Puppy Tales 07 - Lily's Story

by Cameron, W Bruce

  Staring at me was a giant creature with black eyes and a white chest. She was lying in some wires, her forelegs crossed in front of her. One of her ears twitched. My nose told me that this was the source of the smell I’d noticed before!

  Well, I certainly wanted to get to know this new not-dog! Unfortunately, the moment I started to run to her, the leash pulled me up short. This was frustrating; I wanted to play! I bowed, wagging, so that my big, strange new friend would come wrestle.

  The animal didn’t move at all. I saw Dad moving slowly toward her from behind, some unknown toy in his hand. I yipped, spun in a circle, and then sat, wagging, waiting for the big creature to do something besides just lie there, but she simply stared. Probably she had never seen anything so wonderful as a puppy before and didn’t know how to behave.

  I hoped that whatever Dad had in his fist was the kind of toy that bounced. When he threw it, I would run after it, and so would this big not-dog. If the big animal didn’t already know how to do Bring It Here, I would show her.

  That was such an exciting thought that I had to bound up and spin around again, and the not-dog was still staring at me when Dad’s arm came down right on its flank. The creature started jerking and kicking wildly, the wires making loud noises as she thrashed. Dad jumped away. I stopped moving and watched, concerned. I could tell that the animal was in pain and fear.

  And then, just like that, the big creature decided to take a nap. Her head drooped, her legs went slack, and her bright black eyes stared at the ground.

  “Okay, Officer Simmons,” Dad called. “It worked. You can come on up!”

  Behind me, the woman stood upright, and then, grunting a little, she scrambled up the slope next to me. “Good dog!” she praised me. “You’re so sweet. Can I take you home?”

  “She is up for adoption,” Dad replied.

  I wanted to go sniff the exotic odors clinging to the limp animal in the fence, but the woman kept her tight hold on my leash.

  “Really? You’re looking for a home for Lily?” the woman asked. I wagged at my name.

  “Dad? Can I come out now?” my girl called from her open window.

  “It’s safe, honey,” Dad told her.

  I wagged. My girl was coming, my girl was coming! When Maggie Rose arrived to talk to us, bending down toward me, I leaped up, straining against the rope holding me, licking her face.

  “Lily! You silly, I was right there the whole time!” Maggie Rose sputtered at me.

  “Silly Lily!” the woman exclaimed with a grin. “Is that her nickname?”

  “Sure!” my girl replied, smiling back.

  “That deer was so amazed to see a puppy, your dad was able to sneak right up and inject her,” the man next to Dad said to my girl.

  “Good dog, Silly Lily!” Maggie Rose exclaimed.

  I loved good dog. Next to treat, it was becoming my favorite word.

  “The drug works fast. She conked out before she was able to do any damage to herself,” Dad said.

  I sat with my girl in the grass while Dad and the other two grown people petted the napping animal and yanked at the fence. When one of the wires snapped back, curling up, I jumped in surprise.

  “It’s okay, Lily,” my girl told me, rubbing my chest. I loved that and felt myself getting sleepy, there in the sunshine. I wondered if Maggie Rose and I would be allowed to go over and nap with the snoozing animal.

  “That does it,” Dad said to the people helping him pet the animal. “You two might as well take off. We’ll hang around for a while, until she shows signs of waking up, so that we can keep her safe from predators and make sure she’s okay.”

  The man turned away, but the woman came to see me, picking me up. “Oh, Silly, Silly Lily, I don’t think I have ever seen a puppy so cute as you. Would you like to come live with me?”

  She was holding me right up to her face, so I felt I had no choice but to lick her nose. She laughed and set me down next to Maggie Rose, who had grown suddenly sad for some reason. I climbed into my girl’s lap, licking and wagging, using all of my puppy love to make her happy again.

  The two others left, but Dad and Maggie Rose stayed with me. “How would you feel if Lily went to live with Officer Simmons?” Dad asked. “Would you like that, Maggie Rose?”

  Maggie Rose lifted me to her lips and kissed the top of my head.

  “Honey?”

