I don’t think. I just RUN!
I run as fast as I can along the side of the highway. But Uncle Marty is getting farther and farther ahead of me.
A car pulls up next to me, and a lady sticks her head out the front window. “Hey, little doggy,” she says as the car rolls along beside me. “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself.”
There’s a man driving the car and a Jack Russell terrier in the backseat.
“Are you running away from someone or are you trying to catch someone?” the terrier asks me.
“Trying ... to catch ... someone,” I pant. I’ve been running so hard I can hardly breathe. “That van ... with the trailer ... up there.”
The car pulls ahead of me and stops. The lady gets out. “Come here, little doggy.” She pats her thighs. “I’ll help you find your owner.”
I run right on past her. I don’t take rides from strangers. Even if they’re with a dog.
“Have you tried the Network?” the terrier calls to me.
The Network is great if you live in a town. If you need help or you just need to get a message to another dog, all you have to do is say so. Any dog that can hear you will pass your message on to dogs who can hear them but can’t hear you.
I don’t think the Network is very useful out here, so I just keep running. Who, besides this Jack Russell terrier, would hear me? And even if someone else did hear me, what could they do? I’ve never met a dog who was strong enough to stop a moving van.
But the terrier puts out a call over the Network anyway.
“HEY!” he shouts at the top of his lungs. “DOES ANYONE SEE THAT VAN WITH THE TRAILER UP AHEAD ON THE HIGHWAY? I’VE GOT A GOLDEN RETRIEVER HERE WHO REALLY NEEDS TO CATCH THAT VAN!”
“Stop barking, Poochie,” the Jack Russell terrier’s human says. “We’re trying to help this other dog.”
I keep running. Just when I think I can’t run anymore, I see the lights on the back of Uncle Marty’s trailer come on again. The van and trailer swerve to the side of the road and then skid to a stop.
A car ahead of Uncle Marty stops on the other side of the road. There is a duffel bag sitting on the pavement. Right where Uncle Marty would have hit it if he hadn’t swerved out of the way.
The people from the car get out and run back to get the duffel bag.
Now’s my chance. I pour on the speed.
Maybe I can catch the van before it pulls back onto the highway. I run and I run and I run. But just before I reach the trailer, the van starts moving again.
No!
I can’t let them get away. I don’t know what else to do except ... close my eyes and JUMP!
I don’t know if I’ve jumped far enough until my front paws come down hard on Dad’s footstool and my back paws come down on the edge of the trailer.
Yes! I am IN THE TRAILER. The wind blows my ears up off my head.
We drive past the stopped car, and I see a Rottweiler in the open back window. He nods at me. He must be the one who pushed that duffel bag out the window.
“Thanks!” I wave to him with my tail.
“No problem,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help, Buddy.”
How did he know my name?
There’s another car coming up fast behind us. It’s the car with the Jack Russell terrier. I watch as the driver pulls up even with the van and drives beside it. The lady who tried to get me to go with them waves at Uncle Marty then points at me.
Oh no!
The last thing I need is for Uncle Marty to see me back here. I quickly dive under Dad’s footstool. It’s a tight fit, and I can’t quite squeeze my whole body under there. But at least I’m low enough that if Uncle Marty or Raina turns around they won’t see me.
Mmm. The footstool smells just like Dad. Coffee and newspapers.
Next to the footstool is Mom’s living room couch, which I was never allowed on. There are two chairs on top of the couch and ... sniff, sniff ... the mattress from Kayla’s bed is wedged between the back of the couch and the side of the trailer. It smells like books and Kayla’s blanket and everything Kayla!
My stomach growls. There’s all this furniture in the trailer, but no food. And it’s way past breakfast time.
I wonder if Connor and Mom know that I’m gone? Probably. I had hoped to be home before they woke up.
I see a picture inside my head of Connor and Mom. They are sitting at the kitchen table, and there are plates of bacon and eggs in front of them. I LOVE bacon and eggs. They’re my favorite foods!
But Connor and Mom are not eating their bacon and eggs because they are missing me so much.
I miss them, too.
I wish I could tell them that I’ll be back. As soon as I find Kayla and Dad, I’ll be back.
But what if Kayla and Dad need me as much as Connor and Mom do?
I never thought about that. What will I do then?