The Kingdom of Dog Read Online Free PDF Page A

a strong constitution,” I said. “Going out in this cold without a coat.” At least her dress was more practical than Sally’s, an ankle-length in maroon velvet with long sleeves. It was as simple and spare as her usual jeans and cotton shirts.
    â€œI’m from Vermont, Steve. We don’t wear coats until the weather drops into single digits.”
    I wondered if she’d been smoking with the Rising Sons, but that really wasn’t my business. “Enjoying the party?” I asked.
    â€œYou never know where you’re going to get inspiration. I’ve been turning the idea for a poem over in my head, and something that happened outside just might be the key to figuring out what I want to say.” She smiled. “Sorry I can’t be more concrete than that right now. I have to let the images stew around in my brain for a while.”
    She looked at me. “We miss you over in the English department, Steve. Any chance of you coming back to teach?”
    â€œMaybe in the fall. I really do like teaching, but right now I think I can make my best contribution to Eastern on the staff.”
    â€œI have a couple of students this semester who had Freshman Comp with you. They speak very highly of you. And they write pretty well, too.”
    â€œThanks. I’m flattered.” Just then I looked beyond her and saw a streak of gold rush past. “Uh-oh, my dog must have gotten out of my office. I have to go after him.”
    I left Norah behind as I ran out the door calling “Rochester! Where are you? Get back here!”
    I ran toward the sound of his barking, but there was a prickly hedge in the way and I had to detour around it. I stumbled on a rock and lost my balance, nearly falling, then slid in a mucky place, cursing the damned dog the whole time.
    â€œRochester! I’m going to kill you when I find you!” I called.
    He just kept barking. Finally I came around a stand of pine trees to see him standing next to a pile of something on the ground. I rushed across the ground toward him. “Bad dog!” I said. “How did you get out of my office?”
    He barked again, shaking his head, and I stepped sideways, letting the light from the ballroom illuminate what he was looking at.
    Joe Dagorian lay sprawled on the lawn. Rich red blood oozed from a wound at his neck, staining the dark green grass.

4 – How to Throw a Party
 
    I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and called 911, my hands shaking from a combination of the cold, fear, and being out of breath. I managed to tell the operator who I was, where I was, and why I needed the police as soon as possible. All the while I had to restrain Rochester, who kept trying to sniff Joe’s body.
    His tuxedo jacket had come open, and the blood dripped down his white shirt, disappearing below his black cummerbund. His face was pale and his eyes gazed sightlessly up. He didn’t appear to be breathing, and from the massive amount of blood I could see I knew there was nothing I could do to help him.
    When I finished with the cops, I called campus security as well. I felt helpless, and flashed back to when I had discovered Caroline Kelly’s body a year before. She had been beyond anything I could do, too.
    I knelt down and wrapped my arm around Rochester’s neck, and he rubbed his cold nose against my hands. In the distance I heard the sound of the the party going on in the ballroom. The contrast was striking—here was Joe, who had devoted his life to Eastern, dead just as we had assembled hundreds of people to celebrate the college. I felt a profound sense of grief at seeing a man I admired whose life had just been snuffed out.
    I was still huddled against Rochester for warmth when a security guard came up in his little golf cart. “What’s going on?” he said, not getting out of the cart.
    I pointed at Joe, my teeth chattering.
    He shone his flashlight toward Joe, and said,