17
The kittens decided that, because I was standing still and staring at my girl, they should attack me from all sides. But for the moment, I wasn’t playing.
“No, no, don’t be alarmed; I’m sorry if I startled you,” the man said softly. “Your mom told me it would be okay if I came in to see. Look how cute they are! And they sure do seem to like your puppy—never seen anything like that in my life.”
Maggie Rose relaxed, and I wagged. “Lily makes friends with all animals,” she said.
The gray kitten leaped at my ear and began to gnaw on it. I shook my head, and we both fell over. More kittens pounced from every side. As we wrestled, I smelled Mom, and a moment later she was in the room. “Good work, Maggie Rose,” Mom praised.
“It was Lily,” my girl replied. “Look, Mom, look what she’s—”
But Mom interrupted her. She was holding one of those kennels in her hands. “Okay, let’s get them in here while they’re all nice and calm.”
“Mom—” Maggie Rose tried again.
“Not right now, Maggie Rose!”
My girl and Mom picked up the mewing, squirming kittens and put them one by one into the little kennel. I decided this must mean they would be going home with us! I was thrilled; I loved having kittens around. Blotchy and Stripes would be so excited!
The man stood by the door and watched. “Cute little things. What’s going to happen to them?” he asked.
“We can always find a home for kittens,” Mom said. “Who doesn’t love a kitten?”
“You think maybe I could have one?” he asked. “I never saw anything so cute.”
“Well, sure,” Mom replied. “This is your property. I suppose that means that technically they belong to you. But you said you have two dogs?”
“Yeah, Dusty and Beezo. But these little fellows seem to get along with dogs just fine.”
“They do, but Lily’s a puppy,” Mom pointed out.
“A very special puppy,” my girl chimed in. “She’s a rescue dog!”
Mom smiled but kept talking to the man, not to my girl. “Plenty of dogs are just fine with cats, but we would want to be very careful to make sure Dusty and Beezo are gentle with them. It’s easy for kittens to get hurt when they are so little. Have your dogs ever been around cats before?”
“Chased a couple now and again,” the man replied. “We don’t get a lot of cats around here.”
“Well,” Mom replied, “that doesn’t sound very promising…”
“Gotcha,” the man said. “Probably not the best idea after all. I wouldn’t be a good person for a cat, anyway; I’ve never had one before. I’m pretty impressed with your pup there, though.”
Mom nodded as Maggie Rose picked up the yellowish kitten, the last one left on the bed, and slipped her into the small kennel with her brothers and sisters. “It’s because Lily’s still a puppy that the kittens trusted her so quickly,” Mom explained. “Young animals are usually seen as nonthreatening, even by other animals. It helps that Lily’s so small. The kittens see her as just another baby like them.”
“No,” my girl corrected firmly, fastening the gate on the small kennel as the kittens mewed inside and stuck their little paws through the wires. “It’s because Lily’s a rescue dog. She just knows what to do when we find animals who need our help.”
“Well, maybe,” Mom said with another smile as she picked up the kennel full of complaining kittens. “Come on, let’s get these babies outside.”
The racket the kittens were making inside the kennel was so loud that I almost missed a panicky mew coming from a different place. There was a closet across the room, with the door propped open a tiny bit. I would have thought that gap between door and wall was too small for any animal to slip inside, but I’d seen the small gray kitten wiggle into a space beneath the dresser that was not any bigger.
“Come on, time to go,” Mom said, and she and Maggie Rose headed for the door.
“Come, Lily!” Maggie Rose called. “Mom, I really want to ask you—”
“In the van, Maggie Rose. Okay?”
I jumped off the bed and hurried to the closet. I put my nose to the crack and could smell kitten inside there.
Small. Female. Frightened and alone.
I pushed at the door with my nose and scratched at it with a paw, but it was stuck. It didn’t want to close all the way or open any farther.
“Come on, Lily,” my girl urged, coming up behind me. She put her hands underneath my belly and scooped me up.
