly the latch on the cellar door clicked and the door swung open, and a shaft of electric light pierced the darkness, jolting Thor out of his meditation of despair.
”Thor!”
Dad's voice was stern but not outraged. Was that a trace of forgiveness in his voice? Thor haltingly lifted himself off the floor on trembling legs.
”Thor! Come up here!”
He ran up the stairs, a bundle of mixed emotions. He knew forgiveness was a possibility, but amends had to be made first. And even if he was forgiven, he would have to prove all over again that he was worthy to live with the Pack.
All he wanted was a chance to prove it.
He slowed down as he neared the top of the stairs. Dad was standing there with a rolled-up newspaper in his hand. Thor held his head and body close to the stairs, his ears flat, and his tail tucked between his legs. His tail felt no urge to wag, even involuntarily. It was much too soon for that.
”Come up here,” Dad said, his voice still stern and formal.
Thor crawled through the doorway with his body low, his eyes nervously scanning the floor. He didn't even dare to look at Dad's face.
Teddy stood in the dining room with his sleeve rolled up to expose his wrist; Uncle Ted was nowhere in sight. Dad grabbed a handful of loose skin on the back of Thor's neck (not his collar - a very good sign), dragged him away from the doorway, and closed the cellar door (another good sign). Thor's tail thumped the floor in fits and jerks, embarra.s.sing him.
”Are you going to be a Good Dog?” Dad asked.
Thor didn't move, but his tail beat a rapid tattoo.
”Are you?” Dad demanded, slapping his own thigh impatiently with the newspaper.
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!.
”Come over here.”
Dad walked into the dining room where Teddy waited.
Oh, no.
”Get over here!” Thor thought he heard an unspoken ”Bad Dog” on the end of Dad's sentence. He almost wished he was back in the cellar, but he obeyed. He dragged himself into the dining room like a soldier crawling under barbed wire.
”Teddy, hold your arm out,” Dad said.
Dad cupped Thor's chin in his hand and lifted his nose up to Teddy's wrist. Thor was too ashamed to look directly at the boy's arm; he got the message.
”You see that?” Dad demanded.
”NO!” he said, punctuating the awful word with a newspaper swat on Thor's snout. The newspaper hardly hurt; its real function was to make a loud smack as it hit him. The punishment was psychological; that Dad would want to hit him for any reason hurt more than any physical pain. He trembled violently as he braced himself for the blows.
”NO!”
Swat!
”NO!”
Swat!
”NO!”
Swat!
”NO!”
Swat!
”Understand?”
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES! his tail answered.
”All right.” Dad released Thor's head and tossed the newspaper aside.
”Are you going to be a Good Dog?” Dad asked again. Thor answered by wagging his tail and frantically licking Dad's hands.
”Don't tell me, tell Teddy,” Dad said sternly, pointing to his son. Thor wheeled around and licked Teddy's hands twice, then came back to Dad, showering his hands with desperate kisses.
”You tell Teddy you're sorry,” Dad repeated, and pushed him toward Teddy. Again, Thor kissed Teddy's hands briefly and came back to Dad.
He could apologize to Teddy forever, but Teddy couldn't forgive him. Only Dad could do that.
”Okay,” Dad said, giving in at last. ”But you better be Good from now on.” Thor involuntarily leaped up and planted a kiss on Dad's mouth.
”Stop it!” Dad said sharply, but without real anger.
The session was over. Thor felt as if he were climbing out of his own grave, into suns.h.i.+ne he'd never expected to see again. He was forgiven, but he would have to be extra careful from now on. He still had to prove he was a Good Dog.
Dad walked to the back door and opened it.
”Out you go,” he said. Thor nearly leaped from the dining room to the back door in one bound.
Tom watched him run into the backyard, torn by self doubts. He wasn't at all sure he'd made the right decision.
Maybe it had been a mistake to get a German shepherd in the first place. He'd often heard German shepherds can be ”over-protective.”
And aside from the breed being too protective, Thor himself was acting strange. He'd always loved Ted, but ever since Ted came to stay with them Thor had treated him like a total stranger.
Tom didn't want to think he might be endangering his family by giving Thor a second chance. He tried to block it out, but it was there, unspoken, in the back of his mind.