April 18, 2018

White Dog cleared her throat. "Um, where do you think you are taking that?" she asked. Bailey continued carrying the big folder rubberbanded and bulging with papers. Bai hopped nimbly up on the bed. WD gave a little "yip" to alert me.

I sat next to Bailey on the bed. She held the folder under her paws and was chewing on the thick red elastic band that held all of the tax information and copies of the filings that our accountant had returned. Steve had left the packet sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

"Is there something in particular about our finances that you are curious about?" I asked her as i slid the folder out from under her and set it on the other side of me. "I could probably answer you quicker than your going through all of this."

She wooed a long story about making sure that we were solvent and that White Dog Army was safe and guaranteed a home. By the time she was done, Zsofia had joined her song and nearly all of the others were gathered around to hear my answer.

"Why would you ever worry about something like that?" I asked her. "Because last weekend you did not go shopping for food and then we ran out of cream and you said the budget was tight and momma, we can live without cream and even if we must smaller pieces of duck jerky. PLEASE do not send us away!"

My arms flew around her neck as I scanned the pack. "NEVER! Baby Girl! We are not rich but we are all right and no one needs to go away to save money or for any other reason."

"Then why did we skip shopping?" Pearl demanded to know.

"Sweet One, it was a month where cash flow was skewed and there were some surprises. We have not missed a meal and except for the cream shortage were none the worse for the frugalness. We were just trying to space things out a bit, we are in no danger. n fact, dad is stopping on the way home from work to shop part of the grocery list. We are past the sticking point."

"We are not going to be forced to eat gruel and mouses?" Bailey wondered. "No." "We can drink coffee in the morning?" "Yes." "You are not going to send us off to someplace that could take better care of us?"   "As if someplace better even exists," White Dog answered. Bailey took a long breath and licked my glasses.

I picked up the folder. "Does anyone really want to see our tax returns? They are pretty boring. But they will confirm what I am saying."

Zso looked through the glass doors. "Hey, is that a cat walking on the top of the wall?"

In an instant it was just me and my folder.