Ghost Dog Secrets

  “Pat Larson is my mom,” I said, “but she’d take away my allowance for a year if she knew I was calling you, so please don’t tell her.”

  The man’s voice softened. “I’ll have someone check on the dog,” he said, “but it’s difficult to prosecute a cruelty case without an eyewitness.” I was pretty sure Andrew was right, and this wouldn’t be top priority on this man’s to-do list. Probably he would pass my message along to Heidi Kellogg.

  After I hung up I wished I hadn’t called. I really didn’t want the sheriff or anyone else to go get Ra. I wanted to rescue him myself. I wanted to bring him home and take care of him and know he was safe.

  I wished we’d gone back with the leash on Friday, after Ra let us pet him. We could have rescued him right then, instead of waiting. At the time we had agreed we should wait another few days, to be sure that Ra would go with us on the leash. If we’d known what was going to happen Saturday night, we would never have waited.

  Well, I told myself, there’s no sense second-guessing yourself now. The important thing is to get Ra away from there as fast as possible. A rapid, remarkable rescue.

  I went back again late in the afternoon, at the usual time, taking Ra’s food and water. As I rode my bike toward Ra’s street, I thought, what if he’s gone again?What if he’s not on the chain? What if he’s inside? Would I have the courage to knock on that door?

  Ra was there. He stood when he saw me, moving slowly as if it hurt to put weight on his legs. He acted hungry but ate only half his food, then lapped a little water.

  At least he’s standing now, I thought. He has to be able to walk from here to the fort tomorrow. We have no other way to get him there.

  Andrew called as soon as he got home from his grandparents’ house. He was as outraged as I was over Ra’s condition. “Crummy, cruel clod,” he said.

  We whispered into the phone, making our plans for the next day. As soon as Ra finished eating, I would unclip the chain and remove the metal choke collar. Next we’d buckle the soft new sun collar around his neck and snap the leash on. Then we would lead Ra away from his captor and into his happy new life.

  Thinking about it in bed that night, I had so much excited, nervous energy that I felt I might explode. My thoughts bounced up like popcorn in a microwave. What if someone saw us? What if Ra got scared and bolted and we couldn’t control him? What if he howled at night because he didn’t like to be alone in the fort, and Mom heard him? All the things that could possibly go wrong raced through my mind.

  I never considered backing out of our plan, though. I couldn’t let my dog spend his life hungry, afraid, and chained to that tree. I couldn’t let him spend another night inside Mean Man’s house. If Andrew and I didn’t save Ra, who would? Tomorrow, Ra would be mine for real, not just in my mind.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I was late to school on Monday because I had an appointment at the orthodontist. Mom dropped me off at school afterward. As I crossed the entry hall and started to turn the corner toward the office with my signed excuse, I saw Gerald next to the bin where we were collecting supplies for the puppy mill dogs. He was bent over the bin, with both hands inside it. I stepped back, then peered around the corner, watching him.

  When he stood up he had a can of dog food in each hand. He stuffed the cans in his backpack, then reached into the bin again. My jaw dropped. Gerald was stealing the donated dog food!

  I burst around the corner and hurried toward him. “Hey! ” I yelled. “Get away from there!”

  Gerald quickly straightened up and turned to face me. He had a fake grin on his face. “What?” he asked, all innocent.

  “Put back the dog food you stole,” I said.

  “I didn’t steal anything.”

  “Yes, you did! I saw you take two cans out of the bin and put them in your backpack.”

  Mrs. Vargus, who works in the school office, came into the hall. “What’s going on here?” she asked.

  “He’s stealing dog food out of the donation bin,” I said.

  “I was putting dog food in,” Gerald said.

  “I saw him! He was bent over, with his hands in the bin, and then he stood up and put two cans in his backpack.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gerald said. “I brought dog food with me, and I’m donating it.”

  Mrs. Vargus looked at Gerald and then back at me. “This is a serious accusation, Rusty,” she said. “Are you sure you want to make it?”

