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The greatest day of Nona’s life began like any other Saturday: with Camilla shaking her awake, the smell of eggs cooking in the kitchen, gray light streaming through the blinds. Nona did a complicated roll-turn to get out of bed and planted her feet on the fluffy carpet, arms windmilling at her sides. That made Camilla snort in her fond way, which made Nona smile. “Don’t hurt yourself,” she muttered, and turned to let Nona get dressed.
In the kitchen, Palamedes was humming quietly along to a song only he could hear, turning the eggs with a spatula. He glanced over his shoulder as Nona bounded in. “Good morning,” he greeted, angling his head towards the counter. “There’s a whole stack of mail for you today. Know what that’s about?”
“Good morning, Palamedes, I love you,” said Nona matter-of-factly, moving to examine the folded papers on the counter. She opened each of them carefully and stared at the words: first individually, then all together. Then she shrieked so loudly that Camilla and Pyrrha both dashed into the kitchen.
They stood there, both of them, and Palamedes at the stove, all three exchanging a look that was mostly eyebrows. Then Pyrrha stepped up and laid a hand on Nona’s shoulder. Her face was still halfway coated in shaving cream. She’d gotten foam on Nona’s blue t-shirt, but Nona decided not to mind. “Next time you’re going to scream, junior, could you give a gal a warning?” she asked, looking down at the papers. “What’s all this?”
Nona remembered how to speak. “Three people responded,” she said breathlessly, touching each paper with reverence. “Three people, Pyrrha, three!”
“Speaking in code today, are we?” Palamedes asked, pushing his glasses up with the back of his hand. He’d remembered to turn the burner off before the eggs got crispy. Nona was proud of him for that. “Responded to what?”
“My dog walking ad!” Nona blurted, beaming. Her chest felt warm and fluttery and nice. “Pyrrha helped me put up posters, and I wrote our address and ‘if interested please send post to,’ because I haven’t got a phone, and three people want me to walk their dogs this afternoon! Oh, Camilla, can I go?”
The tension in Camilla’s shoulders gradually lessened back to its usual level. She leaned over to look out the window, nose wrinkling. “Don’t know, Nona. Looks like rain.”
“You can take an umbrella,” Pyrrha said warmly, ruffling Nona’s hair. She headed off toward the bathroom again before Camilla could frown, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll take you round to the houses after you eat!”
Nona read every word of the papers again. One house had two dogs, a brother and sister, which made four. She was much too excited to eat, but Palamedes reminded her that she’d need her energy to keep all those dogs in check. Four was a lot, he said. Nona put on her best Palamedes impression and told him she failed to see the problem, which made Camilla exhale quickly through her nose, which made Nona happy. She shoveled eggs into her mouth and didn’t even choke.
As promised, Pyrrha collected Nona after breakfast, and they began their journey down the glistening sidewalk: Pyrrha strolling, Nona taking big bouncing steps in her red rain boots. They picked up Noodle first, because his house was right down the street: a washed pink sort of color with a bit of a lean to the front steps, which Nona always liked because when it rained there were puddles. Noodle liked puddles too, and he liked Nona.
“If he gives you any trouble, you let me know,” said Noodle’s owner, who was one of the most beautiful people Nona had ever seen. Nona took the end of Noodle’s leash from her gratefully. “But he adores you, so he’s sure to be on his best behavior. Oh, and here.” She reached into her pocket and took out a small plastic bag of heart-shaped treats, passing it to Nona. “These are for all the dogs,” she said. Nona could have kissed her. “In case you need a little extra incentive.”
Noodle blinked up at them through his white curls, long tongue lolling. He was so perfect. Nona loved him so much.
“We’ll get him back to you safely,” Pyrrha assured. Nona reached down and gave Noodle a pat on the head, tucking the treats into her overalls pocket. Then they were off.
The siblings Reba and Button were next, three streets down, a tall shaggy auburn hound and a smaller curly button-y one. Nona thought their names were perfect. She wound the leashes firmly in her grasp and crouched down to each of them. “Hi,” she said, careful not to look into their eyes. She’d heard that was rude, with dogs. “I’m Nona. I’m going to take you for a walk. Is that okay?”
Reba sniffed at Nona’s braids, and Button let out a whining yawn. Nona figured she was in the clear. Noodle seemed to like them, too: the three spent enough time circling one another that by the time they finally got down to the sidewalk again they were all very nearly late.
