Puppy Tales 06 - Toby's Story

by Cameron, W Bruce

  We had not been there since the last time Mona and I had played Chase with Eddie. I looked up at Mona in surprise. Were we going to play Chase some more? I was pretty tired from my run. I didn’t actually feel like Chase right now.

  But it seemed that we weren’t, because Mona took me to a room with a bed. Patsy was there, waiting for us.

  A man was lying on the bed. I recognized him, even though I didn’t know his name. He was one of my friends, and he kept treats in a jar by his bed for when I stopped by.

  He didn’t offer me a treat now, though. He just lay very still. And he smelled … different.

  I lifted my nose in puzzlement. It was a strange odor, one I had not met before. He smelled tired. And quiet. And somehow, he smelled far away.

  It made me feel confused and a little uneasy. I looked up at Mona in puzzlement and even let out a small whine.

  “Now?” she asked Patsy. Her voice was hushed.

  Patsy nodded. “Now.”

  Mona bent down and lifted me up to the bed next to the man. The sheets felt cool and soft against my feet, which were a little sore from my long run.

  My friend did not seem to notice me. I sniffed at his face.

  “Lie still,” Mona said softly. “Toby, lie still.”

  That again? Whatever. I was too tired to play Training right now. I curled up against my friend with a sigh.

  Time for a nap.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I heard Mona and Patsy exchange a few words. Then a different voice joined in. It was quiet, but it was still fierce.

  “What is the dog doing here? Get him out of the hospice wing!”

  I felt my friend on the bed move very slightly. Slowly, he lifted one hand. He ran it down my back, his touch so light I could barely feel it.

  He put his hand down on the sheet again. I opened my eyes and closed them again with a long sigh.

  “Watch,” I heard Patsy say to Fran. “He’s giving comfort. Can’t you see Martin relax with Toby there beside him? He doesn’t have any family to be with him now. Just us and Toby. We can’t take that away from him.”

  There was a long pause.

  “Okay,” Fran said at last. “But you’ve both got to stay here at all times. If there’s any trouble, the dog has to leave at once.”

  “Of course,” Patsy said. Her voice sounded as if she were smiling.

  “Good boy, Toby,” Mona told me. “Good Lie Still. Good boy.”

  I was glad that she thought I was a good boy, but all I wanted to do right now was sleep.

  14

  That was the last time I saw that particular friend. When I woke up, I was back in my own bed. It was funny. I got up and shook and trotted through the halls, sniffing, to see if I could smell him anywhere. But I could not. He was gone.

  It was confusing, but there were still a lot of people to greet me and pet me and call me a good boy as I wandered around my home. This didn’t mean, though, that everything was normal, because I still slept out in the yard! And the next day, Tyler came to get me in the morning for another run.

  Running was the best!

  Today, there was a squirrel to chase up a tree, and two trash cans to sniff, and several new friends to greet. “Cute dog,” they’d say. “Can I pet him?” “Can my kid say hi?” We’d stop so I could sniff new hands and lick new faces, and then we were off again, moving fast, with the wind in my nose and the freshness of new smells greeting me with every step.

  That day, we did something even more exciting than usual. After jogging along a paved street for a while, Tyler turned a corner and we were on a dirt road. Dirt! I loved running on dirt. It felt softer to my paws, and it smelled so much better than that hard black surface that cars roll on.

  And then Tyler took off my leash. Fantastic! I could race ahead and come back to him or dash off to investigate clumps of grass or chase grasshoppers or grab sticks. This was the best run we had ever been on.

  Crows flew overhead, and I barked to let them know that we were running, and they could come with us if they liked. But they didn’t pay attention.

  There were giant dogs in the fields next to the road, with black-and-white splotches all over their bodies. Mostly they ignored us, but I barked at them, too, just because.

  A warm breeze rushed past us, lifting my ears a little, ruffling my fur. My ears perked up. I lifted my nose high and sniffed with all my might.

  That breeze had brought a familiar scent with it.

  Tyler was a few feet behind me, and he was starting to breathe in big gasps. “Okay, Toby,” he wheezed. He stopped running and stood with his hands on his knees. “Toby? Time to head home.”

