Page 15

CHAPTER 15

Pain has an element of blank;

It cannot recollect

When it began, or if there were

A day when it was not.

It has no future but itself,

Its infinite realms contain

Its past, enlightened to perceive

New periods of pain.

—Emily Dickinson, “The Mystery of Pain”

SAWDUST

Whitney was in pain. Sawdust heard her sharp intake of breath when he hopped up onto the couch and rubbed against her forearm. The skin was an odd, dark color, too. What had happened to her?

Whitney was precious to him. If someone had hurt the woman he loved, they’d better not come around here! He’d shred them with his claws and sink his pointy teeth into their flesh until he reached bone. He might be a runt, but he’d tackle someone a hundred times his size to avenge Whitney, even if he might risk his own life in the process.

At the moment, though, she appeared to need af fection more than avenging. He gingerly climbed into her lap, gazing up at her all the while. He issued a soft meow to let her know he was there for her.

She looked down at him and said, “I’ll be okay, boy. Don’t you worry.”

He stretched up and gave her a little kiss on the chin with his soft pink tongue. She wrapped her other arm around him and returned his kiss, putting her lips to the top of his head. He settled in and his purr started on reflex. Whitney’s lap was his happy place, and his purr seemed to be making her feel happier, too. She ran a hand over his back and scratched him under his chin. “What would I do without you?”