The last dog was a tiny little black one with surprising agility. Nona discovered this when he zoomed out from between his owner’s legs, nearly making it down the front path before Pyrrha snatched up his leash in hand. “Speedy, that one,” she said with a hesitant grin.
“Don’t worry,” said the woman in the doorway, whose face very nearly looked familiar. “Fish Cake is very well trained.”
“That’s a very good name for a dog,” said Nona nicely, even though it wasn’t. She took the leash from Pyrrha. “I’ll bring him back in an hour.”
The woman smiled without her teeth. “Oh, take your time,” she said, closing the door.
Pyrrha seemed unsettled after that, in her Pyrrha way, the kind she thought Nona wouldn’t notice. She reached down absently to ruffle Noodle’s fur. He wagged at her. “Four dogs, Nons,” she said. “You sure?”
“I walk Noodle every week, Pyrrha,” Nona said confidently. “I’m really good at it. I’m ready.”
Fish Cake tugged on the leash impatiently. Noodle gave Pyrrha a plaintive look. After a moment, the unsettled expression vanished, and Pyrrha smiled, leaning over to kiss the top of Nona’s head. “Right. See you later, kiddie.”
Nona felt warm all over again. “I love you, Pyrrha,” she said, and set off down the block.
She had a plan. To get downtown, she’d walk past all the fragrant-smelling jasmine bushes, because dogs liked strong smells, and she’d stick to the tree-lined side of the street so that if it started raining she’d have cover while she rummaged for her umbrella. It was too bad the dogs didn’t have raincoats. Nona would’ve liked to see that.
Despite Pyrrha’s concerns, everyone really was well-behaved. The four of them didn’t fight, or even fuss much about being so close together due to Nona only having two hands. She held Noodle’s and Reba’s leashes in one, and Button’s and Fish Cake’s in the other, so that nobody would step on anybody else, and it was working quite well. As they passed the jasmine bushes, Nona watched each dog lift their nose in what she figured was appreciation. The sun sneaked through the clouds, chasing away the threat of rain. Her shoulders relaxed, and she let herself walk with less intense purpose. It was going to be okay. She was great at this! She was! The dogs’ tails were wagging, they were enjoying the walk, and she knew exactly what she was doing.
And then they crossed the street into the city limits. None of the dogs made a break for the car-filled street, which was a comfort. Nona planned to circle the block, stop at the park, and then go home. But as they turned a corner, sitting in a patch of fresh sunlight just ahead was a ginger tabby cat, eyes slitted in half-sleep.
This cat would be their undoing.
Immediately, every dog stopped in its tracks. Button and Reba bristled in unison, and Fish Cake let out a shrill little growl. Of course Noodle, the angel, stayed perfectly still at Nona’s side. The cat opened its golden eyes and blinked lazily back at the crowd. Then it got slowly to its feet, yawned in a way that looked almost taunting, and ran in the opposite direction.
Without warning, Fish Cake took off. His leash unraveled in a series of wide loops around Nona’s wrist and slapped onto the ground, handle bouncing along behind him.
Nona stared, frozen, at the nightmare unfolding before her. She was now holding only three leashes, and three dogs. Fish Cake was not well trained. She could have stood there forever, just watching helplessly, but Noodle — bless him — barked once and snapped her out of it. “Fish Cake!” she cried, breaking into a run. Three dogs on their leashes were pulled with her as she sprinted, weaving between cyclists and smokers and joggers. It was a miracle she didn’t clothesline anyone on her way down the block.
The cat was wailing, which at least made it easy for them to follow. But Fish Cake, even with his short legs, chased it like a much bigger dog. His form was a blur of shadow against the gray concrete. Nona found it difficult to run in her rain boots, and soon she was falling behind, the dogs streaming out in front of her on their leashes.
Reba, in all her long-limbed grace, caught up first. Her leash snapped taut so Nona’s arm was locked straight at the elbow as she stumbled along. “Get him, Reba!” she called, hoping for some divine intervention in the form of one dog rugby-tackling another to the pavement. But Reba wasn’t chasing Fish Cake, after all; she was chasing the cat, too.
The cat made a hard right around the corner and dashed across the street towards the park. For a moment, Nona held her breath, fear sending a cold spike into her heart, but the road stayed clear as Fish Cake followed behind. Nona looked left-right-left the way Pyrrha always reminded her, checking twice for cyclists, and then dashed after them, Noodle and Reba and Button charging in front of her. Noodle and Button looked like they thought this was a fun little game. Reba looked murderous. Nona respected that. She was feeling a little bit murderous too.
