Of course that’s what we were doing, wasn’t it? We were playing Chase Me! And just like the kittens, Freddie didn’t quite know the rules. He didn’t know to bow down or to look back over his shoulder to tell me to follow.
But I knew to run after him, anyway. Anything moving that quickly needed to be chased!
I couldn’t get close to him! It was impossible. Freddie darted faster and faster. He switched directions so quickly that I nearly fell trying to keep up. He swarmed up and down cages and flashed across the wires and dropped down and raced out into the dog kennel area and then, just as quickly, raced back. Maggie Rose was starting to get nervous; I could tell.
“Don’t go too far, Freddie!” she called anxiously.
I decided she wanted me to catch Freddie. I would do it! I would do anything for my girl!
Suddenly, Freddie doubled back on his own tracks again. One second, he was racing forward; the next, he was headed in the other direction! I tried to stop, skidding on the slick floor, my legs splaying.
Freddie halted at Brewster’s cage and chittered through the bars at him. Brewster barked back, wagging. He wanted to play Chase Me, too. He wanted it very badly.
“Shhh, Brewster! Don’t bark,” Maggie Rose whispered. Brewster and I looked at her, wondering what she wanted.
I shook myself and prepared to follow Freddie some more. The ferret turned in a circle in front of Brewster’s cage, almost as if he were teasing the big dog. I ran forward and jumped on Freddie. He couldn’t get away this time!
We rolled over and over. At one point, Freddie nipped me on my nose. It didn’t hurt much, though. And I was having much too good of a time to stop.
I jumped up and seized Freddie by the neck. Maggie Rose let out a little gasp. “Lily!” she cried out.
I wanted to reassure Maggie Rose, but I was busy. I dragged Freddie down the hallway. His long black-and-white body was limp in my mouth as if he were a puppy and I were a mother dog.
“Lily, no!” Maggie Rose called.
I looked up at her in surprise. No? Freddie took advantage of my confusion and wiggled out of my mouth. My turn to run! His turn to do Chase Me!
But the ferret surprised me. He didn’t run after me. Instead, he jumped up on the wire gate of the cage that held Stripes and Blotchy, clinging to it with his claws. Both kittens retreated to their box.
I was learning about being a ferret. Freddie ran differently from how I did, he wasn’t good at Chase Me, and he could climb as well as any squirrel! I watched in wonder as Freddie swarmed over the wires and ran across the top of the cages. I put my paws up on the door of the kitten cage and yipped. Now Stripes and Blotchy were mewing at me!
Freddie paused at the very top of the tower of cages. He looked at me over his shoulder. And then he wiggled down behind the stack, slipping easily into a crack between it and the wall behind.
He was gone. I couldn’t see him anymore.
“Oh no!” Maggie Rose gasped. “Oh no. Freddie! Freddie! Come back! Please come back!”
I didn’t understand what was going on. Where was Freddie? Was Chase Me over?
Maggie Rose darted to the stack of cat cages and grabbed hold of the wires and pulled. But every crate was connected to the cage on either side of it, and the whole row together was too heavy for my girl to move. Freddie remained hidden behind the cages, though I could still smell him easily enough.
My girl was breathing in quick gasps and sniffing hard. I could sense her fear and worry. Something was very wrong! But I didn’t know what it was.
I whimpered to tell Maggie Rose that I was worried, too. We could be worried together.
“Lily!” she cried. “This is all my fault. What if he gets stuck back there? What if he can’t get out?”
My girl sat down and grabbed me. She plopped me into her lap. Her hands were squeezing me a little too tightly, but I didn’t mind very much. I could tell she needed me.
“Oh, Lily, there’s a pipe back there that leads outside! I saw it once. I asked Mom about it; it’s a drain. Ferrets love to explore. What if Freddie thinks it’s a tunnel and crawls into it? He could end up outside. And he doesn’t know how to live outside! Freddie might die, Lily!” Maggie Rose wailed.
My girl kept saying Freddie’s name. Clearly, whatever was happening had to do with Freddie hiding from us. I’d better fix that right away.
