The Guard Dog Who Slept Through Everything

The car boot sale opened at seven, in a muddy field behind the garden centre. By half past seven, Kavya had already made her first mistake of the day. She had agreed to bring the dog.

Pasar loak mobil dibuka pukul tujuh, di lapangan berlumpur di belakang pusat tanaman. Pada pukul setengah delapan, Kavya sudah membuat kesalahan pertamanya hari itu. Ia setuju membawa anjing itu.

The dog was Luca's, an enormous grey animal with a face like a disappointed judge. Luca called him Security, and he had told everyone, with a completely straight face, that the dog had a professional background. In truth, Security's career had been short. He had never barked at a stranger, never chased a ball, and never been awake before ten. He lay under the pasting table with his chin on his paws and let the whole world walk past him.

Anjing itu milik Luca, hewan abu-abu raksasa dengan wajah seperti hakim yang kecewa. Luca menamainya Security, dan ia memberi tahu semua orang, dengan wajah benar-benar serius, bahwa anjing itu punya latar belakang profesional. Padahal karier Security singkat saja. Ia tidak pernah menggonggong pada orang asing, tidak pernah mengejar bola, dan tidak pernah bangun sebelum pukul sepuluh. Ia berbaring di bawah meja lipat dengan dagu di atas cakarnya dan membiarkan seluruh dunia lewat di depannya.

"He is a deterrent," Luca said, placing a bowl of water near the dog's nose. "Thieves see him and they think, that dog is trained."

"Dia itu penangkal," kata Luca sambil meletakkan mangkuk air di dekat hidung anjing itu. "Pencuri melihatnya dan berpikir, anjing itu terlatih."

"Thieves see him snoring," Kavya said.

"Pencuri melihatnya mendengkur," kata Kavya.

"They see a trained dog, resting."

"Mereka melihat anjing terlatih, sedang beristirahat."

Their stall stood in the third row, between a man selling garden gnomes and a woman with a mountain of children's coats. They were emptying their mother's old flat. She had moved to a smaller one near the sea. Every drawer had given up something. Lamps, vases, a typewriter without its ribbon, a fondue set still in its box. Kavya had written the prices on bits of card, with a thick pen and not very much thought.

Lapak mereka berada di baris ketiga, di antara seorang pria yang menjual patung kurcaci taman dan seorang wanita dengan setumpuk gunung mantel anak-anak. Mereka sedang mengosongkan flat lama ibu mereka. Ibu mereka pindah ke flat yang lebih kecil dekat laut. Setiap laci menyerahkan sesuatu. Lampu, vas, mesin tik tanpa pita tintanya, satu set fondue yang masih di dalam kotaknya. Kavya menulis harga di potongan karton, dengan spidol tebal dan tanpa banyak berpikir.

By ten they were doing well. A man bought the typewriter for the price of a lunch and walked away looking as if he had stolen a painting. A girl bought three vases and a lampshade. A family argued happily about the fondue set for twenty minutes and then bought it.

Pukul sepuluh dagangan mereka laku. Seorang pria membeli mesin tik itu dengan harga sepiring makan siang dan pergi dengan tampang seperti baru mencuri lukisan. Seorang gadis membeli tiga vas dan sebuah kap lampu. Sebuah keluarga berdebat dengan riang soal set fondue itu selama dua puluh menit lalu membelinya.

At noon, Kavya decided that the takings were getting too heavy for her apron pocket. She counted them quickly, a thick wad of notes and a pile of heavy coins, and she looked around for somewhere safe.

Pada tengah hari, Kavya memutuskan bahwa hasil penjualan terlalu berat untuk saku celemeknya. Ia menghitungnya dengan cepat, segepok uang kertas dan setumpuk koin berat, dan mencari tempat yang aman.

The old biscuit tin was right beside her, one of the tins from the flat that had once held biscuits and now held nothing. It had a tight lid and a picture of a cottage. She put the money inside and pressed the lid down. Then she carried it to the end of the table and tucked it into a cardboard box, out of sight.

Kaleng biskuit tua itu tepat di sampingnya, salah satu kaleng dari flat yang dulu berisi biskuit dan sekarang kosong. Kaleng itu bertutup rapat dan bergambar sebuah pondok. Ia memasukkan uang ke dalamnya dan menekan tutupnya. Lalu ia membawanya ke ujung meja dan menyelipkannya ke dalam kotak kardus, di luar pandangan.

She was pleased with herself. It was a careful thing to do, and she did not often do careful things.

Ia puas pada dirinya sendiri. Itu tindakan yang hati-hati, dan ia jarang melakukan hal-hal yang hati-hati.

The cardboard box was labelled in her own big handwriting: BOOKS, 50p EACH.

Kotak kardus itu diberi label dengan tulisan tangan besarnya sendiri: BUKU, 50 PENCE PER BUAH.

At ten minutes past one, a woman in a green cap wandered up to the stall with a very large shopping bag. She picked through the cheap paperbacks and found a gardening guide, a book of crosswords and a dictionary with a broken spine. Then she looked up with a hopeful face.