I whined. We should not leave the kitten behind! I knew that wasn’t right. The kittens needed to be together, on the bed or in the small kennel. If one of them was by herself, she would feel as lonely and miserable as I’d felt for these last few nights alone in my bed.
But Maggie Rose didn’t understand. She carried me out of the room and down the staircase. With every step down, I could sense that we were farther and farther away from the trapped kitten. “Stop squirming, Lily!” she said. “Okay, okay, you can get down!”
She set me down on the wooden floor at the foot of the stairs.
The man opened the door for Mom, who carried the small kennel full of mewing kittens outside.
My girl went out the door, too.
I hesitated. I knew I should follow my girl. I always wanted to be close to Maggie Rose. But the kitten was alone upstairs.
What should I do?
Maggie Rose would return for me, I knew. But that kitten hadn’t come out of the closet. Maybe she couldn’t. And even if she did, her mother cat and her littermates were gone. My girl and Mom and the man were gone.
There was only me.
I turned to face the stairs. I hadn’t been able to climb them before, but the humans had. It couldn’t be impossible.
I jumped up to get my front paws on the bottom step.
Then I put as much weight as I could on my front legs and tried to lift my back legs up onto the step as well. It was hard. My claws scrabbled at wood and paint. But at last all four paws were on the first step.
Now I just had to do that again.
And again.
Outside, I could hear Mom and my girl talking. “Maggie Rose, can you open the van door for me?” Mom asked. “Let’s get these kittens inside. The mother will feel better once she can smell her babies.”
“Mom…,” said Maggie Rose, hesitating.
The second step now. First front paws. Then back.
“Yes, what?”
I heard the van door opening.
My front paws slipped. I fell back to the first step.
“Didn’t Lily do such a good job? Helping the kittens calm down?”
Mom sighed. “Please, Maggie Rose. Don’t start.”
I got back up and tried again. Front paws jumped. Back paws scrabbled. Pull … strain … and there! All my paws on step two.
“But, Mom, Lily is…” Her voice trailed off. “Where’s Lily?” My girl’s voice called for me. “Lily! Lily, where are you?”
I knew I should go to her … and I would. As soon as I finished this job. I was starting to get better at the stairs. Another step, then another, then another. I was climbing!
I heard Maggie Rose’s feet coming close to the door. Then I heard the door open. Oh no! She was coming to get me! I had to help the kitten!
I frantically heaved myself up several more steps. My legs were beginning to tire. This was hard!
“Lily! What are you doing, silly dog?” Maggie Rose started up the stairs after me.
I had to be quick! My legs were starting to tremble, but I still struggled up the last of the stairs, panting. I banged my chin on the floor of the hallway when I shoved my back feet off the final step, but I’d made it! It felt so good to be trotting on a level floor again.
“Lily! Come back!” Maggie Rose was more than halfway up the stairs now. I hurried to the bedroom where we’d found the kittens and their mother cat.
The door was still open. I ran straight up to the closet and stuck m
y nose into the gap between the door and the frame. The kitten was still in there. Still alone.
Still scared.
I barked. That made the kitten even more scared, so it was not the right thing to do. I’d better not bark again.
“Maggie Rose!” Mom called from downstairs. “Get Lily and come on!”
“I’m getting her, Mom!” Maggie Rose called back. Her feet were approaching from down the hallway now.
I pawed at the closet door. It didn’t budge. Then I pushed my nose into the crack once more and shoved as hard as I could. I couldn’t tell if the door moved or if my body just squished, but it worked. I was in!
“Lily!” Maggie Rose was at the bedroom door. “Lily, I saw you. What are you doing? Come out of there!” I heard my girl walking across the bedroom floor.
“Maggie Rose, where are you? What’s going on?” Mom was climbing the stairs now.
Along the back wall of the closet was a stack of cardboard boxes. The kitten was behind them, just as Freddie had been behind the cages when we’d been playing Chase Me. But Freddie had been happy. This kitten was not happy. I could smell fear and misery.
I pushed my nose into the gap between a box and the wall. There was the kitten, huddled in a quivering ball of black fur. I nudged her with my nose. She only curled up tighter.