  “I want to keep Lily,” Maggie Rose insisted softly.

  Dad sighed. “Oh, Maggie Rose,” he said.

  12

  For a long, long time, nobody moved or said anything. The sheer pleasure of being in my girl’s lap lulled me into a deep nap, but I became instantly alert when Dad stood. “Looks like the deer’s starting to wake up.”

  The big animal had been sleeping motionless on the ground, but now her thin legs were twitching. Maggie Rose jumped to her feet, so I did too, yawning. Nap time was over for all of us. I was ready to play with my new friend!

  “Okay, let’s get back to the truck. We don’t want to frighten her,” Dad said.

  I was disappointed when we left the huge not-dog and returned to the truck. I sat in my girl’s lap and alertly watched out the window because that’s what Maggie Rose and Dad were both doing. I didn’t see any squirrels or anything else that could be keeping their attention, though. Just the same animal who was taking a nap the way old Brewster did.

  Naps were just about all that Brewster did.

  At last, the big animal staggered to her feet. Now she wanted to play? But we were all in the truck! I wagged, waiting for Maggie Rose to open the door and let me out. I watched as the creature took a few steps. Her back legs seemed to fold up, and she almost fell. Then she staggered up to all four feet again. She took a few more steps. Then with a flash, she was running away, not galloping but jumping up and down as she bolted. I yipped with excitement.

  “There she goes!” Maggie Rose sang.

  “That’s a sight I never get tired of seeing,” Dad replied with a huge smile. “An animal set free to return to where it belongs.”

  “But not dogs,” Maggie Rose pointed out.

  “Oh no. There is no such thing as a free dog, just abandoned ones. We humans took over canine breeding a long time ago. We bred them to be dependent on us. Dogs are really only happy when they’re with people.”

  My girl stroked me, and I shivered with pleasure.

  Dad started the truck. “Let’s go back to the rescue,” he said. “Maggie Rose, you know you’re going to have to talk to your mother about what you did.”

  My girl kicked her legs. “I know,” she replied quietly.

  When we arrived back home, Mom sat with my girl at a table while I sprawled, exhausted, at their feet. What a day!

  “This is serious, Maggie Rose,” Mom said in grave tones. “You took Lily without permission. Do you want me to make a rule that you can no longer come here to the rescue?”

  “No!” my girl blurted, her voice so full of fear and emotion that I climbed to my feet and went over and sat beside her, staring up at her in concern.

  “Then you must promise to never do anything like that again,” Mom continued. “I appreciate when you help us here, I really do, but you cannot interfere with our operations. Do I have your word?”

  “But … but…,” My girl protested weakly.

  “What is it?” Mom asked.

  “But Lily helped save a deer! It was caught in a fence and would have hurt itself and might have had to be put down, but it didn’t see Dad with his shot because Lily was jumping around. If I hadn’t taken Lily with us, something bad could have happened.”

  I nosed my girl’s leg to let her know I knew she was talking about me.

  “I understand what you’re saying, Maggie Rose,” Mom replied. “It was a happy accident. But you didn’t take Lily with you to help; you took her for an entirely different reason. And you know I would have said no if you had asked, because there was a family coming to see her. They left to go to a different shelter,
and they called to say that they found a puppy that they’re happy with, but they might have been just as happy with Lily.”

  “Then Lily saved two animals,” Maggie Rose responded. “The deer and a puppy at another shelter!”

  Mom shook her head. “We owe it to Lily to find her a good home,” she said firmly.

  “She has a good home! With me!” Maggie Rose insisted.

  Mom pursed her lips. “We’re not going to talk about this further,” she replied. “We have to go home. Say good-bye to Lily.”

  My girl hugged me and kissed me, and I tried to lick away her sadness as she carried me back to my pen. She set me gently inside, and then her smell and Mom’s drifted away.

  It was just my mother and me all alone in our kennel. I had always thought I had too many brothers, but lately I was thinking that it was actually worse to have no brothers at all. My mother did not want to play, and my girl was gone. I was bored and missed my littermates. Most of all, I missed Maggie Rose.

