I peer into the dark. It takes me a second to see Baby curled up on a blanket in the corner. His food and water look untouched. He’s trembling.

I kneel down and call to him softly, “Baby, come here, Baby.”

He lifts his head and whimpers uncertainly.

“Come here, Baby,” I call again. I put my fingers through the wire so he can smell me. Ree says dogs remember everything through scent.

Sure enough, he comes slowly, timidly, over and sniffs my fingers. Then he wags his little bit of a tail. I just about burst into tears. “Hi, Baby,” I manage to get out. “Hi, sweet boy.”

“You can go in and sit with him for a minute if you want,” Tamara offers.

She opens the door and I scoot in, sit cross-legged on the cold concrete floor and take him into my lap. He covers my face with kisses.

“I’ll wait for you in the lobby, Piper,” Mrs. B says. “Just a minute, though. We need to get back.”

After Mrs. Bailey and Tamara leave, I hold Baby close and whisper in his soft little ear, “I promise I will find a way for you and Jewel to be together again.” I rock him just a little and stroke his back. I can feel the knobby bones of his spine through his fur. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it, Baby, but you’ve done so much good for me, it’s the least I can do.”

But how? I’m just a kid.

Baby sniffs my coat pocket and wags his stubby tail. I almost forgot! I pull out the little toy rabbit we found in Jewel’s bag.

“Here you go, buddy.”

Gently, he takes the little bunny and licks it over and over.

Baby wags his tail and looks at me like I can do anything. There’s not one speck of doubt in that furry little face. Only trust.

31

Flying

Baby listens to the night sounds in this place,

unlike any other place

he has lived.

He listens to the sounds of

dogs whimpering their questions:

Why?

Where am I?

How long will it be until . . . ?”

He hears the wet slap of dogs lapping water

from metal bowls.

He hears the groan of the old dog two kennels away

as he eases his weary bones down on a blanket.

He hears the restless click of toenails on

the concrete floor

as dogs pace, pace, pace,

waiting.

Baby waits too.

He waits for the girl to come back.

She was here.

She held him.

She whispered his name.

He felt the beat of her true heart

and smelled sadness

and something else

on her.

Was it love?

Was it hope?

Baby wishes he could see the outside.

Baby has not slept inside for a long time.

He longs for the stars and moon

and smells of simple things:

grass

moldering leaves

thawed earth

and his Jewel.