“Toby! No! Bad dog!” she said.
I was so surprised that I dropped the ball. It bounced on the grass. The little boy ran to get it.
What was bad about playing? How could that be bad? My ears went down. My tail drooped.
A new man, one I hadn’t seen before, was in the doorway behind Fran. She moved aside to let him come out onto the lawn with us. The tall girl, the one who’d been sitting with Patsy, ran to him, and he hugged her tightly.
Fran turned to them, and her whole body softened. Her face looked tender. I had not seen her look like this before, ever. She always looked so impatient when she looked at me.
She gently touched the girl’s back and put her hand on the man’s arm. I remembered my mother, Sadie, and how she had curled her body around mine when she sensed that I was hurting and needed to be comforted.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Fran said to the man and the girl. Even her voice was gentle.
“My mom isn’t suffering anymore,” the man said quietly, with his arms still around the girl. “That’s what’s important.”
The boy picked up the ball and threw it for me, and I went after it. He didn’t throw it far, though, so I could still hear Fran’s words. I didn’t understand what they meant, but I understood the tone. She was using her voice to comfort the man, just as my mother had used her body’s warmth to comfort me.
“I’m sorry about your daughter’s dress, too. There’s mud all over the front.”
The man shrugged. “It’s just mud. It doesn’t matter at all. I’m so glad they’re playing with the little dog. Toby, right?” I heard my name and perked up my ears as I brought the ball back to the boy. I wasn’t a bad dog anymore, I felt sure. Whatever I’d done wrong, it was over.
“Honestly, Toby was one of the reasons we picked this facility for my mom’s last days,” the man went on. “Look at my kids. He’s helping them so much. This day would have been too sad for us all without Toby. He’s a great dog.”
My name again! I still had the ball in my mouth, so I ran over to offer it to the man, tail wagging. I could feel and smell that he was sad. If he played a little with us, he’d feel better.
He reached down and picked the ball up with one arm still around the tall girl. Then he threw it, so hard it soared through the air, bounced off the fence, and zigzagged beneath a bush.
I dashed off after it, but I could still hear Fran’s voice from behind me as I ran.
“I’m glad you like the dog. Do you want him?” she asked.
11
I brought the ball back to the man while he and Fran talked. The little kids seemed to be begging him for something, just like my brothers and sisters and I used to beg and whine for milk from my mother when we were hungry. “Please, Daddy? Can we? Please, let’s take Toby!” they kept saying.
I knew they were talking about me, so I licked their ankles and knees and anything else I could reach.
“Well, I’ll think about it,” the man said. “That’s all I can say. Today’s not a good day to decide anything. But I’ll give it a lot of thought.”
My new friends did not stay long after that. Once they had gone, Dorothy came out in her wheelchair and threw the ball for me a few more times. That was fun. It was nice to have so many people who wanted to play.
Mona had to leave then. “Swimming lesson,” she said to me. “We’ll do more work tomorrow, okay, Toby? You’re a good dog. You did good today with those kids.”
She kissed me good-bye, and then she went away.
I wandered around to see if I could find Eddie and some bacon. No luck. But a few of my other friends had treats for me in their pockets or in little dishes next to their beds. Delicious!
I stopped by the door of a room I had not been inside very often. I did not quite understand what people did in there. Sometimes they lay on tables and pulled at ropes that were attached to heavy weights. Sometimes they perched on odd machines and turned pedals with their feet. Sometimes they even sat on the floor and moved their arms and legs around. It looked sort of like playing, but as far as I could tell, they were not having any fun.
Today, I caught a familiar scent as I stood by the door, so I hurried in to investigate. Grandad and Tyler!
Grandad was leaning on the bars of his metal cage next to a very strange contraption. There was a long, thin flat surface, sort of like a table, but only a few inches about the ground. I sniffed at it. It smelled rubbery. Some bars stuck up from one end, with handles to hold. I wondered what it was doing there and why Tyler and Grandad were both looking at it. Why do people spend so much time looking at things that they cannot play with or eat?
