BEFORE

Walker

"Come ON...come-on!," I heard her say, as if she was trying to push something heavy and stubborn. Her voice was small but determined, like a character out of a Shakespeare play. She commanded an audience. As I walked towards the old cabin, her matching tiny frame came into view.

Here she was, trying to drag some kind of mud-covered giant (a Great Dane, perhaps?) under the hose on the side of her house. He was filthy. As I got closer, I realized that not only was the goliath loaded with dripping, gray mud, but he smelled. Bad. Too bad to be as close to him as the girl was, though he didn't seem to bother her. My eyes watered the nearer I got to them.

I figured out that the mangy beast must've been sprayed by a skunk. Yet here this girl was trying her best, despite the stench, to help the poor creature. Did I mention he wanted no part of what she was trying to do? I have no idea how she stayed on her feet. Not only was the big guy tugging her all over the place, but the once-grassy area underneath her has long-since been reduced to a muddy mess because of the constant running hose.

On their porch, I noticed several cans of tomato sauce. They were already open and waiting.

Like a man sentenced to march to his death, the dog somehow knew this gal had every intention of bathing him in those econo-sized cans. He was doing his best to avoid the hose AND the cans. Every time the girl looked like she could just about reach for one, the dog hoisted himself up and away.

Taking pity on her, I ran up to help. I tried to grab a hold of the dog's worn out collar, but it was like wrestling an elephant. How the heck was she keeping him from running away?

"Ouch!" I shouted, as the beast tread all over my toes. I was only wearing (now-wet) flip flops and the dog's claws were scratching right through the top layer of skin on my feet. I was bleeding before the girl and I were finally able to get the dog to sit still. With much effort, I held onto him while she scrubbed him with Dawn dish soap (it had been hidden in a mud puddle) and then finally the tomato sauce. Just as we were finishing up, though, the dog got loose and bolted.

He raced himself around our open yards and stopped every few feet to rub himself back into the dirt and brush of the forest leaves and branches. Since he hadn't been fully clean of soap and tomatoes, he now looked worse than ever.

I was still leaning over, trying to catch my breath from the whole ordeal, when I looked over and saw, to my surprise, that the girl standing next to me was not in tears (like I thought she might be), but looked about ready to blow her stack. I had to stifle a laugh at the sight of her. It had been like the battle of Goliath vs. David when I first walked up and yet, here she was, ready to go round two. I raised my eyebrow at the thought of her getting ready to go to war. Before I could introduce myself, she let out a firm, and very LOUD bellow.

"Scooby, Come. NOW!" She stomped her feet and pointed to herself with her finger.

To my complete and utter surprise, Scooby stopped and sheepishly returned to us.

"IN!" she commanded towards the house.

I hadn't noticed before, but the door was already ajar and there seemed to be a carpet of old towels leading into the house. "Come on," the girl said to me. "I need your help." She quickly chased after Scooby, who had already run inside, ears back and tail tucked between his legs. I couldn't believe she'd called this huge dog inside her house in his condition. My parents would've have lost it if I brought a stinky, wet, mess-covered dog inside like she did. Just as she had chased after Scooby, I found myself wanting to chase after her (if only to see what would happen next).

Curious, and realizing I had lost myself in my own head for a minute, I quickly ran inside after both of them. Following her laughter, I found her inside the bathroom, in a walk-in shower, with the dog. She was giggling like crazy, trying to fend herself off from Scooby, who was covered in bubbles and kept jumping up, trying to lick her. Never in a million years did I expect to see something so hilarious. She was in the shower, wearing a little yellow bathing suit that had a red Hawaiian flower on it. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. Who takes a shower with a dog?

I couldn't help myself. I bent over and started laughing out loud. The more I looked at them, the more I lost control over myself. The girl looked up at me and gave into the moment right along with me. There was mud in her hair, tomato juice on her chin and she didn't look like she cared one bit. It was the most beautiful scene I had ever witnessed. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever laid eyes on. And, just like that, I was lost to her. Mesmerized.

