You can still work alone I’d just come along and help out Do you even understand the meaning of the word alone Of course I do But in this case I think I could be a huge asset to you Asset huh His scowl twitched around the edges That’s a pretty fancy word for a kid How old are you Jessie’s heart leapt at the question Usually he’d have slammed the door in her face by now Twelve she said And what’s your name again Jessie Jessie Jamison He winced Terrible alliteration My dad’s name is James Jamison Then he should have known better That’s not a very nice thing to say Jessie said Yeah well I’m not a very nice man And frankly you’re not a very nice child A nice child would have gone away by now A nice child would have listened when I said no the first oh seven hundred times Jessie nodded slowly OK she said OK I’m probably not nice But I’m a hard worker and I really really love dogs And I’m not even asking you to pay me Just take me on just for a week and see how it goes She needed this job Without it her summer would be an endless stretch of desolation a desert island with nothing to do and no one to do it with A week eh Wes hooked his thumbs in the elastic of his hip pack and studied her Don’t you have friends to bother Or video games to play Or whatever it is you kids do these days 2 HEIDI LANG
No No He raised his bushy eyebrows Elaborate Jessie took a deep breath I’m visiting my cousin for the summer and right now she hates me I don’t have any other friends out here And I don’t really like video games it’s too much sitting around I’ve noticed you have trouble staying in one place Jessie paused her weight on her left foot She realized realized she’d been hopping from foot to foot this whole time and carefully lowered her right foot to the ground I can stand still if I need to If it is important for the job Wes sighed Look kid the whole reason I became a dog walker was so I wouldn’t have to deal with people And you are a particularly irritating person Jessie couldn’t argue with that Still she wasn’t ready to give up not when they’d just had their longest conversation conversation yet He was definitely weakening she just needed to give him one more good push He started to close the door in her face Wait Jessie moved fast sticking her foot in the way You at least have to admit I’ve been doggedly determined He stared at her the door falling open again Please tell me you did not just say that If you give me a job I’ll stop hounding you Please stop He kept his mouth in a firm upside down U but his blue eyes twinkled and Jessie knew he wanted to laugh If I take you on will you stop these terrible dog puns Absolutely I’ll put them on paws He rubbed the groove between his eyebrows again 3 RULES of the RUFF
and muttered Can’t believe I’m doing this Dropping his hand he looked Jessie up and down Fine Fine irritating small person I will take you on Triumph surged through Jessie She’d done it She would get to meet not one not two but probably a dozen dogs Maybe more How many dogs did Wes walk It didn’t matter she would love them all and they would love her back They wouldn’t abandon her or give her that look like her very existence was too annoying for words Thank you thank you He held up his hand stopping her I’ll take you on but only on one condition Jessie swallowed Yes Wes smiled and suddenly Jessie was filled with a sense of foreboding like she’d just stepped in a deep sucking pool of mud He leaned toward her You’ll have to master the Rules of the Ruff Wh-what are those They are the code I live my life by You’ll learn to think like a dog to act like a dog to be a dog He straightened straightened Come back tomorrow morning Seven sharp Your training starts then He disappeared back into his house closing the door with a final-sounding click Jessie stared at that closed door her eyes tracing the peeling white paint Seven in the morning in the summer Did he have any idea how early that was She slowly walked down the three steps to the sidewalk and turned left Maybe Wes was just trying to discourage her Well it wouldn’t work She could get up early if she had to She could learn to be 4 HEIDI LANG
a dog too She would master these Rules of the Ruff if it was the last thing she did As she followed the sidewalk she pushed her bangs off her forehead glad she’d chopped her thick curly hair short before coming out here to Elmsborough Ohio for the summer It was almost ten in the morning now and the day’s heat had already begun to build She imagined the heat as a large soggy blanket that someone was holding just above her head Even though it wasn’t touching her yet she could feel the threat of it being dropped on her Jessie made another left Up ahead was Elm Park her favorite part of this whole place She loved how big it was so huge she couldn’t see the circular pond at the far end Most of the park was flat and grassy surrounded by a winding trail lined with the elm trees that gave it its name In the far corner stood a swing set and jungle gym that she and Ann used to play on back when they were kids Back when Ann was still fun Back when she was still Ann and not Ann-Marie Jessie scowled as she passed by the swings then decided she’d wasted enough time thinking about her stupid cousin Her soccer ball was still crammed under the bushes where she’d hidden it Jessie crouched low and dug it out then tossed it from hand to hand If she wanted to be a starter when school began she needed to keep her skills sharp It was hard though all her favorite drills required at least two people If only Ann would but no Jessie dropped the soccer ball enjoying the sound it made as it crushed the grass that crinkly noise so full of promise She rolled her shoulders and did a few quick 5 RULES of the RUFF
