by Ronald Roy
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2014 by Ron Roy
Cover art, map, and interior illustrations copyright © 2014 by John Steven Gurney
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House LLC.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roy, Ron.
December dog / by Ron Roy; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.
p. cm. — (Calendar mysteries)
“A Stepping Stone book.”
Summary: After finding an unusual present—a lost puppy—on Christmas Eve, best friends Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy scramble to find its owner before morning.
ISBN 978-0-385-37168-1 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-385-37169-8 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-385-37170-4 (ebook)
[1. Mystery and detective stories. 2. Dogs—Fiction. 3. Animals—Infancy—Fiction.
4. Christmas—Fiction. 5. Gifts—Fiction.] I. Gurney, John Steven, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.R8139Df 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2013037310
This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
This is dedicated to kids who read to other kids.
–R.R.
To Kayla and Todd, from Mr. Johnny
–J.S.G.
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
1. It’s a Puppy!
2. Where Is Mrs. Wong?
3. The Nephew
4. Where Is Officer Fallon?
5. Brian Hears a Splash
6. Secret in the Closet
7. Clues in the Snow
8. Dog-Napper
9. Nate Knows Something
10. Ellie’s Surprise
“Let’s go see the puppies,” Nate said.
“And the Christmas decorations,” Lucy added.
It was the afternoon before Christmas. Nate, Lucy, Bradley, and his twin, Brian, were in the twins’ yard playing with their basset hound, Pal.
“I can’t believe tomorrow morning is Christmas!” Brian said.
Pal barked at Brian.
“Do you think dogs know it’s Christmas?” Nate asked.
“He just wants to go for a walk,” Brian said.
“Come on, Pal. Want to go see some puppies?” Bradley asked. He snapped Pal’s leash on, and the kids started walking toward Main Street in Green Lawn.
The four kids were best friends. Nate’s older sister, Ruth Rose, was friends with Lucy’s cousin Dink. Bradley and Brian’s older brother, Josh, was also pals with Dink and Ruth Rose.
The sun was behind some dark clouds. Snowflakes were falling, beginning to cover last week’s snow.
“Yippee, we can have a Christmas snowball fight later!” Brian said. He stuck out his tongue and caught a snowflake.
Main Street was busy. It was Christmas Eve, and some people were still shopping. The parking lot behind the supermarket was crowded. Light poles were decorated with shiny red balls. Christmas carols played from speakers. A plastic Santa sat on top of Ellie’s Diner.
“Maybe Mrs. Wong will let us hold the puppies,” Nate said.
Mrs. Wong owned Furry Feet, the pet store on Main Street. The kids knew she had puppies up for adoption.
But when they got to Furry Feet, the store window was dark.
The sign was turned off.
“Furry Feet is closed,” Lucy said.
The kids put their faces against the cold glass. Pal stood on his hind legs and sniffed the window.
A wooden box stood behind the glass. A few dog toys were scattered around in the box. Food and water bowls sat empty. A big sign on the box said: THE PUPPIES HAVE GONE TO GOOD HOMES. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Inside the shop were cages of mice, rats, ferrets, and parakeets, and tanks of fish. No puppies.
“Mrs. Wong has found homes for all of them,” Nate said.
Bradley thought Nate looked sad. “Maybe you’ll get one for Christmas,” he said, smiling. He knew that Nate really wanted a puppy.
“No way,” Nate said. “Tiger is the only pet my parents will let us have. It’s so not fair.”
The other three kids knew all about Tiger, Ruth Rose’s cat. She was big and sassy and had long, sharp claws.
“I bought Ruth Rose one of those little mechanical mice,” Nate went on. “It has a remote so she can make it go all over the house. Tiger will go crazy chasing it!”
“Cool,” Bradley said. “Maybe your sister will give you a mechanical dog,” he joked.
Nate shook his head. “Probably more socks,” he said. “Every year it’s socks or mittens.”
Just then, Pal barked. He tugged on his leash and pulled Bradley toward the shop door.
“It’s closed, Pal,” Bradley said. “Mrs. Wong isn’t here.”
Pal barked at a pile of snow outside the door. He climbed over the snow.
Bradley heard a small whimper. He saw two shiny black eyes and a skinny tail wagging back and forth.
“Look at what Pal found!” Bradley cried.
The other kids looked over Bradley’s shoulder.
