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.Carmella nodded and wiped at tears.“He’s the cutest dog you ever saw,” she said.“And smart? Talk about smart!”She smiled down at the picture in my hand.“He can count.Can you believe that?”“Really?” Toby said.Carmella nodded.“Really.With his little paw.Like this.” She pawed the air with her hand.“Maybe he got lost,” Toby said.Carmella shook her head.“Maybe.But it’s just so unlike him.He knows this neighborhood real good.And everybody knows him.” She took the picture from me and dropped into a rocking chair.“I can’t figure out how that front gate got open,” she said.“Maybe the paperboy or something,” I said.“Naw, he just flings it up here on the porch.” She looked out at the street.“I’ve driven everywhere I can think of.I called the animal control officer.I talked to all my neighbors.I just don’t know what else to do.” Then she started crying real hard again, and I had to look down at my feet.I could feel Toby fidgeting beside me.“Why don’t you put up some signs?” I said.Carmella looked up.“Signs?”“Yeah, you know, lost-dog signs.”“Well, stupid me,” she said.“Of course I should put up some signs.”“Me and Toby can help,” I said.“Right, Toby?”“Right.” Toby grinned at Carmella.“That would be great,” she said, pushing herself out of the rocking chair with a grunt.“Y’all want to come inside?”Toby looked at me with wide eyes.We weren’t supposed to go in anybody’s house unless we knew them real good.But Carmella seemed okay to me.“Sure,” I said.“Come on, Toby.” I pulled on Toby’s T-shirt.When we got inside, I looked around to see if Carmella’s house was really as bad as it had looked from out on the porch.It was.A big lumpy couch covered with a bedspread and piled with clothes and newspapers.A coffee table littered with soda cans and dirty dishes.A card table with a half-finished jigsaw puzzle.Shelves built into the wall were jammed with ratty-looking books, piles of papers, an empty fish tank, and a bowling trophy.Instead of the rose-covered carpet I had pictured, the wooden floors were bare and worn.And nearly everywhere I looked there was a dog toy, all chewed up and loved.That almost broke my heart and made me tell that lady Carmella everything.But, of course, I didn’t.My head was swimming with so many mixed-up thoughts I couldn’t get myself to say anything.Carmella shuffled over to a cluttered desk and rummaged through a drawer, then pulled out some paper.She took a red marker out of a mason jar on the desk and stared down at the paper.“What should I say?” she said.“How about ‘Lost.Little black-and-white dog named Willy,’” I said.“And then put ‘Reward,’” Toby said.Dern.How come he had to go and say that? I was going to ease into that part, but it was too late now.“Reward?” Carmella looked kind of confused.I jumped in there before Toby could.“Uh, yeah,” I said.“That’s a good idea.You know, just to make sure people notice and stuff.”“You mean, like, money?” Carmella stared down at the paper on the desk.“Yeah, money,” Toby said.I shot him a look.I wished he’d hush up and let me do the talking.“Yeah, money,” I said.“That would make folks try real hard to find Willy.”“Gosh,” Carmella said, “I don’t know.” She pressed her lips together and kept staring down at the paper on the desk.Then she looked up at me and Toby.“How much money?” she said.“Five hundred dollars,” Toby blurted out.“Five hundred dollars!” Carmella kind of swayed a little bit like she was going to fall right over.“I haven’t got that kind of money.”“You don’t?” I said.She shook her head.“Then how much reward could you pay?” I said.“Well, I was thinking maybe, like, fifty dollars?”Fifty dollars? That wasn’t nearly enough.I felt Toby watching me.My mind was racing.But before I could think of what to say, Carmella sank down onto the lumpy couch with a whoosh.Then she shook her head and said, “I guess that’s not very much, huh?”“Well, um, maybe you could get some more,” I said.Carmella looked down at her lap.Little beads of sweat formed on her upper lip
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