Ellie's Story by W. Bruce Cameron Page A

certified, you need to eat,” Mama told Maya.
    Then the doorbell rang. That didn’t usually happen at Mama’s house. People just burst in. I followed Mama to the door, and when she opened it she gasped with happiness and smiled even wider than she usually did.
    It was Al. He had a bunch of flowers in his hand, which he gave to Mama. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and he blushed, but he was happy. He scratched my ears in that excellent way he had.
    â€œI hear you’re a good girl, Ellie,” he said, and I wagged.
    The whole family got quiet when Al stepped out into the backyard. There were picnic tables set up with food all over them and cans that had drinks inside them, and people were sitting and standing everywhere, with the young ones running and shouting. But they all stopped and turned their faces toward the doorway.
    Then Maya went over to Al and he gently touched her cheek with his mouth. I felt nervousness from both of them, and I quickly dashed over in case there was something that needed to be done. Work, maybe, or a taco to eat? I was ready for anything.
    Then Maya smiled widely and turned around, taking Al’s hand. “Al, this is my brother José and my sister Elisa. That little one there is Elisa’s youngest, and this is…”
    Maya kept talking. Nobody was nervous anymore, so I wandered around the yard, eating tortilla chips and bits of hot dogs that the children snuck to me. Everybody seemed happy, and I couldn’t tell if Al, or Maya, or Mama was the happiest of all.
    *   *   *
    After that party in Mama’s backyard, Maya took me to the kennel at the police station on most days. I settled in with Cammie and Gypsy again, and when Maya took me out we Found all sorts of people. There were two children who’d wandered away from their house (I Found them beside a little stream, carefully colleting rocks and piling them up on the bank) and a woman who’d fallen off a horse and hurt her leg. Horses seemed about as useless as cats to me; I wondered why everyone just didn’t have dogs instead.
    The day we found the woman in the woods, Maya took me home in the car. But after she’d changed out of her uniform at home and put some food down for the cats, she called to me again and we walked across the street to Al’s house.
    I could tell that Al was nervous again as soon as he opened the door. “Maya, you look … y-y-ou look fantastic,” he stammered.
    Maya laughed. “Oh, Al, I do not,” she said, as if she wasn’t sure. “You’re just not used to seeing me out of uniform, that’s all.”
    â€œUm. Come on in?” Al backed up and let us come into the living room.
    I was pleased to discover that there were no cats here. I quickly sniffed around the living room while Al brought Maya a glass of something cold to drink and they sat on the couches, sometimes talking and sometimes just sitting.
    There was a funny smell coming from the kitchen. I quickly checked it out. There were all sorts of food scattered around the counter; I could smell bread, and lettuce, and tomatoes, and onions that made my nose sting. But something in the oven did not smell right. I shook my head so that my collar rang, trying to get the smell out of my nose, and backed away into the living room.
    â€œOh, Ellie, silly dog, what are you doing?” Maya said.
    Al jumped up. “The chicken!” he gasped, and ran into the kitchen. The smell was much worse when he opened the oven door.
    Al and Maya ran around opening windows. Maya tried not to laugh until Al started to, and then they both laughed together so much Maya had to sit down at the table until she could breathe again. Then Al brought the food, including the funny-smelling chicken, out to the table where Maya was waiting.
    â€œNo, Al, it’s good,” Maya said, chewing. “Really it is. Can I have some more?”
    Al stared at her and shook his head.