Mother Cat was moving stiffly, and her fur was missing in small, mottled places. I sniffed her carefully and there was cat food on her breath, with no sign of the feral odor of birds and mice. Nor was there any indication she had been near Lucas recently. My hopes that she would lead me back to my person were not to be realized.
When Mother Cat gracefully leapt up onto the deck itself I followed, finding some steps I could easily climb. The deck jutted from a house and up against some big windows, where I found a bowl of food and some water, along with the scent of people.
I realized then that someone was taking care of my mother here at her new den, just as Lucas had fed her at the old one, just as some people had fed me while I had been on my long journey.
Mother Cat watched me as I ate the moist, fishy food from her bowl. There was not much there, but the few bites were delicious. Then I went back to probing her with my nose—I could tell she had not had kittens in some time—there was no milk aroma clinging to her.
When a woman suddenly appeared in the big glass door I expected my mother to run away, but she didn’t flee, not even when the door slid open. Mother Cat turned and calmly regarded the woman, who smelled of flour and sugar.
“Daisy? Who is this dog?” the woman asked.
I wagged at the word “dog.”
Mother Cat walked underneath me, rubbing her back on my belly as she did so.
“Oh, Daisy, this is a stray. She doesn’t even have a collar. Did she eat your food?”
The woman bent and put her hand out, but the cat kept her distance. There was a reason why Mother Cat had no human smells on her fur; she might accept food but she did not crave a person’s touch. I was still wagging, wondering if the woman needed to pet me instead.
“Shoo, dog. You don’t belong here.”
The woman pointed, and then made a motion as if she were throwing a ball. I looked toward where she was gesturing, but didn’t see anything.
“Go home,” she commanded.
I stared at her in confusion. Lucas and Mom were no longer there. What did Go Home mean now?
“Go!” she shouted.
I understood that she saw me as a bad dog, possibly because I was not doing Go Home. I slunk off the deck, jumping down to the dirt, and Mother Cat followed me.
“Daisy? Kitty-kitty?” she called.
I wagged. My mother rubbed her head on my neck. I licked her face, but she did not like that and turned away from me.
I remembered Big Kitten, watching me from the rock. Sometimes cats have to stay where they are when dogs move on. This was one of those times. When I climbed back down the hill, I knew my mother was motionless behind me, gazing at me as I left.
It was how cats say good-bye.
I could think of nothing to do but Go Home again and see if Lucas was there this time. I crossed the small stream, scaled the bank, and went through the park, passing the slide I had climbed and jumped off so many times. It was much smaller now, for some reason.
I made my way toward our street, but before I got there a truck came around the corner, one with dog smells and a stack of dog crates on the back. I stopped and so did the truck. A fat man with a hat got out of the front seat.
I knew this man.
“Well, I don’t believe my eyes,” he declared.
I did not wag. I watched him suspiciously.
“Come here, girl!” He reached to the side of his truck and brought out a stick with a loop of rope on the end of it. “Treat!”
I was suddenly very afraid. I did not believe Hat-man would give me a treat, even though I was aware he had done so in the past. He was one of those who would keep me from Lucas, and he would do it angrily. He was a bad man.
I turned from him and ran.
* * *
I cut through yards, hearing the truck start up behind me. I got to our street and turned, dashing past our house and down the sidewalk next to the busy road. Darted through traffic. Cars honked and made a shrieking sound. I heard the truck coming closer. I tore across the parking lot. Up to the door at Go to Work.
No one was there to let me in. Frustrated, I trotted alongside the edge of the building, passing hedges, up a sidewalk. People were sitting outside, smoking like Sylvia while the sun went down.
I heard the truck rumble into the parking lot right behind me.
There was a big glass door and when I approached it, it slid open in a manner similar to the way the doors had parted in the place where there was a shelf with chickens set out for me. No chicken aroma greeted me this time—just the scents and sounds of many, many people. But the open door was an invitation, and I trotted inside.
Everywhere people were milling around, sitting in chairs, talking. Behind a big desk right in front of the door a woman jumped to her feet. “Oh! A dog!” she said in alarm.
Though I had never entered through this door before, I could smell where to go. Several people reacted to me as I moved past the woman, but I ignored them, my snout to the floor for guidance.
“Anybody know whose dog that is?” she called out.
Because the air was full of so many people I did not smell anyone I knew until I heard a familiar voice. “Bella? Bella!”
It was Olivia! She was standing on the other side of a room full of soft chairs and people talking. She put a hand to her mouth and some papers slipped from her hands. We ran to each other and she dropped to her knees. I jumped up and licked her face and could not stop the whimpers from rising in my throat. I was full of joy and relief and love. I flopped down for a tummy rub and then leaped to my feet and put my paws on her chest. She laughed, falling back.
“Oh, Bella, Bella,” she kept saying. I licked the tears from her cheeks. “I don’t believe it. How did this happen? Where have you been? Oh, Bella, we searched so hard for you.”
Another woman came over to join us. “Is this your dog?” she asked.
