Someone is Watching

Chapter four

"You have no idea how hard it was to find you!" Mauve said, taking a seat on the window seat. I sat on the floor, too stunned to do anything but stare. "So first," she said, "I found where you worked and tried to call you there, but they said you no longer worked there, and gave me your address. I actually went there, and some old lady said that you had completely skipped town, leaving her a bunch of stuff."

Mauve stopped for a second, scratching the dog's ears. "Anyway, I couldn't find you anywhere, so I called your mother. She told me you had moved all the way here, to Seattle, but didn't know your exact address- why you didn't tell your own mother that? I have no idea- anyway, the rest isn't very important. I found you!"

She sat and looked at me, beaming. I just looked back. "Uh, okay. Can I... Help you or something?" I asked. Mauve sighed, "No, but I can help you, Evie." I don't usually let people call me Evie, but I wasn't in the mood to argue about it. "Listen, I have some things for you."

She reached into her purse and ruffled around before handing me a folded paper. I opened it, it looked like it had been typed on a typewriter. "Evie gets it all." Was all that was on the paper.

"Evie, that's Lily's will. It's not what I expected from her, but it's what she wanted, so that's what's gonna happen." I looked up from the paper. "What does this mean?"

"It means that you need to go to Lily's house and take the things you want, and give the rest away. It also means that this guy," she nodded towards the dog, "belongs to you now." Mauve handed the leash to me. "I've been taking care of him since... The incident. But, he's yours now. His name is Arthur."

Arthur wouldn't come near me, he seemed very uncomfortable being in my house, or maybe near me. "Listen, Mauve, I can't just walk into her house and take her stuff, and I can not take her dog either! I barely knew her— It feels wrong."

Mauve stood up and grabbed her purse. "Well, I have to go to work, and I can't take Arthur with me. So, he'll have to stay here until I'm done." Without another word, she turned and walked out the door, leaving me on the floor with a huge, white dog.

I looked at him, and he looked at me warily. Awkwardly, I slowly moved my hand to touch him, but he let a low growl out letting me know I was not allowed to do that. I put my hand back and he stopped, then got up and quickly ran into my bedroom.

"Hey!" I shouted, getting up off the floor and following behind him. I rushed into the room, only to find Arthur curled up on the bed with his nose hidden under his big, bushy tail. "Yo, you can't just take the bed, you'll get it all hairy." I said, while stupidly stepping towards him.

Arthur drew his face into a snarl and gave a threatening growl this time. I stepped back and put my hands up. "Fine, take what you'd like, Mi casa es su casa." I quickly left the room and dialed the number Mauve had been calling me on. She didn't pick up, not even when I called her six more times.

"What if this isn't Lily's dog? Does she even know her? I bet her name's not even Mauve!" I shouted to no one, heading towards the fridge. "Maybe she's a serial killer who leaves vicious dogs in people's houses, then robs their dead bodies?" I took a bite out of an apple, jumping up to sit on the counter. "But I guess I'd have to have something worth robbing." I smiled to myself before picking up the wall phone and dialing my mom.

She picked up quickly. "Margaret Stone, how may I help you?" She said sweetly.

"Mom, it's me."

"Oh sweetheart why do you keep calling from that number? I never recognize it!"

"Sorry, I just like using it."

"Well, how's everything going? Have you gotten the job yet?"