Chapter One
“Ihate Christmas.”
Ally didn’t say the words out loud.She never said them out loud.Think of the reaction they would get from so many others.But then…maybe not so many?She took a silent survey of the faces around her as each sat in their own little worlds.They perched on cold plastic benches, eyes not meeting others, their shared conveyance a subway car clicking, clacking, zooming along in the darkened world beneath the crowded New York City streets above them.
A cocoon that was its own world until one had to fight others to return to the concrete jungle above it.Then the race would begin again…humans scurrying to their destinations, day after day, night after night.Speakers blared their canned holiday music.Even though they were just at the beginning of November.Were they planning on skipping the poor turkeys’ day altogether this year?Already storefronts glittered and gleamed, enticing others to come inside and spend their hard-earned money on gifts that were touted to bemust-havesin a world that already had too much.
Yes, what if I just spoke the truth out loud?Would anyone care?Would anyone hear?What difference would it make?Ally pulled her long brown tweed jacket closer around her and sank her chin farther into the folds of the cheap scarf she had wrapped around her neck.Just another layer of cocoon against the world around her.
She walked with her head down, eyes on the cracks in the sidewalk that was under constant construction, or destruction, depending upon the neighborhood.Her neighborhood consisted of a three-block row of identical cracker boxes…at least that is how she thought of them in her mind as she looked at their square front and long, narrow lengths.They each had six steps up to the door, which then opened on a tiny hallway of two doors and an even smaller stairway to floors two, three, and four.She was on the third floor.And she shared the two-bedroom apartment with its one bathroom, and the living room/kitchen/dining room combo that was really grand-sounding, but the dining was two TV trays in front of the small two-person settee and old leather rocker/recliner that had seen better days twenty years before.In fact, the whole group of their furnishings came from the same place as her meager wardrobe…the neighborhood thrift store.
Thankfully, she had reached the steps just as a light mist began to fall from graying clouds that had threatened most of the afternoon.The night was going to be another dark, cold one, which only added to her spirit level…in the wrong direction.Ally made the measured climb up the threadbare carpet of the staircase just as she traversed the streets on the way to and from her workplaces, by autopilot.She was thankful she had already gotten the small grocery list of staples two days ago.Her hand rummaged around inside her shoulder bag for the key ring.The new weight on it paused her fingers.
A stab of sadness enveloped her, and she allowed her forehead to rest against the chipped gray paint of the front door of what had been her home for the last eight years.Ally remembered the days when she would not hesitate to open the door, step through and be greeted with a warm smile and inquiries as to how her day had gone.The smell of home cooking would fill the tiny four-room apartment, and she would feel a warmth grow within her and a smile could not be held back.
Her hand paused on the doorknob.The key was inserted but first came a deep breath to help steel herself against the wave of painful memories that had never stemmed in the four weeks since the warmth and light had gone from the tiny corner of the world, she had called home.Nothing would change the inevitable so best to get it over.Ally stepped through the doorway and shut the door behind her with a loud thud.The three locks were turned, and her keys went into the small ceramic shell that sat on a table beside the door.Her shoulder bag went onto the peg on the wall behind the table.The sound of claws on the tile floor from the small kitchen put a smile on her face and she turned to widen the smile into a grin.The little furry missile was headed straight for her, ears flapping like dual flags, tail waving side to side so fast that its bottom was fairly lifted off the ground in its fervor.
Ally clapped her hands and then the furry missile was scooped off the floor and buried in her arms.The dog’s wiggling body made her laugh.She liked to think that just maybe the dog was trying to make up for the absence of its mistress.Silly notion perhaps, but then maybe not.Annie Pickett had worked her special magic over people in her life, and Ally wouldn’t doubt she had instructed her little Teddy to make sure to look out for her when she left them.Would the pain ever be less sharp in her chest?People said it would.But so far, she could prove them wrong.
“Were you a good boy today?Did you play with your buddies in the park?Let’s find the note and see what Laura has to say.”Laura Reyes was a teen neighbor from the fourth floor.She and her mother were good neighbors, and they looked out for each other.Ally settled on the faded sofa and Teddy sat patiently awaiting the verdict at her feet.
“Teddy was a sweetheart today.”Ally glanced over at the dog who seemed to have an angelic smile on his face at the news.“However, he had a problem with the English bulldog from across the park, who doesn’t seem to fit in too well with the rest.Teddy finally grabbed his ball and ran away with it.I gave chase and we delivered it back to the pouting dog and his stuck-up owner who said Teddy was a mongrel ruffian.Teddy got an extra doggie treat when we got home because he isn’t a mongrel ruffian.Hope he won’t be grounded from playtime tomorrow?See you at the usual time,” Ally read.
“You might not be a pure breed, but you have more class than that snooty bulldog.And he is almost twice your size at that.”Her gaze softened on the mix-matched animal.That was how she always described the dog in her mind…but never out loud.Annie wasn’t too certain of what breed…make thatbreed…might have come into play in Teddy’s pedigree.His ears resembled floppy fur flags when he was in motion.His body was short and compact like a terrier; his tail was bushy like a fox’s.There was a perpetual smile on his face that held big black button eyes that could melt anyone’s heart.And Teddy had owned Ally’s in total since the moment they’d laid eyes on each other all those years ago.
