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she looked out at the woods and fields around her house, she couldn’t imagine how it could turn sour. The incident with King was the most jarring and disturbing thing that had happened during ten years of her marriage to Sid. He was right about its being illogical and incomprehensible, but she didn’t have his need for answers. She wanted to put the incident behind them as quickly as she could. She would work on the children and in time she would get them to accept and maybe even forget it enough so they could live around pets again.
    But Sid’s intense need to understand and explain what had happened was beginning to frighten her. He was making phone calls and looking for books with more ferocity than he would apply to one of his jobs. She could see that it was going to absorb him completely. It frightened her because she didn’t think he would find satisfactory explanations, and she thoughthe was capable of monomania—devoting himself to a single purpose at the expense of some very important others.
    They had their first fight about it one morning at breakfast when she tried to suggest that he ease off.
    “What difference will it make to us now?” she asked.
    “What difference? For one thing, the kid’s got me looking out the window at night for a ghost dog.”
    “That’s just part of the trauma he suffered. In time it will pass, but if he realizes you’re still thinking about it and working on it, it won’t pass. You’re keeping it on his mind, on both the children’s minds.”
    “Well I’m glad you can just accept what happened as though it was an ordinary, everyday event, but I can’t.”
    “I’m not saying that, Sid.”
    “Look. It’s not the kind of thing you just forget about.”
    “What else can you do? The laboratory checked him out. The police have no answers....”
    “I told you. I’ll get the answers. Look, why don’t you continue to live as though the whole thing was a fantasy and leave me alone about it, okay?”
    “That’s not fair. At night you’re in the den reading those books about animals.”
    “It’s only been two nights, for Christ’s sake.”
    “I just thought it would be better for all concerned if we forgot about it. Besides, everyone I talk to has an animal story of one kind or another. Maybe it wasn’t so unusual.”
    “I’ve got to go to Boston tomorrow and then you’ll have a break from me.”
    “Oh, Sid!” She slammed her coffee cup down and got up from the table.
    He didn’t call her back, but after he considered what she had said, he went to look for her. She was makingthe bed almost viciously, snapping the sheets and blankets.
    “Look,” he said, “maybe you’re right.”
    “You didn’t have to say I’d be glad to have a break from you.”
    “I know. I’m sorry. This thing has gotten me crazy. I’ll tone it down.”
    “Don’t think the children don’t sense it.”
    “I know. I’ll be more subtle.”
    He kissed her on the forehead. She was satisfied, even though she wasn’t convinced he would be any less intense. She knew him too well to believe that.
    Later that day Sid went to see their veterinarian who had an office in Monticello, a nearby community. As usual the office was packed—people clutching sick-looking cats and unhappy dogs. There was even a German shepherd that looked remarkably like King. The dog had a mouth lined with porcupine quills.
    The vet’s name was Dr. Michael Fox. Sid had called him before coming, but now that he was here and saw all these people with real medical problems with their pets, he felt guilty about taking up any of the veterinarian’s time. When Dr. Fox appeared at the reception desk, Sid told him that maybe he would come back at another time.
    “Don’t be silly. You had a very bad thing happen. I can give you a few minutes.”
    Sid followed him to the office adjacent to one of the examination rooms, where Fox closed the door and took his seat behind the desk.
    “Sit down, relax. How’s your boy