Bijou Needs a Home

by Susan Hughes

  “So, first things first,” said take-charge Maya. “Grace, we have to find names for these three. I’ll get the books Aunt Jenn mentioned.”

  Maya hurried out to the waiting room and returned with the books. She passed them out. Then she pulled out some paper and a pen from the bag of art supplies.

  “I’ll be the recorder,” Maya said. “Okay, anytime you find a good name, call it out, and I’ll write it down.”

  The girls settled into the brainstorming session. Kat sat on the floor near the male puppy. She found a section in her book on names for male dogs. As she looked through the names, she tugged on the squeaky toy. The puppy pulled back on the toy, his head down and his rear end up in the air. She liked his fierce little growling sounds.

  “How about Snowball?” suggested Grace. She flicked the end of one of her long red braids. “Or Snowflake?”

  “Good. I’ll write those down,” said Maya.

  “Puff?” Grace added.

  “You know,” said Kat thoughtfully, “the name bichon frise is French, and it actually means curly lap dog.”

  “Perfect!” Grace laughed. “I bet I could fit both these pups in my lap at once!”

  “So, maybe it would be a good idea to give these puppies French names,” suggested Kat.

  “Mais oui!” cried Maya. “That’s a great idea!”

  Grace smiled, but it was difficult for Kat to tell if she agreed or not. She didn’t often tell the girls what she was thinking. Grace is a little like the third bichon frise puppy, Kat thought with a grin. A bit quiet. A bit cautious.

  Kat wondered if Grace was like that with everyone. Or was it just with her and Maya? Kat had become friends with Grace first. Then she had introduced her to Maya. The two of them were getting along all right now, but the other kids at school still didn’t seem to know what to make of Grace. Kat hoped Grace would make more new friends soon.

  She sighed. For some reason, friendship was definitely not easy. And sometimes kids at school seemed to make things even harder. Dogs seem to make friends a lot easier than people do, Kat thought.

  Just then, the male puppy picked up the squeaky toy and trotted to the other side of the room. He flopped down and curled up with the toy, all alone.

  Except for this guy, that is, Kat thought. He doesn’t seem to want to make friends with us!

  “So come on, girls,” Maya said impatiently. “Names! We need names! And in French, si’l vous plaît!” Maya made googly eyes. “That means please, for those who don’t understand French as well as moi!”

  Kat and Grace giggled. Soon the names were flying. Maya listed them all.

  While the girls worked, the two female puppies fell asleep near the basket of toys — one on top of the other, exhausted from their exploring, running and tugging. The male puppy snoozed, tucked up against his squeaky toy.

  “Okay,” announced Maya after a while. “I think we have a long enough list.”

  Maya read out the names one by one, and the girls voted for the names they liked best. Grace jotted down the scores.

  “Now for the results,” said Maya after doing a tally. “First, the female with the deep, dark eyes. She will be Aimée, which means loved. The female with the chocolate brown eyes is Chantal. I don’t know what it means, but it sounds so pretty. Chantal, Chantal!” repeated Maya, grinning. “And the male? Say bonjour to Bijou, which means jewel.”

  “Perfect,” said Grace. “I love these names.”

  “Me, too.” Kat smiled, delighted.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Grace pulled out the markers, pens, paper and bristol boards. The girls talked about what to write on the posters so they could find good homes for the puppies.

  “Must be kind and loving,” suggested Maya.

  “Must be willing to go on walks — rain or snow,” said Grace.

  “Must need a very special friend,” added Kat, looking at Bijou.

  Then, all at once the puppies woke up. Right away, they were on the go! Chantal scooted to the corner of the room and peed. With a happy yip, Aimée pounced on a marker that had fallen to the floor. And Bijou decided to try to chew open a bag of dog biscuits that Aunt Jenn had set by the back door.

  The girls decided to take turns playing with the puppies and making the posters. As they worked, Aunt Jenn came into the doggy-daycare room.

  “How’s it going in here?” Aunt Jenn asked. She popped a piece of gum in her mouth. “How are the little ones?”

  “We’ve named the puppies Aimée, Chantal and Bijou,” explained Kat. “We’re making posters and we’re going to post them up and down the main street and at school!”

