And he had missed Miss Lottie, who loved him from the tip of his tail to the tip of his nose.
The faint sound of paws on carpet startled Moon Pie. He pricked up his ears and opened his eyes.
There, next to Miss Lottie’s bed, was Decker. His front paws were on the mattress. He was looking at Moon Pie with hungry eyes.
“Get out,” Decker said.
Moon Pie’s heart beat so fast, he worried it might explode. He got up with shaky legs and stared at Decker’s long, lean face with its cool, pale eyes.
“Miss Lottie said I was allowed to sleep on the big bed tonight.”
Decker cocked his head to one side. “But Moon Pie, don’t you remember? You’re the lowest member of the pack. You do what I say.”
Moon Pie didn’t respond
“I said, you do what I say.”
“Miss Lottie said . . .”
“Miss Lottie is not the boss here anymore.”
Moon Pie trembled. He whimpered softly.
He did not like that idea one bit.
Gus
Gus opened his eyes and shook his head. He had fallen asleep too hard and too fast. He looked over at the couch, where Decker was sleeping.
Empty!
Gus sprang up. He held himself still, straining to listen for any sounds of the big dog.
But he didn’t need to hear him. He knew exactly where Decker was. Gus raced down the hall. He stood in the doorway of Miss Lottie’s room, letting his eyes adjust to the dark.
“I’m coming up there whether you—” Decker began.
“Stop,” said Gus.
Moon Pie and Decker turned toward him.
Gus stood in the doorway, his fur on end, his tail stiff and standing straight up.
“You don’t have to get off the bed, Moonie,” he said.
Decker sighed. “I am so tired of you, Gus.”
“I bet you are,” Gus said. “Tell me, what is it about the bed that you want so much? Because I don’t think it’s the smells. I think it’s . . . something else.” Gus sniffed the air.
“Really? What is it, then?” Decker asked.
Gus paused for a long time. He sniffed hard. There was something about Decker’s smell. Something different than his usual hard, watery smell. Something familiar, too.
The coyote. Decker smelled the same as the coyote.
Finally it dawned on Gus. Decker, prowling around at night, always wanting to be on the big bed near Miss Lottie. He knew what Decker’s wound was.
“You’re afraid of the dark.”
Without any warning growl, Decker sprang toward him. He stopped in front of Gus, teeth bared.
Gus stood still, very still, even when Decker leaned in close, snapping his jaws.
“Don’t do this,” Gus said.
Decker growled.
“I am not a coward!”
He jumped onto Gus’s back and sank his teeth into Gus’s neck. Sharp needles of pain shot through Gus. He shook his neck, but Decker held on.
Moon Pie shrieked, “Get off him!”
“Hey, Moonie, what’s all the commotion—”
Miss Lottie had stepped out of the bathroom. She stood in the doorway.
“Stop it, Decker! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!”
Miss Lottie ran and dove between them, landing on the floor with a loud thump. She grabbed Decker’s collar and yanked him off Gus.
“STOP!” she yelled. She pushed Gus away with her free arm. He hit the doorjamb, yapped a sharp, pained bark, then scrambled to his feet so that he could look Decker right in the eye.
“You have to stop this,” Gus said. His breathing was ragged. Warm blood trickled down his neck. “We’re a pack—”
Decker lunged at him, his teeth barely missing Gus’s ear.
“DECKER, NO!” Miss Lottie yanked him back by the collar.
Then Tank was there, with Roo at his side.
“What’s going on?” Tank demanded.
Roo spun in circles, barking.
Miss Lottie held on to Decker’s collar. Decker shook his head from side to side as spittle flew from his mouth. He wasn’t making any words, only sounds. High-pitched, frantic sounds.
“This doesn’t help anything,” Gus said to him. “You’ve got to calm down—”
Decker snapped his jaws together, shook himself free from Miss Lottie, and leaped at Gus again, snarling.
“HEY!” cried Miss Lottie. She scrambled toward Decker on her hands and knees and reached over to grab him around his middle. “Do not hurt Gus!”
Moon Pie ran from side to side on the bed, barking.
