“Come on. Gotta keep moving,” one of the other boys said, and they began to run forward again. “Hey, Tyler, you coming?”
Tyler got to his feet, hesitating, looking down at me. “I should take you back,” he told me. “But I’ve got to finish this run. Well, you like running. You want to come?”
Come! I knew that word! I jumped and wagged hard to let him know I understood.
“Okay, then,” Tyler said. He began to jog forward, going a little faster to catch up with the other boys. “Come on, Toby! Stay with me!”
Running! Running with boys! It reminded me of my days at the Ranch, before my feet itched all the time. I’d run and raced with my brothers and sisters. Now I was running with people. Running outside, in the sunshine, smelling dirt and grass and sweat and people and all the other animals that had crossed our path, smelling the freshness of air moving quickly. It was fantastic!
Sometimes I ran at Tyler’s side. Sometimes I dashed ahead to lead the pack. Sometimes I had to stop to sniff a particularly interesting smell. Once I even found a piece of pizza crust lying on the ground. What a day!
When I looked up from finishing the pizza crust, I noticed that Tyler was running more slowly than the rest of the boys. He’d fallen behind the group. I raced to his side.
He looked down at me as he jogged, smiling for a second, but he didn’t say much. He was breathing too hard—panting, almost. Maybe he was hot and needed to cool off.
“Tyler, you okay?” one of the other boys called back.
Tyler waved and nodded and sped up a little so that he was closer to them. But he slowed down again almost at once.
“Come on!” one of the other boys yelled.
Tyler sped up again. But pretty soon he was far behind the others, and he stopped, bending over to put both hands on his knees.
His chest heaved, and he pulled in great gusts of air.
“Hey, Tyler, want us to wait?” one of the other boys called.
Tyler shook his head. He waved at them. They kept running.
I looked at the boys, running steadily along the street. I dashed after them. Time to catch up!
Then I looked back at Tyler. He hadn’t moved.
This was odd. Why didn’t Tyler want to run, when running was so much fun? I circled back to him and nosed at his feet. Shouldn’t he be moving?
Tyler took a few steps and sat down on the curb. “I don’t think … I’m going to make … the cross-country team,” he said to me, wheezing.
He had a pack on his back with a little hose that hung from it. He put the hose in his mouth and sucked on it.
“You want some water, Toby?” He held out one cupped hand and squeezed some water into it from the hose. Then he held out his hand to me, and I lapped it up.
“Good dog,” Tyler told me. He was not panting so hard anymore. “You ran a couple of miles, you know that?”
He poured me more water, and I drank it eagerly. My stomach was reminding me that I hadn’t had any breakfast yet, but that didn’t matter. The other boys were so far ahead by now! Shouldn’t we be running with them?
I hurried forward a few steps, paused, and looked back.
But Tyler didn’t seem to understand that he was supposed to chase me. He sat still.
I paced a few steps. I whined, frustrated. Why were we staying in one place?
“You want to keep going, huh?” Tyler got slowly to his feet. He sighed. “Okay. Okay.”
He began to run again, slowly. His feet seemed heavy. I stayed with him, even though I wanted to dash ahead, to catch up with the pack of boys moving more quickly along the road. Somehow it felt important to be near Tyler.
We hadn’t gone long before we met the boys coming back in the other direction. Then I did break away from Tyler to race up to them, barking a greeting. They laughed. I headed with them to where Tyler was waiting.
We all began running together, back the way we’d come.
All of the boys were going slower now. But Tyler was the slowest of all. He fell to the rear of the pack quickly, and he stayed there. The distance between him and the runner in front of him stretched out longer and longer.
I stayed close at my friend’s heels. By the time we got back to the fence, he was not going much faster than a walk.
I knew that my breakfast was waiting for me on the other side of that fence, so I barked at Tyler to let him know I had to leave. He stopped for a moment, letting the other boys pull even farther ahead, and bent down to pat me.
“Too bad … you can’t be … on the track team for me … Toby,” he wheezed.
