He checked the little passenger before crossing.
A Passenger Above the Parcels
Amos had promised Nora he would bring the clock before noon.
He pulled his trolley along the pavement with the clock wrapped carefully inside a small box. There were other things in the trolley too: a kettle with a loose handle, a coil of string, a folded cloth, and several bottles he had saved for Nora’s workshop.
Pip sat above them on a cushion Amos had made from an old blanket.
“Comfortable?” Amos asked.
Pip looked at him, then turned towards the back of the trolley.
Amos stopped near the crossing and checked the blanket. One corner had slipped beneath Pip’s front paws.
“There you are.”
He pulled it smooth. Pip sat down again, but his ears remained turned towards the kettle.
Amos looked both ways. The road was clear, so he took hold of the trolley handle.
Pip gave a small whine.
Another Look Back
“All right,” Amos said. “One more inspection.”
He set the trolley brake and came around to the back. Pip watched him, then lowered his nose towards the kettle.
Its handle was caught beneath a length of rope. Amos had tied it there before leaving, but the kettle now leaned against the box containing the clock.
“Did I put it like that?”
Pip sniffed the kettle and looked up.
“I don’t remember either.”
Amos pulled the trolley forward a few inches. One wheel passed over a seam in the pavement. The kettle rocked and gave the box a soft tap.
Pip turned his head at once.
Amos pulled a little farther, then stopped. The kettle shifted again, nudging the box towards the edge.
“That may be what you’ve been watching.”
He pressed the box back into place. The clock inside gave a faint tick, followed by a longer silence.
“Nora is expecting you too,” he told it. “You needn’t practise yet.”
The Teapot at the Edge
Amos tried tightening the rope around the kettle, but it no longer sat as snugly as it had when they left. Moving Pip’s blanket had opened a small space behind it.
He loosened the rope and lifted the kettle out.
Pip stood up to watch.
“I’m not taking your seat,” Amos said.
He placed the kettle lower down, against the side of the trolley. Then he folded a spare cloth between it and the clock box.
“Let’s try that.”
Amos fastened the rope and moved the trolley over the seam again. The wheel bumped, but the kettle stayed where it was.
He stopped. The clock box stayed in place too.
Pip sniffed the rope, inspected the kettle from above, and sat facing forward.
“Approved?”
Pip’s tail moved once against the blanket.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Amos released the brake. At the crossing, he checked that the road was clear and looked back once more. Pip remained seated while the trolley rolled beside him.
They reached the other pavement without a tap from the kettle.
A Second Passenger
A little farther along, Pip turned his head again.
Amos stopped at once.
“Already?”
He checked the clock box, the kettle, and the rope. Nothing had moved.
Pip was looking across the street. Another small dog sat in a basket attached to a bicycle. The dog watched Pip while its owner stood beside the bicycle, waiting to cross.
Amos followed his gaze.
“Oh. A fellow passenger.”
The other dog sat very straight. Pip stood on his blanket and lifted his nose. For a few moments, the two dogs looked at each other.
Then the bicycle’s owner waved.
“Is he comfortable in there?” she called.
“He’s inspected everything twice,” Amos replied. “I believe so.”
Pip sat down again as the bicycle moved away. Amos gave the rope one final tug and continued towards the workshop.
Nora had cleared a space on her table by the time they arrived.
“You’re early,” she said.
“I had help checking the load.”
She looked at Pip. “Did he carry anything?”
“Mostly responsibility.”
Amos lifted the clock box from the trolley and placed it on the table. Nora opened it, then gently set the clock upright.
Pip waited beside the trolley until Amos came back. Amos lifted him down to the pavement, where he stretched his front legs and shook himself.
“Would the inspector like to see the clock?” Nora asked.
Pip followed Amos into the workshop and settled beneath the table.
Nora listened to the clock. There was one tick, then a long pause.
“It seems to stop whenever it chooses,” she said.
Amos pulled up a chair.
“Pip knows someone like that.”
From under the table, Pip looked up.
Amos rested a hand on the clock. “I was thinking of the kettle.”
Livora Gracely ♥
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