by Cynthia Lord
My heart dropped. I couldn’t believe it. I’d found a great person to adopt Merlin, but she didn’t want him. I looked down at the quiz in my hands. “Do you know anyone looking for a ferret? We really want to find him a good home.”
“I do know some other ferret owners. I’ll tell them about Merlin. They’ll help spread the word.” The lady reached down to pat Merlin again. He put his nose in the sleeve of her coat.
Then all I saw was his tail!
“Oh! My goodness!” she said, laughing.
Then even his tail disappeared. A big lump was moving up inside the lady’s coat sleeve. Mom helped her unbutton her coat and, suddenly, there was Merlin! Right at the woman’s shoulder, peeking out from inside her sleeve.
“You’re a little rascal, too!” the lady said.
“Merlin is always appearing and disappearing,” I told her.
She held him gently and placed him back in his pen. “He’s a great ferret. He’ll make someone very happy. I’ll do what I can to help you.”
Merlin and I both watched the lady until she was gone. I tried to interest him in the toys I’d picked for him, but he didn’t want to play. He just lay down and watched the people walk by.
“He’s tired,” Mom said. “It must be confusing for him to be here with all this activity.”
All afternoon, people came by to see Merlin. They loved to watch him and play with him, but not one person got past the “behavior” part of the quiz before deciding they wanted a cat or a dog. But cats and dogs are work, too! I wanted to tell them.
At three o’clock, Ms. Flores folded the tablecloth and packed up the leftover brochures. Jada and Allie cleared away the catnip, cardboard tubes, spoons, socks, and markers. Levi and Matt took down the balloons and stacked the signs.
I stayed with Merlin until Ms. Flores put him in a pet carrier to take him to the van. Many animals had found homes today, but Merlin was going back to the shelter.
“Shelter Pet Squad, gather around!” Ms. Kim said. “I have an idea for our meeting next week. Let’s make something fun for Merlin to cheer him up. Suzannah, since you read about ferret toys, would you like to choose our project?”
“But what if Merlin gets adopted before next week?” Allie asked.
“I hope that happens!” Ms. Kim said. “If it does, we can always give the toys to Merlin’s new owner. What do you think, Suzannah? Do you want to be in charge of our meeting next week?”
I grinned. “Yes!”
Ms. Kim said the Make-A-Match-A-Thon was a big success. Twenty-two animals from our shelter were adopted, including Marmalade, Peter, Texas, and Coco. Even the little hamster, Gizmo, found a new home with a girl and her dad.
We had lots of photos for the shelter website of people holding our signs and their new pets.
Many people chose IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.
But no one chose Merlin.
For the next few days, I thought hard about what fun toy to make for Merlin at Shelter Pet Squad. The shelter already had some toys.
There were lots of balls.
Merlin had plenty of small stuffed animals.
He had little squeaky toys.
I read through my notes, looking for ideas: Ferrets like lots of toys to play with. They like balls, tubes and tunnels, little animals (stuffed, not real), and blanket piles to climb in. Ferrets love to dig! So watch out for your plants! Ferrets like tub toys, too! Ferrets enjoy boxes. They also love bags, rattles, and chasing things — or other ferrets.
A bin of dirt to dig in would be too messy.
I couldn’t think of any bath toys to make.
Ferrets enjoy boxes. I thought about that photo I’d seen of a ferret peeking out of a box. Maybe we could make some cardboard-box houses for Merlin? We could cut doors and windows for him to climb in and out. Maybe there could be a paper-towel-tube chimney at the top! Then he’d have both a box and a tunnel — two things that ferrets like!
If we each made him a house, then Ms. Flores and Ms. Kim could put out a different one every day. That way, he wouldn’t get bored with the same one all the time. And if he chewed on them, it wouldn’t matter, because they were just boxes.
“I need five medium-size boxes,” I said to Mom and Dad that night at supper. “One for each kid in Shelter Pet Squad.”
“I think I can bring some home from work,” Dad said. “About how big do you need?”
“Ferret size!” I said, holding my hands up to show him.
