Mountain Dog
Authors: Margarita Engle
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For Curtis and the dogs,
with love and gratitude
âM. E.
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To Misha, a great mountain dog,
who helped our son to find his path
âO. I. and A. I.
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FIDE CANEM
(TRUST THE DOG)
âAncient Roman search-and-rescue proverb
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THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE
âOfficial motto of search-and-rescue teams all over the world
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CONTENTS
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1. Tony the Boy: No No No Maybe
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2. Gabe the Dog: Yes Yes Yes Always
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3. Tony the Boy: Scent Trails
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4. Gabe the Dog: Word Smells
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5. Tony the Boy: Trail Angels
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6. Gabe the Dog: Roundness
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7. Tony the Boy: Invisible Clues
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8. Gabe the Dog: Hide-and-Seek
10. Gabe the Dog: Togetherness
11. Tony the Boy: The Rescue Beast
14. Gabe the Dog: Boy Training
15. Tony the Boy: Lonely Smells
16. Gabe the Dog: Sniffing School
20. Gabe the Dog: Smelly Rhymes
21. Tony the Boy: Walking with Bears
22. Gabe the Dog: Chasing the Moon
23. Tony the Boy: Dancing Elephants
24. Gabe the Dog: The Smell of a Voice
25. Tony the Boy: Found and Lost
28. Gabe the Dog: Beach Dreams
29. Tony the Boy: When Elephants Jump
30. Gabe the Dog: My Wishful Nose
37. Tony the Boy: Puppy Testing
How to Stay Found in the Wondrous Woods: By Gabe, Luz, and Tony
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1
TONY THE BOY
NO NO NO MAYBE
In my other life there were pit bulls.
The puppies weren't born vicious,
but Mom taught them how to bite,
turning meanness into money,
until she got caught.
Now I don't know where I'll live,
or what sort of foster family
I'll have to face each morning.
I dread the thought of a new school,
new friends, no friends, no hope.â¦
No! No no no no no.
But the social-worker lady doesn't listen
to NO. She's like a curious puppy, running,
exploring, refusing to accept collars and fences.
She keeps promising to find a relative who will
give me a place where I can belong.
I don't believe her.
There aren't any relativesâ
not any that I've ever met.
I know I'm right, but family court
makes me feel dumb, with judges
and uniforms
wrapped up in rules.
It's a world made for grown-ups,
not unlucky kids.
Even the angriest pit bulls
are friendlier than my future.
Everyone talks about dog years,
but all I can see now is minutes.
Each impossibly long dog minute
with the frowning judge
and cheerful social worker
feels like it could go on and on
forever.
Mom's cruelty to animals
was her fault, not mine, but now
I'm the one suffering, as if her crimes
are being blamed on me.
When the social worker keeps smiling,
I find it hard to believe she's actually found
a relative, a great-uncle, TÃo Leonilo.
What a stupid name!
Maybe I can call him Leo the Lion,
or just
tÃo
, just uncle, as if I actually
know my mother's first language,
the Spanish she left behind
when she floated away
from her native island
with me in her mean belly.
The social worker promises me
that although TÃo is oldânearly fiftyâ
he's cool.
He lives on a mountain, rescues lost hikers,
guides nature walks, and takes care
of trees. He's a forest ranger.
She might as well say he's a magician
or a genie who lives in a bottle.
I've spent all my life in the city.
All I know is Los Angeles noise, smog,
buses, traffic, and the gangs, and my mom,
the dogs, fangs, blood, claws.
Nothing makes sense.
Why would a cool uncle want to share
his long-lost relative's kid-trouble?
This can't be real.
Real life should feel real,
but this feels all weird and scary,
like a movie with zombies or aliens.
When a man in a forest green uniform
walks into the courtroom, he hugs me
and calls me Tonio, even though Mom
never called me anything but Tony
or Hey You or Toe Knee.â¦
Out in the hall, TÃo shows me a photo
of a dog, a chocolate Labâgoofy grin,
silly droolânot a fighting dog,
just a friendly dog, eager, a pal.
TÃo walks me out of that crazy
scary courthouse, into a parking lot
where the happy dog is waiting
in a forest green truck.
I have to meet Gabe's welcoming
doggie eyes and sniffy nose,
even though I'm not ready to meet
nice dogs, cool uncles, or anyone else.
Well, maybe just one sniff is okay.
When I pat Gabe on his soft, furry head,
he gives my hand a few trusting,
slobbery licks.
Yuck.
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2
GABE THE DOG
YES YES YES ALWAYS
The boy sees how I sniff, and he breathes too, smelling the deep odors of night and bright fragrance of day. Time is all mixed together in one long, endless pleasure of sniffing. We open our noses, inhaling everythingâall we need is in the air.
I love the sound of his boy voice. Tonio. Tony. Not a very hard name to remember. I love the smell of his hands. The finger scent rhymes with good smells, food smells, friendly smells. Only his shoes hold an unfriendly odor. Bad dogs have walked near him. Strange dogs. Dangerous dogs. Their stench rhymes with bear scent and lion scent and the stink of rough places where stray dogs are caged.
The boy moves his head in slow circles, eyes closed, nose open.
The truck roars up our mountain. Aromas rush in. We lift our noses
together, pushing our heads out the wide-open window
into a wild place
where only scent
matters.
We sniff.
We share the road,
the window,
and clear
invisible
air!
We will always be friends.
Always.
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3
TONY THE BOY
SCENT TRAILS
I've slept in plenty of ugly