“Miss Lottie, no! Don’t grab him!” Moon Pie whimpered.
“Stop!” Tank growled.
Gus saw rage in Decker’s eyes as Decker lunged toward him again.
“No, Decker, NO!” Miss Lottie yelled. She blocked Decker with her arm.
Decker was all teeth and fury. In a wild rage, his jaws clamped down on Miss Lottie’s upper arm just hard enough to draw blood.
Miss Lottie’s howl sounded strange and doglike. Her face crumpled as she looked up at the ceiling, wincing in pain.
“What have you done?” Gus asked.
“You’re in for it now, Decker,” Tank said.
Decker froze. The smell of his fear filled the room.
It smelled like a small, scared rabbit.
Miss Lottie reached for Decker’s collar, but he snapped back to attention and dodged her hand. He spun around and raced down the hall. Gus wasn’t sure where he thought he was running to, but he could hear from Decker’s footfalls that he was in a full gallop.
Roo flew after him. Seconds later she was back. “Decker’s petrified,” she said. “He ran into the laundry room to hide!”
Gus crept over to the door and stared down the hall. He could see the tip of Decker’s tail poking out from behind a pile of clothes.
Miss Lottie was holding her upper arm with her hand. She struggled to get up. “You all stay!” she said to the pack. “Don’t budge!”
She finally heaved herself up from the floor and tottered down the hall, holding the wall to steady herself. Without saying a word, she shut the door to the laundry room. She stood there for a moment before she lumbered back down the hall. She stared at them from the doorway.
“You poor, poor babies,” she said, shaking her head. “How could I have been so blind?”
Gus
The rest of the night had been a blur. Pam, the neighbor, took care of Gus so that Miss Lottie could go to the hospital. At the emergency vet, they gave him four stitches, bandaged him up, and called him a lucky dog.
“He sure is,” Pam said, shaking her head.
When he got home, he saw that Miss Lottie was also wrapped in bandages.
“Looks like we’ve been through a war,” Miss Lottie said, laughing a bit. “Maybe we have.”
Quinn was there. He knelt down and gently hugged Gus.
“Sorry you had to go through that,” he whispered.
Gus leaned in and licked Quinn’s cheek. Somehow Quinn knew the heartache of betrayal within a pack. He had seen what had happened with Decker and he knew, he just knew.
Pam put on her coat. “Let me know if you need me again. I’m right next door.”
“Thanks, Pam,” Miss Lottie said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you and Quinn here.” She threw an arm around Quinn and drew him toward her. “Remind me to thank your mom for letting you come over here so late. And for letting you look for the dogs all this time! You’ve been a real trooper.”
“Thanks,” Quinn said.
Pam paused at the door. “What time is he coming?”
“He said he’d be here in an hour,” Miss Lottie said.
Pam fussed with the button on her coat. “Are you sure you don’t need me?”
“I’ve got Quinn. We should be fine. But I’ll let you know.”
“Okay,” Pam said. She paused. “It’s the right thing.”
Miss Lottie nodded. “It’s still hard.”
/>
Gus didn’t have to be told what would happen next. He knew.
When the doorbell rang, Gus didn’t bark. Even Roo, who always went ballistic at the sound of the doorbell, only barked once.
“That’s him,” Miss Lottie said. She was sitting in the kitchen eating a dry piece of toast. Quinn rolled an empty water bottle on the kitchen table.
Miss Lottie took another bite, coughed, then rose from the table. It seemed to take her forever to get to the door.
The man she let in was tall and held a heavy leash. “Hey, Lottie.” He nodded once. “Where is he?”
Miss Lottie brought the man to the laundry room, then came back into the kitchen and sat, staring out the window. She winced when she heard Decker’s whimpering.
The man led Decker into the kitchen with a muzzle on. He looked like a different dog. His head hung low. His tail was firmly between his legs.
Gus felt his heart soften as he stared at the frightened dog. Decker had made life difficult for him, and yet Gus knew it wasn’t really Decker’s fault. Somewhere in his life he had experienced hurt and betrayal. Gus just hoped he could get past it with his new human.