On Saturday, I was so excited to show the kids my idea that I hurried through the shelter parking lot with two boxes stacked in my arms. I could barely see over them! Mom helped by carrying the rest of the boxes and a bunch of paper-towel tubes.
“Watch out, Suzannah,” she said. “There’s something on the doorstep.”
On the front step of the shelter was a little plastic bag of water knotted at the top. Inside was —
“A goldfish!” I put the boxes beside the door so I could pick up the plastic bag. The orange fish wiggled, opening and closing her mouth against the side of the bag. I looked around, but there wasn’t anyone else in the parking lot. There wasn’t a note, either. Just a fish.
I left my boxes behind and burst through the front door, holding the bag with the fish inside. “Ms. Flores! Someone left a goldfish on the front steps!”
“What? Oh, dear!” she said, coming around the front counter. “Poor little thing.”
“There wasn’t even a note!” I said. “We don’t know who left her. Or why. Or how old she is. We don’t even know her name. How could anyone do that?”
“Whoever left her should have come in or left us some information.” Ms. Flores took the bag from me. “But I’m glad they brought her to us and didn’t let her go in a pond or stream. Sometimes people release pets into the wild when they don’t want them anymore.”
“They just let them go?” I asked. “But what if the pet doesn’t know how to get food? Won’t it die?”
Ms. Flores nodded. “Most times it does die. But even if the pet does learn how to get food, it may eat up the food that the native animals need to survive. Goldfish have become problems in some lakes and rivers.”
I looked at the fish swimming in a circle. “But why would someone get a goldfish if they didn’t want to take care of it?”
“Sometimes people give fish away as prizes at birthday parties,” Ms. Flores said. “Maybe that’s what happened. Maybe this fish was a party favor or a prize, but the person who won wasn’t ready to give a fish what it needs.”
“Just like Merlin’s owner wasn’t ready to give him everything a ferret needs,” I said. “Did he get adopted this week?”
Ms. Flores shook her head. “So he’ll be excited to see what you’re making for him.”
Hattie, one of the waiting-room cats, hopped up on the counter. She had an interested look on her face.
“Oh no you don’t, Hattie! This is not a toy for you.” Ms. Flores tucked the bag with the fish safely on the bookshelf between some books. “We have a fish tank with a cover in the back room. It’ll take me some time to clean it and set it up, though. So we’ll put our newest shelter pet right here where the cats can’t reach.”
From the bookshelf, the goldfish waved her little front fins. She stared at me with her black eyes. Was she scared, wondering why she was alone? She felt like my fish, since I found her.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry,” I told her. “You’re in a good place now. We’ll take care of you.”
It took a few trips to get all the boxes to the workroom. As soon as I opened the door, Ms. Kim said, “Oh, my goodness! Is that you under those boxes, Suzannah? Let me help you with those.”
In his pen beside the table, Merlin stood on his back legs to see what was going on. “I knew Merlin would like to join us today,” Ms. Kim said. “But we wouldn’t get any work done if he was loose. So I brought his pen in here so he can play or nap next to us while we work.”
“We’re making a surprise for him,” I said. “
But first, I have another surprise. Someone left a goldfish in a plastic bag on the shelter steps! My mom and I found him.”
“Wow!” Matt said. “Good thing you didn’t step on her.”
“She wasn’t there when we came!” Allie said, sounding disappointed that she didn’t get to find her. “Jada and I would’ve seen her.”
“And there wasn’t a note!” I said. “We don’t even know her name.”
“Well,” Ms. Kim said. “That is a surprise. After we finish our project for Merlin, we’ll go meet her.”
I nodded. “Ms. Flores is setting up a tank.”
“Suzannah, tell us what we’re making,” Jada said. “I can’t wait anymore!”
“When I read about ferrets, I learned that they like to climb in and out of boxes and tunnels,” I said proudly, putting the boxes on the table. “So I thought we could make Merlin a whole town of houses. We can cut out windows and doors for him to climb in and out and peep through. And if you want to, I brought some paper-towel tubes to make tunnels and chimneys.”
“This will be so fun!” Matt said.
