Looming trees gave us a blanket of shade as Beatrix, my truffle-finding husky, and I roamed the seemingly endless forest. Beatrix sniffed the ground intently, trying to pick up even the smallest hint of truffle. Within a few hours into our hunt, exhaustion began to take over, for me at least, as Beatrix seemed to be unaffected by both the scorching heat and the tiresome trek we were taking on.
Finally, after a couple of minutes of my legs screaming in protest, I give in and slump down against the rough bark of a tall oak tree. I barely manage to take a few seconds to rest when Beatrix begins aggressively pulling on her leash, as if something were drawing her forward. It was like she was experiencing a strong magnetic pull that she simply couldn’t ignore. Her forceful attempts at bolting forced me to my feet as I began dawdling behind her. She ran forward, sure of where to go, not second-guessing herself even once. I tried keeping up, stumbling forward to match her absurdly quick pace.
Once I regained the strength to run, Beatrix dashed forward, weaving past trees and greenery with certainty and expertise I had never seen her show. The trail of scent she found mustn’t just be a piece of truffle or two. No, this seemed far more alluring than that. The possibilities ran in my head: would I get an immense pile of truffles, or would this be something more, something that seemed unfathomable to me?
I halted at a stop as Beatrix made the sudden pause. All of a sudden, she began digging. Dirt was flying everywhere as Beatrix clawed furiously at the soil. Bits of grass and other plants were ripped out of the ground. Nothing was spared from Beatrix’s determination to find whatever treasures hid in the ground. She continued to dig until she seemed to have found what she was looking for. Beatrix tugged a thin, gleaming chain out of the ground. When she had pulled the entire thing out, it was clear that Beatrix had found some sort of article of jewelry. A frail-looking golden chain that shone under the sun with a sort of pendant laced onto it, which was caked with dirt.
I started to try cleaning the soil off the pendant. That’s when I saw it, looking back at me, a sapphire blue pearl encased in a clear teardrop-shaped pendant. Small, delicate, and my grandmother’s. The last thing she left me before she spoke her final goodbye, before she exhaled her final breath. It was the thing I thought was lost for good when a flood washed everything away three years ago. Three years without a piece of the woman who taught me to bake as a child. Who braided my hair into intricate designs when I visited on the weekends? Now I finally have it back. I have her back.
Beatrix didn’t just find me a piece of jewelry. She gave me so much more.