I licked his hand and wiggled my way back under the gap in the fence.
When I got back into the yard, Patsy was calling to me from the back door. “There you are, Toby!” she said. “I couldn’t see you at first. Come on in. I bet you’re hungry.”
Breakfast was delicious. I licked the bowl until it was shiny and drank half of my water. Then I had to consider which friend I wanted to visit first.
I decided on Grandad.
When I reached his room, he was stretched out in bed with a book, as usual. I hopped up and stuck my head between his face and the book so he would remember that my ears needed scratching. He put down the book and laughed and did his job.
I was tired from my long run with Tyler, my belly was full of breakfast, and I was happy to be with one of my friends. I curled up next to Grandad and settled down for a nap.
After I’d been asleep for a while—I didn’t know quite how long—a sound drifted into my ears. “Toby! Toby!”
It was Mona’s voice. My ears twitched, awake before the rest of me. Then I woke up all the way, stood, shook, and stretched.
“Good morning to you, too, boy,” Grandad said. He had put his book down on the bedside table. “You had a good snooze!”
He scratched my back, and I wiggled happily. Then I hopped off the bed to find Mona.
She was standing near the kitchen door, talking with Eddie. I could tell from the way she stood—her arms crossed tightly in front of her, her weight shifting from foot to foot—that she was worried about something.
I dashed up to her and put my front paws on her knees so I could be closer to her face. Then I dropped down, because Eddie had the best thing ever in his hand. Bacon! I did Sit at once, before she could even ask. Then I put a foot up in the air since Eddie usually told me to Shake. Then I drooled.
Eddie chuckled, but only a little, and not as loudly as he usually did. “Smart as a whip,” he said. “Here, Toby. Good boy.”
He dropped the bacon, and I snapped it up. Nothing was better than bacon!
“I’m sure going to miss you, Toby,” Eddie said. I wagged for my name and for the chance of more bacon. “We all are. But Fran makes the rules. And if she says you go, I guess you go.”
Mona dropped her arms to her sides and looked determined. “He doesn’t have to go yet. Maybe I can still train him. Yesterday was the last day of school, and it’s summer vacation now. I can come all day and work with him. You just said how smart he is! Maybe I can get Fran to change her mind.”
“Good luck,” Eddie said, and he leaned over to pet me. I licked his fingers, which smelled and tasted so perfectly of bacon. I loved Eddie. I loved Mona and Grandad and Dorothy and Patsy, too. This home hadn’t been exactly what I’d expected when I’d left my mother and Walt and the Ranch, but I was happy I was here.
“Come on, Toby,” Mona said. She sounded determined.
We did a lot of Training that day.
* * *
The next morning, it was Mona who was there to let me out first thing. I gave her some licks to show how much I loved her, and then I hurried off to check the lawn for more of those bouncy animals.
I could smell that a few of them had been around earlier, but none seemed to be here now. Patsy came out to join Mona, and while they were talking, I headed for the fence.
There might be a bouncy animal on the other side of it. I forced myself under the bush and wig
gled through the hole to check.
No animals, except a squirrel who chattered angrily at me from a tree high overhead. I ignored him. I was starting to learn about squirrels. There is no point chasing them once they are high up. But if they’re on the ground, well, they’d better watch out!
I guess the bouncy creature had learned his lesson and wouldn’t be hanging around anymore. But down the street, I spotted something that made my head and ears go up and my tail start moving.
The boys! The running boys! They were coming back. And Tyler was with them!
I dashed off to join them and ran in circles around them, barking with happiness. They laughed but didn’t stop running. “Guess you’re not the only newbie!” one of the boys said to Tyler as they jogged.
Tyler nodded but didn’t have the breath to answer.
This was excellent. New friends! More running! I settled in by Tyler’s side. Slowly, he began to fall back from the group, just like the day before.
I ran a little ahead of him. Then I looked back. Maybe he’d figured out how to play Chase Me now.