“What is it?” Lucy asked.
“Woof!” the thing in the snow said.
“Jumping jackrabbits!” Nate said. “It’s a puppy!”
“Oh my gosh!” Bradley said. He picked up the puppy. It shivered in his arms. “How did you get here?”
The puppy was golden brown all over except for its feet. They were white, as if the puppy were wearing four little socks.
Brian, Nate, and Lucy petted the puppy’s head. It licked their fingers.
The puppy had a red ribbon tied around its neck. “Look, there’s a tag on it!” Lucy said.
She got closer and tried to read what was written on the tag. “It just says TO and FROM,” she said. “The rest is missing.”
“Somebody ripped it in half,” Brian said.
“Maybe the puppy chewed off the bottom half,” Nate suggested.
The puppy was trembling in Bradley’s arms. “It’s shivering,” Bradley said. “Let’s take it to my house.” He stuck the puppy inside his jacket and zipped it up.
Nate took another look through the window. “I wonder who feeds the animals when Mrs. Wong is on vacation,” he said.
“Good question,” Lucy said. She rubbed some snow from a corner of the window. A note had been taped to the inside of the glass.
The note said: AWAY UNTIL JAN. 1. FOR EMERGENCIES, CALL 860-555-0505. —MARY WONG
“We should call her,” Bradley said. “If someone bought this puppy from Furry Feet, she can tell us who it is!”
“Come on. We can use Ellie’s phone,” Brian suggested.
“We should write the number down,” Nate said.
“No problem,” Brian said. He tapped the side of his head. “I have it locked inside my incredible memory.”
Brian took Pal’s leash from his brother, and they all trooped over to Ellie’s Diner.
“Hey, kids,” Ellie said when she saw them. “What are you doing out a
nd about on Christmas Eve?”
“Look what we found in front of Furry Feet!” Bradley said. He unzipped his jacket, and the puppy’s head popped out. “It was just curled up there, outside the door.”
“For goodness’ sake!” Ellie exclaimed. She took the puppy and hugged it against her chest. “Are you hungry, sweetie?”
“Yes,” Nate said.
Everyone laughed.
“I meant the puppy,” Ellie said. She read the tag. “Gracious, this little guy is supposed to be a Christmas present!”
“That’s what we think, too,” Lucy said.
Ellie set the puppy on the floor and put a little chopped meat in a dish. The puppy gobbled it up in three seconds.
“I’ll give it some of Pal’s food when we get home,” Bradley said. “But can we borrow a quarter to use your pay phone? Mrs. Wong left a phone number for emergencies. We want to ask her if she knows who adopted the puppy.”
“Do you think it was one of the puppies from her store?” Ellie asked.
“We don’t know,” Brian said. “But that’s where it was.”
Ellie handed Brian a quarter, and he stepped inside the phone booth. He plunked the quarter into the coin slot and dialed the number he had memorized.
The other kids waited outside the booth, watching Brian talk. He hung up and stepped outside the booth. “It’s Mrs. Wong’s nephew, Leonard,” he said. “He’s watching the store while she’s on vacation. He’s coming over.”
Ellie poured four mugs of hot chocolate and set them on a table. “Put something warm inside your tummies while you’re waiting,” she said.
The kids thanked Ellie and sat down. They sipped the chocolate and warmed their hands on the mugs.
“I wonder who’s supposed to get the puppy for Christmas,” Lucy said.
“Some kid, probably,” Nate said. He looked at the clock over Ellie’s counter. “And Christmas starts in about eleven hours.”
“Maybe it isn’t a kid,” Brian said. “Maybe some grandmother isn’t getting a puppy for Christmas.”
“So then it’s even sadder,” Lucy said. “If this puppy is a Christmas present, we have to find out before tomorrow morning!”
A tall teenager wearing jeans, a ski jacket, and a baseball cap walked into Ellie’s Diner. He came over to their table.
“Is one of you Brian?” the kid asked.
“I am,” Brian said. “Are you Leonard Wong?”
“Yup.” The kid sat down and pulled off his cap. It was wet with snowflakes.
Leonard looked down at the puppy and Pal, both lying on the floor. “You found this pup outside Aunt Mary’s shop?” he asked. He scooped up the puppy and held it in the air. “Cute little guy. It’s a boy, by the way.”
