“Copy that. I’m just saying that when they found out you smuggled the dog in here, it gave them a real sense of purpose. You know? Let them win at something. They’re warriors, it feels good to be back in a fight, even if all we’re doing is rebelling against a dumb dog rule. Why don’t you bring her back tomorrow?”
“Oh. I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ty. If Dr. Gann finds out, Lucas’s position would be—”
“Dr. Gann won’t find out,” Ty interrupted. “We’ll hide Bella from him and anybody else who might care. Okay? Let’s do this, Terri.”
*
The next day, when Lucas left to do Go to Work, Mom and I went with him! I was taken back to see my friends in the big room with the chairs, and Mom sat there and talked to people, too. Everyone was happy to see me.
The man named Steve did not have any astoundingly sweet gravy. “Want some cake?”
It was wonderful. I liked Steve. I liked Marty, who got on the floor to wrestle with me. I liked Drew, who did not have any legs but who took me for a car ride in his chair. I sat in his lap and wagged as people laughed. Though the smells were different from a real car ride, I liked being able to press up against Drew as he drove. I wondered if for my next car ride Lucas would let me sit in his lap.
It was a wonderful day. Everyone cuddled me and fed me treats and love.
I was doing Sit for Jordan, who was feeding me little pieces of hamburger a morsel at a time, when Layla said, “Dr. Gann is coming!” and then Ty picked me up and ran me over to sit on a couch with Mack.
“Lie down, Bella!” Ty told me. Mack reached out with his hands and held me and I lay against him to provide comfort. Someone covered me with a blanket. I did not understand the game, but when I moved even a little, Mack put his hand on me and held me still. His heart was pounding.
“Dr. Gann!” I heard Ty boom. “Can we talk about getting some cable in here besides The Weather Channel?”
There were other voices. I lay still against Mack. “Good dog,” he praised in a voice so quiet I almost couldn’t hear him.
When the blanket was lifted off of me people clapped and told me good dog and I wagged in joyous excitement.
Later I learned the woman from the closet was called Olivia. She came to see me and gave me small snacks and then stood and talked to Mom.
That night Mom said her name a couple of times.
“Why don’t you ask her out?” Mom asked Lucas.
I had brought the ball out and was staring at it now, hoping Lucas would roll it across the floor.
“Oh, I don’t know. Because she hates me?”
“If she hated you she would ignore you instead of taunting you.”
“She’s not taunting me. We’re just different people. She’s sort of Goth. She calls me White Bread Boy and says I’m a cure for her insomnia.”
Mom was silent for a moment. “It’s not because of me, is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t watch me all the time, and even if you could, I would hate that. Being a burden to your child is the worst thing for a mother. If you put everything on hold because of me it means my life has all been for nothing.”
“Don’t talk like that!”
“No, I’m not having dark thoughts, I’m speaking the truth. You know there’s nothing I regret more than the times I abandoned you. I abandoned you when I joined the army and I nearly abandoned you when I tried to take my life. But I am past that now, Lucas. I won’t leave you, and want only for you to have a future. Please believe me—nothing is more important.”
“Okay, then believe me, Mom. I do have a future. I have a great future. I promise I won’t let anything get in the way of that.”
A little later Mom left and Lucas and I went to feed the cats. Instead of going to the den, Lucas led me around to the back, where a rut was dug under the base of the fence. The dirt and the fence there smelled of several felines, and I knew that even more of them were living in the den now. I could tell that Mother Cat was in there, too. Lucas poured food from a bag into a bowl and then shoved it under the fence. “That will have to do it,” he said resignedly. “I can’t get any closer.” I waited for Lucas to push open the fence, but he did not. Instead, he walked me around to the front and then stood with his hand on his hips, staring at something white on the dark fabric covering the fence.
“It’s a notice of demolition, Bella. I guess he got his permit.”
I sensed Lucas’s distress and looked at him curiously. We ran back to our door and went inside. Mom was not home. Lucas went to his closet and pulled out the thin, cat-smelling blankets with the wood blocks in the corners. Then he grabbed his phone and my leash.
“Ready, Bella?”
We ran back across the street. “Huh,” Lucas said. “This isn’t going to work. Even if I could climb up there holding onto you, I don’t know how I would get you down the other side without hurting you.” He petted my head. “Okay. Let’s do this, instead.” He unclipped my leash from my collar. I wagged. “Good practice. Ready? Go Home, Bella!”
I knew what to do. I dashed across the street and then curled up in the right spot. This was fun!
I heard Lucas banging on something. I lifted my head, knowing I should be doing Go Home but unable to help myself. Lucas was on top of the fence, wobbling, and as I watched he vanished on the other side.
We had never done this as part of Go Home before. Normally, he came to me and gave me a treat, or Mom opened the door and gave me a treat. The point of Go Home was for someone to give me a treat.
I whined. I did not understand.
And then Mother Cat came dashing from around the corner! She ran down the street. This was entirely new and seemed to mean Go Home no longer applied.
My mother had vanished into the shadows, but I could easily track her scent.
I joyously ran after her.
Seven
I tracked Mother Cat up a slope to where a row of houses all had wooden decks jutting out over the lip of the hill. I found her presence strongest under one of these decks—way in the back, where the dirt rose up to meet the boards, she had found a place to hide. I was only able to squirm a little way under the deck before the gap was too narrow for me to fit. I thrust my nose forward and breathed her in. Did she know I was there? Would she come out?
After a moment her scent strengthened and then I saw her. She regarded me for a moment with unblinking eyes. I pulled my head back, crawling to where I could stand up, and she followed and rubbed her head against my neck, purring.
Mother. When I was little, I roughhoused with her, wrestling and tumbling in the den, and even though this place, with its low, wooden ceiling, was so similar to where I was born, I did not feel that trying to play would be the right thing now. I was too big and she was too frail.