  “Wonderful!” exclaimed Aunt Jenn. “Please put the Tails Up telephone number on the posters. Tony can arrange for us to meet with any interested callers.”

  She grinned as Aimée and Chantal came tumbling toward her. “I hope there are three families out there who want new puppies — and soon! These scallywags really need to be with their own people soon.”

  Aunt Jenn squatted down. The two fluffy white puppies covered her hand in kisses. “But I’m sure we won’t have any trouble once they meet them. These two certainly are hard to resist!” she laughed.

  Kat looked at Bijou, who was sitting watching his sisters. He had his head cocked to one side. What about him? Kat wondered. Will Bijou be friendly enough to get a family of his own?

  It gave her a funny feeling. Part of her wanted the puppy to be left behind. Maybe she could convince her parents to let her bring him home! But another part of her knew that wasn’t possible. And if no one wanted him, what would happen to the sweet little guy?

  Kat shuddered and put the thought out of her head.

  “I must get back to my clients,” said Aunt Jenn, standing up again. “Now, girls, when you leave, please make sure the puppies are safely back in their kennel.” Aunt Jenn blew a pink bubble with her gum. “Also, Kitty-Kat, could you, Maya and Grace come after school on Monday and help out with these three again? That is, if they’re all still here.”

  “Sure,” said Kat. She looked at Maya and Grace, who both nodded enthusiastically.

  “Lovely. Well then, ta-ta!” Aunt Jenn said cheerily. And off she went.

  CHAPTER SIX

  All morning and all afternoon, Kat couldn’t stop thinking about Bijou. She sat in class at her desk with her math questions in front of her. But she didn’t see numbers. Instead she saw a cute little white bichon frise chewing on a squeaky toy. She saw him cuddled up across the room, sleeping. She saw him looking at her, his head cocked to one side, cautious.

  Kat looked at the clock. She sighed. The hands did not seem to be moving very quickly today.

  Come on, she told herself. Just focus. Do your assignment. It might make the time go by faster.

  She bent over her math questions and began to work.

  When she looked up again, the hands on the clock had moved. Finally.

  Kat grinned and looked at Grace, who sat at the desk beside her. Grace was pulling at one of her braids and staring into space. Her paper was blank.

  “Hey,” Kat whispered. “I know what you’re thinking about.”

  Grace smiled back at her.

  “Bichon frise puppies? And the interviews?

  Grace nodded.

  “All right, class,” said Ms. Mitchell. She stood at the front of the room. Behind her, on the blackboard, she had written the same math questions that were on their papers. “Now, I need some brave souls to come up and show us their work. But I’m not going to ask for volunteers this time.” She looked around. “Owen, Cara, Lindsay, Grace. Come up, please.”

  Grace shot Kat a panicked look. She didn’t move from her seat while the other children got up and went to the board.

  “Grace, you have to go,” Kat told her. She gave her shoulder a gentle push.

  “I can’t do it,” Grace said. She flushed.

  “That’s okay. Just go and try,” Kat suggested.

  “I’ll get them all wrong,” Grace said
.

  “Ms. Mitchell will help you,” Kat told her.

  Someone snickered from behind. It was Megan. She sat behind Grace.

  Kat turned around and glared at Megan. Megan rolled her eyes, like she thought Grace was stupid. It wasn’t the first time. Megan had been mean to Grace from the start.

  Kat decided not to say anything. It might just encourage Megan. That’s what Kat’s mom said sometimes when she was arguing with Aidan. Megan snickered again, and Grace must have heard her. Grace had that mean look on her face. Her face looked like stone. Kat knew it meant Grace was embarrassed or uncomfortable. It didn’t mean she was going to do something nasty. It didn’t even mean she was thinking unpleasant thoughts. That was the thing you had to know about Grace. How she looked didn’t often equal how she felt. It wasn’t like a math question.

  Grace got up and began walking to the board.

  “The new girl. What’s her name again?” Megan said, pretending she’d forgotten. She spoke just loud enough so Kat and Grace could hear.

  Grace kept walking. Her arms were straight down at her sides.

