by Ali Standish
The picture had been taken the day she and the Roses had gone to watch the baseball game. The baseball field stretched out behind Bella, and the sunset behind the baseball field. Bella looked up at her own smiling face, her pink tongue poking out just slightly from her mouth. When this picture was taken, Bella had been filled to the brim with boiled peanuts and happiness.
But now she felt only sadness and fear.
Bella thought suddenly of a movie she had once seen with Andy and Alice in which the police hung posters like this one to try to find escaped criminals.
Is that what I am now? A criminal?
The thought of Andy and Alice reporting her to the police made Bella want to howl with sorrow.
But there was no time for that. If the police were really looking for her, she would need to find a very good hiding spot indeed. If only I was as good as Leo at disappearing!
Bella raced across the street to the park and ran for the trees. She kept going until she was surrounded by them and decided she must be in a forest.
In the forest, the ground was not so snowy and cold, and Bella spotted a tree with big roots that she could curl up between. She lay down and found that there was even a soft layer of leaves beneath her. It was nothing like her bed at home, but it was better than the concrete of the bookshop doorstep.
Bella looked around, thinking that if she couldn’t find Leo’s pack, maybe living in the forest wouldn’t be so terrible. Maybe there was even a wolf pack in the forest, like the ones from National Geographic, who would take Bella in.
Except that wolves frightened Bella.
And that as the darkness fell and she closed her eyes, she began to hear strange noises that frightened her, too.
Snap!
Creak!
Thump!
Bella was too afraid to open her eyes but too afraid to fall asleep, either.
Finally she heard a loud whoosh above her head and cracked one eye open. She found two eyes staring down at her.
“Who?” asked the bird on the branch above her.
Bella remembered Skittles, the talking bird at Paula the vet’s office. But this bird did not look like Skittles. It was rounder, with gray and silver feathers and enormous yellow eyes. It obviously knew how to speak, though. Perhaps all birds knew how to speak, if they chose. Perhaps this bird would help Bella settle into the forest—show her where to find food and water. Perhaps they even could be friends!
For the first time since leaving the Roses’ apartment, Bella felt a flicker of hope.
“I’m Bella,” she said eagerly, lifting herself up to stand. “Who are you?”
The bird ruffled its wings. “WHO!” it said again, louder this time, and now its yellow eyes began to glitter in a way that frightened Bella.
“I’m . . . Bella,” she said again, though this time the words came out as a whimper.
The bird unfolded its giant wings and flapped off its branch. “WHO!” it screeched, swooping down toward Bella. “WHO! WHO! WHO!”
Except now Bella understood that even though it said “WHO,” what it meant was “Go away! Or else. . . .”
Bell let out a yelp and began to run the way she had come, weaving through the trees until she found herself back in the open park. She was so frightened that she streaked across the snow-covered grass without paying much attention to where she was going at all, until suddenly her paws were slipping and sliding out from under her. She looked down to see that she had stepped onto a large oval of smooth ice.
And in the middle of the oval, rising up in front of her, was a tree. A spindly, prickly, seasick-green tree.
The tree was at least a hundred feet tall.
Its branches were covered in colorful lights that glared down at her like the eyes of the bird in the forest, only this time there seemed to be thousands of them. Atop the very highest branch was a huge blazing star.
It’s the giant tree! The one from my nightmares!
Her heart thumping wildly in her chest, Bella turned tail and ran once more, skidding across the ice before the tree could topple over her, like it did in her dreams. Finally she felt her paws reach snowy ground. When she looked back, panting, the tree was far behind her. She was safe, for now.
But she was also running out of places to run.
Sixteen
The Little Blue House
Bella awoke the next morning underneath an alleyway dumpster, where she had finally curled up the night before.
She was hungry, and cold, and still tired.
It took her a moment to realize that a sound had woken her up. A loud whistling and a low rumble that seemed to make the ground shake.
Where have I heard that sound before? she wondered.
Then, with a jolt, she remembered—she had heard the sound at Leslie’s house. It was a train whistling past.
The sound gave Bella an idea. It was not a marvelous idea, or even a very good one.
But it was the only one she had left.
Bella found her way to the train tracks and began walking in what she hoped was the right direction. She walked for a long time, until her paws were so cold that she began to limp. She felt as if tiny icy hands were pinching her all over.
Just when she was sure she had followed the train tracks in the wrong direction, she spotted the back of the little blue house peeking up above the white picket fence.
Bella left the tracks and forced herself to trot toward Leslie’s house. She planned to bark until Leslie came to the door. Surely Leslie would let her warm up and give her food before calling the Roses or taking her to the pound.
Then Bella would ask to go out in the backyard. She remembered there had been two loose pickets in the fence. She had poked her head between them to watch the train roll by. Now she would be able to escape through them before Leslie could stop her.
And then . . . well, she would think about then when she had food in her belly.
Bella stole between the Leslie’s house and the one next to it, coming to a stop by the front gate of the little blue house. She let out a series of yips and waited for Leslie to appear.