  So when a new man came to the gate, I was happy to run to greet him.

  Amelia was with him, and she opened up the gate so that I could jump out to see both of them. “Here’s the last puppy left from this litter,” she said. “Her name is Lily.”

  My mother hung back, but I was excited to make a new friend. I wriggled at his feet, sniffing his shoes. Shoes were always so fascinating to me because they carried so many scents with them.

  Big hands came down and scooped me up, and the man held me so that I could see his face. He wore a soft shirt that smelled a little like Freddie the ferret, and he also wore fur on his face like a cat. I’d never seen a human with fur on his face! I wiggled in close to sniff it and lick it. It smelled of something sweet and soapy, and also of ham and coffee and sugar. Face fur was wonderful!

  “She’s tiny, but she’s not shy, is she?” the man said, laughing.

  “One of our volunteers has worked very hard on socializing her,” Amelia said, and there was something just a little bit sad in her voice. I cocked my ear at her. Why was she sad? Weren’t we all making friends?

  I was beginning to worry that I wasn’t very good at being a puppy. Otherwise, why couldn’t I cheer anybody up?

  “She’s perfect! Can I have her?” the man asked. He seemed happy, anyway.

  “Well, we ask that everyone use the application process,” Amelia said. “And there’s an interview with our director, and we check references. But yes, if you want Lily, I’m sure that can be arranged.”

  The man held me out a little from his face so that he could examine me all over.

  “You’re going to be my dog!” he told me. “Would you like that? Want to come home with me?”

  I wondered what he was talking about. And when was Maggie Rose going to come back? She’d probably like to meet this man with the furry face. We could all be friends together.

  The man put me down and picked up a scrap of cloth. He dragged it along the floor, and I jumped on it, seizing it in my jaws and growling as I set my paws and he pulled me back and forth, laughing. He tickled my tummy and kissed my nose. I wagged at the strong gusts of affection coming off him and was disappointed when he finally put me back with my mother and departed, following Amelia.

  The day after I’d met my new friend, my girl returned. I was so happy to greet her! I licked her face, trying to tell her how I’d met a new friend and it had been fun playing with him, but of course nobody was like my girl.

  Maggie Rose picked me up and tucked me under her arm and then carried me into the hallway. I squirmed a little. I didn’t really mind her carrying me, but it was more fun to be on the floor with her. We couldn’t play a lot of games when I was in her arms.

  I could feel that Maggie Rose was nervous. I licked her shoulder so she’d know I was there to take care of her.

  “Come on, Lily,” she whispered. “Mom and Amelia are having a meeting, and nobody else is working in the shelter right now. We’re going to try something new. I’ll prove to them that you’re meant to be a rescue dog. Then they won’t let anybody else adopt you.”

  She sounded very determined. I wondered what on earth she was talking about and if it involved food at all.

  Maggie Rose took me past Brewster’s pen. Our eyes met, but he didn’t get up from his nap. We passed another pen that still smelled like Poppy, the black, shaggy dog who had stayed with us for a little while. Then we moved on to the part of the room that had cages stacked on top of one another. Freddie the ferret ran up to the gate of his kennel and looked down to watch us pass. He made a funny chattering noise that was not a bark or a growl or a whimper.

  At another stack of cages, Maggie Rose stopped. She put me down on the ground so that I could see into the bottom cage. I pressed my nose up to the gate.

  I smelled a familiar smell.

  There were two cats inside. Young ones. Small. A boy and a girl. I’d smelled them before, on my girl’s shirt. Now they were right here in front of me!

  One had stripes. The other had blotchy spots all over. Stripes was the boy. Blotchy was the girl. Stripes retreated into a box with his wide eyes on me, but Blotchy came cautiously over to the gate to touch noses. Her fur bristled out from her body a little, and I could smell that she was nervous. I wagged to let her know that I was friendly.

  “See the kittens, Lily?” Maggie Rose whispered.

  Stripes and Blotchy smelled a lot like cats, but they weren’t cats, exactly. They were baby cats, the way puppies were baby dogs.