  She picked up the chalk and she looked at the math questions, but she didn’t write anything.

  Just at Kat had predicted, Ms. Mitchell came and stood beside her. She talked to Grace in a soft voice, pointing at the numbers, explaining what to do. In only a few minutes, Grace was filling in all the answers, and they were correct.

  When the end-of-day bell rang, Kat and Grace hurried out to meet Maya.

  “That Megan is so mean,” Kat said to Grace.

  Grace didn’t reply.

  “I should say something to her. Defend you,” suggested Kat. “Tell Ms. Mitchell she’s bothering you. Or … do something mean to her. Take revenge. That’s what Maya always says, and maybe she’s right …” Kat didn’t like the idea but maybe it would work.

  “No!” Grace said. She turned to Kat and put her hand on her arm, stopping her. “No. Don’t.”

  “But …” Kat stopped. She could see tears in Grace’s eyes.

  “Don’t. Please,” Grace insisted.

  “Okay,” agreed Kat. “I won’t.”

  Maya was waiting at the usual spot.

  “So?” she asked, as they headed down the street toward the grooming salon. “Let’s have it. Joke of the day. You forgot to tell us one this morning before school.”

  Grace slapped her forehead and tried not to grin. “And I thought I’d escaped.”

  “No, it is a tradition that we must endure,” said Maya. “Come on now, Kat-nip. Hit us with one.”

  Kat thought for a moment. “What do you get if you cross a sheepdog with a rose?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Maya.

  “Me neither,” said Grace.

  “A cauliflower!” cried Kat. “Get it? A collie-flower?”

  “Oh! So bad,” moaned Maya.

  “So, so bad,” echoed Grace. “Worst ever.”

  Kat started to laugh. But just then Megan and Cora rode by on their bikes.

  “Kat and Owen sitting in a tree,” they chanted. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

  The two girls didn’t even look at Kat. But Kat knew they meant her to hear them. That Megan. Take the g out of her name and it spelled mean.

  Maya frowned. “I thought they stopped teasing you after you stood up to them,” she said to Kat.

  “Yeah, well, they started again,” Kat said. She shrugged. She tried to pretend it didn’t bother her. She hoped they weren’t teasing Owen, too. He wasn’t her boyfriend, but he was nice.

  Soon the girls reached Aunt Jenn’s salon. Inside it was as crowded as usual. Tony looked up, gave a friendly wave, and then went back to typing on the computer. Marmalade stuck her tail up in the air and pretended the girls weren’t there.

  Kat stroked Marmalade’s back anyway. “You can’t fool me,” she whispered into the tabby cat’s ear.

  Then Kat led Maya and Grace past the five clients: a border collie, two Pomeranians, a West Highland terrier and a Doberman.

  Kat paused with her hand on the door to the doggy-daycare room. What if one or two of the puppies were gone? What if Bijou wasn’t there?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Kat breathed a sigh of relief. All three of the puppies were still there. Kat wanted the puppies to find homes, but she didn’t want them to leave without saying goodbye! And of course Aunt Jenn wouldn’t let that happen. Not even if the puppies did find homes.

  The girls put down their backpacks and hurried over to the kennel.

  “Hello, Chantal. Bonjour!” said Maya, lifting out the brown-eyed puppy. Chantal licked Maya’s cheeks and wiggled with excitement.

  “Now you, Aimée. Out you come,” said Grace. She gave the snow-white puppy a quick kiss on her tiny head.

  “And you too, Bijou,” murmured Kat. The puppy wagged his curled-up tail while she held him close. He was being so friendly. Maybe he remembered her! Kat smelled his lovely puppy smell. She stroked his soft coat.

  “Play time!” announced Kat. When the girls set down the puppies, Chantal and Aimée scampered toward each other and began to wrestle. Bijou, however, had other things on his mind. He headed over to the toy basket and found a small plastic ball. He tried to bite it, but it was much too large for him to get a grip. It rolled away, and he chased it and tried again.

  “Those sisters are going to miss each other,” said Maya, watching them tussle. “But this one?” Maya added, pointing to Bijou. “Not so much. He’s a bit of a loner, isn’t he?”

