Watchers by Dean Koontz Page B

stank of dog shampoo. He was eager to shower and change. He had also worked up an appetite.
     
     
    The only task remaining was to collar the dog. But when he attempted to buckle the new collar in place, the retriever growled softly and back-stepped out of his reach.
     
     
    “Whoa now. It’s only a collar, boy.”
     
     
    The dog stared at the loop of red leather in Travis’s hand and continued to growl.
     
     
    “You had a bad experience with a collar, huh?”
     
     
    The dog stopped growling, but it did not take a step toward him.
     
     
    “Mistreated?” Travis asked. “That must be it. Maybe they choked you with a collar, twisted it and choked you, or maybe they put you on a short chain. Something like that?”
     
     
    The retriever barked once, padded across the patio, and stood in the farthest corner, looking at the collar from a distance.
     
     
    “Do you trust me?” Travis asked, remaining on his knees in an unthreatening posture.
     
     
    The dog shifted its attention from the loop of leather to Travis, meeting his eyes.
     
     
    “I will never mistreat you,” he said solemnly, feeling not at all foolish for speaking so directly and sincerely to a mere dog. “You must know that I won’t. I mean, you have good instincts about things like that, don’t you? Rely on your instincts, boy, and trust me.”
     
     
    The dog returned from the far end of the patio and stopped just beyond Travis’s reach. It glanced once at the collar, then fixed him with that uncannily intense gaze. As before, he felt a degree of communion with the animal that was as profound as it was eerie—and as eerie as it was indescribable.
     
     
    He said, “Listen, there’ll be times I’ll want to take you places where you’ll need a leash. Which has to be attached to a collar, doesn’t it? That’s the only reason I want you to wear a collar—so I can take you everywhere with me. That and to ward off fleas. But if you really don’t want to submit to it, I won’t force you.”
     
     
    For a long time they faced each other as the retriever mulled over the situation. Travis continued to hold the collar out as if it represented a gift rather than a demand, and the dog continued to stare into his new master’s eyes. At last, the retriever shook itself, sneezed once, and slowly came forward.
     
     
    “That’s a good boy,” Travis said encouragingly.
     
     
    When it reached him, the dog settled on its belly, then rolled onto its back with all four legs in the air, making itself vulnerable. It gave him a look that was full of love, trust, and a little fear.
     
     
    Crazily, Travis felt a lump form in his throat and was aware of hot tears scalding the corners of his eyes. He swallowed hard and blinked back the tears and told himself he was being a sentimental dope. But he knew why the dog’s considered submission affected him so strongly. For the first time in three years, Travis Cornell felt needed, felt a deep connection with another living creature. For the first time in three years, he had a reason to live.
     
     
    He slipped the collar in place, buckled it, gently scratched and rubbed the retriever’s exposed belly.
     
     
    “Got to have a name for you,” he said.
     
     
    The dog scrambled to its feet, faced him, and pricked its ears as if waiting to hear what it would be called.
     
     
    God in heaven, Travis thought, I’m attributing human intentions to him. He’s a mutt, special maybe but still only a mutt. He may look as if he’s waiting to hear what he’ll be called, but he sure as hell doesn’t understand English.
     
     
    “Can’t think of a single name that’s fitting,” Travis said at last. “We don’t want to rush this. It’s got to be just the right name. You’re no ordinary dog, fur face. I’ve got to think on it a while until I hit the right moniker.”
     
     
    Travis emptied the washtub, rinsed it out, and left it to dry. Together, he and the retriever went into the home they now