I wiggled off Maggie Rose’s lap and hurried over to the stack of cages where I’d last seen the ferret. When I climbed around behind them, I could see the crack between the cages and the wall.
Freddie was skinnier than I was. I couldn’t force my body into that crack. I could barely push my nose in.
I could not see the ferret, but I could still smell him squeezed into the tight space. His wild animal odor was very clear. I whined a little. When I whined to my mother, she always came to find me. Maybe Freddie would do the same thing.
I heard a rustling noise. There was some movement, and then something tickled my nose. Whiskers! Small black eyes blinked at me from between the cages and the wall.
“There you are,” Maggie Rose murmured. “Please come out, Freddie! Please!”
The ferret raised his nose, twitching it at me. I wondered if he was going to climb back behind the cages or come out to play.
“Please,” Maggie Rose urged again.
14
I backed up, giving the ferret more room, and Freddie wiggled out from the crack. I sniffed him. He smelled dusty. He sniffed me back.
More Chase Me?
“Oh, Lily, good dog,” Maggie Rose whispered. “Just come here so Freddie will follow you. Lily, come. Lily, please. Lily, come and see me.”
Maggie Rose was saying my name a lot. I decided that she must need me. I trotted joyfully to her and licked the hand she was holding out.
Freddie scampered behind me. I was right! He was ready to run after me now!
But Maggie Rose seemed to think that playtime was at an end. She reached out for Freddie and snatched him up. He chattered at me and tried to twist himself out of my girl’s hands, but she held him firmly and carried him to his cage. She put him in and shut the door.
Then she sat down on the floor and trembled, the way Missy the dog had trembled. I dashed to her and climbed into her lap. I didn’t know why we couldn’t play more, but Maggie Rose obviously needed a puppy right now, needed me more than ever. I pushed at her hands with my nose until she remembered to pet me. I could feel her calming down as she stroked my back and rubbed my neck. There, I was getting better at helping her! The fear was going away.
After Maggie Rose stopped shaking, she picked me up and carried me into my own kennel. She sat down next to my mother. It was very nice. Maggie Rose, my mother, and me, all cuddled together in our pen.
“I’ll never, never do that again, Lily,” she said softly. “That was wrong.”
My mother sniffed at my girl’s face, and I sniffed at my mother.
“But I was right about one thing. You were meant to help rescue animals. You saved the deer, and you calmed Missy down, and you got Freddie to come back. Dad says Mom is doing what she was always meant to do. How can I show them that it’s the same for you? That you were meant to be here? They won’t listen to me. They want you to live with someone else. Oh, Lily. I don’t know what I’ll do when they take you away from me.”
Now my girl was as sad as she had ever been. After a little bit, she lay down on the dog bed. Her face was wet. My mother gently licked my girl’s cheeks.
It reminded me of how my mother used to lick me when I was very small. Then she would pick me up by the skin on the back of my neck, the way I had just been carrying Freddie.
Her mouth was so very gentle when she did this that I was never afraid. I always knew she was taking me somewhere safe. That’s what mothers do. I watched, but my mother didn’t pick Maggie Rose up by the back of the neck.
I licked my girl’s cheek, too. The wetness tasted salty.
It had been a very busy day so
far! I wanted to just lie still for a bit of rest. I wiggled myself under my girl’s chin, and my mother lay down along my girl’s back, curling up with her the way she often curled up with me and my brothers. Maggie Rose’s breathing slowed, and, before long, my mother drifted into sleep. I closed my eyes.
We all took a nice nap together—my girl, my mother, and me. It was the best nap I ever had, warm and safe and full of love.
When I woke up, Mom was standing there, gazing down at the three of us. She was smiling, but she looked sad, too. She eased open the door and came into the kennel. I tapped my tail on the floor, which woke up my mother, who wagged as well. Mom sat down on the floor next to us and gently touched Maggie Rose’s arm.
Maggie Rose stirred and opened her eyes.
“Hello, sweetie,” Mom said. “Nice sleep?”