“No. Well, in a way. It’s my fiancé’s dog. It’s been—my God, it’s been more than two years. We had to send Bella away because of the breed laws in Denver, and by the time Lucas found a place to live and we went to get her, Bella had run away. We drove all over Durango, we put up posters, and then we thought probably something bad had happened to her. But you’re here, Bella! A miracle dog!” Olivia rubbed my ears and I leaned into her, groaning. “Oh, Bella, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what you must have gone through. Where’s your collar?”
Olivia had the scent of Lucas on her skin, and I couldn’t stop drinking it in. Olivia would lead me to him. My long journey was over. I was overjoyed to be back with my human family! I could not stop circling Olivia’s legs, even when she stood back up. I put my feet on her hips, trying to climb up to kiss her face.
“Uh, Olivia? Is that your dog?” another woman asked. It was the same person who had been sitting behind the desk. I wagged, knowing that now I was with Olivia the woman would not be upset with me.
“Yes. It’s a long story. She used to come here all the time when she was a puppy. I guess she found her way back.”
“Oh. Well, there’s an animal control officer here,” the desk-woman said.
“Sorry?”
“He said he was chasing the dog and saw her come in here.”
“Huh,” Olivia replied. “And?”
“He says you have to surrender her. You have to bring the dog out,” the desk-woman said apologetically.
“I see.”
“Do you want me to have him come back here?”
Anger was a rare emotion for Olivia, but that’s what I felt coming off her now. “No. Tell him I said to … Just tell him no, I’m not bringing the dog out.”
“Well … he’s an officer of the law, Olivia,” Desk-woman said cautiously.
“I know.”
“I think you pretty much have to do what he says, don’t you?”
“No, actually, I have a different opinion.”
“What are you going to do?”
* * *
Olivia led me down a
long hallway to a very familiar part of the building. I wagged furiously as we turned the corner and pushed in through some heavy doors. People were sitting in a circle of metal chairs in the center of a big room with a slick, clean floor.
“Sit, Bella,” Olivia commanded. I did Sit, excited to be there with her. “Uh, hi?” she called. “I’m really sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I have sort of an emergency.”
The people reacted to what Olivia had just said, straightening in their chairs, which squeaked.
“What is it?” a man asked, standing. I wagged, overjoyed. It was Ty!
“Bella came back,” Olivia said. I wagged even harder at my name and broke from Sit, running to Ty and jumping on him.
“Bella!” He laughed delightedly as I pawed him. “How in the world?”
“Bella?”
Mom! I dashed to her on the slick floor, panting, whimpering, and leaping up to lick her face. She bent over. She also reeked of Lucas—Mom and Olivia would help me find him! I was doing Go Home at last.
As soon as I got to her I realized that the people sitting in the chairs were all my friends. Layla stood. “Bella?” I ran to her, then turned to Steve, and Marty and Jordan put their hands on me, and my friends were all calling me and laughing and clapping.
“How did she get here?” Mom asked.
I flopped down for a tummy rub. Ty knelt next to me.
“Good dog, Bella!” Marty said.
“You’re not going to believe this, but she just walked in the front door,” Olivia replied. “Waltzed in like it was completely normal.”
“No, I mean get here. From Durango,” Mom said.
Ty gently turned me on my side. “Got a scar on the back of her neck, here. And look how thin she is! She’s had a rough couple of years, you can tell.”
“You don’t suppose she walked?” Mom gasped. “Through the mountains?”
Jordan laughed delightedly. “That would be amazing.”
“Oh, Bella, you are a very special girl,” Ty told me. “You can do anything.”
“So here’s the problem,” Olivia continued. “There’s an animal control officer here. I think it’s that same guy who harassed Bella in the first place. He says we have to bring the dog out.”
Ty straightened to a standing position. “Oh he does, does he?”
Layla crossed her arms. “What?”
“If we do, he’ll have Bella destroyed. We can’t let that happen. Is there something you can do?” Olivia asked urgently.
I felt Mom tighten. “I’ll handle this.”
Ty held up a hand. “No, not just you, Terri. I think we should all handle this.”
“Damn straight,” Jordan said.
Marty had sat back down but now he stood. “Hell yeah. He has no idea who he’s messing with.”
Mom turned to Olivia. “Have you called Lucas?”
I snapped my head up at his name.
“No, not yet. This is all happening so fast, Bella barely walked in the door before they told me the dog catcher was here. And…”
“And?” Mom raised an eyebrow.
“We sort of had harsh words this morning. He’s so stressed right now. Usually he calls to apologize later. It’s kind of one of the best things about him.”
Mom smiled warmly. “Maybe this time, you break the pattern? Seems to me he would want to hear about this as soon as possible. Take a minute.”
Olivia nodded. “Come, Bella.” She walked out of the circle of people, who were all closing in around Ty. I wanted to go and play and be petted and called a good dog, but Olivia had said “Come” and I knew Lucas would want me to do what she said. I followed her to the corner of the room.
Olivia held her phone to her face. “Hi, it’s me. Yes. Okay, yes, but … Lucas, would you stop for a minute? I do want to hear you say how wrong you were and how sorry you are. I want to hear you say it a lot. But I am calling about something else.”
Olivia smiled down at me, and I wagged. “You’ll never guess who just showed up!”
