<div style="text-align: justify;">Pamela and Peter Carmichael were sitting in their living room when the phone rang. Peter was on a table, looking at a map and taking notes. Pamela was sitting on a comfortable chair, a Dalmatian puppy on her lap. She was watching TV, while caressing the animal’s fur gently. The ringing of the phone made both members of the household stop what they were doing. Pamela looked at her husband as though they were separated by miles and miles, despite not much more than six feet separated them. With a sigh, she stood up and went to the phone.<br/><br/>“Aunt Bess”, she  murmured. Peter lifted his gaze, and watched as the expression in his wife’s face changed. Her lip quivered a little, but Pamela pushed herself together. “Of course I will be there, Auntie”, she murmured softly. “When is the funeral? All right. I will be there in the morning. Do you need me to call anyone? Very well, aunt. If you need me to, let me know”.<br/><br/>Hanging up the phone, she looked at Peter. “Grandma Maude passed away”, she muttered, making her way back to her chair and dropping on it, after picking up the puppy. “I told her I would be there in the morning. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to”.<br/><br/>For Pamela’s surprise, Peter said something she had never expected. “I’m coming with you”. Pamela blinked several times. “But…”, she started, and stopped. <span style="font-style: italic">‘But you hate my family’</span>, her mind supplied. She couldn’t say that, not now that he was calm. “...thank you. We should get going”, she finally completed, standing up.<br/><br/>Peter nodded. “Are we taking Commodore?”, he asked. Pamela nodded. “Yes, he’s too young to stay. Admiral can stay, he’s too big to go and old enough to stay. I’ll get some neighbor to come check on him once a day while we’re gone”. Peter nodded while Pamela went to the phone. She called their next door neighbor, a retired lady, who agreed on checking on the dog when she heard the reason why the couple would be gone.<br/><br/>With that out of the way, Pamela and Peter moved quickly. While Peter made sure the car was ready for the six hour long trip, she packed their bags. Clothes for the funeral, and everything else they would need to spend a few days away. After packing, she made sure dog food was easily available so Ms. Gordon could easily feed Admiral. Once everything was done, the couple got in the car - Pamela on the back seat with the puppy - and off they went. It was about eleven PM, so they should be in the old home, as the family called it - though none of them had actually grown up there - at about five in the morning, should everything go smoothly.</div>