The Truth of Me Read Free Page B

taking a walk with Ellie.”
    â€œI see. Training Ellie or training yourself?”
    â€œBoth.”
    Maddy nods.
    She takes a big straw hat off the hook in the hallway and puts it on.
    â€œDo I look like Mother Goose?” she asks.
    I shake my head.
    â€œToo thin.”
    â€œI’m going to train Ellie off leash today,” I say.
    â€œGood idea. That means she can be responsible on her own. Where are you going?”
    â€œHenry’s house.”
    â€œBe sure to remind him to roast the chicken tonight,” she says as she goes out the doorway.
    â€œOkay.”
    I hold the leash, and Ellie knows it. She looks at me, waiting for me to put it on her.
    â€œNo,” I say. “No leash today.”
    I go out the doorway. When I look back, Ellie is standing there, watching me.
    â€œCome, Ellie,” I say.
    Ellie comes.
    Maddy is watching from the garden.
    I walk down the road and Ellie walks next to me. She looks at me every so often. Every so often I tell her she’s a good dog.
    We walk past three houses, past a fence where there are cows. Ellie lifts her nose and sniffs the air that is their air.
    â€œGood girl,” I say.
    At the end of Henry’s driveway is a small white sign that says DR. HENRY BELL . Ellie and I walk up the driveway until we get to Henry’s house. There is a blue door.
    â€œThis is Henry’s house,” I say, feeling strange telling her this. “Henry,” I repeat.
    The blue door opens, and Henry is there.
    I wonder if Ellie thinks this is magic and me saying his name has called him out.
    â€œHello, Kiddo,” says Henry. “Hello, Eleanor. Come in.”
    Ellie wags her tail but looks up at me.
    â€œGo ahead,” I say.
    Ellie runs up to Henry.
    We walk out of the sun into the cool of Henry’s house. It is filled with books and a few paintings of boats on the sea. I walk to the back window and look out. There is a large pond there.
    There is a red boat at the edge.
    â€œYour sailboat,” I say to Henry.
    â€œMy canoe,” he says.
    â€œI’m training Ellie today,” I tell Henry. “So I can be an alpha.”
    â€œYou’re already an alpha, Kiddo,” says Henry.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œIn some ways you’re more alpha than your mother and father,” says Henry. “Think about that.”
    I think about it. I don’t say anything for a moment, then I remember.
    â€œMaddy asked me to tell you to roast a chicken tonight.”
    Henry laughs.
    â€œI saw that chicken yesterday,” he says.
    I grin at him.
    â€œYou’re kind of an alpha, too,” I say.
    Ellie and I walk home together, no leash, Ellie close to me. Ellie doesn’t chase dogs. She looks at a cat but doesn’t bark or run after it. She sniffs the cows we passed before.
    I lean down and kiss Ellie on her head.
    I may be the very best alpha in the world.
    Ellie’s a good dog, too.
    There’s that.
    It is still light when we eat Henry’s roast chicken.
    â€œSo, you had a good day of training?” asks Maddy.
    â€œI was very good,” I say.
    I think a bit.
    â€œThe truth is, Ellie was good.”
    Maddy nods.
    â€œSomeone taught her well when she was younger. But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t a good trainer, too.”
    Maddy doesn’t own a television, but she has a small radio that is turned on. Music plays softly.
    Suddenly I look up.
    â€œSchubert,” I say.
    Maddy and Henry are silent.
    â€œI know that music,” I say. “ Death and the Maiden .”
    I hear the sweet, sad violin. I drop my fork and get up and stand by the radio. The violin plays. The violin I know well. The violin I hear all through the days at home and into the night.
    â€œMy mother,” I say very softly. “She worked hard on that piece.”
    Ellie comes over to stand by me. Maybe she remembers, too.
    I stand there until the violin solo is finished and the