sometimes did when she was nervous If Amigo had been there he would have given her a gentle nudge with his nose to let her know what she was doing Abby was proud of herself for noticing it on her own She took her notes in both hands and continued Each team consists of sixteen sled dogs and one musher or driver Alaskan huskies are the most popular sled dog breed Sled dogs usually begin their training at around nine months old When Abby reached the end of her report everyone in the class clapped without being told Nice job Abby said Mr Timothy That was a very thorough report As Abby headed back to her desk Miriam gave her a thumbs-up Was it overkill Abby asked her after class pushing Miriam’s wheelchair as they headed to the cafeteria for lunch Miriam’s wheelchair had a remote control that allowed her to go wherever she wanted on her own but Abby liked pushing it and Miriam let her No I don’t think it was overkill said Miriam to Abby’s relief Sometimes Abby got so interested in topics that she kept talking about them long after other people’s attention started to wander But Miriam loved dogs nearly as much as Abby so she didn’t mind long conversations about them In fact that was how they’d become friends Abby hadn’t made any friends at all in kindergarten Mostly she’d played by herself with her favorite toy puppies and hadn’t paid much attention to the other kids who’d made up games with rules that Abby hadn’t been able to understand But in first grade she’d gotten Amigo and kids in her class had
started paying a lot more attention to her Mostly they had asked about Amigo which had been Abby’s favorite thing to talk about anyway Miriam had been one of those kids She’d told Abby that she wanted a dog but she couldn’t have one because her father was allergic Because Amigo was a service dog other people weren’t supposed to touch him or distract him while he was on the job But Abby had made an exception for Miriam and said that she could pet Amigo whenever she wanted Abby had been a little worried that when she stopped bringing Amigo to class she and Miriam would stop being friends But so far Miriam seemed to like hanging out with Abby even when Amigo wasn’t around It was a long report but it was interesting Miriam continued I didn’t realize the Iditarod was such a difficult race I can’t imagine spending eight whole days out in the Alaskan wilderness I know right said Abby And I was surprised by how much the dogs have to eat more than ten thousand calories per day That’s the equivalent of twenty-four Big Macs There was so much information that Abby hadn’t been able to include in her report and she wanted to share it with Miriam After a few minutes though she stopped herself and let Miriam talk That was something she’d had to learn on her own Amigo was a smart dog but even he didn’t have an alert for when she was oversharing Today Miriam had something on her mind that seemed to be even more important than dogs My brother got home from the army this
weekend she said as they filled their lunch trays and sat at their favorite table under the food pyramid mural the class had painted My dad used to be in the army said Abby deconstructing the cafeteria’s turkey sandwich into separate piles of bread meat cheese and tomato so she could eat each ingredient separately But it was a long time ago so I don’t really remember Natalie remembers it better Natalie was two years older than Abby Their younger sisters Emily and Grace were nine-year-old twins It’s weird because Caleb’s been gone for three whole years said Miriam using her right hand to unwrap the straw from her box of apple juice and pierce the foil top with it Miriam had cerebral palsy a condition that weakened the muscles of her body especially on the left side She had some trouble lifting the juice box from the tray to her mouth but Abby didn’t offer to help Miriam got annoyed when people tried to do things for her if she could do them herself He’s only come back for Hanukkah twice that whole time and once for a week when our grandma died Miriam continued taking a sip of juice But now he’s back for good Are you glad to have him at home again asked Abby When Emily and Grace had been adopted into the family three years ago Abby had not been thrilled about suddenly having two new sisters who were nearly her own age and who were often quite loud and used up all the hot water in the shower But now she could hardly imagine life without them I thought I would be said Miriam But he’s so different than I remember He spends most of his time listening to music alone in his
room He doesn’t even want to hang out with his old friends from high school never mind me I feel like I’m practically invisible to him Abby tried to think of reasons Miriam’s brother might be acting that way She had only met Caleb a few times but she remembered him as being loud and friendly and liking basketball Maybe he’s sick she said Or maybe he’s still tired from traveling I looked at Kuwait on the map and it’s really far away Abby always felt tired and cranky after she had to take a long trip Maybe said Miriam She took a few bites of her sandwich and then sighed and pushed her tray away Do you want that asked Abby pointing to the untouched brownie on Miriam’s plate Miriam shook her head so Abby took the brownie and ate it so it wouldn’t go to waste It sounded like Miriam had finished talking about her brother for now so Abby started telling her the rest of what she had learned about sled dogs When she got home from school a few hours later Abby dropped her backpack near the door and headed straight for the fleecy dog bed in the living room where Amigo liked to nap Abby’s family ran an animal rescue called Second Chance Ranch and it was Abby’s job to help take care of all the dogs after school Right now the ranch had seven adult dogs and six puppies to look after But no matter how busy she was Abby always took Amigo for a walk first thing after she got home She was a little surprised that he hadn’t greeted her at the door with his leash in his mouth like he often did