The kitten needed to leave this space. She could not stay here all alone.
“Lily, what are you doing? We have to go! Come on!” Grunting, Maggie Rose slid the closet door all the way open with a bang. The little kitten flinched.
This was a very tiny kitten. I was bigger than she was, just as my mother was bigger than I was.
I knew what to do with a tiny creature that needed to be somewhere else. Very gently, just as my mother used to do with me, I picked the kitten up by the loose skin at the back of her neck.
She did not struggle. She hung limply from my mouth like a ferret as I backed away from the boxes, toward my girl. I smelled Mom and knew she had entered the room behind Maggie Rose, but I stayed focused on the kitten in my mouth.
Maggie Rose gasped, raising a hand to her mouth. “Lily,” she breathed.
18
I held that little kitten as softly as my jaws would allow. My girl retreated into the bedroom, giving me room to turn around. I did it carefully. I did not want to startle the kitten or hurt her neck.
“Mom, look,” Maggie Rose said softly. “Look what Lily did!”
I heard Mom draw in her breath. “Another kitten,” she whispered. “In the closet? Oh, Maggie Rose. Oh, Lily. We almost left her here!”
“Mom, she would have starved!”
“You’re right, honey.” Mom nodded. “I should have thought to check to make sure there were no kittens hiding anywhere. It was my mistake.”
I carried the kitten to my girl’s feet and gently put her down. The kitten sat, looking around in a daze. Maggie Rose bent down and picked her up as tenderly as possible.
“Lily, good girl,” she whispered as the scared kitten cuddled against her chest.
“Yes. Lily, you are a good, good dog,” Mom said. She knelt and stroked me. “Such a good dog.”
Feeling their love and hearing them both say good dog made me wag.
Maggie Rose gave the black kitten to Mom and picked me up to carry me back downstairs. I was relieved that I did not have to climb down those steps. Stairs were hard work!
“We’ll drop off Lily and then get the cats back to the shelter,” Mom said as we walked outside.
She put the black kitten into the kennel with her littermates, and Maggie Rose slid into the backseat with me. I was tired from all the excitement of playing with the kittens and climbing the stairs. I settled down for a nice doze on my girl’s lap. This had been a fun adventure, but the best part of the whole day, of every day, was cuddling with Maggie Rose.
“Mom…,” Maggie Rose said as the van started to move.
“Honey, I know what you’re about to say,” Mom said.
“But can’t you see what Lily did?” Maggie Rose pleaded. “She rescued that kitten! We never would have found it if Lily hadn’t gone back. Mom, she saved it!”
“I know, Maggie Rose. I know. It was a lucky accident.”
“She was born to be a rescue dog!”
I could feel Maggie Rose’s anger and fear and sadness trembling through her. Why was she so upset? No kittens were in trouble anymore.
I sat up to stretch my head toward Maggie Rose’s face. Her neck was as high as I could reach. I licked her under her chin. I just didn’t know what else to do to make her happy. I felt like a bad puppy.
Maggie Rose didn’t say anything more. Mom didn’t say anything, either. The van drove.
I fell asleep even though Maggie Rose was sad once more. But when the van rocked to a stop, I woke at once, focused on my girl. Something was very wrong now.
Her heart was pounding, and her skin felt hot. Sadness was breaking in her, more painful and raw than anything I had ever felt. I simply did not know what to do to help her.
Mom climbed out and opened our door.
Snick. Leash on collar. Treat!
Sun and warm air and the scent of plants and trees flowed in on soft currents. I imagined playing in the Outside with my girl and hoped someone had thought to bring a bouncy ball. That would make anyone happier!
“Well!” came a booming voice. I looked up and saw and smelled a man I had met before. He had a furry face and a big smile.
The man reached right in and picked me up, pulling me away from my girl in such a sudden motion that I had no warning before I was up in the air and nearly nose-to-nose with him. “It’s a puppy delivery service!” he announced with a chuckle. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you bringing me my new dog. Hello, Lily!”