  I heard him say my name, but I didn’t turn back to him. That scent! It had been a long time since I’d smelled it. It was telling me of something just up ahead.

  “Toby!” Tyler called, but he didn’t say “Come,” so I knew we weren’t doing Training. We were just running. And so I ran.

  “Toby! No! Where are you going?” Tyler yelled, but I was far ahead of him now.

  The smell grew stronger with every step. I recognized it! It was chickens and the big dogs who let people ride on their backs. It was dirt and grass and growing things. It was my first home! The Ranch!

  And I was there!

  Tyler was far enough back on the road that he could not stop me from wiggling under the rail of a fence and running across a lawn. A man was pushing a noisy machine across the grass, but I didn’t stop to greet him.

  The best scent of all was in my nose. Sadie! My mother!

  There she was! Lying in the sun beside the house, with a braided rope in her mouth. Her head jerked up as I came tearing through the grass, and she jumped to her feet.

  I tumbled into her, my tail wagging so hard it nearly toppled me over. She sniffed me as eagerly as I sniffed her, and I was so happy I had to do something with my feelings.

  I leaped on the rope, grabbed it between my teeth, and shook it hard. Sadie was as happy as I was. I could tell because she snatched the rope, too, and we had a great game of Tug until she pulled too hard and I rolled over and over in the grass.

  “Well,” said the man who had been pushing the machine. “Where did you come from, huh?”

  He’d left the machine and was standing, watching us play. Now he held out a hand, and I trotted up to him, still wagging as hard as I could. I knew him! I knew his smell, and his hands, and the soft shirt he had on, with its scent of sweat and dirt and grass. Walt!

  “Wow, I think you’re one of mine,” Walt said, petting me. “Glad to be home, huh? Let me see your collar.” He tugged gently at the metal tags that hung from the collar around my neck. “Toby? Really? You’re Toby?”

  I licked him for saying my name, and for being Walt, and for being there while I was so happy to see my mother again. She came and licked him, too, and then someone else called my name.

  “Toby! Toby! I’m sorry. He got away from me. Toby!”

  Tyler climbed over the fence that I had crawled under and jogged up to us, breathing hard.

  “This your dog?” Walt asked him.

  “No, that’s Toby,” Tyler said, holding out his hand to me. When I trotted over to lick him too, to show that I was happy he had joined the reunion, he snapped my leash onto my collar. That didn’t seem quite fair. How was I supposed to play with my mother now?

  “He lives at the assisted living place,” Tyler went on. “But I take him for a run sometimes.”

  “The assisted living place? That’s six miles down the road!” Walt said. “You ran all that way? With Toby?”

  Tyler nodded. Walt shook his head.

  “I can hardly believe it. Once that little guy wouldn’t run to save his life!” Tyler looked puzzled, and Walt chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you don’t know it, but he was born here. That’s Sadie, his mother. No wonder he came tearing in here like a rocket!”

  “No kidding!” Tyler grinned and petted my mother, who greeted him happily and then came back to sniff me some more. “Toby,
that’s why you took off like that. I was worried I was going to lose you!”

  “Well, he’s a fine-looking dog now,” Walt said. “I never would have thought he’d grow up like that. And he’s still at that assisted living place? Working there?”

  Tyler nodded.

  “Good,” Walt said. “He’s got a purpose, then. All dogs need a purpose. They need a job to do. And he ran six miles!” He looked impressed. “You two want a ride back? I can take you in the truck.”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, thanks. We’ll get back. I have to stick with it, or I’m not going to get better. And I have to get better. Soon.”

  Suddenly, he sounded sad. What a strange time to be sad! I licked his knees, which tasted sweaty and delicious. Then I licked my mother’s nose and the toe of Walt’s shoe.

  “Well, good for you,” Walt said. “But I’ll get you something to drink before you go. And some water for Toby.”

  Walt gave me a delicious bowl of cool water. Fabulous! He handed Tyler something yellow and sweet-smelling in a glass, since people don’t like to drink out of bowls. I don’t know why.