“I’ve worked with plenty of dogs like him before,” the man said. “He’ll be fine.”
“That’s good to hear,” Miss Lottie said. “As long as you don’t have any other dogs there, he should be okay. He didn’t mean to hurt me. He was going for Gus. I was stupid for getting in the middle of it all.”
The man tugged on the leash. Decker sat obediently. “I’ll work with him, then I’ll find him a good home.”
“Thanks for coming so late,” Miss Lottie said. “I just—” She shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“No problem,” the man said. “I get it. You don’t want to keep him locked up like that all night.”
Miss Lottie wiped a tear away with the back of her hand and nodded. She bent down and rubbed Decker behind the ears. “You be good, you hear?”
Decker only looked at her. He smelled faintly of fear, but that was all.
Once Decker was gone, Miss Lottie let out a long sigh.
“I’m so sorry, you guys,” she said. Her gaze settled on Tank. She went over and knelt next to his bed. “Especially you, buddy. I can’t believe I blamed you.” She rubbed him behind the ears. “I’m not sure what went on in the yard the other day, but I know now that it wasn’t you.”
After a moment, Tank rolled onto his back. Miss Lottie laughed. “Okay, I know what that means. Belly rub, coming right up!”
Gus
It was late. Tank and Gus sat on their beds, but they didn’t lie down. Roo made dozens of circles on the rug in the middle of the room. Moon Pie, who had fought so hard to sleep in the big bed, squirmed in Miss Lottie’s arms.
“You want to sleep here tonight?” she asked as she put him down. He hopped over to Tank and curled up next to him.
“Okey doke,” Miss Lottie said. She turned off the overhead light but left a lamp on. “I’ll leave a light on for you, Moonie. Good night, kiddos.”
After she left, there was an uneasy silence.
“Is he really gone?” Moon Pie asked. “Really and truly?”
“Yes,” Gus said. “Gone forever.”
Roo stopped circling. She sat. “Why do you think he did it?” she asked. “This is a good pack. This is a good home. Miss Lottie is a good human. I don’t get it.” She rose and started circling again.
“He was a bad dog,” Tank said. He gently licked Moon Pie’s tiny ear. Moon Pie yawned and snuggled in closer to Tank. “All those things, like good packs and good humans, aren’t enough for bad dogs like him. They’re greedy. They need more.”
“I don’t think so,” Gus said. He trotted over to the couch to look for a tennis ball he had hidden there for safekeeping. “I think he didn’t get any love when he was a pup.”
“Oh, brother,” Tank said.
“I mean it.” Gus got down low and reached as far as he could under the sofa. “Got it!” He pulled the tennis ball toward him with his paw. It was perfect. Not too new, not too old. Plenty of springiness left in it, along with the good smells of beef and dirt. He splayed out on his bed with it between his paws.
“Love makes all the difference,” he said.
Then, all at once, it hit him. His dog gift. All this time he had been wondering whether or not it was helpful. But after seeing how mean and bitter a dog could become without love, he realized that it was the most important gift he could have.
Love was, quite simply, everything.
Roo stopped circling. She wandered over to her bed and plunked down onto it. “I’m just glad Decker’s gone.”
Gus smelled Ghost’s odd, fishy scent. He looked up from his tennis ball.
“Gus . . . ,” Moon Pie began.
“It’s okay, Moon Pie.” Gus rose. “Welcome, Ghost.”
Ghost stood in the doorway, one paw held high, as if he wasn’t sure whether to stay or dash out of the room.
“Come in,” Gus said.
“That’s okay,” Ghost said. “I just wanted to be sure, well, you know . . .”
“He’s gone,” Gus said. “Thanks to you.”
“And everyone’s . . . ?”
“We’re all fine. A little beat up, but we’ll survive.”
“Okay,” Ghost said. He turned to leave.
“Ghost?”
“Yes?”
“You can come out and visit any time you’d like. Moon Pie won’t mind.” He glanced over at Moon Pie. “Right?”
Moon Pie paused. “Yeah. Sure.”
Ghost swished his tail. “Maybe.” He sauntered out of the room just as quietly as he had entered.