Maggie Rose nodded. She sat up and pulled me into her lap.
“Honey,” Mom said after a few moments. “I know you love this little dog. But you’ve played with lots of dogs in the shelter, and you’ve always been happy when they’ve gotten adopted. Why is Lily so different?”
Maggie Rose looked down at me. I wagged.
“Because she’s like me,” she said in a voice so soft Mom leaned a little closer to hear it.
“Like you? What do you mean?” Mom asked. Her tone was as gentle as my mother’s tongue. Maybe that’s how human mothers lick their young ones—with words.
“We’re both runts,” Maggie Rose explained.
“Oh, honey,” Mom answered.
“We are, Mom. I’m the shortest girl in my class at school, and Lily is the smallest one in the litter. And she had big brothers, too. Just like me.”
“I see,” Mom said, nodding.
“And I just … love her, Mom. I just do. And she loves me.”
Mom nodded again. “I can see that. But, honey, you have to believe me when I tell you this—you’ll love other dogs in your life. Lily is very special, but all dogs are special. And I have good news. We just finished processing an application, and Lily’s mother is being adopted! Isn’t that wonderful? I’m going to take her to her new home right now.”
“But Lily will be all alone,” Maggie Rose objected.
“No, hon, when I take her mother, she won’t be lonely because she’ll have you,” Mom answered, still in that gentle voice. “And then she’ll have a person of her own very soon. A man has applied and been accepted. He just asked for a few days to think about it, which makes me glad. Adopting a dog is a big, important decision, something no one should rush into.”
Mom took out a leash and clipped it onto my mother’s collar. No treats were given. Then she tugged on the leash gently.
“Come, sweetie,” she said. “Come with me. You’re going to your new forever home.”
My mother got up and shook herself. She looked at me, still in Maggie Rose’s lap. Then she followed Mom out of the kennel. Mom shut the door behind her and walked out of sight, but my mother halted. I saw the leash on my mother’s collar lift up and go tight, and I pictured Mom at the end of it, pulling gently.
My mother was staring at me, and I was staring at my mother. She wagged.
“Come on, girl,” I heard Mom urge kindly.
With one last look at me, my mother turned away and vanished from my view.
I was very confused. I wiggled out of my girl’s lap and went to the kennel door and sniffed. I could tell my mother’s scent was following Mom farther and farther away.
I whined. She always came when I whined.
But this time, she did not come.
I whined again, louder. Maybe she hadn’t heard me the first time.
“Oh, Lily!” Maggie Rose said mournfully.
She picked me up and held me tightly. She petted me and talked to me. Her cheeks were wet again, and they had that salty taste. She was so, so sad. She rocked me gently back and forth.
“It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay,” she told me.
I was glad that Maggie Rose was so close. But I wished my mother were there, too. Being held by my girl, my nose filled with the scent of my mother still heavy on our bed, brought back the sense of peace and love I had felt while we had all been napping together. At that moment, I had been as happy as I had ever been.
But now my girl was sad, and I could not just lie in her lap recalling a wonderful nap. I was her puppy! I had work to do! I climbed off her and pranced over to the door, gazing at Maggie Rose expectantly.
“Do you want out?” She crawled over on her hands and knees like a dog, reached up, and opened the gate.
I trotted confidently down the hallway.
“Lily?” my girl called.
I found the towel that the furry-faced man had played with. I could still smell his hands on it. I grabbed it in my mouth and proudly took it to Maggie Rose, shaking it vigorously. Surely this would cheer her up! It was a towel!
“You silly dog,” she said. I heard dog and figured I just about had her. I danced close, allowing the towel to touch one of her crossed legs. When she didn’t grab it, I shook it and then acted as if I hadn’t meant to drop it into her lap. It had just happened. Oops!
She picked it up, and I lunged—yes! But when I pulled, she released it without resistance. I was dismayed to realize she was still sad despite having a towel with a puppy attached.
After a while, Mom returned and spoke to Maggie Rose. “Time to go, sweetie.”