“What a good idea, Suzannah!” Levi said.
I could feel my face glowing. I might be the youngest, but they liked my project!
“I want this box,” said Allie, choosing the biggest one.
Ms. Kim brought out scissors and markers. “Be sure you pull off any tape or labels and check your box for staples or sharp parts. We don’t want anything that could hurt him.”
“My box will be a school,” said Allie. “So Merlin can learn tricks.”
“I’m making him a fort,” Jada said. “So he can spy on the cats.”
“My box is going to be a store,” Levi said. “Full of things Merlin likes.”
“I’m making him a pizza restaurant with a drive-through window,” Matt said. “Except Merlin doesn’t drive, so it’ll be a run-through window. My restaurant is called Merlin’s Munchies!”
I smiled. “And I’m making him a castle. So he can be like the Merlin in King Arthur.”
As we cut doors and windows into our boxes, Ms. Kim told us that she’d called all the nearby animal shelters to tell them about Merlin. “Just in case someone comes in hoping to adopt a ferret,” she said.
My castle was looking good, but I wanted towers on top. If I cut some slits in the top, I could push paper-towel tubes up through them. It would be really cute to see Merlin’s head popping up in a tower. “Last week at the Make-A-Match-A-Thon, I met a lady who had a ferret that died,” I said. “She promised she would tell her friends about Merlin.” I grabbed a few tubes to make towers, but one rolled across the table. It dropped off the edge into Merlin’s pen. He snatched it happily.
It was another toy for him! Using a big pair of scissors, I made two slits like an X in the top of my box for each tower. I fitted the first tower. It looked great! But suddenly, there was a terrible sound from Merlin’s pen. He had the paper-towel tube stuck on his head.
He looked so funny that I couldn’t help giggling. But Ms. Kim jumped up so fast, her chair tipped over.
“He’s choking!” she cried.
Merlin was choking. My eyes burned as I tried not to cry. It was all my fault. Ms. Kim grabbed Merlin out of the pen and ripped the paper towel tube away from his head.
Ms. Kim cradled him in her arms.
Was he breathing? Please be okay, I wished. Please be okay.
Then his tail twitched.
“He’s fine,” Ms. Kim said as Merlin grabbed her hand in his paws. “But this tube is too small for him. He might’ve really gotten hurt if we hadn’t been here to help him.”
I looked down at the table. “It said in the book that ferrets like tunnels, and I saw a photo of a ferret playing with tubes. I thought it would be fun for him. I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
“The author of the book should’ve mentioned that some tubes were too small!” said Allie. “Merlin could’ve died!”
“Maybe we should write to the book’s publisher and warn them,” Jada said.
“Let’s see the picture,” Ms. Kim said. She got the ferret book.
I opened it to chapter 6. When I found the photo, my eyes widened. The tube in the picture was a lot bigger than the ones I’d brought.
Allie pointed to the small words near the picture. “It says right here to make sure the ferret can climb all the way through the tube or he could suffocate.”
I opened my mouth, but tears were clogging the back of my throat.
“Didn’t you read it?” Matt asked.
“I couldn’t read it!” I was crying now. “It was too hard.” I looked down at the tabletop, not wanting to see anyone.
“You could’ve asked us for help,” I heard Levi say. “I would’ve read it to you.”
“Me, too,” Matt said.
“We do so much to help the animals,” Ms. Kim said, putting her arm around me. “But sometimes people need help. It’s always okay to ask, Suzannah.”
I glanced up at the pile of paper-towel tubes in the middle of the table. They made my stomach hurt. I had been so excited for us to make the houses, but I’d almost hurt Merlin. “Ms. Kim?” I asked quietly. “Could we read the toy chapter in the ferret book together? I need to make sure everything I said for the quiz is right.”
“Of course,” she said.
While Ms. Kim and I read the pages together, Jada and Allie removed the paper-towel tubes from all the boxes. Levi collected the extras and put them away in the cupboard where Merlin couldn’t get them. Then the other kids decorated their boxes, drawing mailboxes and flower gardens and other fun things.