He had! He sped up just a little, so he was running not far behind my tail. We ran like that, with the boys ahead of us and the wind in my nose bringing us the good smells from all around.
I looked back again to see if Tyler needed another reminder. Apparently he did, because he’d stopped. He stood bent over, with his hands braced on his knees.
I hesitated. Should I go back to him?
But the other boys were still running. One of them turned to look at both of us.
That boy was telling me to chase him! I leaped forward and barked for Tyler so he would know what to do.
I heard him groan a little. “Okay, okay, Toby,” he gasped.
He started running again.
We turned around not long after that and headed back again. I ran in a circle around the boys to say good-bye and then wiggled through the hole in the fence and crawled out from under the bush, ready for breakfast.
Mona was standing in the yard, looking worried again. I raced up to her, panting and wagging. Why was she worried when we were together? And when there was bacon in the world?
“Toby!” she said. “Where were you? I looked all over the yard and didn’t find you. I even checked inside.” She bent down to pet me. I was glad that she was glad to see me.
“Were you hiding somewhere? Were you, Toby?” She put her worried face close to mine. I licked her nose. Breakfast now?
She shook her head and sighed. “Weird,” she muttered. And she took me indoors to feed me.
Breakfast really is wonderful.
10
After breakfast, I wandered into the room with all the couches and took another nap, this time with Dorothy. When I woke up, she had found the little ball again, so we went outside for some throwing. Once we were done with that, I went back inside and greeted all my friends. Some of them had treats for me. But when I got to Grandad’s room, I found something better than treats.
Chicken.
He was sitting at a small table by the window, eating some chicken from a plate. I was so happy to see him! And his chicken, too! I sat right at his feet, waiting for him to drop a bite down to me.
I was pretty sure he was getting ready to do it when Tyler walked in. He was walking a bit slowly, as if his legs were tired. I wagged to show him that I liked him and I was happy he was there, but I needed to stay focused on the chicken for the moment. I was sure he would understand.
“Toby?” I heard Mona call from the hallway. I wagged for her, too. But I stayed still, watching the fork move from Grandad’s plate to his lips.
“Toby’s in here!” I heard Tyler call. “But he’s a little busy right now.”
Mona came in. She laughed when she saw me, raising my head when Grandad lifted his fork, lowering it when the fork returned to the plate.
“He knows what’s important,” Grandad said.
“Well, I guess he’s got a right to be hungry,” Tyler said. “He ran a couple of miles this morning.”
Mona and Grandad both looked at him in surprise.
“With the cross-country club,” Tyler explained. “I figured I should tell you. He snuck out under a hole in the fence this morning, and yesterday, too, and he ran with us. He loved it!”
“I bet he did!” Mona’s smile was big. “So that’s where he was this morning. I called and called. I was getting really worried. Wait, you’re on a cross-country team?”
Tyler shook his head. “No way. Not a real team. Just a club, for the summer. My mom rented an apartment up here so we can hang out with Grandad more. And there’s this club of boys who run every morning. Most of them are on the teams at their schools, staying in shape for track, you know. But they said I could tag along. It’s great. Really fun.”
There was something about his voice that sounded odd to my ears. I knew that word, fun. But Tyler’s voice didn’t sound happy. And people were usually happy about fun.
It was strange. Almost as strange as the fact that Grandad kept forgetting to give me some chicken.
“Oh, that’s cool,” Mona said. “So you’re going to be visiting a lot?”
“Every day,” Tyler answered her.
“I’m here every day, too.” I glanced over at Mona for a moment. Her face was doing that funny thing again, where it heated up and got darker. “Training Toby. We’ve really got to work on his skills, or…”
“Yeah, I heard.” Now Tyler’s words and his voice were both sad. As soon as I got some chicken, I’d have to make them both feel better.
“Mona?” I heard Patsy’s voice from out in the hallway. “I need you for a minute.”
“Okay, Mom!” Mona called back. “I’ll be back for Toby soon,” she said to Grandad and Tyler. “He’s got to work on Lie Still!”