  Tyler guzzled down his drink almost as fast as I drank my water. Then he said good-bye to Walt and I said good-bye to my mother Sadie, and we started running again, slower than before but steadily, heading home.

  I thought about Sadie, my mother, as I trotted by Tyler’s side. Sadie belonged to Walt. She had stayed there with him even when my brothers and sisters and I had all left.

  Now I was leaving again with Tyler. Maybe I belonged to Tyler after all? But I still wasn’t sure about that.

  I hoped one day I would find out.

  * * *

  After that, Tyler and I ran together most days. I always got excited to see him in the mornings when he was wearing his white shoes that smelled of rubber and tar and dirt from the street and sweat from his feet. Such a delicious odor! I couldn’t understand why he didn’t wear those shoes all the time.

  When I smelled those shoes on his feet, it usually meant that we were going to run to the Ranch! Sadie and I would sniff each other and play Chase and Wrestle and It’s My Stick and You Can’t Have It, and Tyler and Walt would watch us and laugh. Then Tyler would drink a glass of that sweet yellow stuff and we’d run back.

  One day, to my surprise, we ran past the Ranch! I stopped and whined, reminding Tyler of the way we were supposed to go.

  That day, Tyler had kept my leash on, and he pulled at me, insisting that we go his way. What were we doing?

  “Wait and see, Toby,” he told me, and we ran longer on the dirt road than we had ever done. Finally, we turned around, and then we went to the Ranch so that my mother and I could play.

  At last!

  When we returned to my home after these runs, I was always tired and ready for a big drink and a good nap. Tyler would hand my leash to Mona, and she’d usually take me to rest on a bed with one of my friends.

  “Lie still,” she’d say. “Lie still!”

  Sometimes I wondered if she’d forgotten that my name was Toby and decided to call me Lie Still instead.

  Tyler came to visit other times, too, not just in the morning for our runs. One afternoon, Mona saw him come in the front door. She had me on my leash, and she and I went up to greet him.

  I sniffed his shoes, but they were not the admirably smelly ones he wore when we ran. I was still glad to see him, though, so I jumped up and put my paws on his knees to tell him so.

  “Are you going to visit your grandfather?” Mona asked. “Could Toby practice Lie Still with him?”

  “I’m sure he’d love that,” Tyler said, scratching behind my ears. I knew the word love, but it was funny how sad Tyler’s voice sounded when he said it. Love was not a sad word.

  “Okay, come on, Toby,” Mona said. “Come with us.”

  I knew Come, too, so I followed her down the hall to Grandad’s room. I was glad to see him! So I leaped up on the bed and put my paws on the book he was reading so that I could lick his chin.

  “No, Toby,” Mona said. “Lie still!”

  That again? I sat down and wagged my tail, looking at her hopefully to see if this would please her. She was standing next to Tyler. She sighed.

  That morning, Tyler and I had been on a good long run, and I’d had a marvelous game of You Can’t Catch Me with my mother. Whenever I saw Tyler, I thought about running to the Ranch. And that made me think of taking a nap.

  I’d taken a nap next to Dorothy after our run this morning. When I woke up, Mona had told me, “Good dog, Toby. Good Lie Still.”

  Now, on Grandad’s bed, I tilted my head to look at Mona in puzzlement. Was I a good dog for napping? Napping did not seem like my other tricks. It was not like Sit or Down or Shake. It was just … napping. Because I was sleepy.

  But Mona said I was a good dog when I napped. Other times, I was not always a good dog. But every time I napped after a run, I was. Was that Lie Still?

  I wasn’t very sleepy now. But it seemed to make Mona so happy when I just lay there. Lie Still. Maybe, even though I wasn’t tired, I’d pretend to take a nap. Maybe that would make Mona happy!

  I curled up next to Grandad’s side. The warmth of his body felt good next to mine. I even sighed, without thinking about it, just as I often did when I was ready for a nap.

  “Oh, good boy, Toby,” Mona said.

  “Don’t move, Grandad,” Tyler said.

  “Good, Toby. Good Lie Still!” Mona praised. She was happy! I was a good dog! I wagged the very tip of my tail, just so that she would know I’d heard her. I knew what Lie Still meant, now.