When we were all finished, Matt said, “Let’s put our ferret boxes along the wall. It’ll be Merlin’s Main Street!”
“I can’t wait to see which one he goes to first!” Allie said.
I still felt horrible. Even when you’re trying really hard and don’t mean to hurt an animal, you can.
Ms. Kim opened the pen door, and Merlin didn’t waste any time. He ran across the room, right for the boxes. He headed toward Matt’s pizza restaurant, but then he swerved and ran through the front door of my castle. When he peeked out the window, it looked like he was smiling.
I knelt down beside him. “I’m sorry, Merlin.”
But he didn’t look mad or upset with me. He made a funny sound. A small smile lifted the corners of my mouth. He was dooking!
Merlin loved his houses. Sometimes he went in and out of the doors. Other times he climbed through the windows. Once, he even leapt into the pizza restaurant using the drive-through window. I loved seeing the boxes wiggle and jiggle while he was inside. Then he’d pop out somewhere and surprise us.
“Merlin is appearing and disappearing again,” Matt said.
A knock sounded on the workroom door. Ms. Flores came in, smiling. “Good news! There’s a lady in the waiting room who wants to adopt Merlin!”
I jumped up and grabbed the quiz off the table.
Ms. Kim tried to pull Merlin out of my castle, but he didn’t want to leave it! Finally, she picked up the whole castle with Merlin inside. She put her hand over the doorway. “Suzannah, would you walk beside me and stop him if he tries to get through the windows? I don’t want him to fall.”
I walked beside Ms. Kim, one hand covering a window, my other hand holding the quiz. But Merlin never peeked out. I felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy that Merlin might get a home today, but sad because I’d miss him.
I spread my fingers to peek through the castle window and make sure he was okay. Merlin was curled up in a far corner inside. I watched his little chest go up and down. “He’s napping,” I said.
“He’s probably dreaming of shiny things,” Jada said. “A whole desk drawer full!”
But I thought he was probably dreaming of a new home and someone to love him.
In the waiting room, I noticed the new fish tank on top of the bookcase. Inside, the little goldfish swam back and forth. She looked shimmery as the light shone on her scales.
Her tail swished, making her look like she was dancing in the water.
Then I looked at the counter and gasped! Standing next to Ms. Flores was the lady I had met at the Make-A-Match-A-Thon. “This is Mrs. Avery,” Ms. Flores said, introducing her.
“Hi again!” I said, grinning.
She smiled back at me. “I know I said I wasn’t ready for another ferret, but after meeting Merlin, I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. I understand he’s still available to be adopted?”
I nodded. “He’s asleep in his castle right now. But you can look through the window if you want.”
Mrs. Avery came and peered through the castle window. “Such a beautiful boy,” she said.
“Our Shelter Pet Squad has created a quiz to make sure Merlin gets a good match,” Ms. Kim said. “If you’d like to adopt him, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
Mrs. Avery shook her head. “I don’t mind at all.”
Ms. Kim read the first question on the ferret quiz. “Have you had a pet ferret before?”
“Yes,” said Mrs. Avery. “My ferret, Mitzi, died only a few months ago. I miss her terribly. My house isn’t the same without her.”
It was Jada’s turn next. “What are some good foods and drinks for ferrets?” she asked.
“I always fed Mitzi ferret food that our veterinarian recommended. For drinks, I gave her fresh water every day.”
“Is it okay to feed Merlin chocolate?” Jada asked.
Mrs. Avery shook her head. “That would hurt him. For treats, Mitzi loved eggs. Sometimes I’d cut up bits of meat or fish for her, too.”
Jada smiled, handing the questions to Levi. “Will you get mad if Merlin nips you?” he asked.
“No. I’ll try to teach him not to,” said Mrs. Avery, “but that’s how ferrets play.”
“Do you have houseplants?” he asked. “Because they like to dig.”
“I don’t have any big plants inside. But I still have Mitzi’s harness and leash,” Mrs. Avery said. “She liked to go outside and dig in the garden. Sometimes I took her for walks around the yard. Has Merlin ever been outside?”