had been broken. Paul stepped across the threshold, into the dark
living room, and flicked the light switch. Heather heard it click
several times, but the lights didn't come on. Stepping outside again,
Paul said, 'Figures. Ed must've shut off all the power at the breaker
box. I know where it is. You wait here, I'll be right back.'
They stood at the front door, staring at the gloom beyond the
threshold, while the attorney disappeared around the corner of the
house. His departure made Heather apprehensive, though she wasn't sure
why. Perhaps because he had gone alone.
'When I get a dog, can he sleep in my room?' Toby asked. 'Sure,' Jack
said, 'but not on the bed.'
'Not on the bed? Then where would he sleep?'
'Dogs usually make do with the floor.'
'That's not fair.'
'You'll never hear a dog complain.'
'But why not on the bed?'
'Fleas.'
'I'll take good care of him. He won't have fleas.'
'Dog hairs in the sheets.'
'That won't be a problem, Dad.'
'What--you're going to shave him, have a bald dog?'
'I'll just brush him every day.'
Listening to her husband and son, Heather watched the corner of the
house, increasingly certain that Paul Youngblood was never going to
return. Something terrible had happened to him. Something-- He
reappeared. 'All the breakers were off. We should be in business
now.' What's wrong with me? Heather wondered. Got to shake this damn
L.A. attitude.
Standing inside the front door, Paul flipped the wall switch
repeatedly, without success. The dimly visible ceiling fixture in the
empty living room remained dark. The carriage lamp outside, next to
the door, didn't come on, either.
'Maybe he had electric service discontinued,' Jack suggested. The
attorney shook his head. 'Don't see how that could be. This is on the
same line as the main house and the stable.'
'Bulbs might be dead, sockets corroded after all this me.' '- Pushing
his cowboy hat back on his head, scratching his brow, frowning, Paul
said, 'Not like Ed to let things deteriorate. I'd expect him to do
routine maintenance, keep the place in good working order in case the
next owner had a need for it. That's just how he was. Good man, Ed.
Not much of a socializer, but a good man.'
'Well,' Heather said, 'we can investigate the problem in a couple of
days, once we're settled down at the main place.' Paul retreated from
the house, pulled the door shut, and locked it. 'You might want to
have an electrician out to check the wiring.'
Instead of returning the way they had come, they angled across the
sloping yard toward the stable, which stood on more level land to the
south of the main house. Toby ran ahead, arms out at his sides, making
a brrrrrrrrrrr noise with his lips, pretending to be an airplane.