* * *
All of my friends took me for a walk down the hall past the desk-woman and to the door and outside. Night had fallen but there were a lot of lights so I could not only see but smell the hat-man and his truck with the dog crates. Two cars with flashing lights were parked next to that truck.
One woman and two men got out of those cars, all wearing dark clothes and carrying metal objects on their hips. Police. They walked with Hat-man up to greet my friends, who spread out next to me. Mom put her hand on my neck and I did Sit.
“I am here for the dog,” Hat-man declared in a loud voice.
Ty smiled cheerfully. “Is that right?”
“I’m executing a legal confiscation under section eight dash fifty-five.”
“Does sound pretty legal, I’ll grant you that,” Ty said.
Hat-man looked pointedly at the police standing next to him.
“We don’t want any trouble here, sir,” one of them stated cautiously. “But you’ll have to surrender the animal.”
Ty didn’t say anything.
“Understand?” Hat-man sneered. “We’re taking the dog.”
“All right.” Ty nodded, drawing himself up tall and gesturing to a man standing near to him. “But to do that, you’ll have to get past the Fourth Infantry Division of the United States Army.”
There was a long silence.
“Eighty-second Airborne Division, United States Army,” Mom declared firmly. As she spoke she held herself stiffly, straightening her back and adopting a curiously erect posture. I wagged but did not understand.
Drew wheeled his chair forward. “Second Marine Division.” He, too, went rigid.
Kayla stepped up next to Ty. “Sixth Fleet, United States Navy.”
“First Infantry. Army,” announced Jordan.
“Air National Guard.”
Several more of my friends spoke. There was a long, tense silence when they were done talking. I could hear a dog barking, far away.
The police seemed afraid.
Twenty-eight
“Sheriff’s here,” one of the police said. Everyone turned and looked at the car pulling up in the parking lot. When it stopped, a man stood up from the passenger side as if his bones hurt. For a moment he gazed over at us without moving, and then with a slight shake of his head he walked toward us, trailed by the woman who had been driving the car, stopping when two of the police went down to talk to him. The new man looked at me and I wagged.
“Easy, Bella,” Mom murmured. I glanced up at her, feeling her anxiousness and not understanding.
“So,” New-man greeted as he joined us. “How is everyone doing tonight?”
“We’re here to execute a dangerous animal confiscation and I got these people turning it into some kind of situation,” Hat-man said angrily. “It’s obstruction, it’s interfering with police business, it’s harboring a dangerous animal, and disobeying a lawful police order.”
New-man sniffed, looking at my friends as they stood beside me. “Pretty interesting,” he observed. “Is that your dog, ma’am?”
“She’s my son’s dog,” Mom replied.
I liked that the subject was dog.
“That a pit bull?” New-man asked.
Hat-man was nodding vigorously. “She’s been certified by three separate AC officers according to—”
“Chuck,” New-man interrupted, “did you think I was talking to you?”
Hat-man stiffened.
“We don’t actually know.” Mom shrugged. “She was found living under a house with a bunch of feral cats.”
“Cats. You don’t say,” New-man replied. “Never heard that one before.”
“None of this matters,” Hat-man said darkly.
“Maybe what matters is that you’re not taking Bella anywhere,” Mom said coldly. Now I felt a strong anger coming from her.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes to prevent you from touching this dog,” Ty added, gesturing to the men and women st
anding with him.
Everyone became tense. One of the police took a step back and put his hand on one of the metal objects at his side. For a long moment, no one spoke. I yawned anxiously.
“Chuck, what in God’s name have you gotten me into?” New-man finally asked.
“Sir, several years ago we received numerous complaints about this dog,” Hat-man said.
“For what?” Mom demanded angrily.
“Okay, look. Let’s everyone just calm down,” New-man said serenely. “All right?” He smiled at Mom. “Emotions are running high right now, but let’s take a look at it.” He turned to look at the parking lot, where two more cars with flashing lights pulled up and more police got out and walked up to us. I wagged. “See, this is how things get out of hand,” New-man continued. “Now, as unpleasant as it is, we have a job to do here. We’re going to have to take the dog into custody, but I promise you—”
“That’s not happening,” Mom snapped.
“Ma’am, please let me finish. I promise you we’ll take good care of her. You have my word.”
“Your word doesn’t mean a damn thing to me,” Ty said.
New-man looked at him, his eyes narrowing. The police standing behind him glanced at each other.
“Here comes Dr. Gann,” Olivia said quietly.
Another car had pulled up and I did not know the person who got out of it. Two more police came out of the building through the same door we had taken and joined all of us standing there. It was a big group of people, but unfortunately not a single one of them had any dog treats that I could smell.
“I’m Markus Gann,” the new arrival greeted New-man.
“Sheriff Mica,” New-man replied. The two men pulled on each other’s hands for a moment before giving up.
“Hi, Dr. Gann,” Mom said.
“Hello, Terri.”
“Hey there, Dr. Gann,” Ty added. The stranger’s name was Dr. Gann.
“Hello, Ty. Jordan. Drew. Olivia.” Dr. Gann turned to New-man. “So what may I do for you gentlemen this evening?”
A Dog's Way Home Page 25