Quilt By Association

have to,” Harriet explained in a hushed voice.

Connie rolled her eyes. “Dios mio,” she muttered.

'I'll call Sarah, since she's already gone, and Robin, too.” They all could see Robin getting into her car in the gravel parking area outside.

'If you ladies have the cleanup under control, I'm going to go find Randy and say hi to her so I don't have to lie to Aiden when I finally get to talk to him.'

'This sounds like the dog ate my homework,” Connie said. “I've heard that one before.'

'You gave homework to first graders?” Harriet said and laughed. “No wonder they all fear you, even as adults.'

'Don't change the subject,” Connie said. “Go check the table and sideboard and make sure there aren't any more cups that need washed.'

Harriet did as instructed and did find two more cups hidden behind a large vase of flowers on the sideboard.

'Now can I go?” she asked Connie as she handed her the dishes.

'Yes, honey, thank you.'

She left through the kitchen door and circled around to the back of the house. Aiden's property had a separate kennel with its own fenced yard that had once been home to his father's hunting dogs. Randy was happy to see Harriet, since she lived in the main house when Aiden was home and lately had taken to spending her days following Wendy everywhere as Carla tended to the care and cleaning of her master's residence.

Harriet unlatched the kennel yard gate and let the little dog out. After a minute or two of joyful jumping up and down and circling Harriet's legs, she started running in large circles and figure-eights on the lawn in a pattern only she knew. Harriet moved out onto the lawn, positioning herself in the middle of the pattern. As she got closer to the house, she heard a woman's voice coming from an open window on the second floor.

'Do not come here. You have no business here.” There was a pause. “No, you're the one who's going to be sorry.'

Either the conversation had ended or the speaker moved away from the window. Harriet couldn't be sure. She hadn't recognized the voice. Her only two choices were Neelie or the babysitter, Haley. It hadn't sounded like the voice of a teenager, but on the other hand, it lacked Neelie's accent. She wasn't familiar enough with the second floor of Aiden's house to be able to figure out which room the window belonged to.

One more reason to be glad Terry was going to be staying with Carla, she thought as she reached down and patted Randy's head. She led the exhausted dog to the back porch.

'Is it okay if she comes in?” she asked, holding the kitchen door open with her free hand and holding Randy with the other.

Aunt Beth agreed, and she pushed the dog inside and left.

Chapter 10

Her phone was ringing as she came from her studio to the kitchen.

'Hello.'

'I just missed you at my house,” he said, the fatigue clear in his voice. “Carla told me your phone was broken, and to try this one.'

'It is, and it's a long story that can wait until you come home.” Harriet was still holding out hope Neelie would get tired of waiting for Aiden and give up on her scheme.

'You'll be happy to know it'll be sooner rather than later.'

'That's great news,” she said. “Were things better than you expected?'

'Unfortunately, they were worse. The team ahead of mine lost a couple of dogs. After we assessed the cases we have left, we talked to the head of the project and convinced him we're better off doing a scoop-and-run.'

'A what?'

'Sorry, that's what we call it when we move the patient as quickly as possible as opposed to doing triage and emergency treatment in the field first. Most of these dogs have open sores and infections and need to get to a more sterile environment.'

'How are you doing?” she asked.

'I'm fine. I just wish I could say the same for all these dogs. I know hoarding's a disease, but when you see how they've suffered, it makes you want to put the owner in a dirty, crowded room and see how he or she likes it.'

'I'm so sorry you have to deal with that.'

'Don't feel sorry for me. It's the dogs that need your sympathy.'

'I'll ask the Loose Threads and see if anyone needs a pet.'

'Don't get them too excited-these will be special-needs dogs. They aren't used to normal human contact. Tell them that, and if they're still interested, they can talk to me. On a more important subject, have you been staying out of trouble while I'm gone?'

'Of course,” she lied. “I've just been stitching quilts and working on quilt blocks for our dog adoption benefit quilts.'

'Good, I wouldn't want to have to worry about you on top of everything here. I better go-I just wanted to let you know I'll be back in a day or two. The first temperature-controlled truck is arriving tomorrow, and when we load the last one, I'll head back.'

'It's so good to finally talk to you.'

Whatever Aiden said was lost in the ether as the connection went abruptly dead.

'Fred, my boy, this is going to get real interesting,” she said to her fuzzy companion.

After playing with Randy in Aiden's perfectly manicured yard she had resolved on her way home to clean out and winterize the modest flowerbeds passed on to her along with the house. Fortunately, Aunt Beth stopped by periodically and pulled weeds or divided plants, since Harriet had a bit of a black thumb where the outdoor plantings were concerned.

She realized she was still holding the phone. She set it back in its cradle and turned to look out the window. A light rain was falling. The tall Douglas fir trees at the head of her driveway glistened with silver drops. Saved! she thought.

Unlike the rest of the northwest, rain wasn't something that could be counted on in Foggy Point. The town sat in the “rain shadow” of the Olympic Mountains, and rainclouds had a tendency to pass right over the area without dropping their load.

She knew she should go work on her dog block but instead went to her computer and opened the email Lauren had sent her.

'Who are you?” she said as Nabirye Obote's image resolved on her screen.

She pressed the white play arrow and watched the entire clip without stopping. Nothing jumped out at her, so she watched it again and again. If Nabirye was, in fact, Neelie's sister, there wasn't a strong resemblance. There was a little similarity around the eyes, but Neelie had a narrow nose where Nabirye's was broad. Both women had full lips, but Neelie's mouth wasn't as wide. Or maybe it was just that she always seemed to have her lips pursed. Nabirye smiled easily in the video, speaking on a topic she was obviously passionate about.

'What am I missing?” Harriet said out loud. She pressed the white arrow again and, this time, forced herself not to look at the woman but at everything else in the scenes.

The action was divided into three parts. The first showed a mud hole. Animals were drinking on one side, and a child was scooping brown water into a plastic bucket on the other. There was nothing to indicate when in time it had been filmed.

The second scene was what Harriet assumed was a clean-water well. It looked like a large metal tray with a pipe, topped by a square metal box. A spout protruded from the side of the larger pipe, spilling clean liquid into a white bucket. Again, nothing that would pin it down to a particular date.

The final scene was in an office of some sort. This was the shortest. She stopped the play at the first full frame. It would have been nice if there had been something as obvious as a newspaper with the current date, or a