Secondhand Dogs

by Carolyn Crimi

  What if he was eaten by coyotes?

  “Moon Pie? Where are you?”

  Gus was calling him. He had to leave now.

  Moon Pie held his breath.

  “You can do it!” he whispered.

  He carefully put his front paws through the opening and slipped through the hole.

  It was easy, just like Decker had said!

  Moon Pie ran down the alley without looking back. He knew that if he did, he might change his mind.

  Gus

  Moon Pie had been acting strange all morning. Instead of running and chasing Roo as he usually did, he had quietly done his business by the birdbath. Gus had been distracted by Tank and had lost track of Moonie.

  “Moon Pie? Where are you?” Gus called.

  Roo glanced over at Gus, then went back to following Decker around.

  Gus got to his feet and scanned the yard. He wandered over to the porch and looked underneath it. Sometimes Moon Pie liked to snoop under there.

  “Moon Pie?”

  Gus peered into the darkness. Moon Pie loved to hide, but he was a snorting, snuffling kind of dog and was easy to find just by the noises he made. The space under the porch was quiet and empty.

  Gus’s heart beat faster. He trotted over to the long, narrow strip of grass along the side of the house. A gate there led to the front yard. Occasionally Quinn or Miss Lottie left the gate open, but it was shut tight.

  There was only one other place he might have gone.

  Gus ran over to the patch of bushes and fir trees that stood in the corner of the yard.

  “Moon Pie?”

  Gus had only been in there once before, and had come out with dozens of small scratches. He braced himself and went in.

  The sharp, scraggly branches on the bushes scraped his sides. Once he was inside, he could see that two of the slats in the fence had rotted away and fallen to the ground, making a hole big enough for a small dog to fit through.

  Gus backed out quickly, butt first. He winced when the branches scratched him again. He charged across the yard and stood in front of Roo.

  “Everyone! Come here! Moon Pie is gone!”

  “WHAT? WHERE DID HE GO? HOW LONG AGO? ARE YOU SURE?”

  Roo started running in circles.

  “Roo, stop!” Decker said.

  Roo slowed, then stopped. She looked down at the ground, panting, then glanced up at Decker.

  “Roo, Decker!” Gus barked. “We need to get out there and look for Moon Pie right now!”

  Decker sat down and casually tugged at his bandage with his teeth. “Why?”

  “Because he’s loose and he’s young and he doesn’t know how to be on his own, that’s why!” Gus said.

  “So?” Decker asked.

  Gus growled. “We are a pack. Packs help each other.”

  “We’d probably just get lost, too.” Decker stood and yawned. “Besides, how do you know what’s best? Maybe he’s better off on his own.”

  Gus’s fur tingled. He growled. “You obviously don’t understand what it means to be a good pack member.” He glanced over at Roo. “We don’t have time for this! Come on, Roo! You’re the best tracker I know!”

  Roo started chasing her tail. “I think—I mean, I know—I mean, I think—” She stopped and looked at Decker, who was staring at her. “I’m staying with Decker.”

  Gus shook his head. He wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.

  “What?” he asked.

  “He knows what’s best.” She put her head down and scampered into the corner of the yard.

  Gus didn’t have time to think about what Roo had just said. He ran to the back door. He barked and pawed at it until Miss Lottie appeared.

  “What in heaven’s name is wrong with you, Gus? Is it that important that you come in?” She opened the door for him, but he barked and walked backward, toward the fence.

  “I don’t know what you want,” Miss Lottie said. She came out into the yard and looked around. “What is it? A squirrel?” Miss Lottie put one hand on her hip and raised the other to shield her eyes from the sun.

  “I don’t see what you’re—hey, wait a minute, where’s Moon Pie?”

  Gus gave one sharp bark and raced over to the firs. He stood by them and barked.

  “Is he over there? Is he in the bushes? Oh, gosh, how will we ever get him out?” Miss Lottie said as she hobbled over to Gus. Once she got to him, she bent down and looked into the bushes

  “I don’t see him.” She groaned as she got down on her knees to look more closely. “Moon Pie? Are you there—oh NO!” She stood. “There’s a hole!”

