In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde Read Free Book Online Page A

held out more nuts, and with a great deal of effort, one haunch at a time, the dog managed to raise himself on all fours.
    Now JT could at least see what the problem was, for the dog was favoring its right front paw. JT moved in and, while offering more nuts, tried to inspect the paw. The dog drew back, but JT smoothed his velvety ears and kept feeding him nuts, and the dog calmed down enough for JT to finally locate an ugly cactus thorn lodged between the leathery pads of his paw.
    No wonder the dog was whimpering.
    “Easy, boy.” He cradled the dogs leg and with his stubby fingers tried to pick out the thorn. However, he only succeeded in breaking off the tip. The dog lay down and began licking the tender area.
    JT glanced back toward camp. It crossed his mind that he should go back and get Abo and Dixie to come help him decide what to do, but he was still partly afraid that perhaps he was dreaming this all up, and by the time Abo and Dixie got up here, the dog would have vanished, and he, JT, Official Trip Leader, would be the butt of jokes for the rest of the trip.
    He didn’t give it any more thought but bent down, circled his arms underneath the dog, and hoisted him to his chest. Forty pounds, maybe, no more; JT had certainly carried heavier loads. With the dog in his arms, he retraced his steps out of the tamarisk grove and headed back down the path.
    When he reached the hillock that sloped down to the camp, he saw people crowded around Dixie’s boat; she’d opened up her drink hatch, and people were fumbling through the burlap bags for their personal stashes. Evelyn noticed him first. Then Lena, who nudged Mitchell,who said, “What
now?”
which caught everybody else’s attention, and they all turned to stare up at this grizzled man in a beat-up cowboy hat and a bleached plaid shirt staggering down the sandy slope in the shimmering heat with a dog in his arms.
    Dixie shaded her eyes. “Am I on drugs?”
    Once on the beach, JT squatted and set the dog on the sand. The two boys fell upon him before either parent could stop them, tussling his ears and trying to rub his belly, and the dog, who knew a good thing when he saw it, forgot about the thorn and happily rolled onto his back and splayed his legs, as though reuniting with his long-lost family.
    Dixie hopped down off her raft. “Where did you find that thing?”
    “Up in the bushes,” said JT. “I heard a rattling sound and thought it was a snake, and then I heard him whimper.”
    “What’s a dog doing down here?” Mitchell asked with a wide smile. He’d taken off his hat; a band of tight curls lay plastered against his skull, making his head seem too small. There was something in his smile that made JT suspect that whatever explanation he offered, it wouldn’t satisfy this man.
    “And where did it come from?” Evelyn asked.
    “I don’t know,” JT said. “Sam, go fill a bowl with water.”
    Sam ran off.
    “What are you going to do with him?” said Mitchell.
    “See if I can get this thorn out of his foot.”
    “Oh, the poor dog!” exclaimed Amy, falling to her knees beside the dog. She had changed into another large T-shirt, this one dirty white, printed with the red and yellow logo from the Hard Rock Cafe.
    “And then?” said Mitchell.
    JT put his hands on his hips and looked at the dog, whose hind leg was kicking reflexively from all the petting.
    “No idea, Mitchell,” said JT. “No idea at all.”

9
Day One
Mile 16
    T he thorn turned out to have a barbed tip, so Abo and Dixie had to pin the dog down while JT wiggled the thorn around with a pair of tweezers, trying to loosen the hook that had snagged itself into the dog’s flesh. At one point the dog snapped at Dixie, but eventually JT managed to release the catch and remove the barb. Abo and Dixie let go, and the dog wiggled to his feet, shook, limped over to lift his leg against a bush, and finally retreated to a patch of shade to lick his wounded paw.
    JT tossed his hat into his