Pukul satu lewat sepuluh menit, seorang wanita bertopi hijau berjalan menghampiri lapak dengan tas belanja yang sangat besar. Ia memilah-milah buku saku murah dan menemukan panduan berkebun, buku teka-teki silang, dan kamus dengan punggung buku yang rusak. Lalu ia mendongak dengan wajah penuh harap.

"Could I take the whole box?" she asked. "I am furnishing a little reading room at my sister's house. I would give you ten pounds for all of it."

"Boleh saya ambil seluruh kotaknya?" tanyanya. "Saya sedang menata ruang baca kecil di rumah kakak saya. Saya beri sepuluh pound untuk semuanya."

"The whole box?" Kavya said. She was busy with a customer who wanted to know whether the lamps worked, and she was happy to see anything leave. "Of course. Ten pounds. That is very kind."

"Seluruh kotaknya?" kata Kavya. Ia sedang sibuk dengan pelanggan yang ingin tahu apakah lampu-lampu itu berfungsi, dan ia senang melihat apa pun keluar dari lapak. "Tentu. Sepuluh pound. Anda baik sekali."

The woman lifted the box with a grunt, thanked her warmly, and disappeared into the crowd.

Wanita itu mengangkat kotak dengan sedikit erangan, berterima kasih dengan hangat, dan menghilang ke dalam kerumunan.

It was Luca who noticed. He had gone through the day with a pencil, keeping a rough count of what they had sold. Now he sat at the back of the stall adding up the figures. He added them once. Then he added them again, with the frown of a man who suspects the numbers of lying.

Luca yang menyadarinya. Sepanjang hari ia membawa pensil, mencatat perkiraan kasar apa saja yang sudah terjual. Sekarang ia duduk di belakang lapak menjumlahkan angka-angka itu. Ia menjumlahkannya sekali. Lalu ia menjumlahkannya lagi, dengan kening berkerut seperti orang yang mencurigai angka-angka itu berbohong.

"Kavya," he said carefully. "Where did you put the money?"

"Kavya," katanya hati-hati. "Kamu menaruh uangnya di mana?"

"In the tin. The cottage tin. I put it in the box of books, to hide it."

"Di kaleng. Kaleng pondok itu. Aku menaruhnya di kotak buku, supaya tersembunyi."

"Which box?"

"Kotak yang mana?"

"The one at the end of the table."

"Yang di ujung meja."

Both of them turned to look at the end of the table, where the box had been. There was a clean square in the dust, and nothing else. Under the pasting table, Security sighed in his sleep and stretched out one paw, like a very expensive rug.

Keduanya menoleh ke ujung meja, tempat kotak itu tadi berada. Ada persegi bersih di atas debu, dan tidak ada yang lain. Di bawah meja lipat, Security mendesah dalam tidurnya dan merentangkan satu cakar, seperti permadani yang sangat mahal.

"Kavya," said Luca, in a small voice. "You sold the money."

"Kavya," kata Luca, dengan suara kecil. "Kamu menjual uangnya."

"I sold ten pounds of books."

"Aku menjual buku seharga sepuluh pound."

"You sold one hundred and eighty pounds, a cottage tin, and some dictionaries."

"Kamu menjual seratus delapan puluh pound, sebuah kaleng pondok, dan beberapa kamus."

For a moment neither of them moved. Then Kavya seized her coat and her phone and ran. Luca followed her with the cash tray under his arm, calling out to the gnome seller to watch their table.

Sesaat tak satu pun dari mereka bergerak. Lalu Kavya menyambar mantel dan ponselnya lalu berlari. Luca mengikutinya dengan nampan uang di bawah lengannya, berseru kepada penjual kurcaci agar menjaga meja mereka.

The field was bigger than it had looked at seven in the morning. It went on and on, row after row of tables and open car boots, and every second person wore a cap. They checked the food van, where a long queue of people stood waiting for sausage rolls. They checked the toilets. They checked the dark corner behind the garden centre, where a man sat on a folding chair and sold lawn ornaments. He had seen a woman with a big box going toward the far gate. He could not say what colour her cap was.

Lapangan itu lebih luas daripada kelihatannya pada pukul tujuh pagi. Lapangan itu terus memanjang, baris demi baris meja dan bagasi mobil terbuka, dan setiap orang kedua memakai topi. Mereka memeriksa mobil makanan, tempat antrean panjang orang menunggu pastel sosis. Mereka memeriksa toilet. Mereka memeriksa sudut gelap di belakang pusat tanaman, tempat seorang pria duduk di kursi lipat menjual hiasan halaman. Ia melihat seorang wanita membawa kotak besar menuju gerbang ujung. Ia tidak bisa mengatakan apa warna topinya.

"Green," said Kavya, who could think of nothing else. "She was wearing green."

"Hijau," kata Kavya, yang tak bisa memikirkan hal lain. "Dia memakai warna hijau."

"This is a field," Luca said. "Half the people here are wearing green."