Grandad was frowning. His shoulders were hunched up a little. I recognized what his body was saying. He looked like I felt when Mona wanted me to do Training and I would rather play.
Tyler was standing nearby. “C’mon, Grandad,” he begged.
Was Tyler trying to make Grandad do Training? He needed some treats. That would probably help.
“I’ve got better things to do than walk and get nowhere,” Grandad said gruffly. “It’s boring.”
“So you’re bored for five minutes,” Tyler said. “Please. Mom said you have to.”
“I don’t have to do what your mother says, young man.”
“Just five minutes.”
Grandad snorted. “One minute. That’s it. Then you and your mother stop pestering me.”
He put the walking cage to one side. Tyler took it and moved it away a little bit. Then Grandad stepped up on to the flat, rubbery surface.
I was about to leave since no one had any treats or chicken here, but then something remarkable happened.
The surface Grandad was standing on started to move!
I was so surprised that I barked at it. Tyler laughed a little. Grandad looked down and smiled very briefly.
His feet were moving. He was walking but not going anywhere. This was very strange! I needed to find out more.
I jumped up on the black surface right behind Grandad. It moved underneath me. I stared down at it in astonishment, and then suddenly I was falling off. I plopped down onto the carpet behind the contraption as Tyler laughed more and even Grandad chuckled. He was not quite so grumpy about his Training now.
I did not like being dumped off like that. I jumped right back up behind Grandad, trying to catch up with his feet. It was hard! Every time I thought I’d made it, the surface pulled me back. Quickly, I learned that I had to keep my feet moving. If I did that, I didn’t get whisked away and deposited on the carpet.
It was a little like running with Tyler and the boys, except that we weren’t outside with all the good smells. Still, it was fun! Grandad was walking, and I was walking. We were walking together! I barked up at him, and he laughed.
“Good dog, Toby!” Tyler said.
“What’s going on here?” asked a voice behind him.
I looked over. There was Fran. I could not spare her much attention, though. If I stopped concentrating on my feet, I started to slide away from Grandad.
“Toby’s doing the treadmill with my grandfather!” Tyler said. “They’ve been on there ten minutes already.”
“Ten minutes? Really?” Fran said. She sounded surprised.
“Enough,” Grandad said. He was starting to breathe a little heavily, just like Tyler did when we ran. The black surface under our feet slowed down and stopped.
I guess that meant we were done. I hopped off, and Grandad climbed down more slowly. Tyler had his walking cage ready for him.
“Good boy, Toby,” Tyler said. “Maybe you should get on the treadmill with him every time.”
“Well, it’s more interesting with Toby,” Grandad admitted.
After that, I did Treadmill with Grandad most days. When my other friends saw us playing, they wanted me to do Treadmill with them, too. I’d walk with lots of people, the surface moving under us. Sometimes I’d even wait by the machine until a friend came along. “Want a walk, Toby?” he or she woul
d say and get on with me.
I liked doing Treadmill! It was almost as much fun as bringing the ball back to Dorothy or playing Chase in the halls with Mona. Sometimes Fran came to watch me. She’d stand with her arms folded as I trotted along next to my friends.
As I lay in my bed at night, though, I wondered about all the games I played. When I walked on the treadmill with Grandad, I felt like his dog. When I chased the ball for Dorothy and she stroked my ears, I was hers. When Tyler and I ran with the other boys, it seemed like I was his.
Most often, I was Mona’s dog, when we did Training or played Chase. But it didn’t seem right for me to belong to all these people at once.
A dog was meant to be with people; I knew that deep down. That’s why we left our first families. Dogs and people were supposed to be together.
But how could I belong to one person after another? Whose dog was I, really? Grandad’s or Dorothy’s? Mona’s or Tyler’s or Patsy’s?