  Mona came to the bed and stroked her hand along my back, telling me over and over that I was a good boy, that I was doing a good Lie Still. Tyler came and petted me, too, which was very nice. Two hands rubbing my back made me wiggle with delight. But then I remembered that Lie Still meant pretend napping, and I forced myself to be quiet again.

  “Mona, you did it! He’s got it!” Tyler was grinning. “You’re a great dog trainer!”

  He picked up his hand from my back. He reached to put it on my head again, but Mona’s hand was already there.

  Tyler left his hand on Mona’s. They both stopped petting me until I picked up my head and looked at them with a bit of reproach in my eyes.

  Wasn’t I doing a good Lie Still? Wasn’t this what they’d both wanted? Why had they stopped telling me what a good dog I was?

  They remembered then and petted me some more. Sometimes people just need reminding.

  15

  A couple of weeks after my first Lie Still with Grandad, Mona came to get me. It was afternoon, and Dorothy and I were playing Chase the Ball outside in the yard.

  “Sorry, Dorothy, but Toby’s got a very important appointment!” Mona said, clipping my leash onto my collar.

  She took me to a car. Patsy sat in the front seat and drove, while Mona and I sat in the back. I pressed my nose to the window, which was open just a crack at the top. Wind rushed in, packed full of smells that made me dizzy with excitement. So wonderful!

  When the car stopped and we got out, I looked around in surprise to see all the people there. So many new friends! I wagged and wagged as Mona took me on my leash through the crowd, and people smiled and stopped to pet me. One little girl even gave me a crunchy, salty treat from a bag that rustled in her hand. I liked this place very much.

  “Come on, Toby. The race is going to start soon,” Mona urged, tugging on my leash.

  She took me to where the crowd was thickest. A group of boys was standing together on the grass, and a thin dirt road, like the one Tyler and I followed to get to the Ranch, led off into some trees.

  “Good. We’re just in time,” Mona said. “Here, Toby, do you want to see?”

  She picked me up and held me. I squirmed so that I could lick her chin.

  Someone shouted, and the boys lined up across the grass. Then I began to squirm harder in Mona’s arms.

  Tyler! Tyler was there with all the other boys! My who
le body quivered with eagerness. This morning, Tyler had not come to get me for my run, but he was here! Now! Shouldn’t I go to him?

  A man was standing near the boys, and he put a hand up in the air. He was holding some kind of a toy in it, something black and shiny. The toy made a loud noise. I twitched in surprise. And all the boys started running toward the forest.

  Running!

  I squirmed harder and whined. Tyler was running without me! This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. When Tyler ran, I belonged to him!

  “Toby, take it easy!” Mona said. She put me down on the grass and fumbled with my leash.

  I had to get to Tyler! I lunged forward. My leash slipped through Mona’s fingers. “Toby!” she shouted, but I was too busy to take care of her right at that moment.

  I tore across the grass, my leash trailing behind me, whipping like a snake. I dodged trampling feet and grabbing hands. The boys had nearly reached the trees by now. I’d catch them! After all the running Tyler and I had done, my legs were strong and the pads of my paws were tough. Those boys could not get away from me.

  Now I was in the forest, and Tyler was right ahead of me. He was running behind the other boys, just as he used to. Pretty soon, I was at his heels.

  “Toby?” Tyler gasped in surprise, looking down at me.

  I yipped up at him happily. He’d forgotten to come and get me for this run, but I forgave him. Now that we were running together, everything was all right.

  It was better than all right. It was perfect!

  “Good … dog … Toby,” Tyler said, pulling in big breaths between his words. He reached down and, without missing a step, unsnapped my leash, winding it around his fist.

  I darted around Tyler’s feet so that I could run ahead of him. Where was the Ranch? Weren’t we going there? I was afraid Tyler might have gotten confused and taken the wrong road. I was sure I could find the right one.

  No matter how hard I sniffed, I could not smell a whiff of Sadie or Walt on the warm breeze that drifted to me. But when we broke out from under the trees, our path ran alongside a fenced-in meadow. On the other side of the fence were some of those enormous black-and-white dogs. So obviously, we would get to the Ranch soon.