“You should try to remember that you aren’t a playground bully.At your age, you need to leave that to some of the other pups.”Then a dark thought crowded into the moment.She had lost Annie too soon in her thinking.And that left her Teddy.He wasn’t a spring chicken either in dog-to-human years.In human years, he would be in his eighties.But she wiped the rest of that thought away.Don’t borrow trouble, girl.She could hear Annie’s admonishment even now.More than once those words had been sent her way.
“Tomorrow, you get an extra hour with Laura,” Ally said, folding the note and standing.Teddy began to dance around.He knew the routine.And it was solidified as he followed on Ally’s heels toward the front door.She took down her warmer insulated jacket and pulled it on.Her good shoes were traded for serviceable boots with a thin layer of inside warmth.The outside fake leather could better handle the wet streets of the evening.She checked her pockets for gloves and found them.When she reached next for the leather leash, the dog at her feet added a couple of twists and even a slight hop.Ally bent and snapped the leash to the collar.She laughed at the joy of the animal and hoped to capture some of it on their walk.The last item she added was her bright red knitted cap that was her birthday gift last year and handmade by Annie.She tucked the small songbook inside her purse, and it then went over her shoulder and the pair were ready.It was all Teddy could do to maintain composure to follow her slower steps out of the apartment.But it was he who led the way down the stairs with her laughter following him.
Darkness had fallen like an early theater curtain call across the city dubbed the ‘City That Never Sleeps.’Although in her little corner of that world, Ally knew that at least it slowed down after dark when people arrived home and suppers had begun, homework was started, and tired feet were allowed to slow before the next shift.In her case, they were off to the tiny stone-fronted church three blocks away.It had become a weekly ritual for the last four years of her life.She often accompanied Annie to services following much encouragement from the woman after she had accepted her generous offer of a roof over head one rainy afternoon.It turned out to be a godsend, a miracle of sorts, that their paths had crossed in that moment.And there have been more such moments over the years.Annie had taught her to believe and have faith, and to be able to use the strength she had built inside to be the impetus to reach for more than she thought she could ever expect.Ally knew she had more work to do on that score, but she would have to do it alone now.
Thursday evenings were the time she was expected to be at the small church.The routine was automatic for her and Teddy.They would enter down the flight of steps at the side of the building.Down a short hallway filled with coatracks for outerwear, then the smell of hot chocolate would greet them, fresh-baked cookies still in ovens would soon be ready for their breaks or after the choir rehearsals.Ally knew she was lucky to be able to have Teddy join her but the students in her children’s choir had vocally pleaded with Pastor Nesbitt and the man had succumbed to Teddy’s big eyes with his own plea.Teddy had a box with a comfy pillow underneath the piano in the small rehearsal room.He took his spot and only came out at break time when Ally gave permission.Then he enjoyed doggie biscuits while the humans had the cookies.
Annie would often come along and sit in the back, eyes closed, smile on her face, as she enjoyed the sweet angelic voices learning the hymns of her own childhood.She had given Ally the courage to say yes when the pastor had asked one day, two years ago, to take over the choir.She had taken a big step in her mind.And had been rewarded with such joy ever since.But what she still found hard to believe was that others found her voice to be worthy of attention.While she would use it to teach the children and to hide behind others in the adult choir when needed, there was no way she would agree when the pastor would ask her to perform a solo at Sunday service.Baby steps.
The group of eight students, ranging from five to nine in age, three boys and six girls, came bustling in, with hugs for Ally and pats on the head for Teddy, who then retreated under the piano.Maggie Davis, a retired schoolteacher and their volunteer pianist came in soon after and it was down to business.Ally loved this part of her day, and it was why Thursdays were special.Although she was acutely aware of the empty chair at the back of the room.Or maybe it wasn’t.She tried to think along those lines, but it was still too raw a loss of such a magical and strong spirit.
“The voices of angels!That’s what I hear in this room, Miss Ally.”The short, rotund man stepped into the room on the last stanza of the song right before cookie break.His words trailed behind the announcement of the cookies and milk being served in the dining hall.With a smile and nod at the children’s expectant look in her direction, the room was quickly emptied of little bodies.
“Thank you, Mr.Jacobs.Forgive the thundering herd that just heard the call to the goodies.They are all treasures to be sure.”
“Indeed, they are and so have you been to them.”He smiled as he came to stand beside the piano.“Beautiful accompaniment also.”Of course, he was a little partial as the pianist was his sister.
She stood and shook her head.“Well, the pianist needs some sustenance also.I’ll leave you two to follow the herd and myself.”She left them.
“You aren’t in the mood for cookies?”Ally asked as she noted the man seemed to have something on his mind as he continued to stand with a thoughtful look on his features.Annie always referred to it as his ‘lawyerly look.’
“In a few minutes,” he responded.“I do need to have a few words with you.About Annie’s last wishes and her will.”
Ally felt a sudden sense of losing her appetite as her stomach tightened.It was a natural reflex she had developed, which often heralded not so good news.First law of preservation…make the first move.
“What’s the bad news?No use waiting on that.”
His small smile twitched a bit under his mustache.“I just wanted to make certain you could still make the formal reading tomorrow.And the specific instructions to you will follow.”
“Yes, I took a couple of hours off.I’ll be there on time.”
“That’s good.And don’t worry, my girl.Annie was indeed of a sound mind and thought everything out to the last detail.You know you can always trust her to know best.Now I am going to grab a cookie and my granddaughter and get home.Have a good sleep tonight and be safe going home.”He gave her a fatherly pat on the arm and left her.