  I thought of the consequences of being a tattletale. I realized that, just as I had no proof that Ra was mistreated, I had no proof that Gerald had stolen the dog food. It was my word against his. But I was too angry to back down.

  “Look in his backpack, if you don’t believe me,” I said. “You’ll find the two cans I saw him take.”

  “You’ll find the cans I hadn’t dropped in the bin yet,” Gerald said.

  Mrs. Vargus sighed. “I think you both need to talk to Mr. Burbank,” she said. As we followed Mrs. Vargus toward the principal’s office, Gerald whispered, “You’re going to regret this.”

  Mrs. Vargus pointed to a row of chairs outside the principal’s office. “Wait here,” she said.

  While we waited, I glared at Gerald. “Stealing donated dog food that’s meant for mistreated animals is about as low as it gets,” I said.

  “You don’t know half as much about this as you think you do,” he replied.

  “What is there to know? I caught you stealing, and now you’re lying about it.”

  Before Gerald could respond, Mr. Burbank called me into his office and had me tell my version of what had happened. Then he had me wait while he talked alone with Gerald. At the end of that, he talked to both of us together.

  “There is no way for me to know for certain which of you is telling the truth. Rusty, I see no reason why you would make up such a story, but you can’t prove it, either. Gerald, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. I want you both to go to class now, and I trust that there will be no more incidents regarding stolen dog food.” He looked at me. “Also, there will be no discussion of this with your classmates.”

  Gerald smirked.

  I couldn’t believe it. Once again, Gerald was getting away with no consequences for his misdeeds.

  As we left the office to go to Mrs. Webster’s classroom, Gerald made a big show of taking the two cans of dog food out of his backpack and putting them in the bin.

  “It would have been faster if you’d let me do that to begin with,” he said.

  “I know what I saw.”

  During recess I told Andrew what had happened. He was as furious as I was. “We should tell Mrs. Webster,” he said. “We should tell the whole class.”

  “Mr. Burbank specifically said I can’t tell anyone. I shouldn’t even be telling you.”

  “It isn’t fair,” Andrew said. “Gerald never gets punished.”

  “You got that right.”

  The classroom clock seemed to tick in slow motion. As the minutes dragged by, all I could think was, Today is the day we rescue Ra! Today is the day I have a dog of my own. Well, mine and Andrew’s, but the fort where Ra would live was next to my house, and I’m the one who found Ra to begin with so it seemed as if he were mostly mine.

  I didn’t mind sharing him with Andrew. Without Andrew, I would not have had the nerve to rescue Ra. Also, Andrew had split the cost of the blanket and bowls with me, and he had provided the collar and some canned dog food to supplement the dry food.

  The only time I really paid attention that morning was when we worked on our plans for helping the puppy mill dogs. “On Friday,” Mrs. Webster told us, “we’re going on a field trip to the Humane Society.” When the cheering died down, she continued, “We’ll see some of the rescued dogs, and we’ll deliver all of the food and supplies that we’ve collected.”

  “Will we get to pet the puppies?” Lexi asked.

  “I don’t know. The puppy mill owner signed over custody of all the dogs to the Humane S
ociety. Some of them will be released for adoption on Saturday.”

  More cheering erupted. Mrs. Webster had to whack her ruler against the edge of her desk to get us to quiet down. “This afternoon, we will give short talks to the other classes, to remind them to bring their donations by Friday.” We spent the rest of the morning working on our speech for the other classes. When it was written, each of us learned the talk and we practiced giving it to one another.

  After lunch, we went in groups of six and made our presentations.

  When our time for working on the puppy project ended, my mind drifted away from my lessons and back to Ra. I kept thinking, Today’s the day.

  I rushed home from school, took the books out of my backpack, and put in dog food and one of the pans. I didn’t take water this time, since Ra would soon be back in the fort where he’d have fresh water any time he wanted it.

  I stopped in the kitchen to grab a couple of cookies and saw a note from Mom. I’ll be home early today, so stick around after school. You need a haircut.

