Big Yellow Taxi

This is Tank

Daniel rested one foot on the bottom rung of the split rail fence.  He noticed Andrew the cop was doing the same. Rowan had taken his son and wife inside the large pasture to let them get a better look at her puppies.  She had taken the boy by the hand and he stared up at her with a happy smile until the little boy in him took over and puppies became so much more exciting to a young boy than a pretty girl could ever be.  

Along with the dogs, there was a small herd of goats and one medium sized black horse grazing in the area.  Daniel tried to whistle the horse over, but it only c****d it's head in his direction before it went back to chewing on the long grasses near the fence line.  Daniel didn't openly stare. But he quietly observed the man next to him out of the corner of his eye. He had never spent so much time around a cop unless they were arresting him or his brother.  The man must have been doing the same to him, because after a few minutes of only slightly uncomfortable silence, Andy spoke up.

"You're not from here, are ya?," he asked.  It was obvious the man was talking about Rowan’s community specifically and not the general area they lived in.  Daniel shook his head, but he didn't offer up any further information about himself. He hesitated a moment, unsure if he should bring up what happened earlier with the pot or pretend it never happened.  Pretending it didn't happen felt like it was making the silence between them more awkward than it needed to be so Daniel spoke up.

"Thanks for bein' cool before," he finally said.  Daniel was happy not to be arrested and he didn't have a problem admitting it.  Not even to a cop.  

"No problem," Andy answered back.  He laughed as a large puppy knocked his son down and proceeded to lick the boy all over until Rowan hauled it away and scolded it.  "I haven't been out here much, but the sheriff that trained me told me about this place." Andy paused like he was reliving a pleasant memory.  Daniel guessed maybe the man he was speaking of had been more like a mentor than a boss to him.  

"He said these were peaceful people and that we ought to leave them alone and let them live their lives."  Andy lifted his arm and pointed to a large hill that was nestled far enough away that it looked tiny out behind the large red barn.  "Kids used to like ta come out here and go sleddin' down that hill in the winter if it got cold enough to snow..."  

Daniel nodded, listening to the story with so much interest that he surprised himself.  He hadn't known how curious he was to hear anything anyone was willing to tell him about Rowan's people.  More than anything he was eager to understand her and know more about how she lived. He had already seen enough to know the people here had made a conscious choice not to live by the standards of normal society.  But he felt he didn't know enough yet to really make a judgement on what he thought about it.

Andy's old boss had been just a teenage kid at the time the story took place.  The oaks community had only been settled a few years before and there weren't as many animals or buildings here then.  Despite the lack of outbuildings, everyone in the surrounding towns knew this was some kind of hippie commune. All the kids' parents warned them to stay away from this place.  They said the people that lived here were nothing but a bunch of drug users and s*x fiends. But that hill was the best in the county for sledding. And the fact that it was forbidden made it all the more appealing.

The older kids were taking turns sliding down the hill on an old inner tube.  When Andy's former boss's little sister got on, all the big kids gave her a push start and sent her flying down the hill.  It was just good fun at first. But she was so light, the girl went too far and slid out onto the iced surface of the lake.  The ice wasn't thick enough and it broke, sending her sinking down into the freezing water. He and his friends were in shock, panicking about how to help the girl.  She would have died if a few of the people that lived here hadn't been passing by at the time. They risked their lives to fish her out of the water. A little girl with red hair had stripped all the way down to her underpants and given his sister her dry clothes to put on.  The hippies, as Andy's former boss called them, took his sister back to the one large community house they were all living in at the time and warmed her up with a big fire, a hot bowl of broth and a glass of warm cider.  

"Every year for Christmas his sister still brings them out a big tin of cookies and fudge," Andy added with a smile.  Daniel smiled back, nodding his appreciation for the man's story. He had mostly been looking at Rowan, but he remembered seeing a slightly older red haired woman working at the farmers market with her.  Rowan’s mother. He wondered if she was the little girl from Andy's story.  