  “Aren’t they cute kittens?”

  Kittens, I decided, was what Blotchy and Stripes were called. Kittens. Baby cats.

  “Okay, guys?” my girl whispered. “Okay! Mom and Amelia say that you and Lily might hurt each other, but Lily is a rescue dog. She wouldn’t hurt anybody. I have to prove it to them. So we’re going to do this, okay?”

  Maggie Rose took a deep breath and opened the pen.

  13

  When Maggie Rose opened the door so I could meet the kittens, I did not charge straight into the cage. I remembered how I did not like it when my brothers used to do that. They’d run right at me and bowl me over before I was ready to play.

  Instead, I eased slowly up to Blotchy. She opened her mouth wide. I could see her sharp white teeth. I wondered if I should politely sniff her butt in greeting, as Missy the dog had taught me.

  “Oh,” Maggie Rose whispered nervously. “Maybe…”

  I yawned, just like Blotchy. Then I sat down and stretched my neck to sniff at Blotchy’s face. Her breath smelled very interesting! Meaty and fishy! I liked it! I wagged my tail.

  Blotchy sniffed back, and then suddenly she pushed her face hard against my cheek. It almost shoved me right over! How could such a tiny thing push so hard?

  She did it again, with the other side of her face. A funny rumbling sound came from deep in her throat. But it was not a growl. I could tell she was friendly.

  I licked her face. She shook her head in surprise. Now her fur was wet.

  Then something sharp stabbed at my tail!

  I yelped in surprise and spun around. Behind me, Stripes leaped away on stiff legs. He’d crept up behind me and pounced on my tail!

  Now he was running away!

  Obviously, he wanted to play Chase Me!

  He should have bowed in front of me before jumping on my tail like that, but it was all right. I was ready to play, though the cage we were in wasn’t nearly as large as my dog pen.

  I pursued Stripes back to his box, and he jumped up on top of it and let out a funny sound from a wide-open mouth—a hiss. What strange noises cats made.

  Blotchy crouched down low, wiggled her rump, and pounced at me, grabbing my back foot with her claws.

  Oh! Wrestle? We were playing Wrestle now?

  I flopped down on Blotchy and rolled over. She batted at my ear. I mouthed at her leg. But I was careful not to bite, and she kept her claws gentle. They pricked my leg, but they didn’t hurt.

  She understood Wrestle.
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br />   “See?” Maggie Rose said softly. “I told them you wouldn’t hurt the kittens.”

  Stripes leaped down from his box and landed on Blotchy’s rump, and she sprang up and whirled around in midair. I wished I could do that! She chased her brother around the small cage, and I helped out by following her, until we all ended up in a heap in the middle of the kennel, gently playing. Blotchy suddenly started licking my ears and head with her strong, raspy pink tongue.

  Did she think she was my mother?

  Maggie Rose had both hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter, but it still slipped out in giggles around her fingers. “Silly Lily, you’re so sweet!” she said as I shook my head so that Blotchy would stop licking me. “Come on back. Maybe that’s enough for one day.”

  She reached in and pulled me out of the kitten kennel. Blotchy switched to washing Stripes’s face until he batted her on the nose and darted over to get a drink from the water bowl.

  Maggie Rose shut the gate to the kittens’ kennel. Then she set me down in front of the stack of cages next to the kittens.

  Freddie the ferret was already standing by his gate, his tiny noise quivering, his whole long, slender body alert. I looked up at him, and he stared down at me.

  “Lily, don’t ever tell anybody about this,” my girl said to me, very softly.

  She opened the gate.

  For a moment, Freddie sniffed cautiously at the air outside his kennel. I wagged. Then he slithered out, gripping the wires with his claws, and climbed down the outside of the cages and landed at my feet.

  Freddie didn’t run anything like my brothers with their big clumsy paws, or like Blotchy and Stripes with their featherlight movements. Freddie flowed. He was quick and smooth, dashing past me, racing along the rows of cages. Brewster barked, startled. Oscar meowed. Stripes and Blotchy mewed.

  I chased.