When I lay there in the dark, these thoughts would begin to bother me as much as my feet used to. Then I’d hop up and go out into the dimly lit hallways. It could be hard to find a friend at night. The room with the couches and the black box with pictures on it was always quiet and empty. So was the treadmill room. And lots of doors were closed.
I’d wander restlessly, sniffing at each door I came to, until one or another gave way under my paw or my nose. Then I’d go in and see if a friend was inside, lying on a bed. I’d hop up and curl up in a ball near the person’s feet, and after a while, I’d fall asleep.
But sleeping did not make the thoughts go away, not entirely.
Whom did I truly belong to?
* * *
Most mornings, Mona came to find me. But after the day I’d been a good dog for playing with the kids on the lawn, it was Patsy who took me out and brought me my breakfast. Then she called to me to Come.
I trotted at her heels, and we came to a room where Mona was lying on a bed. That was funny! It was my other friends, like Grandad and Dorothy, who lay on the beds. Not usually Mona. I ran up to the bed with my tail wagging. What was going on?
I could smell the clean white sheets with their soapy smell and of course the smell of Mona herself, warm and welcoming and loving. Then my tail started to beat even faster. I could smell treats, too! Mona had treats!
I jumped up on the bed and sniffed all around, trying to find them. Mona did not move.
“Lie still, Toby!” Patsy said firmly.
Where were those treats? I sniffed Mona’s hands. Not there. I burrowed my nose into her clothes.
“Lie still!” Patsy pushed on my rear end so that my legs folded up under me.
That reminded me. We were playing Training, obviously. I knew about Training. I did what a person said, and then came the treats.
Treats! So exciting!
I was thinking so much about the treats that I couldn’t quite remember what Patsy had asked me to do. Lie, wasn’t it? I was already sitting, so I was halfway there. I stretched my front legs out flat on the bed for two seconds, and then I bounced back up. There. I’d done Lie. Treat now?
No treat. Mona still didn’t move.
“He’s not getting it,” Patsy said with a sigh.
Something else? I was supposed to do something else. I tried Sit. I drooled a little.
Mona sighed.
I remembered Eddie’s trick, and I stuck a paw up in the air. There! This time I was sure I’d done it!
But it seemed that I hadn’t. The smell of the treats was all around me, making me quiver with excitement. But nobody was offering me any. And Mona still wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t she moving? Didn’t she want to play? Was something wrong?
“Toby, lie—” Patsy started to say.
But I interrupted her. I’d remembered my last trick. Eddie had taught me this one. It was called Speak.
I barked once. Then I did it a few more times in case Mona and Patsy hadn’t noticed.
The door to our room swung open, and Mona sat up on the bed. I jumped into her lap, nosing around for the treats. Was she going to keep them all for herself? So unfair!
Fran stood in the doorway, looking irritated. “Why is the dog barking?” she asked.
“We were training him,” Mona said nervously. “He just got kind of confused.”
“Training him? Why? You know I said he needs to go to a new home.”
“We’re just—” Mona began.
Patsy put a hand on her shoulder. “Mona wanted to keep working with him while we look for a new home,” she said calmly to Fran.
“Did you put an ad in the paper?” Fran asked.
“Yes, I did. No one’s called yet.”
“Excuse me,” said a voice behind Fran. “Is Toby in there?”
It was Tyler. He was wearing shorts and white shoes with thick, rubbery soles. He looked like that when we went running!
Since Mona had forgotten how to do Training properly, I jumped off the bed and dodged past Fran’s high heels to sniff at Tyler’s shoes. They smelled like rubber and dirt and trash and all the amazing things about outside. I loved his shoes. I licked them happily.
“Can Toby come out for a run?” Tyler asked, looking from Fran to Patsy to Mona. “If it’s okay?”
“A run?” Fran looked confused.
“Yeah, he runs with me sometimes. All the boys in the club really like it when he comes. They sent me in to ask.”
“So he runs with you?” Fran gave Patsy a funny look. “Would you like to keep him?” she asked Tyler.