“You sure you’re okay sleeping out here tonight, Moon Pie?” Gus asked. The small pug still looked a little shaken. “I bet Miss Lottie would love to have you.”
Moon Pie blinked. “I’m okay here,” he said. He put his head back down and closed his eyes.
But tomorrow Moon Pie would go back to Miss Lottie’s comfy bed. He would get the best slices of meat off the cutting board. And all of them would be fine with that, because it was as it should be.
And if they were lucky, maybe Miss Lottie would sing along with her iPod, and Roo would join her, and they’d be one big, happy pack again.
Miss Lottie Before
After her husband died, Lottie wandered around her house a lot, staring outside, staring at photo albums, staring into space. Lost.
Nothing could fill the ache. Her macaroni and cheese tasted bland. She couldn’t concentrate on her mystery novels. Everything on the television bored her.
She looked and she looked, but she couldn’t find it, whatever it was. Sometimes it felt like this feeling, this word, this thing was on the tip of her tongue. If only she could remember it.
“Take up a hobby,” her dear friend Gertie had said.
Miss Lottie tried, but her knitting was bumpy. Her clay pots were lopsided. Her paintings were splotchy.
The ache and the emptiness persisted.
So every day, she walked to the same spot and sat on the same bench under an oak tree. She would stay until darkness fell, only to come back the following morning. She didn’t know what she thought about. Maybe nothing.
One day, instead of sitting under the oak, she decided to go to the pond. And there she saw a dog gnawing on a rock. A dog with a purpose. He stared at the ducks floating on the water. Like her, he seemed to be looking for something.
When Miss Lottie saw him, her heart beat faster. Then it swelled. This was it. That feeling, that word, that thing she had been looking for.
Family.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Even though it was a sunny spring day at the dog park, with lots of good smells in the air and fat squirrels scurrying about, the pack was uneasy. Quinn had spread out a blanket and poured fresh water into bowls, but none of the pack looked interested in resting or water.
It had been six months since Decker
had left, and the pack had finally, finally gone back to the way it used to be. Gus used his special dog gift daily, making sure they all felt loved and appreciated. He praised Tank for the way he helped Moon Pie with his nightmares. He calmed Roo when she started spinning too much. He cuddled with Moon Pie and gave him one of his Tiddle Widdle Chicken Bits each night. He gave the other one to Ghost, who had gone out of his way to help the pack, even though he would never admit it.
Every so often he would think of Decker. Of how he had acted the way he did because he didn’t have enough love in his life. It was too late for Decker, but Gus knew his dog gift had made the rest of his pack feel happy and safe again.
“What if this new dog is just like . . . him?” Moon Pie asked. He sat on Quinn’s lap, trembling.
“The chances are very slim,” Gus said.
“Yes, but what if he IS?” Roo asked. “He could be, you know! He could be just as mean! What if he’s mean and big and—”
“Roo, stop. I won’t let it happen again. I promise,” Gus said.
“Okaaaay . . .”
Miss Lottie’s dented van pulled into the parking lot. The pack froze.
“They’re here,” Quinn said. He shaded his eyes with his hand as he watched Miss Lottie get out of the van.
Gus held his breath. As much as he had tried to reassure the pack, his real worry was that he might make the same mistake again. He hadn’t listened to his deep-down dogginess before, and his pack had paid for it.
“Hey, everyone!” said Miss Lottie. She waved at them and opened the back door.
Gus watched closely as Miss Lottie reached into the van. When she came out, she was carrying a small, shivery Yorkshire terrier. The spring breeze swept his sweet soapy scent toward Gus.
“Meet Percy!” said Miss Lottie.
Miss Lottie smiled and put Percy down on the ground. At first the small dog stayed close to her. But one gentle shove with Miss Lottie’s foot, and he was off and running toward the pack. “Hey, everyone! I’m Percy! I just got a bath! I don’t like baths, do you? I like playing tug-of-war most of all but sometimes I’ll play catch. When I do play catch I don’t always bring the ball back, but I think that’s okay, don’t you?”
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