第36章你是我生命中的阳光(6)
IeverreplaceMeg,Ik。ButIcould,perhaps,fillavoidinDad’slife。
I’doananimalhomebeforeandaredforthesholydogs,butcats,acoupleofpmygoatsandseveralrabbitswantednewhomes。
Twosistersrantheplace。Hardlyaasdoing,Ifoundmyselfpoutmylifestorytothem。
Bahs,owoheendoftherowofpeheveryend,IsawSadiesittingintheer。Shewasn’tsittily。Shewashowling—asad,heart-brokennoise。Assoonasshesawus,shestoppedaatmethroughthewire。Sheseemedtobeweighingmeup。
WhenIpokedmyfihroughthebars,sheshiedawayfromthem。Ispokesoftlythertoe。Afterwhatseemedanage,shecameforwardandlickedmyfingers。
“She’sverygentle,”Iremarked,whowshewouldtaketomynoisy。I’dalreadylostmyhearttoherinawayIneverimaginedpossible!
“Herownersmovedaway,”Babssaid。“Theyputherinbkennels,sayingthey’dbebaaweekbuttheyurgivehertrusteasily,butifshe’sgivenenoughlove—s?”
“Hasped。“Howcouldthey?”
“Oh,itcouldhavebeenalotworse,”Babsued。“Shehysicallyhurt,buthercehastakenaterriblebatteriantreassuran’tbeartobealone。”
“She’dneverbealone,”IsaidandSadiewaggedhertailasifsheuood。“Andinourhouse,believeme,there’sneoflove!”
&home,MatthewandLaurawereoutofsight。Dad,asalways,wasstaringintospace。Hedidhertoreadaseemedtospendhiswholelifejustwatgtimeslipa>
“Dad。。。”
&urnedame,takiwisterthatIwasn’talone。IlookedatDad’sface。Hestaredatthedogandforanawfulmoment,Ithoughthewasgoiher。ButDadeverbecruel。。。hestretchedouthishandaoher。
“eon,lass,”hesaidsoftly。“Iwon’thurtyou。”
Atlast,sheveohimahisbla。
“What’shername?”Dadaskedme。
“Sadie。”
“Hello,Sadie。”
&besidehim,pressingagainsthislegswhilehestrokedherhead。He’diredofdoingthat,justashe’dingMeg。
“Sheoflove,”Isaidandexplainedwhy。
Dadlryforamoment。Heeverstandanykioanimals,oreves。
“Well,”hesaidsoftly。“We’lljusthavetomakeituptoher。Whatmadeyougetan?”
“Well,I。。。”
“No,it’sallright。”Dadpattedmyhand。“IknowhowyoumissMeg。Thedo,too。She’llbepanyforyouandyou’llbeabletogofornigerhapsI’llbeabletotakeaturnwiththewalks。Idoospeofmylifesittinghere!”
Itwasthefirsttimeinmonthshe’dgivenanythoughttothefuture。Itwarmedmyheart。
“I’tgofaratfirst,”hewenton。“ButifIgraduallybuildupmystrength。。。”
Mattheearedthenaenedup。Sherahemasiftheywerelong-lostfriends。WheDad,hewaslaughing。
IthoughtofthepeoplewhohadabandonedSadieaheyreallykwhattheyweremissing。Itwastheirlain。Wewereherfamilynowaherdown。Ithi。
Infaastrangeway,Sadieseemedtotakeleftoff。
Daddidofthegarden,buthe’danddowiime。She’dgazeupathim,entranced。
&erdaymarkedtheanniversaryofMeg’sdeath。Ayearhaspassed。Anewerahasbegun。
Theplantedsomesnowdropsberee,determiMegshotten。Weallshedafe>
&hemiracleI’dwaitedsolongforhappened。DadwalkedslowlyidtookSadie’sleaddownfromitshook。