  Oh, no! She could arrive at any moment and I’d never talk her out of taking me to get my hair cut. I would have to pretend I hadn’t seen the note. I jammed the cookies in my pocket and rushed out the door, nearly colliding with Andrew on the front step.

  “We have to get out of here,” I said. “Mom’s on her way home and wants me to get a haircut.”

  Andrew turned around and ran away from my house, heading toward Ra’s street. That’s one thing I like about Andrew. He never needs a long explanation. If I say we need to go, he hightails it out of there.

  It would have been faster to ride our bikes to Ra’s house, but we had agreed to walk today because once we had Ra on his leash, we wouldn’t want to deal with bicycles. Instead of walking, we ran.

  By the time we reached Ra’s yard, my heart was racing—not because we had run too fast but because I was so excited. Ra saw us coming and wagged his tail. He seemed better. I fed him, as I always did, but instead of watching him eat I looked nervously around, checking to see if any cars were approaching or any neighbors were watching out their windows.

  As Ra licked the pan, making sure he got every scrap, Andrew said, “Okay, let’s do it.”

  I curled my fingers around Ra’s collar and tried to remove the chain, but the clasp was rusty, and I couldn’t get the chain unclipped.

  “Hurry! ” Andrew said as he picked up the empty food dish.

  “I’m trying. The chain is rusted; it won’t open. I can’t get it off his collar and with the chain on, the collar won’t loosen enough to take it off.”

  “He was unchained Saturday night, when he was inside.”

  “Whoever unhooked him was way stronger than I am. You try.”

  Andrew tried. He couldn’t get the chain unclipped, either. “We need to spray it with WD-40,” he said. “That’s what my dad uses when our gate hinges get rusty.”

  “It will take too long to go to your house to get WD-40.”

  We stared at each other. “Do you have any money with you?” I asked.

  “I have five dollars.”

  “Let’s try the store.”

  We ran to the nearby convenience store, where I had bought Ra’s hot dog that first day, but they did not carry WD-40. Instead we bought a small bottle of vegetable oil. We hurried back to Ra and doused his rusty collar with vegetable oil. I rubbed the oil on the clip that attached the chain to the collar.

  “If we get the chain off,” Andrew said, “let’s just hook the leash to the collar he has. We can switch to the new collar when we get him home.”

  My hands were soon a greasy mess. The rust came off on them, turning my fingers orange. I rubbed more oil on the clip, then tried opening it, and this time it unhooked.

  Andrew quickly snapped the new leash on Ra’s collar while I wiped my hands on my jeans.

  “Come on, boy,” Andrew said.

  Ra hesitated.

  “It’s okay, Ra,” I told him. I put one hand on his side and petted him. “You’re going to live in the fort now, and we’ll take care of you.”

  We walked slowly away from the tree, and Ra followed us. When we reached the sidewalk, we picked up the pace. Ra trotted beside us and never once looked back at the yard where he had been held captive.

  When we reached my street, we peered anxiously around. My neighborhood was not like Ra’s. People were often out in their yards, pulling weeds or pruning. If any of my neighbors saw me with a dog, the word was sure to get back to Mom. Luckily, I didn’t see anyone.

  We headed into the greenbelt and unlocked the door of the fort. Ra marched right in, as if he knew this was now his home.

  “We made it!” I said. Andrew and I fist-bumped each other.

  Ra sniffed the milk crates and then pawed at the blanket. He turned around in a circle a couple of times before he plopped down on the blanket.

  “My cousin’s dog turns in circles like that, too,” I said.

  “It’s a holdover from their wilder ancestors,” Andrew said. “Wolves made dens in the tall prairie grass, or dug in the cool dirt on hot days. Dogs and wolves share ninety-nine percent of their genetic material.”

  I looked at Ra, wondering if he was part wolf. He didn’t seem fierce enough for that. My cousin’s dog was a Chihuahua, which seemed even less likely to be a descendant of wolves, but I did not doubt Andrew’s facts.

  Andrew had brought an old towel to the fort to use on Ra’s paws if it rained. I wiped my hands on it and then used it to clean as much of the oil off Ra’s fur as I could. I took off the choke chain, and Andrew buckled the sun collar around Ra’s neck.

