I wagged my tail at the word “Lucas,” easing to my feet in case a walk was coming.
“I don’t know what the alternatives are,” he said somberly. “You can’t miss that appointment; the waiting times are impossible.”
I sat up and gazed at Lucas, my person, coming alert despite my fatigue. Something was going on—he and Mom were very, very tense.
I did Sit, being a good dog doing No Barks, but it didn’t seem to help.
*
Early the next morning, right around the time that Lucas normally would do Go to Work, the three of us took a walk. I loved when we all walked together!
We crossed the street the moment we were out the front door, just as we always did. I smelled Mother Cat in the den.
“See?” Lucas said. “It’s a new fence. Now there’s this nylon draping on both sides. No way for me to get a foothold. And the links are heavy gauge and connect directly to the posts. It would take a pair of industrial bolt cutters to get through them.”
Mom frowned. “Wait, you’ve been cutting the fence?”
“No. Gunter said I did, but I never had to. I just used pliers to unwind the loops of wire.”
“I’m glad to hear that. How about if you leapt up and grabbed the top rail, could you haul yourself over?”
“Maybe.” Lucas nodded. “But Bella would still be on the street side of the fence. I need her to go into the crawl space to flush the cats into my net.”
“What if you went in yourself, could you catch them in the net?”
“Possibly. I could try.”
“What if I went with you?”
Lucas grinned at Mom. “It’s pretty disgusting under there.”
“Oh, I imagine I’ve seen worse,” she said.
“Probably have.”
“Can the cats even get out of the yard?” Mom felt the cloth that was on the fence. “I guess they could climb this.”
“I guess they could, but in the back they dug out the dirt under the frame where the old fence was bent, so they’ve probably been getting in and out through that hole.”
“Why did he put up the new fence, do you suppose?” Mom asked.
“Honestly, I think he wants to prevent me from catching the rest of the cats. He’s making a point—he can do this and I can’t stop him.”
“What a nice guy.”
We went up the street together. Soon we came to a road where there were a lot of cars driving quickly past. Each one dragged different scents in its wake, and there were wonderful fragrances on the lawns and bushes I kept pausing to appreciate. A white dog barked at me from behind a fence and I wanted to go sniff him but I was on the leash.
At a big building, Mom walked away in a different direction. I kept stopping and turning to look at her, but she continued going without glancing back. It was very distressing. What had started as a wonderful family walk had somehow broken apart. I did not understand. We were supposed to be together! A nervous whine rose in my throat.
“Come on, Bella. She’s just going to her appointment. She’ll come find you once she’s finished. I have to go to work.”
I was confused that he was talking about Go to Work, which was when he left me at home alone with Mom. We were out on a walk.
Lucas led me to a door that beeped when he opened it. He stepped in, looked cautiously around, and then pulled me after him. The floor was very slick and smelled of chemicals and a lot of different people, though I couldn’t see anyone. This was a fun new place, especially when Lucas ran me down the hall! Lucas closed us in a small room with an even stronger chemical odor. He knelt down. I wagged excitedly. “Okay, listen. You’re not supposed to be here in the hospital. If they catch you, I’ll be in real trouble. I could get fired. This is just for while Mom is having her appointment. I have to go to work. I can come back by here as soon as I check in for my shift. Please, No Barks, Bella. Please.”
Not that again. He grabbed my snout and shook it. “No Barks.”
I wasn’t barking.
I was mystified when he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Now what?
I wondered if this was the version of No Barks where when I barked Lucas would open the door. Even if he were cross with me, it would be better than being left by myself in the strange place. I did not smell him standing on the other side of the door, though I could still sense that he was close by. It was similar to the growing sensation of his nearing presence when he was coming home from Go to Work. So even though he had left me, he was still in the building or close to it. But where? Where was Mom? I whimpered. They could not have meant to leave me alone in this room! Something was wrong!
I did Sit like a good dog, staring at the door, willing it to open. I could not hear anything at all on the other side of it. Finally, unable to stand it another second, I barked.
*
Lucas opened the door after a long, long time—a time of many, many barks. Before he did so I could smell him and another person, and when he came into the room a woman followed. She had a flowery scent combined with something nice and nutty. I was overjoyed to see Lucas and jumped on him, putting my paws on him and trying to get him to bend over so I could kiss his face. My person was back! Now we could get out of this tiny room and maybe go to the park and have treats.
“See?” Lucas said to the woman.
“You told me it was a puppy! She’s full grown.” The woman stooped down and held out her hand, which had a sugary residue on it. I licked it tenderly, liking her immensely for having such sweet fingers.
“No, she’s still a puppy, maybe eight months old. The vet says she was born sometime in March or early April.”
The woman rubbed behind my ears. “You know, having a puppy really works on chicks.” I leaned into her hand.
“I’ve heard that.”
The woman stood up. “Not on me though.”
“Really? Because the whole reason I adopted Bella was to impress Olivia from the maintenance department.”
“That seems to be your motivation for everything lately, I’ve noticed.”
“Must be working if you’ve been doing all this noticing.”
“I also noticed that the trash chute is backed up again. That’s kind of my biggest priority, in the noticing department.”
“Good to know where I stand.”
“So what’s your plan? You know if you get caught with a dog in here you’ll be fired. Dr. Gann’s e-mail of the two zillion things employees must never do kind of had take-your-dog-to-work day near the top of the list.”
“I was thinking, you’re in maintenance, this is a maintenance closet, maybe you could clean it up or something for an hour. Just to keep Bella company so she won’t bark.”
“Really. And why do I owe you any favors at all?”
“Not me. Do it for the dog.”
“Bella,” the woman said, stroking my head, “your daddy is such a dork.”
“You called me a nerd. I don’t think you can have it both ways.”
“Oh, they make an exception for people like you.”
“So now you’re calling me exceptional?”