Tyler had dropped down to one knee to greet me properly, scratching around my neck and rubbing his hands along my back. I wiggled with pleasure.
“No, I can’t. We’re only staying up here for the summer, to be near my grandfather. And the place where we’re living says no pets. He’s a great dog, though. Someday I want one like him.”
“Too bad. But take him for a run, by all means,” Fran said. “He seems to have plenty of energy.”
Mona slipped off the bed. “I’ll get his leash.”
“I’ll be outside stretching,” Tyler said. “Thanks for letting Toby come with me.” He left, and Mona called to me to go with her.
“That boy … he’s got a crush, doesn’t he?” I heard Fran say to Patsy as I followed Mona down the hall.
Mona took me outside and handed my leash to Tyler. She didn’t give me a treat for doing Come properly, though. Maybe she forgot because her heart was beating quickly and her face was hot, as if she’d been running, too.
This time, I ran with my leash on, which was a little different from before. But it was still fantastic. We passed so many trash cans, and I barked at a cat, who sped away and jumped up on the railing of a porch, and I even saw one of those bouncy animals—I’d heard Tyler calling them rabbits—darting into a bush. So exciting!
Tyler ran closer to the other boys, and I did not have to choose between sticking with the pack and staying with my friend. I liked that. When we got back, he took me in the front door and gave my leash to Mona instead of leaving me to wiggle through the hole in the fence.
Mona seemed to know what I needed. She led me straight to my water dish and watched while I gulped down half of it. It was so refreshing!
“Good run, Toby?” she asked me when I lifted up my head and shook it so that drops of water from my muzzle sprayed in all directions.
“But we have to keep training,” she told me. Her voice was serious. “We don’t have much time. Let’s do it again. You’re a smart dog, Toby. You’ll get this. I hope.”
I wagged for smart dog in case it was anything like good dog. Mona kept my leash on and took me down the hall. Patsy was waiting for us.
“Can we go in and see Dorothy?” Mona asked her mother.
“She’s not having a good day,” Patsy answered. “She’s in some pain. But she does want to see Toby. It’s worth a try.”
They took me into a room, and my friend Dorothy was lying on a bed just as Mona had been earlier.
“Yes,” Dorothy said from the bed. Her voice sounded soft.
“Well, I’m not sure how long he’ll stay,” Mona said. “But we’ll try. He likes you.”
Gently, she lifted me up and put me on the bed by Dorothy’s side. I sniffed her face. She smelled tired and unhappy. I remembered how I’d felt when my feet had been so sore and all I’d wanted to do was sleep. Maybe Dorothy’s feet were hurting her just like mine used to.
Her soft, gentle hand came up to rub my ears with her light touch. “Good boy, Toby,” she said.
I licked at her fingers. Then I yawned. After such a long run, my legs were tired. I curled up in a ball right next to Dorothy’s side. It was good to feel her warmth along my back, just as I used to feel the closeness of my mother and my littermates when we’d sleep all huddled together.
“Look! He’s doing it!” Mona whispered, delighted.
I yawned again and closed my eyes. Time for a nap. It was nice to nap with a friend.
“Oh, good boy, Toby,” I heard Mona say.
I wagged once for being a good boy. And then I fell asleep.
After a while—I didn’t really know how long—I felt myself slowly awakening. First, my ears were aware of Dorothy’s steady, slow breathing. Then my nose picked up her scent and Mona’s and Patsy’s and Fran’s nearby.
“See? He’s doing really well,” I heard Patsy say softly. “Dorothy was having trouble getting any rest. With Toby beside her, she just drifted right off.”
“Hmmm,” I heard Fran say.
“He’s such a good dog,” Mona said. I knew those words. My eyes opened to take in my three friends. I wagged.
“Good dog, Toby!” Mona said again. She pulled a bag of treats out of a pocket in her jeans—so that’s where she’d been hiding them!—and poured several into her palm. She offered them to me, and her voice was warm and happy. “Such good Lie Still!” she praised me.
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