by Meg Rosoff
Though perhaps he didn’t.
You could never really tell with McTavish.
The sun was shining. The path up the mountain was shady and cool. It was not very steep, and there were lots of interesting things to look at. But McTavish always seemed to be just ahead of the Peacheys.
Whenever they were certain he had disappeared, one of them glimpsed him peering down from a ledge above. Or saw him vanish into a cave. Or caught sight of him trotting up a path. No matter where they went, McTavish seemed determined to lead them just a little bit farther.
Ma Peachey and Betty stopped under a shady tree and sat down.
“Well, we have walked nearly to the top of the mountain,” Ma Peachey said. “And a most beautiful walk it has been. It’s just a shame we can’t catch up with McTavish.”
“Yes, that is a shame,” Betty said. “It almost seems as if he wants to stay just ahead of us. As if he doesn’t really want us to catch up with him. As if he’s playing a sort of game with us.”
“A climb-the-mountain-swim-in-the-lake-and-have-a-lovely-walk sort of game?” Ma Peachey asked.
Betty looked thoughtful. “Yes,” she said at last. “Exactly that sort of game.”
“It’s a shame you didn’t bring the picnic lunch,” Ollie said. “I’m starving. But there’s no point thinking about lunch when it is back in our tent.”
Ma Peachey smiled. She reached behind her and held up her backpack. It looked heavy. As if it just might possibly be full of delicious things to eat.
“Anyone for lunch?” Ma Peachey asked, and Betty clapped her hands together with delight. It was turning out to be a wonderful day.
Ava and Pa Peachey drifted closer at the sound of the word lunch. Their sad, forlorn faces transformed in an instant when they realized that Ma Peachey had brought the picnic after all.
A minute later, the entire Peachey family was sitting in the shade of a beautiful mountain tree, eating cheese sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, olives, and sticks of carrots and celery, with apples and chocolate for dessert.
“I wonder if McTavish is hungry,” said Betty.
“He deserves to be!” said Ollie. “He’s led us on a chase all the way up the mountain, and now we’ll have to walk all the way down again. What a terrible dog he is.”
“McTavish is a rogue and a scoundrel,” said Pa Peachey. “And I have half a mind to return him to the shelter when we find him again.”
“UN-rescue him?” Ava said in a shocked voice.
“Exactly,” Pa Peachey said. “Un-rescue McTavish. He is far too ungrateful to remain rescued. Today has been a nightmare from beginning to end, and who do we have to thank for it? McTavish.”
“This lunch isn’t a nightmare,” said Ollie. “It’s amazing.”
“The swimming was nice,” said Ava, with her mouth full of chocolate.
“The walking was nice,” said Ma Peachey, biting into an apple.
“We saw McTavish playing with baby goats,” said Betty. “That was something I will never forget.”
“Ha. We had to race after that good-for-nothing dog till we were nearly dead of exhaustion. That’s something I will never forget,” grumbled Pa Peachey.
“Woof,” said McTavish.
“Did someone say ‘woof ’?” asked Pa Peachey.
Ma and Pa Peachey and Ollie and Ava and Betty all turned around at once.
“McTavish!” they all cried together.
For it was he.
“Where have you been?”
“Why did you run away?”
“Good dog, McTavish!”
“Bad dog, McTavish!”
Everyone talked at once. But only Betty said what McTavish really wanted to hear.
“Would you like half of my sandwich?” Betty asked.
“Woof,” said McTavish again. In his most polite voice.
So Betty shared her sandwich with McTavish, and he gulped it down in an instant.
After their lunch, and with McTavish no longer on the run, the Peachey family lazed and chatted for a while in the shade.
“Come on,” said Ollie at last. “While we’re up here, let’s go and see what we can see. Maybe there are some more wild mountain goats or another beautiful place to swim. Let’s just go and look.”
And then they gathered all the lunch things up and put them in the backpack, which Pa Peachey carried this time, and off they went.
That’s how it happened that the Peachey family climbed to the very top of the mountain and stood for a long time admiring the view, which went on for a great distance and really was magnificent.
Then, on their way back down the mountain, they encountered a deer and her fawn. They were standing in a beautiful meadow, and, though the Peachey family was very close, the deer did not run away for the longest time.
