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Mother lifted her forelegs off the ground, pressing them against the slats of the wooden gate, and took the metal knob in her mouth. I was baffledâ€”why, I dered, would she chew on such a thing when there were all these perfectly good rubber bones scattered about She twisted her head left and right, apparently unable to get a good bite of the thing. I glanced over at Fast, but he was sound asleep. Then, astoundingly, the gate clicked open. My mother had opened the gate! She dropped her paws to the ground and shouldered the gate aside, sniffing cautiously at the air on the other side of the fence. Then she turned to look at me, her eyes bright. The message in them was clear: my mother was leaving. I stood to join her, and Coco, who was lying nearby, lazily lifted her head to blink at me for a moment before sighing and stretching back out in the sand. If I left, Id never see Coco again. I was torn between loyalty to Mother, who had fed me and taught me and taken care of me, and to the pack, which included my worthless brother, Fast. Mother didnt wait for my decision. She slunk off silently into the gloom of the approaching night. If I wanted to catch up to her, I would have to hurry. I scampered out the open gate, pursuing her into the unpredictable world on the other side of the fence. Fast never saw us go. { THREE } Image I didnt get very far. I couldnt move as quickly as Mother to begin with, and anyway the front of the house had a stand of bushes that I felt compelled to mark. She didnt wait for me, never even looked back. The last I saw of my mother she was doing what she did best: sliding into the shadows, unnoticed, unseen. There was a time not long ago when all I wanted out of life was an opportunity to snuggle up to Mother, when her tongue and her warm body meant more to me than anything else. But now, watching her disappear, I understood that by leaving me behind she was simply doing what all mother dogs must do eventually. The compulsion to follow had been the last reflexive gesture in a relationship that had forever changed the day our family arrived at the Yard. My leg was still in the air when Senora came out on her porch, stopping when she saw me. Why, Toby, how did you get out If I wanted to get away I needed to run now, which was, of course, not what I did. Instead I wagged my tail and jumped up on Senoras legs, trying to lick her face. Her flowery smell was enlivened with a derfully greasy chicken odor. She smoothed my ears back, and I followed her, addicted to her touch, as she strode rapidly around to the stillopen gate, the dog pack slumbering inertly inside the Yard. She gave me a gentle nudge and followed me in. The moment the gate shut, the other dogs were on their feet, racing over to us, and Senora petted them and talked soothingly while I seethed a little over the divided attention. It seemed more than a little unfair; Id given up Mother to be with Senora, and here she was acting as if I were no more special than anybody else! When Senora left, the gate clanked into place with a solid metallic sound, but I would never again regard it as an impassible barrier. I was wrestling with Coco when Mother returned a few days later. At least, I thought it was my motherâ€”I was distracted by a new wrinkle in our continuous wrestling match, one where I would circle behind Coco and climb up on her back, gripping her with my forelimbs. It was a derful game, and I couldnt understand why Coco was so surly about it, twisting and snarling at me. It felt so right, how could she be so unreceptive I looked up when Bobby opened the gate, and there was Mother, standing uncertainly. Joyously I tore across the yard, leading a charge of dogs, but I slowed down when I got closer. This female dog was marked the same as Mother, with a splotch of black over one eye, and had the stubby snout and short coat, but it wasnt Mother. She squatted and urinated submissively at our approach. I circled the new dog with the others, though Fast marched right up to her to sniff at her rear end. Bobby had the same defeated sag to his shoulders as when hed loaded us all into the truck the first time, but he stood close to the dog, protecting her with his body. Youll be okay, , he said. It was Sister. I had nearly forgotten all about her, and now, inspecting her, I realized how different life must be on the other side of the fence. She was thin, her ribs plainly visible, and a white, oozing scar tracked down her side. Her mouth smelled of rotten food, and when she squatted a sickly odor came from her bladder. Fast was overjoyed, but Sister was too cowed by the rest of the pack to accept his offer of play. She groveled in front of Top Dog and let all of the canines sniff her without making a single move to establish any boundaries. When they contemptuously dismissed her, Sister furtively inspected the empty feeding trough and drank some water as if she were stealing. This was what happened to dogs who tried to live in the world without peopleâ€”they became beaten down, defeated, starved. Sister was what we all would have become if wed stayed in the culvert. Fast clung to her side the whole time. It occurred to me that Sister had always been his favorite, more important to him than even Mother. I watched him kiss Sister and bow toward her without jealousyâ€”I had Coco. What did make me jealous was the attention Coco was getting from some of the other males, who seemed to think they could wander over and play with her as if I werent there, which I suppose they could. I knew my position in the pack and was happy for the sense of order and security it provided me, but I wanted Coco for myself and didnt appreciate it when I was rudely shouldered out of the way. The males all seemed to want to play the game Id invented, circling behind Coco and trying to jump on her, but I noted with cold satisfaction that she had no interest in playing this game with them, either. The morning after Sister arrived, Bobby came into the yard and took Fast, Sister, Coco, and one other young male, a frisky spotted hound the men called Down, and put them all with me in a cage in the back of the truck. It was crowded and noisy, but I loved the highvelocity airstream and the expression on Fasts face when I sneezed on him. Astoundingly, a longhaired female dog from the pack rode in the cab with Carlos and Bobby. Why did she get to be a frontseat dog I dered. And why, when her scent flowed from the open dows, did a shiver pass through me, making me feel an urgent wildness We parked next to an old, gnarly tree that provided the only visible shade in a hot parking lot. Bobby went inside the building with the female from the cab while Carlos came around to the cage door. All of us except Sister surged forward. Come on, Coco. Coco, Carlos said. I could smell peanuts and berries on his fingers, plus something sweet I couldnt identify. We all barked jealously as Coco was led into the building, and then we barked because we were barking. A large black bird landed in the tree above us and stared down at us as if we were idiots, so we barked at it for a while. Bobby came back out to the truck. Toby! he called. Proudly I stepped forward, accepting a loop of leather around my neck before jumping down onto the pavement, which was so hot it hurt my feet. I didnt even glance back at the losers in the cage as I entered the building, which was astoundingly cool and redolent with the smells of dogs and other animals. Bobby led me down a hallway and then picked me up and dropped me on a shiny table. A woman entered and I thumped my tail as she put her soft, gentle fingers in my ears and probed under my throat. Her hands smelled of a strong chemical, though her clothes smelled of other animals, including Coco. Whats this one she asked. Toby, Bobby said. I wagged harder when I heard my name. How many did you say, today While she and Bobby spoke, she lifted back my gums to admire my teeth. Three males, three bitches. Bobby, the woman said. I wagged my tail because I recognized his name. I know; I know. Shes going to get into trouble, the woman said. She was feeling me up and down, and I dered if it would be okay if I groaned with pleasure. There are no neighbors to complain. Still, there are laws. She cant just keep taking on more dogs. There are already too many. Its not sanitary. She says otherwise, the dogs all die. There are not enough people to take them on. It is against the law. Please dont tell, Doctor. You put me in a bad position, Bobby. I have to be concerned with their welfare. We bring them to you if they are sick. Someone is going to file a complaint, Bobby. Please, dont. Oh, not me. Im not going t

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