Ace in the hole

It’s finally Ace’s turn.

At this time last year I still had four dogs. Two were old and retired from the hunt. One was a young up-and-comer, and then there was Ace, like Dwight Schrute, always a padawan never a Jedi.

Ace hunted behind both Spot and Jem until they got old, but didn’t inherit the mantle of top dog when they quit. By then we had Baby Ruth and she quickly rose to the top of the heap.

Ace didn’t seem to mind. Like all of us, he too, loved Baby Ruth. But she died last winter of cancer, six months after Spot died of old age.

I was unexpectedly down to two dogs, one whose hunting days...