The Bog by Michael Talbot Page B

if it’s rats?”
    “We’ll get rid of them.”
    “How?”
    “I’ll buy some poison the first time I go into town.” Yes, indeed, he would, Melanie asserted, but this was still a solution too remote to offer any comfort right now. And before David was allowed to do anything else, even unload the car, he found himself going from room to room banging on all of the floors, walls, and even the ceilings, with a broom.
    It was about half an hour later, while David was unloading the trailer, that Ben first started to behave strangely. At first David didn’t really notice. In the back of his mind he was aware that Ben seemed to be barking a lot and was no longer bounding around as happily as he had been, but David did not initially register the behavior as unusual. It wasn’t until Tuck came up and interrupted his work that he began to pay attention.
    “Daddy, something is wrong with Ben.”
    “What do you mean?” David said, continuing to vork.
    “He won’t stop barking. I think he’s afraid of something.”
    Grunting, David lowered the box he was unloading and looked across the lawn. For the first time he observed that the black Labrador retriever was no longer running, but had come to a complete standstill and was barking mournfully in the direction of the moors. Occasionally he would pause in his baying and sniff the air carefully, and then, as if he caught a whiff of something that he felt was of danger to the family, he would break into his barking once again.
    “Ben!” David called. “What is it?”
    The dog paused in his barking and looked in David’s direction, and when he saw that he had captured David’s attention, whined piteously. For a moment it seemed that he was desperately trying to convey something to David but, on confronting failure, turned and took up his curious vigil once again.
    “Daddy, why is he doing that?” Tuck asked anxiously.
    “It’s nothing,” David calmed.
    “But why won’t he stop barking?” Tuck continued.
    David knelt down and put his arm around his son comfortingly. “Tuck, it’s okay. This place is new for Ben just like it’s new for you. He just needs to tell everyone that he’s here.”
    Tuck seemed to accept the explanation, but was still gazing in Ben’s direction when Melanie appeared at the front door of the cottage.
    “Tucker, come inside, I need you to help me unpack your stuff.”
    “Okay, Mom,” Tuck yelled as he ran into the house. David smiled, pleased that Melanie’s request had taken Tuck’s mind off of Ben’s unusual behavior, as he once again hoisted the box onto his shoulder.
    After dinner that evening, David noticed that Tuck was glued to the television, newly installed in the living room of the cottage. Katy, as usual, had her nose in a book and was curled up in an armchair some distance away. David directed his attention toward Tuck.
    “Have you finished that book on dolphins yet?”
    Tuck looked up disconsolately. “Nooo,” he groaned.
    “Have you done any reading today?”
    Again Tuck replied in the negative.
    “Well don’t you think you should get a little reading in before you go to bed?”
    “Oh, Dad, I’m watching television.”
    “I know, but I thought you and I had an agreement, that every day you would get just a little reading in?”
    At that moment David felt Melanie tugging at him gently from behind. He looked at her and she gestured for him to follow her into the entranceway. They made it a point never to discuss the children in front of the children.
    She looked at her husband softly. “Don’t you think that today’s a special day with the moving and all? I mean, he’s only six years old. He’s been running around like a banshee all day and he’s exhausted. Couldn’t he have an occasional reprieve from the heavy reading schedule you demand of him?”
    “Oh, honey, but he’s watching television.”
    “You watch television.”
    “Only the news, and an occasional educational show. Did you see what he’s