  Gus had never seen Miss Lottie move so quickly. She raced over to the gate, threw it open, and ran out into the alley. “Moon Pie! Moon Pie! Here, boy!”

  Gus stood by the gate. He barked as he stared through the fence and watched anxiously as Miss Lottie jogged down the alley calling for the small dog.

  Moon Pie, the youngest and most vulnerable member of his pack, was loose in the alley. Without Tank watching over him, he could get into all kinds of trouble. Cars, trucks, wild animals.

  Everything out there posed a danger to the little pug.

  Gus

  Miss Lottie strode back into the yard, shaking her head.

  “I should have checked that fence, I should have known that hole was there,” she mumbled. “Come on, kiddos!” She waved the dogs toward the back door. “We’re all going inside.”

  Once she was in the kitchen, Miss Lottie pulled her cell phone from her jeans pocket and punched in a number.

  “Quinn, I’ve got bad news,” she said quickly. “Moon Pie is gone. He escaped through a hole in the fence. Can you ride your bike around, see if you can find him?” She nodded as he responded. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll make a few calls from my end.”

  While she started calling neighbors, Gus trotted over to the laundry room. Tank was curled up in his kennel again, with his back facing the room.

  “Tank, Tank, wake up!”

  “Hmmmm . . .”

  “It’s Moon Pie. He’s gone.”

  Tank’s ears sprang straight up. “What?!”

  “There’s a hole in the fence, by the fir trees. He must have gone through it.”

  Tank struggled to stand on his short, stocky legs. He turned around to face Gus. “Why? What got into him? Haven’t we told him not to go there?”

  “I guess he didn’t listen,” Gus said. “He’s young.”

  Tank snorted. “It’s that new dog! I bet he had something to do with it! Ever since he came here—”

  “You need to help me find Moonie,” Gus said.

  Tank’s ears drooped. He sighed. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I just don’t know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t see how I can help.”

  Gus stared at his friend. “Tank, you are my top dog. My go-to guy. I need your help. I don’t care what Miss Lottie says. I know you’re a good dog and I know you are the best dog to help me. Besides, it’s Moon Pie. He trusts you more than anyone.”

  Tank looked down at the floor. “I don’t know. I’m—”

  “We are a pack, and you are coming with me!” Gus said. “We need to find Moonie!”

  Tank stared at Gus for a moment. “Okay . . . okay. I will.” He heaved his big body out of his kennel and gave himself a shake from head to tail.

  “Good. Now we need to think of how to get out there to find him.”

  Ghost’s scent hit both dogs at the same time.

  Gus spun around.

  Tank barked once, loudly.

  Ghost stood in the doorway of the laundry room flicking his tail.

  “If you had just listened to me last night, this whole thing never would have happened,” Ghost said.

  Tank growled.

  “Stop, Tank,” Gus said. “Remember the Truce.”

  Ghost sat and curled his tail around his feet. “I tried telling you, Gus.”

  “Telling me what?”


  “Yeah, telling Gus what, cat?” Tank asked, growling.

  “Forget it,” Ghost said. “I don’t need this.”

  He turned and strode out of the room with his tail high.

  “Wait!” Gus said, chasing after him.

  The white cat trotted down the hall and into the guest room. Gus raced after him and watched as he slithered under the bed. Gus took a few careful steps toward him.

  “Tell me what?” Gus asked.

  “Nothing. Goodbye.”

  “Did you hear something last night? Something with Moon Pie and the new dog?”

  Silence.

  Gus sat. He scratched himself behind the ear and thought.

  “I’m sorry Moon Pie called you spooky and scary,” Gus said. “He shouldn’t have done that. He doesn’t know you like I do, and he’s afraid of things he doesn’t know.”

  Gus couldn’t see what Ghost was doing, but he could feel it in an animal way. He could feel Ghost pivoting his ears toward him. He could feel him twitching his nose.

  “And I’m sorry Roo barked at you. I know you hate it when she barks. I’ll have a talk with her and Moon Pie. And Tank.”