They might have talked a while longer, but Andy turned his attention to his wife and son.  He hollered back and forth with them as they tried to decide between two large black puppies that looked almost identical to Daniel.  A large tan colored goat ambled over and nibbled on a long piece of grass Daniel held out for it. He only got one quick pet on it's tawny head before the poor animal was being wrestled to the ground by a large light brown puppy that clearly had no idea of it's own strength.  The goat cried out, making a terrible bleating noise. Rowan yelled and clapped her hands at the dog, but she was too far away to grab the puppy fast enough. So Daniel hopped the fenced and seized the naughty puppy by the collar, hauling her off the other animal.  

The goat made one more loud protesting neigh as it scrambled to its feet and ran away.  Daniel kept a hold of the puppy to keep it from chasing the already frightened animal. Out of all the puppies in the enclosure, the one Daniel had a hold of was the only one that was wearing a collar.  As he looked down at the dog, he realized she looked very familiar.  

"Hi Lily," Daniel said.  At the sound of her name, which she knew well since the silly humans around her always seemed to be yelling it for one reason or another, Lily grew very excited.  She shook her shoulders, breaking free from the grasp the man had on her. Then she reared up and started jumping all over him. Daniel looked up to see Rowan running in his direction.  She was holding her long skirt up with her hands, her face red from both embarrassment and from running around the field with Andy's son and all her dogs. The biggest dog Daniel had ever seen was trotting along next to her.  When she stopped and gestured with her hand, the dog charged ahead in his direction.  

Daniel had always loved animals.  Even deer and rabbit. He hunted them because he had to eat, but when he wasn't hunting he enjoyed watching them.  He had met a few horses that he wasn't interested in riding. But he had never been scared of an animal before. That giant black dog made him suck in his breath and take a step back towards the split rail fence.  A fence that now seemed far too flimsy to contain such a beast inside. But the dog wasn't after Daniel. Rowan had sent him to police the large rowdy puppy that was jumping all over him. With a few snaps and some impressive sounding growls, the large black dog had the puppy belly down in the grass before Rowan could even catch her breath.  

Once Lily had been fully subdued, the large dog turned towards Daniel.  After all the growling he just heard, Daniel watched the dog closely to make sure it wasn't about to take a chunk out of him.  The dog stared back at him, moving forward to sniff at his crotch. Whatever the giant beast smelled must have pleased him, because he sat down on his haunches and c****d his head to the side.  

Rowan arrived a few moments later, breathless with her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink beneath her freckles and face paint.  She stroked her hand over the big dog's head, smiling down at him. Daniel recognized the same proud look on her face.  The one she had turned on him when she called him her visitor. He had been around women that tolerated animals, but Daniel had never met one that seemed to genuinely care for them before.  It was obvious to him from the subtle body language of both the woman and the animal that the bond they shared was much closer than owner and pet. He had always wanted a dog, but never had the time or the room or a stable enough place to live.  Daniel almost felt slightly jealous, though he wasn't sure if he was jealous of Rowan for having such a giant bad ass dog, or the dog for having earned the affections and love of the woman Daniel desperately wanted to get to know better.  

"This is Tank," Rowan announced, leaving her hand resting on her dog's head as she smiled up at Daniel.  Rowan watched her dog closely, waiting to see what his reaction to Daniel would be. Tank was the best judge of character she had ever met.  He could tell from a smell whether or not someone could be trusted. And he was never wrong. Rowan felt herself start to fill up with nervous energy as she waited.  Daniel reached forward slowly, offering his hand up for Tank to smell. Tank took his time, getting a good sniff on the man before.  

Rowan waited for her dog to either sit down and yip, meaning he liked the man, or to growl, which meant the man was bad news.  But he did neither of those things. Instead Tank licked Daniel's hand and moved forward to rub his large body against the man's legs.  This was a gesture of the highest affection. One the dog usually reserved only for family members and close friends. Rowan's mouth fell open as she watched Daniel lean down and give her large dog a friendly scratch.  

"He never does that with people he doesn't know...," Rowan said, her open mouth stare finally turning into a smile.