Instead, a huge furry figure came barreling out of the front door, through a swinging black flap that Bella had not noticed before.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Leo?” she croaked.
As he bounded closer, Bella knew she was right. “Leo!” she cried again.
She was saved!
“Bella!” Leo barked, his wagging tail a blur. “Merry Christmas!”
She cringed. Christmas? What does Leo know about Christmas?
Nevertheless, she hobbled up to the picket fence and allowed Leo to lick her face. His warm tongue felt ever so nice on her cold nose.
Then she collapsed on the ground. This way, the raw pads on the bottoms of her paws could finally get a break from the snow.
“What are you doing here?” she panted. “I thought you were with your pack!”
“No,” Leo said. “I got nabbed by a dogcatcher. He took me back to the pound. But before I could run away again, Leslie adopted me.”
Bella considered this.
“I thought you didn’t do humans,” she said.
“I don’t,” replied Leo. “But Leslie is different. She likes me just the way I am. She takes care of me. And lets me stay outside as much as I want. She even put in a door so I can go in and out whenever I like.”
Leo’s scar had healed, and his stomach had rounded out once again. This made Bella feel very happy for him. But it also made her feel even hungrier and lonelier than she had before. Everyone has a family now but me, she thought, ears drooping.
“Wait a minute!” Leo barked, cocking his head. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to find Leslie,” Bella replied. “I thought maybe she would give me something to eat. Then I was going to escape through the loose boards in the back.”
“She replaced those when I came,” Leo said. “But wait—why do you need Leslie to feed you? What about you
r humans?”
“They—they—they don’t want me anymore!” howled Bella.
The awful truth sank its sharp teeth into her, biting deeper than the cold. She was never going back. Never going to see Alice and Andy again.
She was really and truly alone.
Leo bared his teeth. “Humans!” he snarled. “They’re even worse than squirrels. Except for Leslie, of course. Is it because of the new baby?”
“Y-y-yes,” whimpered Bella.
But then she had a thought.
“How do you know about the baby?”
“Leslie left yesterday morning,” Leo said. “To go to the hospital. Your hu—er, Andy—called to tell her that he and Alice were there.”
Bella jumped up, her heart suddenly racing. “Alice is in the hospital? Is she all right? Is the baby here?”
Leo shrugged his shoulders. “Leslie only came home late last night to sleep. By the time I woke up this morning, she was gone again. But you really shouldn’t bother caring about those humans. They disgust me.”
Bella heard a low growl in Leo’s throat.
He was right. She should not care about Alice and Andy anymore. They had planned to take her to the pound. They had called her “Bad Bella.” They had gone to the hospital to have their baby just as soon as she left. They had made it clear that she was once again unwanted.
So why do I still care so much?
Bella knew the answer, of course. She cared because she loved them. Would always love them. But they weren’t hers any longer, and she had to think of the future now.
“Leo,” Bella said, “can you tell me where I can find your pack?”
Leo opened his mouth and closed it again. Opened and closed it. Like he was trying to catch a fly.
“What’s wrong?” Bella asked.
“I can tell you how to find them,” Leo said finally. “But I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“They won’t take me?” cried Bella. “They’re my only hope! You were right all along about humans, Leo. And if I don’t find your pack, I’ll be caught and sent back to the pound. And then someone else will take me home and it will start all over. I can’t do it again! I just can’t!”
Leo sighed his mightiest sigh. “I’m sure they’ll take you,” he said. “But living on the streets is a hard life.”
“You said you loved living with your pack!”
Leo hesitated. He looked down at his paws.
“That was before I found my home with Leslie.”
Bella flopped back into the snow. “I know it won’t be easy. But just tell me where they are.”
Anything is better than being alone.
Leo nodded his head sadly. “I’ll tell you. But first, let me go inside and get my food bowl. I’ll bring it out so you can eat.”
Bella waited on the other side of the fence while Leo shoved himself back through the doggy door and into the house to retrieve his bowl. She tried not to imagine how toasty warm it might be inside.
After he had returned and Bella had gulped down his breakfast, he tried once more to get her to change her mind.
“The pound won’t be so bad,” he said. “Maybe Leslie will take you in herself, and you can live with me!”
But Bella shook her head. Her mind was made up. So Leo began telling her everything she needed to know to find his pack. Her pack.
“I should go, Leo,” she said when he was done. “Before someone sees me. Thanks for your help.”
“You know where to find me now,” he said. He kissed her nose goodbye.
“Tell Weasel I sent you,” he called after her as she turned away. “And don’t trust anything you hear from One-Eyed Nel. And never go near the man with the red apron, even though he smells like—”
Bella was too tired even to hear the rest of his warnings. She limped back through Leslie’s quiet neighborhood, crouching low so as not to be seen by a family having a snowball fight in their yard.
If Andy and Alice had not decided to have a baby, perhaps Bella and Andy would be playing the same game now, back in their park.