  “That looks great,” I said. I sat on the floor next to Ra, stroking his side. He gave a contented sigh and put his head on my leg. I couldn’t stop smiling.

  “We need to decide on a story,” Andrew said.

  I waited for him to explain.

  “In case someone sees Ra and asks about him, we need to be able to explain where we got him and why we’re keeping him in the fort. We both need to have the same story.”

  I didn’t even want to think about anyone discovering Ra, but I knew Andrew was right. “We can say we found him,” I said.

  “No,” Andrew said. “If we found him we should have tried to find out who lost him. We would have posted flyers and let people know we had found a dog. We need a believable story of why he’s really ours.”

  “Some kids gave him to us in front of the grocery store,” I said. “We had gone to buy potato chips and there were these two girls standing out in front with Ra, asking every shopper if they wanted a free dog. We said yes.”

  Andrew nodded. “Perfect,” he said. “I’ve seen people there before with puppies or kittens. It’s a stupid way to find a home for an animal, but it does happen. It’s believable.”

  “One girl was about ten,” I said, “and the other was maybe seventeen or eighteen. They said their family was moving out of state and couldn’t take the dog and they didn’t want their parents to turn it in to a shelter. They wanted to be sure he went to someone who would love him, and we promised that we would.”

  “I didn’t know you could lie so well,” Andrew said. He seemed truly impressed. “No wonder you always get A’s in language arts. You tell lively, lavish lies.”

  “What lies?” I said, trying to look innocent. “I’m merely telling you where I got Ra.”

  “The girls told us his name was Max,” Andrew said, “but we decided to change it to Ra.”

  “Yep,” I agreed. “That’s exactly what happened.”

  “We’re keeping him in the fort because we want to share him,” Andrew said. “This way we can take turns walking him and feeding him, and he belongs to both of us.”

  I nodded. Although I secretly felt Ra was more my dog than Andrew’s, I knew that wasn’t really fair.

  A voice called from beyond the trees. “Rus-ty!”

  “Uh-oh,” I said. “That’s my mother. I’d better get home before she decides to look here f
or me.”

  “I’ll stay awhile,” Andrew said. “When I go, I’ll take his old collar and the bottle of oil and put them in the trash can by the ball field.”

  “Good thinking,” I said. “I’ll come back and walk him before I go to bed.” I gave Ra a quick pat on the head and hurried toward home.

  “There you are,” Mom said when I walked in. “Where were you? Didn’t you see my note?”

  “Note?” I said.

  She pointed to the note she had left me. I picked it up, as if I were reading it for the first time. “Sorry,” I said. “I went for a walk.”

  “Well, it isn’t too late to get your hair cut,” Mom said, “if we leave right now.”

  I grabbed two more cookies.

  “What on earth did you get on your jeans?” she asked.

  I looked at the oily orange streaks, shrugged, and followed her out the door.

  After dinner that night, while Mom watched Wheel of Fortune, I slipped quietly out the back door. Mom’s a fan of both Wheel and Jeopardy!, so I had an hour to be with Ra. As long as I was back home before Jeopardy! ended, Mom would not miss me.

  Ra whined excitedly when he heard me unlock the padlock. When I stepped inside, he pranced around, whacking my legs with his tail. I petted him, gave him a dog biscuit, and then snapped the leash on and took him outside. I stayed in the trees nearby, nervous that if I set off down the sidewalk with Ra someone I know would see us. Eventually, I knew he would need more strenuous exercise, but for tonight we walked around close to the fort while he sniffed and marked the territory as his own.

  After I took him back inside the fort, I sat beside him and petted him awhile. I burrowed my face into the fur on his neck and inhaled the doggy smell. I laid my cheek against him. “You’ll sleep here tonight, Ra,” I told him. “I’ll be back to take you out tomorrow morning.”

  I wished I could bring my sleeping bag to the fort and sleep with him. Better yet, I wished he could come inside with me and sleep on my bed.