I glanced at her. But it was clearly not a command, because she was already hurrying from the room.
I stayed, because, well, the chicken was here. Tyler sat down on the bed.
“So how is it here? Now that you’re settled in and everything?” he asked.
“Pretty good. No complaints,” Grandad said. “Now, I liked staying with you and your parents, but it could get a bit dull during the day. Your mom and dad at work, you at school, nobody around to talk to. Plenty of company here. That’s good. Maybe I’ll get a girlfriend.”
At last, he dropped a bite of chicken down for me! I snapped it up. Then he put the fork down. That seemed to mean that chicken was over, but I kept an eye on the plate, just in case.
“So what about you?” Grandad asked Tyler. “That girl Mona, she’s pretty great. You like her, huh?”
Tyler shrugged.
“A shrug is not an answer,” Grandad told him.
“That’s what Mom says,” Tyler replied. He flopped down to lie on his back on the bed.
“Where do you think she got it from?” Grandad said, and he and Tyler both laughed a little. “So, Mona?”
“Yeah, all right, I like her. She’s cool. You’re such a nag, Grandad.”
“I only nag when I’m right. Smart girl like that—pretty, too—she’s not going to wait around forever. Take some advice from an old man. You need to tell her how you feel.”
“Yeah, okay. Sometime.” Tyler lay looking at the ceiling as if he were talking to it instead of to Grandad.
“How’s the running coming? That’s a great idea, that club. You’ll be beating the pants off the other kids come the fall.”
“Maybe,” Tyler said softly.
“Maybe? For sure.”
“Grandad, it’s not going so good.” Tyler still didn’t sit up. “I’m slow. I’m the slowest on the team.”
“So what?”
Tyler picked up his head and stared at Grandad. “So what? So I’m not going to win any races, that’s what.”
Grandad snorted. “Speed? Cross-country isn’t a sprinter’s game, boy. It’s about determination. You can’t outrun those other boys? Then you beat them with your wind.”
“What does that mean?”
Grandad twisted in his chair so he was looking right at Tyler. “They run, you run a little farther. Every time. That’s what it means. Pretty soon you’ll be running so far that a short race will be a breeze.”
Tyler sighed and let his head fall back onto the bed. “Yeah, maybe,” he answered.
* * *
Tyler left Grandad’s room not long after that, and Mona came back to get me for some more Training in the yard. Frankly, it was not very exciting. But things got livelier when the door opened and three kids ran out. Patsy was behind them.
“A puppy!” the youngest girl shrieked.
She was smaller than Mona, in a white dress that puffed and swirled out when she ran. There was a boy a little older, and both of them, I soon discovered, were very good at Chase Me.
The other kid, a girl who was a little older, sat down on a bench with Patsy. Patsy put her arm around the girl and talked to her gently.
“Toby!” Mona called out, a little sternly.
I stopped my chasing and looked over at her, puzzled. What did she want? Why didn’t she come and play too?
“It’s all right, Mona,” Patsy said. “Let him run. This is part of Toby’s job, too.”
The two kids and I played Chase Me over the grass and around one of the big trees. Mona watched. So did the girl who was sitting with Patsy. Every now and then, that girl rubbed a hand over her face.
The littlest girl chased me around the tree, and I spun away from her. She slipped on a patch of wet earth and fell to her hands and knees. I ran back to be sure she still wanted to play, and I licked her face and chin. She giggled. I tore off again, and she jumped up to follow me with her brother right behind.
Mona had found one of the rubber balls, and she tossed it to the boy. He threw it as hard as he could, which was not very far. Even Dorothy could get it farther! But I pounced on it and brought it back, and the little kids took turns throwing it. I was so glad we’d given up Training for now. This was much better!
On one of my trips back with the ball, I caught a familiar scent and looked up to see Fran standing in the doorway. Her eyes grew wide as they looked over the group of us, playing Throw the Ball. Then they grew narrow.
Toby's Story Page 6