It had been a strange day—fun, then scary, then cozy, then sad. I hoped it would be fun again soon. I hoped my mother would come back, and she and Maggie Rose and I could be together and take another nap in the dog bed.
Mom and Maggie Rose left. This had happened many times before, but never when I was in the kennel by myself. I sniffed, trying to find my mother on the air currents.
After a while, Amelia turned out most of the lights and she left. It was dark. It was very quiet. And it was so lonely. I had never been by myself in my kennel at night. I had never imagined how alone I would feel. It hurt, a hollow ache in my chest. This had never happened before!
I could smell Freddie and Brewster and Oscar and Stripes and Blotchy. I could smell my brothers, although their scents were starting to fade. I could smell my mother.
All alone, I lay on the bed that smelled like my family. I whined and whimpered a lot, but no one came to be with me.
It was the worst night of my life.
In the morning, lights popped on, and Amelia brought me food in bowls and fresh water. I was so happy to see her that I charged up to her the moment she opened my kennel door, licking her pants and shoes and panting anxiously up into her face and trying to let her know how awful, how very awful, the night had been. Where was my mother? Where was Maggie Rose? Where was everybody?
“There, there, Lily!” Amelia petted me gently. “It’s going to be okay. It won’t be long now.”
Later, after breakfast, my girl came. Maggie Rose! I flung myself at her, and she held me until all the loneliness of the night before had been forgotten.
My mother was still gone. My brothers were still gone. But Maggie Rose was there. And I loved Maggie Rose. As long as we were together, I would never be lonely.
Mom came to the gate of our kennel and stood there, looking in.
“I have some news, Maggie Rose,” she said.
Maggie Rose looked up hopefully.
“Lily’s new owner has decided he wants her,” she said. “I’ll be taking her there tomorrow.”
My girl’s smile fell away. The sadness, which was always lurking in her like a shadow, came forward and took over her mood completely.
Mom came into the kennel and tried to hug my girl and talk to her in those words that were like a mother dog licking her puppy, but Maggie Rose did not want to be held. She did not want words. She turned away from Mom, her face tight.
At last, Mom patted her shoulder and left.
Maggie Rose held me and cried and cried. I did my best to fix things. I licked her chin and her salty face. I
nuzzled my head under her arm so I’d be as close to her as I could. I told her without words that I was her dog and that she didn’t need to be so sad when I was with her.
But none of it helped. All that day, Maggie Rose was as sad as I’d been all night long.
Why couldn’t I make her happy?
15
At the end of that sad day, Maggie Rose left with Mom, and I spent a second night all alone. Another one! When would this end?
I was frantic with joy when my girl came to see me early in the morning. I tried to tell her with my whimpers and my kisses how happy I was that she was back and things were normal! I forgave her because she was my girl. As I nibbled on her hands, I loved her so much that my jaws were quivering.
She was still sad, though! I could not understand it. It made sense to be unhappy when we were apart. But when we were together, why would she be anything but overjoyed? What was I doing wrong?
I tried rolling on my back and racing around in circles and jumping up to lick her face—all the puppy tricks I had. None of it seemed to work.
My girl slipped a collar around my neck and attached a leash to it. Treat! Then she took me into the hallway.
But we didn’t stop and play there, as I’d expected. Maggie Rose led me through a door to Outside. I squatted and was rewarded with a treat. I was so happy about the way my girl understood that peeing and treats went together. This arrangement was so fixed in my mind that I was starting to feel that Outside was the right place for squatting, and it felt wrong and strange to do it in my dog kennel. I would hold back until we were here, Outside.
After figuring out that there would be no more treats, I put my nose down to the grass, which smelled fresh and alive and like all the things that had walked on it and peed on it. It had bugs and sticks hidden in it. And underneath it was rich, fragrant dirt.
Then Maggie Rose picked me up. I was not done sniffing and digging and exploring, but I was excited to see where we were going next. My girl tucked me tightly under one arm and slid into a big van, one with a ceiling so high that Mom could stand up in it if she’d wanted to.
Puppy Tales 07 - Lily's Story Page 8