"Ini lapangan," kata Luca. "Separuh orang di sini memakai warna hijau."

"We should have woken the dog."

"Seharusnya kita membangunkan anjing itu."

"The dog cannot track anything. The dog would sleep through an earthquake."

"Anjing itu tidak bisa melacak apa pun. Anjing itu akan tidur melewati gempa bumi."

"Then why did we take him?"

"Lalu kenapa kita membawanya?"

"For morale," said Luca, and he put his hands over his face.

"Untuk menaikkan semangat," kata Luca, dan ia menutupi wajahnya dengan kedua tangan.

They ran back along the third row, out of breath, with a plan they both knew was hopeless. They would split up and search the far gate. They would ask every green cap. They would put up a sign.

Mereka berlari kembali menyusuri baris ketiga, kehabisan napas, dengan rencana yang mereka berdua tahu tak ada harapan. Mereka akan berpencar dan mencari di gerbang ujung. Mereka akan bertanya kepada setiap topi hijau. Mereka akan memasang pengumuman.

Then Kavya stopped so suddenly that Luca walked into her.

Lalu Kavya berhenti begitu tiba-tiba sampai Luca menabraknya.

The woman in the green cap was standing at their stall.

Wanita bertopi hijau itu berdiri di lapak mereka.

She stood next to the pasting table with the cardboard box in her arms. She was looking carefully left and right, like someone trying to find the owner of a parcel. Beside her feet lay Security, who had not so much as opened one eye. A small crowd of the gnome seller's customers was watching with great interest.

Ia berdiri di samping meja lipat dengan kotak kardus di pelukannya. Ia menoleh hati-hati ke kiri dan kanan, seperti orang yang mencari pemilik sebuah paket. Di samping kakinya terbaring Security, yang bahkan tidak membuka sebelah mata pun. Sekelompok kecil pelanggan penjual kurcaci menonton dengan penuh minat.

"Oh, thank goodness," the woman said, as Kavya reached her. She lifted the lid of the biscuit tin. "I opened it at my car to put my change in. I thought, goodness, that is not mine. I have been walking around for twenty minutes trying to remember your table."

"Oh, syukurlah," kata wanita itu ketika Kavya sampai di dekatnya. Ia mengangkat tutup kaleng biskuit. "Saya membukanya di mobil untuk menaruh uang kembalian. Saya pikir, astaga, ini bukan milik saya. Sudah dua puluh menit saya berkeliling mencoba mengingat di mana lapak Anda."

"You came back," Kavya said weakly. "You walked all the way back with a hundred and eighty pounds."

"Anda kembali," kata Kavya lemah. "Anda berjalan sampai ke sini membawa seratus delapan puluh pound."

"I could hardly keep it. That is far too much to pay for a dictionary." The woman handed over the tin with a smile, and then she glanced down at the enormous grey shape snoring beside her ankles. "I have to say, I was a little worried about passing the dog. But he did not even look up."

"Saya tidak mungkin menyimpannya. Itu jauh terlalu mahal untuk sebuah kamus." Wanita itu menyerahkan kaleng itu dengan senyum, lalu melirik sosok abu-abu raksasa yang mendengkur di samping pergelangan kakinya. "Saya harus bilang, saya agak khawatir saat melewati anjing itu. Tapi dia bahkan tidak mengangkat kepala."

"No," said Luca, pressing the tin to his chest. "That is his speciality."

"Tidak," kata Luca sambil menekan kaleng itu ke dadanya. "Itu keahliannya."

"Is he not a guard dog?"

"Bukankah dia anjing penjaga?"

"He is a very advanced guard dog," Luca said. "He guards the stall from stress. Most days he does it better than we do."

"Dia anjing penjaga yang sangat canggih," kata Luca. "Dia menjaga lapak dari stres. Kebanyakan hari dia melakukannya lebih baik daripada kami."

Kavya took a twenty-pound note from the tin and pressed it into the woman's hand. Then she insisted that the dictionary was a gift, which seemed only fair. Then she knelt on the grass and scratched Security gently behind the ear. He opened one enormous brown eye, looked at her with perfect contentment, and went back to sleep.

Kavya mengambil selembar uang dua puluh pound dari kaleng itu dan menekankannya ke tangan wanita itu. Lalu ia berkeras bahwa kamus itu hadiah, yang rasanya hanya adil. Lalu ia berlutut di rumput dan menggaruk pelan belakang telinga Security. Anjing itu membuka satu mata cokelat raksasa, menatapnya dengan kepuasan sempurna, dan kembali tidur.

"Pay him in sausage rolls," she told Luca. "Two. He just saved our whole day."

"Bayar dia dengan pastel sosis," katanya kepada Luca. "Dua. Dia baru saja menyelamatkan seluruh hari kita."

"Technically," said Luca, "he slept through it."

"Secara teknis," kata Luca, "dia tidur melewatinya."

"That," said Kavya, "is exactly what we are paying him for."

"Itu," kata Kavya, "persis alasan kita membayarnya."