Bewildered, I did the only thing I could think of, which was to lick the nose that was right there in front of me. My tongue briefly encountered some of the fur around his lip.
The man laughed. “This is going to be wonderful!” he declared. “I don’t know why I waited this long!”
“Glad to do it,” Mom replied. “And thank you for your generous contribution. We do have adoption fees, but if it weren’t for donations, we couldn’t do all the work we do. Mr. Mancuso, this is my daughter, Maggie Rose.”
“Hello, Maggie.”
“Maggie Rose,” she muttered in unhappy tones.
“Oh. I see.” Furry Face Man smiled. “Maggie Rose, I should have said. It’s very nice to meet you.”
Maggie Rose didn’t say anything in return. Anger and hurt were jumping off her skin. I wriggled a little, hoping Furry Face would soon hand me back to my girl.
“Maggie Rose, please.” Mom sighed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Mancuso, it’s been a bit of a trying day so far. We were on our way here when we got a call about some abandoned kittens we had to rescue. That’s why we’re late.”
“Call me Johnny. Did you say kittens? Could I see?”
The man carried me into the van. He was tall enough that his head almost touched the ceiling. He held me up to see the kittens, but I wasn’t much impressed since I’d already spent so much time with them. “They are tiny,” he gushed. “And so cute!”
Maggie Rose turned toward him with sudden energy. “You should have a kitten! Cats are much easier than a dog when you have to go to work every day. A puppy needs constant attention, but a cat can take care of itself! Plus you could take a kitten to work with you if you wanted and you would hardly know she was there!”
Mom put a hand out and touched my girl’s shoulder.
“It’s such important work, what you’re doing,” Furry Face replied, speaking to Mom. “You should come on my radio program sometime and talk about it. Folks need to understand how vital rescue is and why it’s necessary.”
We all climbed out into the sunshine. I took a deep whiff of air, ready to jump down and have some fun with Maggie Rose.
“I’d love to do that!” Mom exclaimed. “We’re really trying to spread
the word about how wrong it is to not spay and neuter pets. A single female can have as many as thirty kittens in a year. In a decade, she could have more than four thousand female kittens. And of course, if they go on to have their own babies, we’d be talking about fifty thousand kittens.”
“Fifty thousand?” Furry Face whistled softly.
I looked around alertly. Playtime now? But he didn’t seem to mean that.
“You’re telling me that a female cat can have fifty thousand descendants in her lifetime?”
Mom shook her head. “No, not in her lifetime. In one decade, that one cat will result in fifty thousand kittens a year, if all the cats are allowed to breed freely. And the ones who are without a home will suffer. Disease, starvation, accidents with cars—there’s so much that can happen to a homeless animal.”
“I never knew any of that,” said Furry Face. “Amazing.”
“Lily does it, too,” Maggie Rose said.
Still in the man’s arms, I wagged. I loved it when my girl said my name.
“Does what? What do you mean?” Furry Face asked.
“She helps homeless kittens! She found the tiniest of the kittens hiding in a closet. If it hadn’t been for her, it would have died!” Maggie Rose responded urgently.
“Wow, that’s fantastic.” Furry Face held me to his face again. “You’re amazing, Lily! We’re going to get along just great.”
Maggie Rose’s shoulders drooped.
“And those kittens are pretty cute,” Furry Face went on. “I think, though, that a puppy is maybe all I can handle for now. But I was serious, Mrs. Murphy—come on my show. Help people understand that abandoned and lost animals need our help.”
“Thank you, Johnny. I’ll be in touch. Say good-bye to Lily, honey,” Mom replied.
* * *
The sadness coming off my girl was so strong it was suffocating. Furry Face held me out, and Maggie Rose gathered me to her, tears flowing freely down her face. “Good-bye, Lily. I love you,” she whispered. Then her sobs burst out into the open.
“Hey, hey, what’s this?” Furry Face asked with concern. “Why are you crying, Maggie Rose?”
Puppy Tales 07 - Lily's Story Page 10
