by Linda Benson
Finally, right before bedtime I figure out what to do. Pete’s in the bathroom brushing his teeth and sticking his tongue through the new hole between his front teeth. He stays in there awhile making faces at himself in the mirror.
“Dad,” I say. “Can I ask you something real fast so Petey doesn’t hear?”
“Okay.”
“I want to use the money I have in my savings account to get Pete exactly what he wants for his birthday, only I have to get it early. It can’t wait until October, or it might be gone. And I need your help to get it. It’s exactly what he wants. I know.”
“What is it that you want to get him?”
“The orange cat.”
“What orange cat? The one that ran away up in the tree?”
“Yeah. But I have to get him quick.” Pete’s coming out of the bathroom now, rubbing his sleepy eyes and headed for his bedroom. “Because his time is almost up.”
“Whose time is up?” asks Pete. Mr. Big Ears.
“Your time is up, young man. Time for you to be in bed. Pronto. Right now. No excuses.” Dad claps his hands together, and Pete runs for his bedroom, giggling. Dad grins at me and whispers. “We’ll talk.”
Chapter 30—The Call of the Wild
“THE WOLVES SWUNG IN BEHIND, yelping in chorus. And Buck ran with them, side by side with the wild brother, yelping as he ran.” Wow. We’re on the last page of The Call of the Wild. I can’t believe a book can be this good. Lester’s even holding still like he’s listening. Maybe he understands it’s a book about a great dog. Or maybe it’s because Frank is stroking his ears with one hand and scratching Lester under the chin with the other.
Sophie’s gonna love this book when she reads it. She’s down the hall with Fuzzy, letting all the silver-haired ladies caress his long, golden coat. We get extra credit for doing community service during the school year. We get neat stuff—like free recess, coupons to use at stores in town, and getting out of certain homework assignments. It’s pretty cool.
This was Sophie’s idea really. About the second week of school, she suggested a new community service project where we take animals to see the lonely people in the senior homes. Mr. Gannon thought it was a great idea and said we could start with Lester and Fuzzy because Fuzzy is already trained as a therapy dog and Lester needs the experience.
We’re supposed to take them up and down the halls and sit and visit with whatever seniors would like to pet a dog. I’m also going to do that with Lester, but Frank convinced me that we should finish his Jack London book first.
It’s too bad we can’t bring some cats in here because a lot of people like cats too. But they don’t do quite as good as dogs when it comes to going different places. I should know. It took a long time for Torpedo to adjust to his new home at our house.
Gloria told us just how we should do it so he wouldn’t run away again. She said to keep him in one room only for at least a week until he got used to it. So he stayed in Petey’s bedroom with the door closed tight and with food and water and a litter box. He hid under Pete’s bed for most of the time, but my little brother was really patient. He lay on the floor by the bed and talked to the cat real quiet, telling him all the fun things they would do if he came out. Finally, on about day six, Pete came home from school, and Torpedo was sleeping on top of his bed.
That orange cat has the run of the house now. He even likes my dad and sits on his lap when he watches the news every night. And purrs loud. I think Sophie’s right. That animals do understand people, and maybe Torpedo knows that dad signed the paper to get him out of the animal shelter and let me give him to Pete for an early birthday present.
“Are you ready to go yet, Jared?” Sophie brings Fuzzy into Frank’s room, and he sniffs noses with Lester and then lies down. Lester turns in a circle, just like a wolf out in the wild, and beds down next to him. Lester has grown a lot since Mr. Gannon first brought him to school, and I think he’s going to be humongous.
“Jared’ll be done pretty quick,” says Frank. “We’re almost to the end. Pull up a chair and stay awhile.”
“Okay. I’ll just sit down here where it’s comfortable.” Sophie settles on a small rug on the floor, right smack in the middle of the two dogs, one black and one yellow. She pets Lester with one hand and lays her head on Fuzzy’s big, golden back. I look down at her face for a second. Her blue eyes are closed, and she almost seems to be dreaming. I study her, trying to figure out what looks different from when she first came to school last spring and sat down next to me in class.
“Ready, son?”
“Ready.” I find my spot and begin again…the Yeehats tell of a Ghost Dog that runs at the head of the pack.
Sophie looks up at me and smiles. Not a halfway smile. Not a crooked smile. It’s a smile that lights up her whole face like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. Now I know what’s different about her. When she smiles like that, you can’t see her scar at all.
About the Author
Linda Benson is the author of several middle grade and young adult books, including Walking the Dog, Six Degrees of Lost, The Girl Who Remembered Horses, Finding Chance, and The Horse Jar (which has been translated into Spanish.)
Her passion for nature and animals often finds its way into her writing. She has been a veterinary assistant, zoo keeper, race track groom, realtor, children’s librarian, and owned both a native plant nursery and a saddle shop.
Ms. Benson lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a variety of animals, all of them adopted. When she’s not petting a dog, cat, horse, or donkey, or traipsing through the woods while walking her dog, she’s most likely working on her next book.
Website: http://www.lindabenson.net
Blog: http://www.lindabenson.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LinBenson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaBensonAuthor