A Dog Called Homeless

In music class, Mr. Crisp teaches the students proper singing technique. Cally pretends she’s singing along but doesn’t let any sounds come out. At the end of class, Mr. Crisp holds Cally back and asks her why she hasn’t signed up for the school’s farewell concert yet. He reminds her how good she was and how much fun she had when she was in Charlotte’s Web a couple of years ago.

Mr. Crisp then mentions how good Cally would have been as the lead in Olivia! the year her mom died, and he says that her mom came by the school to tell him she had a surprise planned for Cally. She died before she could make the surprise happen, so no one knows what she had planned. Hearing someone talk about Mom makes Cally feel good, and she silently appreciates Mr. Crisp, who tells her it’s not too late to sign up for the concert. When Cally still doesn’t say anything, he tells her she can go but to come by anytime she likes.

When Cally gets home, Sam is waiting for her with an old-fashioned Polaroid camera. The two of them take some photos of each other and give them to Mrs. Cooper. When Cally looks closer at the one she took of Sam, she notices a gray dog in the background. It’s Homeless. She lets Sam know, and they go out together to look for him.

Homeless is still outside, and Sam is excited to meet him, though cautious. Cally guides Sam over to Homeless, and she feels “his hand tighten around [hers] as he [feels] all over the tall body, felt for the right way to smooth Homeless’s scruffy fur” (96). Cally is happy to introduce them to each other and glad to have someone to share Homeless with.

Mrs. Cooper comes out to check on Cally and Sam. When she sees Homeless, she asks the kids about him and wonders if he’s lost. Just then, Cally’s Dad arrives to take her home. He’s annoyed to see Homeless again and gets more annoyed when Cally silently begs for them to keep him. She puts “her arms around Homeless, look[s] into his soft brown eyes, look[s] into Dad’s icy blue ones” (99). Mrs. Cooper tries to offer suggestions, such as splitting the cost of keeping Homeless with Cally’s family. However, Dad is firm in his answer, no matter how much Cally begs. Eventually, Homeless hears a whistle and runs across the street to Jed.

When they get home, Dad reiterates again why they can’t keep Homeless: He would cost too much money. Cally sits with him, watching the TV in silence. He presses her to talk to him, but she refuses. Her silence is not about Homeless; it’s about Mom. Cally thinks:

You can’t just forget about things that mean so much to you. Even though Mom had died, he made it seem like we never knew her at all, like she never even existed. But she was here. I saw her, I felt her, especially when I was with Homeless (103).

Cally feels like Dad is erasing Mom’s memory by refusing to talk about her. She can’t bring herself to speak again until he’s willing to talk about Mom. Dad, frustrated with Cally, gets up from the couch and mutters that it is “not clever at all” to continue her silence (104).

His comment reminds Cally of a memory she has of Mom. Near the big yellow cathedral the family visited was a river with mute swans. The swans, who couldn’t communicate with sounds, learned to ring a bell whenever they were hungry. Mom commented on how clever the swans were. Back then, Dad could see it too.

At school, Mrs. Brooks asks to see Cally again. She tells Cally that “all this not talking is starting to become a bit of a problem” (106). She recounts how it’s causing Cally to not participate in class and asks if she has anything to do with Homeless hanging around the school. Cally doesn’t say a word, and Mrs. Brooks decides that it’s time to let Dad know what’s happening.

Later, Cally and Sam prepare to go look for Homeless. Mrs. Cooper hands them an alarm clock, saying they’re allowed to explore as long as they come back when the alarm rings. In addition, she tells Cally that beyond wading in a stream, Sam isn’t allowed to swim since it might upset his asthma.

Cally pushes Sam along in a buggy, letting him lead the way by holding his arms out when he wants to make a turn. When they reach the stream, he motions for her to stop and then takes off his shoes so that he can wade in it. Cally notices how much he enjoys the water, thinking, “He look[s] like he belong[s] there” (109). Eventually he gets out and trades places with Cally, this time pushing her along and feeling her shoulders to know when she wants to turn.

Cally leads Sam to the area where she has seen Homeless most often. There, the children stumble upon the ruins of the abandoned Swan Lake that Dad told her about. They find a makeshift bed made from newspapers, a small dog bowl, and the Homeless sign that Jed held up earlier. The kids realize that Jed and Homeless must live here.

After they explore some more, careful not to disturb anything, Sam wants to walk along the lake. When they do, Cally sees Mom again, standing in her red raincoat. Too soon, the alarm clock goes off, signaling that it’s time to go home.

The next night, Cally stays with Mrs. Cooper and Sam while Dad is out with his friends from work. Cally and Sam are sitting outside when familiar figures suddenly approach them: Mom, Jed, and Homeless walk up to them, and Mrs. Cooper comes out to join the kids. She greets Jed, saying she’s seen him around a few times, and asks if she can do anything to help him and Homeless.

When Jed says he’s hungry, Mrs. Cooper doesn’t hesitate to get something for him. She returns “with some fruitcake and a mug of tea for Jed. She [gives] Homeless some corned beef straight from the can” (116). Once they’ve eaten, Jed thanks Mrs. Cooper and starts to leave. Suddenly, Sam asks Jed if he knows who owns Homeless. Jed looks at Cally and replies, “I’m his guardian, if you like […] But he belongs with you” (117). Without another word, they leave, vanishing into the night.

The next day, Dad takes Cally to a doctor after school. When the doctor can’t find anything medically wrong with Cally, he tells Dad he’s “going to send a report to the school, and the school [will] contact an expert called Dr. Colborn” (119). Cally is hesitant about who this expert might be and worries that they might start asking invasive questions about Mom.

When they get home, five men from Dad’s work are waiting outside the apartment. They tell him that he’s too late: All of them have lost their jobs. When Luke asks if Dad still has his job, Dad assures him he does, but he feels guilty, nonetheless. These men are his friends, and he was supposed to look after them.