A bright-blue butterfly that none of them had seen before fluttered just ahead of them on the path, as if leading them in a new direction.
As they walked, they discovered strange new birds, a bright-green lizard that darted across the path, and more wildflowers than they could count.
They found dozens of bushes covered in wild blueberries, which they picked and ate by the handful, despite Pa Peachey claiming they were probably poisonous and it would be their last-ever meal.
Ava said it would be worth it, as they were so delicious.
The walk down the mountain was more relaxed than the walk up. The Peacheys stopped to swim in the beautiful lake once more. McTavish led the charge into the water, dog-paddling around in circles, swimming from one family member to the next, and eventually getting out to sit on the side and dry off in the sun.
McTavish’s golden coat spread out on all sides of him as it dried, and when at last he stood up and yawned and stretched into downward dog after a short snooze, he looked just like a teddy Ava had once owned, with a button nose.
Ma Peachey placed one hand on McTavish’s fluffy, sensible head.
Betty kissed him on his soft, furry cheek and looked deep into his warm, brown eyes.
And then, much to her surprise, he winked at her.
At least she thought he did.
Nobody wanted to leave Faraway Campsite, but at last they had to fold up the tent and head home.
Ma and Pa Peachey had to get back to work. Ollie had a summer job. And Ava had finished reading all her philosophy books, so it was vital that she get to a library.
In the car, the Peachey family was quiet and companionable. Betty fell asleep leaning on Ollie, and he didn’t seem to mind. Ava and Ma Peachey talked about things they might do together later in the summer. Pa Peachey sang campfire songs softly to himself, and sometimes everyone else sang along.
McTavish noted with satisfaction that they seemed like a different family from the one that had set out a few days ago. A better, happier family.
They arrived home at last. Everyone felt tired as they unpacked the car in the dark and piled all the camping equipment in the living room.
“Don’t worry about it tonight,” Ma Peachey said. “We can sort through everything tomorrow.”
Pa Peachey and Ava made popcorn for a midnight snack, and the Peacheys all sat together at the kitchen table, munching and remembering the best parts of their camping vacation.
While they were talking, McTavish walked over and climbed up into Betty’s lap. Betty hugged him tight.
“Sometimes I do wonder,” said Betty.
“What do you wonder?” asked Pa Peachey.
“I sometimes wonder if we own McTavish or if he owns us.”
“What a silly question,” Pa Peachey said. “Of course we own McTavish. We are superior beings, far more intelligent than dogs, with hundreds of thousands more neural connections than any other living creature. Plus, we have opposable thumbs. As the superior being, of course we own the dog and not vice versa. We are humans. McTavish is merely a dog.”
Merely a dog? Betty looked at McTavish, who looked back at her with a subtle and complicated expression.
&nb
sp; McTavish’s expression said a number of things. It said, I know much more than you could ever imagine. And Dogs are far cleverer than people give them credit for. His expression also seemed to say, Sometimes your father talks complete nonsense.
It is possible that Betty interpreted these expressions incorrectly, but it is also possible that she did not.
“Well,” said Betty. “It may appear that we own McTavish, but I often have the feeling that McTavish has plans of his own.”
“Plans of his own? How absurd,” said Pa Peachey.
“Plans of his own? Yes, I think that sounds about right,” said Ma Peachey.
Ma Peachey thought about how McTavish had managed to get the entire Peachey family up the mountain and into the lake. How he’d managed to organize a lovely picnic at the top of the mountain. How he’d discovered a small flock of wild mountain goats and played with the goats while the delighted Peachey family watched. How he’d led them through meadows and along paths they never would have seen. How he’d provided the Peacheys with a perfect day out in the countryside.
Which was something I couldn’t accomplish, no matter how hard I tried, thought Ma Peachey.
“You are nothing less than a marvel, McTavish,” said Ma Peachey. “And I am very glad that you decided to rescue us.”
“You’re a very good dog, McTavish,” said Betty.
“Woof,” said McTavish.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2018 by Meg Rosoff
Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Grace Easton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First U.S. electronic edition 2020
First published by Barrington Stoke, Ltd. (Great Britain) 2018
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number pending
The illustrations in this book were done in mixed media and collage.
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