  Ghost’s white nose poked out from beneath the bed. “Your pack is utterly deranged. What a commotion! You’d think they’d never seen a cat before.”

  “They’re just . . . dogs,” Gus said. “You know how we can be.”

  “Boorish?” Ghost asked.

  “Yes,” Gus said.

  “Ignorant? Loud? Uncouth?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes,” Gus said. He ground his teeth. It wasn’t easy coming down so hard on his pack, but he knew Ghost was partly right.

  “There was something you wanted to tell me last night,” Gus continued. He paused, taking his time. “Was it about Moon Pie? Is that why you came to see me?”

  Ghost’s nose went back under the bed. “You mean when your pack insulted me?”

  Gus chose his next words carefully. “Come on. We’re friends. At least, that’s what I’ve always thought. Please don’t let the others come between us.”

  The pause seemed to last forever. Gus nervously gnawed at his side. They needed to be out there searching for Moon Pie. Miss Lottie was only human. Her search techniques would be limited. Gus knew this particular search required a dog’s senses.

  Ghost slipped out from underneath the bed and faced Gus.

  “You dogs can be so dense.”

  “I know,” Gus said.

  Ghost sat. His odd owlish eyes stared at Gus. “The little one, Moon Pie, talked to the new dog last night in the hallway,” Ghost said.

  Gus pricked up his ears. “And? What did he say?”

  “The new dog said that Gertie was waiting for him. He said that you and Roo and Tank had all lied and that she’s been waiting for him at her house all along. Then he told Moon Pie he could escape through the hole in the fence.”

  Gus felt a burst of anger deep inside his throat. He growled. “I can’t believe it! That’s so wrong! How could Decker do that?”

  “Believe it,” Ghost said. “Your little Moon Pie is on his way to his old house.”

  “Oh no,” Gus said. “This is bad.”

  “Yeah, well, I thought you should know,” Ghost said. He started to make his way back under the bed.

  “Ghost?”

  “Yes?”

  “I really appreciate it.”

  Ghost blinked at Gus before slipping back under the bed.

  “If there’s anything you ever need—” Gus began.

  “I’m really not spooky or bad,” Ghost said from his lair. “Maybe you could tell your pack that.”

  “I will,” Gus said. “I promise.”

  But first he needed to find Moon Pie.

  Moon Pie

  Minutes after he sprinted out of the hole, Moon Pie heard Miss Lottie calling him.

  “Moon Pie! Moooooon Pie!”

  Moon Pie glanced to his left. An open garage! He dashed inside and curled up tight under a crumpled tarp that lay in the corner.

  Miss Lottie’s voice sounded sad and desperate, but he stayed hidden. She could look for him as long as she wanted to. He was never going back to her. Not ever. She had stolen him. Stolen him away from Gertie and the home he loved.

  As soon as Miss Lottie stopped calling him, Moon Pie got up, gave himself a shake, and went back into the alley. He sniffed the air.

  He smelled grass and pavement and rakes and bunnies. And . . . something else. Something that bothered him.

  He sniffed again, harder this time. He knew that was what hunting dogs did. They smelled the air for danger. Gus had told him all about it.

  Gus. Moon Pie had loved him almost as much as he loved Gertie, but Gus had lied to him. Roo, too. Worst of all was Tank.

  Moon Pie whimpered, thinking of Tank. His favorite pack member! How could he lie? It didn’t make sense.

  Moon Pie shook his head, hoping he could clear it of all the angry thoughts he had. Any second now he would smell something that would remind him of home, just like a real live hunting dog. Any second now he would find his old Gertie, too. Any second!

  That smell was back. It was dark and heavy. His fur prickled.

  He growled his fiercest growl.

  All was quiet.

  “Moon Pie! Where are you?!”

  Quinn. At the end of the block. He wished they would all just quit looking for him so he could get on with his adventure! Moon Pie dashed back into the garage and made himself as small as possible. He couldn’t see Quinn, but he could hear him riding closer.

  “Moon Pie! Mooooon Piiie! Want a treat? Wherever you are, if you come out, I’ll give you a treat!”

  A treat sounded good. A treat sounded very good. He tilted his head to one side, thinking.

