Daria turns from the computer screen. “It’d be great if we could get Baby one of these official vests too.” Sure enough, there on the screen, is a dog wearing a red and black vest with an official-looking patch on the side. “Then everybody would know how important he is.”

“How much does it cost?” Karina-the-practical asks.

“Looks like a small one is about thirty dollars,” Daria says.

Fire sighs. “More money Jewel doesn’t have.”

I remember the leftover allowance money in my Band-Aid box. “I’ve got twenty dollars I can donate toward the vest for Baby.”

“That’s magnanimous of you, right, Karina?” Fire says with a wink.

Karina laughs. Then she says, “No kidding, but that doesn’t solve the problem of the money we’ll need for the bus ticket.”

I take a deep breath. “I’ve been giving that a lot of thought,” I say, “and I think I have a plan.”

44

Sit! Stay!

A man with the smell of

other dogs

and chicken bits

takes Baby out into the fenced yard,

away from the barking, yipping,

and howling.

He asks Baby, “Do you know sit?”

Baby lies down.

The man asks, “Do you know down?”

Baby rolls onto his back

for a belly rub.

“I’ll take that as a no,” the man sighs.

The man holds his hand up, palm out, and says,

“Stay, Baby!”

He walks away.

Baby follows

the smell of chicken bits drifting

from the man’s pocket.

How can he not, even though he knows that word?

The man smiles. He sits on the ground and

gathers Baby into his strong arms.

He nuzzles Baby’s ears.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get you ready

to be a good doggy citizen.”

Baby wags his bit of a tail.

The man gives him a tasty bite of chicken.

“You’ve got to learn sit, down, no, and

stay.”

Baby wags his tail again, licks his lips, and sneezes

with excitement.

The man laughs and gives him another piece of

chicken.

“When we’re done, you’re going to be the best

support dog there ever was.”

The man stands and brushes the dirt

from his jeans.

He pats Baby on the head.

“Let’s go,” he says.

Finally, his favorite words.

“Let’s go!” Baby yips.

45

The Power of Brownies

It’s Troop 423 Firefly Girls Gourmet Brownie night. Normally, we meet on Saturday mornings, but we’re meeting early so we can get going on selling brownies.

In my old troop, we sold boxes of brownies to people we knew or our parents worked with, or at church. We even sold them at school. Teachers purely love gourmet brownies.

But here, it’s different. The people in Hope House don’t exactly have spare money for ordering tons of brownies. Lots of the parents don’t have jobs, so that’s out.