Just inside the park, Nona followed the sound of high-pitched yapping to the base of a wide oak tree, where Fish Cake was circling madly, leash dragging behind him in the dirt. Nona didn’t need to speak his language to know that he was probably saying a lot of words she wasn’t allowed to say. Above them sat the cat, stretched lazily in the crook of a few branches, eyes closed, entirely unbothered.
“You’re not very nice!” Nona shouted up into the tree, forgetting for a moment that it was only a cat doing a thing that cats did. When she remembered, she regretted being loud. She dodged around the gaggle of dogs and scooped up Fish Cake’s leash, making sure the handle was secure around her wrist this time.
Fish Cake hadn’t stopped barking, and Reba looked like she thought barking sounded like fun too. It was so loud, and people were looking, and they had to get home or she was going to be late. Nona felt an overwhelming sense of panic start to build in her chest. Then Noodle bumped her hip with his nose, snuffling at her pocket.
“Oh, Noodle, you’re a genius,” Nona said gratefully, remembering the treats. She reached in awkwardly with two leashes around her wrist and pulled out the baggie. “Fish Cake,” she called, fumbling to open the bag with slightly trembling fingers. “Would you like a treat?”
Like magic, every dog turned to her in unison, ears pricked. The barking ceased. Fish Cake trotted over from the other side of the tree and looked up at Nona with large eyes. And the cat, forgotten, yawned at Nona and slinked down the trunk of the tree, disappearing into a hedge.
“Alright,” Nona said, emboldened. “You can all have one. But you’ve got to sit first.”
Noodle pawed the ground restlessly. The other dogs looked at her as if she was speaking a language they couldn’t be bothered to translate.
“Come on,” said Nona, frowning. She opened the bag wider. “Noodle, you know this one. Sit.”
Noodle chuffed, eyes trained on the food. He sat.
“Good boy, Noodle!” Nona praised, doing a complicated motion to shift the leashes further down onto her arm so she could reach into the bag. She managed to pass him a treat without the others stealing it, and he swallowed it immediately. “You should chew your food,” she chastised, sounding like Camilla. “But that’s okay.” She cast her eyes toward the other three dogs. “Now you three. Sit, please.”
Reba and Button got the message. They sat down simultaneously on the grass, tails wagging underneath them. “Good! And you,” Nona said, giving Fish Cake a pointed look. “You hardly deserve one, you know. I’m being very nice.”
For a moment, she could have sworn the dog rolled his eyes. Then he lowered his little bottom and sat.
Nona looked at all of them — Noodle, Button, Reba, and tiny Fish Cake, all sitting properly — and thought she could cry, right then, with all that tingling relief in her chest. She swelled with pride. “YES! Good!” she shouted, thrusting her two fists in the air. All the dogs followed their leashes upward and immediately rose to their feet again, tails wagging, but she was so proud she couldn’t even fault them for it. She passed them each a treat, including Noodle, who looked quite pleased to be given two. He had behaved the best out of everyone, though. Nona thought he deserved it.
After the panic of the past twenty minutes, the walk back to the house was so perfect that Nona wanted to hold it in her mind forever. Sure, they had to stop seven times so Fish Cake could mark his territory, and Noodle insisted on weaving through Nona’s legs and tangling her up in his leash, but all four of them really were being so good. They sat down at every crosswalk light, provided Nona passed them each a treat. They didn’t run too far ahead. And none of them were lost. Camilla was going to be so proud.
Nona had promised Pyrrha that she could return each dog by herself. She stopped at each house in reverse order, and gave each owner a progress-report-style explanation of how each dog had behaved. All of them got glowing reviews, even Fish Cake, because Nona thought it wasn’t fair to judge him differently from everybody else. After all, if not for the cat, everything would have been fine. And there had been no harm done in the end.
Camilla met her at Noodle’s house to walk her home. She had the sort of expectant angle to her mouth that Nona knew meant she wanted a debrief. “It was great,” she said happily, taking Camilla’s hand before Camilla even had the chance to ask any questions. “We spent too many minutes in the park and I thought we’d be late, but it turned out alright and Noodle helped me keep everybody in check.”
“That was nice of him,” said Camilla. Her callused hand was warm and sturdy in Nona’s.
Nona beamed. “I love you, Camilla,” she said.
“Mm,” said Camilla, but her eyes were kind and her small smile said I love you too. Nona’s braids bounced pleasantly against her shoulders as they walked home.