  The first thought that came to him was Gertie. And popcorn. And her big, big bed. She was all alone and she needed him. He curled into a tighter ball.

  “Moon Pie? Moonie? Are you here?”

  Moon Pie could hear the tires on Quinn’s bike whir as he rode down the alley. The whirring sound got farther and farther away.

  Moon Pie stayed in the garage for a long time. He stared out at the alley and watched as the light grew dimmer. When he left Miss Lottie’s the sun had been high in the sky. Now it sat on top of the trees. Soon it would be dark, and he was still only four houses down from Miss Lottie’s.

  When he was sure both Miss Lottie and Quinn were gone, Moon Pie crawled out of his hiding spot and stood in the middle of the alley, looking at the end of it. The last few rays of sunlight stretched across the pavement.

  He wasn’t sure what to do next. He had escaped, and he had successfully hidden from both Miss Lottie and Quinn. But now what? He decided to head toward the yellow house at the end of the street. It was on the opposite end from Miss Lottie’s house, which felt safer, somehow. He needed to get far away from her and the others.

  He liked traveling by alley. There were so many interesting things to eat! He found a pizza crust, a hamburger bun, and, best of all, tater tots. Everything was so much better than the dry kibble Miss Lottie made them eat. He almost got a doughnut, too, except a creepy squirrel snagged it first.

  The bad smell wafted his way again. Was it just an especially creepy squirrel? He knew squirrels couldn’t really hurt him. But still. He didn’t like that smell at all.

  When he finally got to the end of the alley, he sat. Gertie had trained him to sit before crossing the street. He wasn’t really sure when he should cross. Miss Lottie and Gertie always seemed to know exactly when to do it.

  A car whizzed by. He felt its wind push against his fur. He had never crossed the street by himself, but if he ran really fast, it should be fine. How hard could it be?

  He sighed. Maybe this was not such a great idea. Maybe he needed Miss Lottie to help him find Gertie’s house.

  The sun had almost set. He needed to go soon.

  The sound of dry leaves scraping the pavement made him jump.

  And the smell.
Something was close. Something bad.

  It wasn’t squirrels.

  He needed to go now!

  He held his breath as he sprinted toward the other side of the street. His heart banged in his chest, and his legs pumped faster and faster.

  He was almost there when he heard a long, loud screeeeech.

  Gus

  For most of the day, Gus and Tank stood by the back door waiting to be let out. They had both barked and pawed at the door earlier, but Miss Lottie had shouted at them so sharply, they had kept quiet.

  Quinn and Miss Lottie were slumped at the kitchen table. Before them were two plates of uneaten grilled-cheese sandwiches and two bowls of untouched tomato soup. Quinn poked at his phone. Miss Lottie fiddled with her soupspoon.

  Decker got off the couch in the family room and went over to Miss Lottie. He gave her elbow a nudge with his nose. When she looked down he licked her hand.

  “Aw, thank you,” she said to him.

  “What a fake,” Tank said.

  Decker sauntered back to the couch. He gave Roo one quick glance before he hopped onto it. Roo got up and pushed her bed closer to the couch with her nose.

  Tank grunted.

  “What’s with Roo?” he asked. “She’s been following Decker all day.”

  “Who knows?” Gus said. “She never did like me as pack leader.”

  The thought that he had disappointed Roo so much that she had started following Decker made Gus feel heavy and worn out. He needed to get his pack back together again. They couldn’t splinter off like this. It wasn’t how packs were meant to be.

  Miss Lottie picked up her sandwich, put it back down. “Did you look near Foster?” she asked Quinn. “The yellow house at Foster and Orrington? They’ve got a lot of junk in their backyard. He might have snuck in there.”

  Quinn nodded. “I looked. I went down every alley in the neighborhood.”

  Miss Lottie picked up her sandwich again, then dropped it, her eyes widening. “Moon Pie has old tags on! With Gertie’s address and phone number! If someone finds him, they won’t be able to call me. Oh, what an idiot I am.” She pushed her plate away. “I don’t know when I can get that fence fixed. And if I don’t, I’m afraid I’ll lose another dog.”