Emily & Einstein Read Online Free PDF Page A

very still, realizing that the sound was vibrating in my chest.
    Panic surged, blood pumping through me, bringing adrenaline with it, and I was able to raise my head. That’s when I saw the paws. White fur-covered paws attached to furry legs, traveling right up to the general vicinity of where I looked out.
    With a jerk, I glanced at the body. The quick movement made me dizzy, and I nearly passed out at the sight of more white, wiry fur and another set of limbs. And a tail. Dear God in heaven, had the old man turned me into a dog? Was this even possible?
    Frantically I used every ounce of mental energy I had to push forward, my brain telling my hand to move. But the only thing that stirred was one of those front paws.
    I fell back against the floor. I sensed the heavy breathing, but heard a pant.
    Pulling a deep breath, I concentrated, then yanked the body forward again. All I saw was the dog legs and cage. I tried to touch something. But the only way I could touch anything was with my face. And my face touched the leg, and the only leg getting touched was the fur-covered one.
    Sweet mother in heaven, I was a dog. More specifically, I realized that somehow I was in the body of the white wiry stray who had stepped in front of the cab.
    What started as a whimpering howl became manic baying. Shock shuddered through me. The noise echoed against the thin metal grating of the cage, desolate, devastated. But the despair quickly turned to anger, and on the heels of anger, fury consumed me.
    I howled and growled, saliva pooling in my mouth, the thin floppy tongue lolling about without direction.
    “How could you do this to me?” I cried, the sound a furious howl.
    I had never felt such wretchedness. If there had been a spike or sharp object I would have thrown myself on it, impaling this awful body, putting us all out of our misery.
    Eventually my howling tapered off, what little adrenaline I had managed to drum up deserting me. I fell back, a noise coming out of me like groaning hot air let out of a heavy balloon. The head—my head now—landed on wadded-up terry cloth, some cheap discarded beach towel from the looks of the thick bold stripes.
    I don’t know how long I lay there moaning in the semidarkness and barn stench without dying before I heard a door open.
    “Einstein?”
    It was a woman’s voice, one I recognized.
    “Einstein, is that you, boy?”
    I was stunned and overjoyed when Emily appeared before the cage, her blue eyes filled with concern.
    “Emily!” I cried. But the consonants and syllables wouldn’t form into anything coherent. “Oh my God, Emily! It’s me, Sandy!”
    “There, there, boy. Don’t try to get up.”
    She crouched down and stuck her fingers through the very lowest place in the cage. With serious effort, I managed to control the unruly tongue and stretch forward far enough to lick her. “Emily, Emily, Emily,” I murmured, the sound echoing against the walls of what I now confirmed was the Upper West Side Clinic where Emily volunteered. “It’s me,” I whimpered.
    “It’s okay, Einstein. You’re going to be all right.”
    I could tell from her voice that she was amazed that this dog was alive. More than that, she knew this dog. She loved this dog. And she was worried sick about this Einstein.
    “Damn it, Emily, it’s me!”
    If her not recognizing me wasn’t bad enough, I realized that the despicable old man had clearly thought to play a joke on me. Well, the old bastard would learn. You didn’t play jokes on Alexander “Sandy” Vandermeer Regal Portman.
    “Old man!” I barked. Literally, bringing back the despair.
    “Oh, Einstein,” Emily said, sinking to the floor beside the cage. “You’re going to be okay, E.”
    The cadence of her voice and the touch of her fingers settled me. “Emily,” I murmured, the sound a guttural moan.
    When I finally calmed, she opened the cage door.
    “I shouldn’t be here,” she said. “I should be at work getting ready for the