The delivery of a doghouse the following day drove home the increasingly permanent nature of Jared's not completely consensual decision to cast his fate into the hands of the Hendersons.
He had debated whether he should try to come clean with Alex. The kid had a head on his shoulders and, if anyone could solve Jared's doggie dilemma, it might be a gifted kid with tons of brain power. Holding him back from grabbing a pen and scrawling out a note to the boy was the fact that his cover would be blown. Jared still had his pride and didn't want Cassie to discover his embarrassing secret.
He would bide his time and trust everything would, somehow, work out in the end.
The pair of men who delivered the house consisted of a non-nonsense middle-aged guy and a cocky guy old enough to be in college, but probably wasn't.
"I think his house has more room than the bedroom in my apartment," the younger guy remarked, glancing at the sheepdog standing in the yard as he helped the older man lift the home off the bed of a delivery truck.
"Don't you mean the basement in your grandmother's place?" His partner asked.
"It's not a basement," the young guy said defensively. "I told you it's a split-level home, and she's letting me rent that level."
"The basement level?"
"Just shut the hell up or maybe I drop this on your foot."
Jared followed the men through the yard as they carried the heavy house as Mr. Henderson arrived to supervise and show them exactly where to place the structure.
"This an old English sheepdog, isn't it?" The older man asked Mr. Henderson.
"I believe so," Mr. Henderson said.
The younger man laughed. "Doesn't even look like a dog to me. It looks more like the ratty old footstool in my grandmother's living room."
Jared let the insult slide off his back. He felt nervous energy building as his nose detected different scents from the delivery guys, as well as the new doghouse. He was so busy sniffing it took him a moment to catch the arrival of sulfurous hints mixed with the acrid fumes of crushes stink beetles.
As the two men struggled to put the doghouse in place, Wepwawet materialized between Jared and the delivery guys.
"What's the saying?" Wepwawet asked. "Long time, see not?"
Jared shook his head.
"Whatever," the entity said, stepping nimbly closer to the sheepdog as he remained invisible to the humans.
The being frowned at the workmen. "Are these considered representative of the human race?"
Jared shrugged, but that only translated into a tail way. "What do you mean?" Jared barked.
"Never mind," it answered. "I'm sure they'll do."
"Do for what?" Jared wanted to know.
"Pick one," Wepwawet said. "One of them will be given the weighty obligation to decide your fate."
Jared suspected another trick.
"No, I assure you," the being said, slipping into Jared's thoughts. "All your choice has to do is request that I put you back in human form, and it will be done."
Without even thinking, Jared barked out his choice, selecting Mr. Henderson.
"Oh, I am sorry, but not him. You have to choose from the two strangers."
Jared debated. The older man seemed to have a bit of a grudge against young people, or maybe just his partner.
Jared figured he could trust someone his own age, the example of Cy Whalen notwithstanding.
"As they say, this is a limited time offer," Wepwawet hurried him.