The thought was too much to bear. Andy and Alice had a new family, Bella reminded herself, and deep in the heart of the city there was a family of dogs waiting for her, too.
I just have to make it to them. . . .
Seventeen
The Long Road Home
Leo had told Bella that the dog pack sometimes spent winter nights in an alley between four restaurants. The heat from the kitchens spilled out into the alley, and there were always leftovers to be claimed in the trash heaps. Sometimes the scraps were even still warm.
To get to the alley, Bella would have to pass through her old neighborhood, close to Andy and Alice’s apartment building, which meant she needed to be very, very careful not to be spotted by anyone who knew her. Then she would continue down past the park onto the busy street, which went all the way to a part of the city she did not know, but which she had seen in the distance because the buildings there were so tall.
Bella moved slower than ever now. The cold that had stung at her paws all day made its way into her knees and elbows, then to her hips and shoulders.
Each time she stopped, she had to rest for longer, and each time she rested, it became harder to pull herself up again. By the time it grew dark, she had only covered half the distance to her old home.
Bella looked behind her often to make sure no one was following. No one ever was.
This should have come as a relief, but it somehow made her feel worse.
Although she had seen very few cars and even fewer people outside, she began to notice all sorts of humans inside. Some houses had rows of candles dancing in the center window, while others had strings of light framing the door. Color spilled out onto the street from every house like bowls of melted candies.
In one house, humans sat around their dinner table, passing each other dishes of turkey and hot gravy that smelled delicious, even through the windows. In the next, the humans were curled up on the sofa together, watching a movie on TV. Through one window, Bella saw a family gathered around a glowing fireplace, each holding a stick with something fluffy and white on the end. Sounds of laughter and singing seemed to trickle out from each house she passed.
Bella thought of Andy and Alice. Are they still at the hospital? Or are they home now? Are they gathered around the tree with their new baby? Have they even thought about me since I left?
Most of all, she wondered about Alice. What if something had happened to her in the hospital? Or even to the baby? A knot of worry tightened in her stomach each time she thought about the possibiilty.
In fact, Bella was so worried that she had hardly noticed that, instead of sticking to Leo’s directions, she had begun to follow her paws along the familiar roads that she and Andy used to run together. The next thing she knew, she was standing almost in front of their apartment building. She ducked quickly into the shadows on the other side of the street.
She couldn’t believe herself. She was lucky no one had recognized her.
But now she was here, she thought, it couldn’t hurt to stop a minute and take one last look at her old life.
Just to make sure Alice is all right.
Bella counted five windows up.
All she saw was a dark square.
No one was home.
Bella was so busy staring at the black window that she didn’t notice the silver car pulling up across the street.
Eighteen
The Rose Family
The car door slammed, and Bella jumped.
Fortunately, she landed silently on her paws, which were quite numb by now.
When she got a better look at the car, she almost jumped again. It’s the Roses’ car!
Slowly, Bella retreated farther into the shadows.
Andy had gotten out of the car and was going around to the other side to help Alice.
The light inside the car was on, so Bella could see Alice’s face. It was pale and tired.
When Andy held his hand out to her, she took it and stood.
Bella inched forward to get a closer look at Alice.
Just then, Alice glanced in her direction and frowned. Bella froze.
“What’s wrong?” Andy asked.
“Nothing,” Alice said, staring another moment before turning away. “I just thought I saw— Has there been any word from Leslie?”
Hearing Alice’s voice made Bella’s heart thump and ache at the same time. She knew she should slink away now. It wasn’t safe to stay here. But her paws didn’t seem to want to move.
“She’s been putting posters up since yesterday morning,” said Andy, who was fiddling now with a large gray basket on the seat. “But no one’s called since the woman who saw Bella by the park yesterday afternoon.”
“What if we don’t find her? What if she doesn’t come home?” asked Alice.
“We will find her,” Andy said firmly. “I promise.”
Home? What did Alice mean, home? Bella did not have a home anymore.
Do I?
Andy pulled the gray basket out from the car. Peeking out from the basket was a tiny blue bundle.
Bella couldn’t take her eyes off it.
Suddenly the bundle began to cry.
Alice extended a finger toward it. “There, there,” she cooed. “I know you want your big sister, Bella. It doesn’t feel like Christmas without her, does it?”
Bella’s ears perked up, and her heart began to race.
Sister?
She’d always thought the Roses treated her like their baby only because they didn’t have one of their own. But if she was the baby’s sister, then that meant that she really was . . . family.
Andy leaned over to kiss Alice on the cheek, and when he did, Bella saw a melted snowflake rolling down his face. She looked at Alice and saw that her face, too, was wet.
Not because of snowflakes, thought Bella suddenly.
Because of tears!
They were crying because she was their baby, after all, and they missed her.
Bella took a small step forward. Then another. Until she was standing in the golden glow of the streetlight. But the Roses were looking the other way now. They were walking to the door of the apartment building. Another moment and they would disappear through it.