"Hi. I'm Jenny," she said introducing herself between paws and puddles. "And this is Scooby. He had a little run in with a skunk this morning. He's really quite gentle, but when he startled a mother skunk with kittens, well, she sprayed him thoroughly."

"Poor Scooby," she cooed to the dog, looking down at him and rubbing his ears. "You got sprayed and good, didn't you, big fella? Serves you right startling that poor mama skunk and her babies. Lucky they didn't spray me, too." She said, giving him a sloppy wet hug. She rubbed his fur and looked up at me.

"Can you help me finish cleaning him up?," she asked. "It's almost one o'clock and I have to get him back to his owners. They're not going to like how he smells, but I don't think there's anything more I can do for him. He'll just have to wear off the stink."

"He's not your dog?" I asked, surprised at this revelation.

"No, I'm not allowed to have any. My grandparents won't let me own one; I'm too young they say. But, I have my own pet walking/sitting business, so I still get to take care of animals and play with them all I like. Scooby here, belongs to the Shannahan's who live a few roads over. I recently agreed to start walking him some mornings and afternoons for them." She frowned and said, "I guess today they're going to be upset with me, but it really wasn't Scooby's fault. He's just a curious old coot. He wouldn't have hurt the skunks. I think he wanted to play with them. Didn't you, old boy?" she said, rubbing Scooby some more. To which Scooby jumped up again to lick her chin. The tomato sauce probably tasted good.

The whole scene was a lot to take in; the absurdity of the whole situation still had me out of breath from laughter when I heard a screen door open and snap closed nearby.

"Jenny? Jenny, are you in here? What's with all the towels?" I heard. "What the...oh my good gracious! Genevieve Róisín what are you doing?"

The woman must have been Jenny's grandmother. She had white hair, was wearing a gingham apron and held 2 bags of groceries in her hands.

"Here, let me get those for you, Ma'am," I said, taking them from her. I ran them down the hall to the kitchen and then came back. Jenny's grandmom was still standing there, looking back and forth between us all.

"Who are you?" she asked finally.

"Ah, hello," I replied, sticking out my muddy hand. I saw her look at it like it was a live snake, and quickly wiped the tomato sauce and mud onto my pants before holding it out again. She shook it this time.

"I'm Walker. I live in the next cabin. Pleased to meet you."

"Well, Walker," she said. "You can call me Mrs. O'Lennachain. Thank you for helping me with my bags. That was very kind of you. You have very good manners, young man. That said, what are you doing in the bathroom with Jenny and Scooby?"

The woman looked over at Jenny, who was now drying Scooby with an old towel.

"For that matter, young lady, what is Scooby doing in the shower? And, what is that gosh-awful smell?" She asked, pinching her nose and hiding her face in her sleeve.

When Jenny finished relaying what had happened, we all worked together to clean the bathroom, ourselves and Scooby up. Jenny went to get changed in her room and I sat with Mrs. O'Lennachain on the porch. I sipped an ice tea while I waited. I was still pretty dirty, but Jenny's grandmom didn't seem to mind.

"That child," she said with affection, "is always finding strays and bringing them home. Loves animals, she does. Do you know that one time, on the way home from vacation, Jenny snuck three lizards into her suitcase? We were packing, getting ready to head home from Florida when she found a bunch of salamanders. She wanted to keep them but we told her there was no way to bring them on the plane. Imagine my surprise when I found one of my son's Tupperware containers in her suitcase filled with three of them. Near had myself a heart attack." She shook her head in amusement. The story made me smile. I didn't know Jenny much at all, but somehow, I could picture it.

Who was this girl that took showers with her dogs and snuck salamanders home in Tupperware containers?

I couldn't wait to get to know her. I had a feeling we were going to get along very well. Looking back, I should've know then how my life would have ended up. Only a wee thing, but she had taken my heart from the first.

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Photography Copyright 2018 A. E. F.

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