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Authors: Bill Crider
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sounded like my china cabinet,” Hannah said. “You’d better get in there and put a stop to things.”
She was right, but Rhodes had to ask a question first. “How did a wild hog get inside your house?”
“You know about Donnie?”
Rhodes said that he knew. Donnie was the Bigelow family dog, or had been. He’d passed away not long after Lawrence.
“Donnie was a good dog, and we trained him to come inside through a doggie door in the back. I never thought a hog could get in through it, though.”
“So the hog’s not very big,” Rhodes said.
“I didn’t say it was big. I said it was tearing up my house. Now are you going in there or not? If my Lawrence were here, you wouldn’t be standing out here talking. You’d be right in there after that hog.”
“I’m going in,” Rhodes said.
“What about your rifle?”
“I wouldn’t want to kill a hog inside your house if I could help it. You’d have blood and hair all over the floor and the walls.”
Hannah looked thoughtful. “That would be bad. It’s bad enough he’s tearing up my house. I can see why you don’t have a gun. You better not come running out and leave him in there, though. My Lawrence wouldn’t stand for it if you didn’t get that hog.”
“I’ll get him,” Rhodes said, hoping he sounded a lot more confident than he actually was. He opened the door and went inside the house. He left the door open, in case he needed to make a quick exit, no matter what Lawrence might have thought about it. His hope, however, was that the hog would be the one making the exit.
The light in the front room was dim even with the door open because the shades, old-fashioned shades like you didn’t see much anymore, were pulled down. In the light that slanted across the room from the doorway, Rhodes could make out a bookcase, a piano, and a writing desk. A small table lay overturned by the piano, and a broken lamp lay on the floor. The breaking lamp, not the china cabinet, had probably been the crash they’d heard.
There was no sign of the hog, but Rhodes heard something snuffling around in another room. A crash came from the back of the house. Not much of a crash, but it was followed by renewed, and louder, snuffling. Rhodes went through a hallway with a chest of drawers and a coat tree and into a kitchen. Light came in through a window over the sink, and Rhodes spotted the rear end of a black hog.
The front end of the hog was inside a plastic trash can in which the hog was rooting around for food. The hog snuffled and snorted and kicked back its trotters as it tried to get a better grip on the slick vinyl floor and push itself deeper into the trash can. It had no idea that Rhodes was anywhere around. All it cared about was whatever it had found in the trash.
“My Lawrence would get that critter right now,” Hannah said at Rhodes’s back, and Rhodes didn’t jump more than a foot. He turned to look at her.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I thought you might need some help. Sure didn’t hear you doing anything about that hog. Next thing you know it’ll have the refrigerator open.”
The hog was still busy in the trash can and either didn’t hear them or didn’t care that they were there.
“I don’t need any help,” Rhodes said. “You go on back outside. Your Lawrence wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
“You got that right. He always took care of me. Now that he’s gone, I have to rely on the officers of the law, and from what I’ve seen so far, there’s not much to ’em.”
“We do the best we can,” Rhodes said. “You go on back to the porch, and I’ll see what I can do about this hog.”
“You sure you don’t need my help?”
“I’m sure.”
“Well, if you say so.”
Hannah left by way of the hall, and Rhodes turned back to the hog. The bristles on the hog’s back end didn’t seem nearly as coarse as they should have, and the animal lacked the overpowering smell of the wild variety. Rhodes thought that
She was right, but Rhodes had to ask a question first. “How did a wild hog get inside your house?”
“You know about Donnie?”
Rhodes said that he knew. Donnie was the Bigelow family dog, or had been. He’d passed away not long after Lawrence.
“Donnie was a good dog, and we trained him to come inside through a doggie door in the back. I never thought a hog could get in through it, though.”
“So the hog’s not very big,” Rhodes said.
“I didn’t say it was big. I said it was tearing up my house. Now are you going in there or not? If my Lawrence were here, you wouldn’t be standing out here talking. You’d be right in there after that hog.”
“I’m going in,” Rhodes said.
“What about your rifle?”
“I wouldn’t want to kill a hog inside your house if I could help it. You’d have blood and hair all over the floor and the walls.”
Hannah looked thoughtful. “That would be bad. It’s bad enough he’s tearing up my house. I can see why you don’t have a gun. You better not come running out and leave him in there, though. My Lawrence wouldn’t stand for it if you didn’t get that hog.”
“I’ll get him,” Rhodes said, hoping he sounded a lot more confident than he actually was. He opened the door and went inside the house. He left the door open, in case he needed to make a quick exit, no matter what Lawrence might have thought about it. His hope, however, was that the hog would be the one making the exit.
The light in the front room was dim even with the door open because the shades, old-fashioned shades like you didn’t see much anymore, were pulled down. In the light that slanted across the room from the doorway, Rhodes could make out a bookcase, a piano, and a writing desk. A small table lay overturned by the piano, and a broken lamp lay on the floor. The breaking lamp, not the china cabinet, had probably been the crash they’d heard.
There was no sign of the hog, but Rhodes heard something snuffling around in another room. A crash came from the back of the house. Not much of a crash, but it was followed by renewed, and louder, snuffling. Rhodes went through a hallway with a chest of drawers and a coat tree and into a kitchen. Light came in through a window over the sink, and Rhodes spotted the rear end of a black hog.
The front end of the hog was inside a plastic trash can in which the hog was rooting around for food. The hog snuffled and snorted and kicked back its trotters as it tried to get a better grip on the slick vinyl floor and push itself deeper into the trash can. It had no idea that Rhodes was anywhere around. All it cared about was whatever it had found in the trash.
“My Lawrence would get that critter right now,” Hannah said at Rhodes’s back, and Rhodes didn’t jump more than a foot. He turned to look at her.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I thought you might need some help. Sure didn’t hear you doing anything about that hog. Next thing you know it’ll have the refrigerator open.”
The hog was still busy in the trash can and either didn’t hear them or didn’t care that they were there.
“I don’t need any help,” Rhodes said. “You go on back outside. Your Lawrence wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
“You got that right. He always took care of me. Now that he’s gone, I have to rely on the officers of the law, and from what I’ve seen so far, there’s not much to ’em.”
“We do the best we can,” Rhodes said. “You go on back to the porch, and I’ll see what I can do about this hog.”
“You sure you don’t need my help?”
“I’m sure.”
“Well, if you say so.”
Hannah left by way of the hall, and Rhodes turned back to the hog. The bristles on the hog’s back end didn’t seem nearly as coarse as they should have, and the animal lacked the overpowering smell of the wild variety. Rhodes thought that
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