Finding Gobi: The true story of one little dog’s big journey
For fans of A Streecat Named Bob comes Finding Gobi, the heart-warming true story of a dog who captured the hearts of the world. Younger readers’ edition.WFinding Gobi is the ultimate story of hope and friendship – proving once again, that dogs really are ‘man’s best friend.’In 2016, Dion Leonard, an ultramarathon runner, stumbled across a little stray dog while competing in a gruelling 155 mile race across the Gobi Desert. The pup earned the name ‘Gobi’, as she went step for step with Dion, keeping pace with him for nearly 80 miles. What Gobi lacked in size, she made up for in heart.Dion had always focused on winning, but as he witnessed the incredible determination of this small animal, he felt something inside him change. This is a story of a life changing friendship between one man and a little stray dog called Gobi.
Читать Finding Gobi: The true story of one little dog’s big journey онлайн беплатно
Adapted by Aaron Rosenberg
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Childrenâs Books 2017
HarperCollins Childrenâs Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
HarperCollins Publishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
The HarperCollins website address is
Text copyright © Dion Leonard2017
Cover design copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Photographs reproduced by Hermien Webb, reproduced courtesy of KAEM
Dion Leonard asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008244521
Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780008244538
Version: 2017-05-09
To all dog lovers:
no matter where life takes you, your dog will always be there for you.
Contents
âIs that right, girl?â another man asked, bending down to scratch her behind the ears. âAre you here to run with us?â
The dog didnât know what to make of all this. There were a lot of people, more than she would have expected out here away from town and right on the edge of the desert. Most of them were dressed funny, but they were nice. Many of the runners stopped to pet her, and more than a few gave her scraps of food.
She was hungry. She was always hungry. She couldnât remember a time when she hadnât been hungry. These people seemed to like her, and when she danced around them they fed her. So she danced. And got fed. And everyone was happy.
Then she saw him. He wasnât feeding her. He wasnât laughing or shouting. He wasnât even standing with most of the other people. He was off to the side, shifting back and forth on his big feet. He was tall and skinny, and dressed all in bright yellow. He looked funny, but he wasnât smiling.
The dog didnât know what to make of this tall man. But she decided that she wanted to find out more about him.
âWell, hello there,â Dion Leonard muttered, glancing down at the small bundle of sandy-coloured fur bounding around his feet. âWhere did you come from?â
She wasnât a very big dog, he noticed. She was small and compact, and she had big dark eyes and tufts of fur around her mouth that made it look like she had a moustache and beard. Heâd seen her with a bunch of the other runners earlier, doing tricks for food. But for some reason sheâd singled him out.
It was probably his gear. Dionâs running clothes and even his shoes were all bright yellow. He knew he probably looked like a neon light.
He reached down and patted the dog, but he didnât have time to give her too much attention. Todayâs portion of the race was about to start, and he needed to be ready.
This six-stage ultra race would stretch over seven days and cover almost 155 miles. Dion had never been to China before, but he had done other multi-stage races like this. He used to be good at them. Then heâd hurt his leg. It had been a while since heâd entered a race, and he was worried. This was his last chance, he figured. If he didnât do well in this race, he might as well just quit completely.
He didnât want to quit though. He wanted to compete well â not necessarily to come in first, he wasnât expecting that, but to make it into the top handful, at least. Even placing fourth would be enough to show that he could still do this.
Yesterday had been the first day and he had come in third, so that was an excellent start. But in order to stay in that top handful, he needed to concentrate. And that meant not spending any more time with somebodyâs dog, no matter how cute she was.
âBetter get back to your owner now,â he murmured, leaning over to pet her one last time. She looked up at him with those big eyes, almost like she understood him, and barked once. But she didnât go away.
âTake your positions!â one of the race organisers shouted. Everyone tensed and moved to the starting line, completing final stretches. Dion was already done with all of that. He just made sure his shoes were tied tight and his backpack was securely on, and concentrated on the path up ahead. Little pink flags marked the way.