  The time went quickly. The girls knew they had to make the most of it. Perhaps all the puppies would have new homes by tomorrow!

  Maya and Grace played with Aimée and Chantal. They sat on the floor across from each other with the puppies in between them. They rolled a soccer ball back and forth to each other. The puppies ran back and forth too, chasing the ball. A few times, Chantal was so excited she almost did a somersault. Aimée kept skidding into the girls’ legs, unable to stop in time.

  Bijou seemed happy playing alone, but Kat was worried. “You need to be able to socialize,” she whispered to him. “It’s important. Most people get dogs because they want to play with them. You won’t get chosen if you don’t seem very friendly.”

  Kat took Bijou’s ball and threw it for him, but he wouldn’t chase it.

  He headed back to the toy basket and picked out a toy bone. He growled and shook it in his mouth.

  Kat laughed. “Here, bring it here!” she said, crouching down and patting the floor. “Bring it to me!” But Bijou didn’t come. He didn’t even look at her.

  Kat got a real dog biscuit from the bag that was now up on the shelf. She sat down across from Bijou.

  “Look, Bijou! A biscuit for you!” she said, trying to tempt him. “Come here. Come here and you can have it.”

  Bijou dropped the toy bone.

  “Here you go. Good puppy!” Kat said encouragingly.

  Bijou turned and went back to the toy basket to look for another toy.

  Kat looked at Maya and Grace. They were both lying on their backs giggling, and Chantal and Aimée were climbing up and over them.

  “Your little paws are as light as feathers, Chantal!” giggled Maya.

  “Oh, that tickles!” squealed Grace, as Aimée scampered across her tummy.

  Kat sighed. Bijou had found a new toy and was happily chewing at it, all by himself.

  Suddenly Maya cried out, “Oh! I almost forgot!” She gently pushed Chantal off her stomach and got up. “I brought my camera!” She went to her backpack and took it out.

  “Good!” said Kat, jumping up as well. “We can add Chantal, Aimée and Bijou to our Puppy Collection!”

  Maya began snapping photos of Chantal, who was trying to spring up onto Grace’s belly. Then Grace sat up and set Aimée on the floor. Maya took photos of the puppy as she yipped and chased her sister, Chantal, across the room.

  “These photos will be perfect for the Puppy Collection,” Grace said.

  Maya and
Kat had started the Puppy Collection together just a short time ago. Neither girl was allowed to have a dog, so they did the next best thing. They drew pictures of their favourite puppies or they took photos of them. They gave each puppy a name and wrote a description of it. They also added puppies they met, such as the ones they helped to look after at Tails Up. Now that Grace was their friend, she helped with the Puppy Collection, too.

  “Don’t forget to take some photos of Bijou,” Kat reminded Maya.

  “Why don’t you pick him up?” suggested Maya. “I’ll take one of both of you.”

  Kat was happy to scoop up the puppy. But when she tried to get him to look at the camera, he only wanted to gaze at her quietly with his dark brown button eyes. She looked back at him, her heart melting.

  A while later, it was time to go. The girls put the puppies back in the kennel and said good night to them. They grabbed their backpacks and closed the door to the doggy daycare behind them.

  Just then Aunt Jenn came hurrying down the hall.

  “Ah, good. You’re still here! Can’t chat long. I still have two more dogs to groom.” She pulled out her ponytail and made a new one. “But I wanted to tell you that I’ve set up an interview with someone keen to adopt one of our puppies. Would you girls be able to come and sit in on it? It’s tomorrow after school.”

  Kat’s heart sank, but she knew it was a good thing. The puppies needed their own homes as soon as possible.

  “Sure thing,” said Kat firmly. “I can come.”

  “Not me,” Maya said. She made a face. “I have my piano lesson tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be here.” Grace nodded enthusiastically. “I can help.”

  “Thank you,” said Aunt Jenn. She flashed them a smile. “See you tomorrow, then. And now, I’m off!”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  School was over for the day. Kat stood in the school entranceway waiting for Grace. Kat was looking at one of the posters they had put up the previous morning. What’s going to happen after school today? Kat wondered. Three puppies but only one interview.