The dogs, now outside, had belonged to the original owner of the old three-story, brick house in the little town of Rockdale, Wisconsin. The father of Liam Nelson, Andrew, had lived a successful life, then mysteriously disappeared. One by one his dogs died afterward, but sometimes at night, over the empty grave of their dead master, they were heard howling until dawn. Dharma's voice smiled as she addressed the Jack Russell Terrier, Holly Go Lightly. "What most humans don't realize is that dogs not only see ghosts, but can hear and talk to them. Dharma was a Black and Tan Coon Hound. John Lehman was writing a novel about the bed and breakfast, The Night Heron, which he and his wife had been running...and about their dogs, past and present.