001Chapter 105. Telephone poles. I woke to the train whistle. It took me a minute to figure out where I was. The soft bed reminded me of Jesse's bed on Sycamore Avenue. I had a hard time convincing myself to get up. When I finally did, Mouse and I got to work. We went behind the counter and began nosing around. Dog Town had cards that gave human directions to the shelter. Would a furniture store have this? There were no cards, but we found a pouch of brochures. Mouse pulled one out and unfolded it. On the back was a map. The three of us looked it over. Dog Town wasn't on the map, but the river and our railroad station were, so we had our bearings. Getting home was a straight shot. This was good news. So, why
002did my stomach hurt? Maybe I was hungry. Or maybe it was something else. I wanted to get green eggs and ham back to Quinn, but the thought of returning to dog town was making me sad. I found myself thinking of telephone poles. Will there be telephone poles I hadn't yet checked on our way home? Chapter 106. A heart is a nuisance. Luckily, Mouse had thought to wedge the spool of packing string between the door and the door jam. Getting the door open was not nearly as difficult. It was bitter cold when we got out and the ground was dusted with snow. Metalhead and I took turns carrying green eggs and ham. We were careful when we passed the book between us. We did not want it to get snowy or wet. I saw plenty of
003posters along the way. None of them had a picture of them, but they kept me going. Every time I got tired, I'd see another one up ahead. We were walking together, me hopping, mouse running, metal head clanking next to me. Then I'd see a telephone pole with a sign staple to it and I'd hop ahead. I have a question for you, Metalhead said when he caught up with me. Why are you going back? I have to take the book to Quinn, I said, my paws crunching on an ice patch. I can do that, Metalhead said. I have to get dinner for Mouse, I said. We can find another flesh and blood to provide sustenance for Mouse, Metalhead said. We walked on, watching the gust of wind blow the new snow off the tree limbs. A
004car rattled behind us. A snowblower started up. "Mouse and I have been discussing this," Metalhead said. "We wonder why you don't go home. Your humans could have dog town called looking for you. You know they didn't," I whispered, looking back at the tracks we were making in the snow. "What if they What if they did and management said you weren't there?" "Why would management say that?" I asked. Because your humans weren't searching for a three-legged dog, chance, and that's how management describes you. I stopped and stared at him. Besides, sabbaticals aren't just 6 months in length. Sometimes they're nine months or a year. I swallowed hard. How had I known the sabbatical is 6 months? Did the best tell me that? They must have. For a mind made of metal, you sure have a vivid
005imagination, I said. The snow started to fall. Metalhead shook it off. I'll take that as a compliment, chance, he said. I guess it is, I said. And I'll tell you something else. It isn't just empty space in there. I know this chest. You have a heart. A heart is what Jimmy's mom would call a nuisance, Muddlehead declared. Tell me about it, I said. But I don't want to trade mine in. Me either. I shook the snow off my whiskers, but right then my heart was worn out from all the hoping, and I wasn't sure if I could hope anymore. Chapter 107. Everybody hated mice. We were within sight of the driveway to Dog Town, and the snow was starting to fall hard. Mouse had climbed on my back. He was shaking, and his little feet
006were wet. Metalhead was worried that the snow on his coat would melt and ruin his circuitry. We couldn't stay outside much longer, but we weren't sure how to get back in. Dogs didn't choose to go down to Dog Town. Animal control brought them in or humans who found them on the streets or didn't want them or couldn't handle them anymore. You go in first, I told Metalhead. Then Mouse can sneak in on your heels. Mouse gestured at me wildly. Do you have a better plan? I asked. He shook his head, his whisker sagging. I'll be right behind you, Mouse. They won't notice you because they'll be busy looking at metalhead and me. And if they spot you, I'll run interference, I told him. Mouse was trembling all over. Management hated mice. Everybody hated mice. We
007waited for a few minutes until the volunteer drove up and got out of her car. The volunteer pulled her muffler out of her chin as as she loped up the path. When she got the door open, Metalhead jumped out from behind the tree and dove in. Then a tiny blur of brown fur sped past him. The volunteer jumped. Front desk head popped up around the corner behind the counter. What in the name of the volunteer said, her eyes on metal head trotting by the desk with green eggs and ham. Chapter 108. Humans underestimate dogs. The dog town we walked back into was different than the dog town we walked out of. You wouldn't think a dog shelter could change that much in one day, but the turnover can be dramatic. Sometimes an entire church group
008sweeps in and adopts 20 dogs. Other times, animal control brings in 30 dogs in one day. When you're at dog town day in and day out, you don't notice the changes as much as you do when you've been away. It started with Green Eggs and Ham. When Front Desk saw Metalhead carrying that book, she went whacka doodle. They hadn't been able to find Green Eggs and Ham anywhere. It seemed impossible that Metalhead had found it. Of course, he hadn't found it because our copy had been eaten. Where did he find it? Management kept asking, "How did he know how important that book was?" Seriously, there wasn't a dog in Dog Town who hadn't seen how important Green X and Ham was to Quinn. Humans underestimate dogs. They think when they say sit, lie down, roll
009over, and we don't comply, it's because we don't understand. If humans went around telling other humans to sit, lie down, and roll over, do you think they do it, too? Never. Chapter 109. Walk of Shame. Management took photos of Metalhead with green eggs and ham and put them on the on the Dogtown website. They got Metalhead a brand new Reading Buddy sweater and gave him a permanent pin on Reading Buddy Road. All the fuss about Metalhead, they ignored me, which was fine. I don't begrudge Metalhead the attention. There was no way I could explain that it had been Mouse who had found the book. I was just trying to adjust to the idea that Dog Town was my forever home when I felt the snap of a leash on my collar. I'll tell you one
010thing, Chance. You're never going to run away again, management said, her face grumpy and wrinkled as a blood hounds. She marched me down the walk of shame to the basement. So that's how it was. Metalhead was a genius and I was a bad dog.