“He was in a snowbank outside your aunt’s store,” Brian said. “Our dog found him. We were wondering if your aunt gave him to someone. He has a tag, but it just says TO and FROM, with no names.”
Leonard examined the tag. “Aunt Mary has a picture of the puppies she had,” he said. “This guy looks exactly like one of them.”
“Awesome!” Bradley said. “So if your aunt had this dog, she must remember who adopted it!”
“And that person might have written the tag!” Nate said.
Leonard pulled a cell phone from his pocket. He pushed a couple of buttons. “Here, ask her,” he said. “She’s in Florida, scuba diving.” He handed the phone to Bradley.
Bradley heard the other phone ringing. Then the ringing stopped. He heard a crackling noise. Bradley could hear static but no voices. He said, “Mrs. Wong? This is Bradley Pinto. Can you hear me?”
He heard more strange noises, and then the phone went silent.
Bradley handed the cell phone back to Leonard. “I couldn’t hear anything,” he said. “I don’t even know if she heard me.”
Leonard smiled. “Knowing Aunt Mary, she’s underwater,” he said. “She’s probably taking pictures of fish. Try her again later.” Leonard wrote his aunt’s cell phone number on a napkin and handed it to Brian.
“So what should we do with the puppy?” Brian asked.
“Don’t know, bro,” Leonard said, rising from his seat. “But I have to go feed the animals in my aunt’s store.” He made a face. “And clean all the cages.”
Leonard loped out of the diner.
“Let’s take the puppy home,” Bradley said.
“Wait!” Ellie said. She came over and handed Lucy a bag. The top was tied with a red ribbon. “Merry Christmas!”
The kids thanked Ellie again and headed outside. They stood in front of her diner windows. The snow had almost stopped. Just a few flakes fell from the dark clouds. The kids saw their footprints, and Pal’s, in the new snow on the sidewalk.
Pal kept staring at the lump under Bradley’s jacket and the bag in Lucy’s hands.
People hurried past, carrying bags. Everyone had pink noses. Christmas was in the air!
“What do you think Ellie gave us?” Nate asked.
“Whatever it is, Pal smells it right through the bag,” Lucy said.
“Hounds can smell anything a mile away!” Brian said.
“Hey, that gives me an idea,” Bradley said. He walked next door to Furry Feet. “Bring Pal over here, Brian.”
Bradley aimed Pal’s nose toward the spot where the puppy had been lying. Then he opened his jacket so Pal could sniff the puppy’s golden fur.
Pal sniffed, then gave the puppy a lick.
“Pal, follow tracks!” Bradley said. “Follow!”
“What are you doing?” Brian asked.
“The puppy must have walked here,” Bradley said, zipping his jacket. “Maybe Pal can follow his scent back to wherever he came from!”
“Cool idea!” Nate said.
Pal stuck his nose in the snow and sniffed. Then he pulled Brian back toward Ellie’s.
There was an alley between Ellie’s Diner and Furry Feet. Pal headed down the alley. The kids followed. At the end of the alley, they passed the Acorn Apartments. Pal kept going, now and then letting out a little bark. He kept his nose on the ground.
Pal stopped near a blue house on Woodcock Cross. He sat and barked at the house.
“Who lives here?” Lucy asked.
“I think it’s Officer Fallon’s house!” Nate said.
“Does he have a puppy?” Brian asked.
“I don’t know,” Bradley said, “but if he does, why was the puppy all the way over on Main Street?”
No one had an answer. The kids let Pal drag them closer to the blue house. The yard and driveway were covered in snow. There were tire tracks leading from the garage. The garage door was open, but there was no car inside.
Brian let Pal off his leash. Pal ran around and sniffed the snow near the house and driveway. Then he stopped, looked at the kids, and started barking again.
Brian knelt down. “Guys,” he said, “Pal found tiny dog tracks in the snow!”
The other kids took a look. Bradley set the puppy on the ground next to the tracks Pal had discovered. He pressed the puppy’s feet into the snow, making four new little prints.
The two sets of prints were exactly the same.
“The puppy did come from here!” Lucy said.
The kids walked up onto the front porch, and Lucy rang the bell. They heard it chime inside the house. Nobody answered the door.
Bradley looked through a window. “All I see is a Christmas tree,” he said. “And the lights are on.”
“It’s Christmas Eve,” Brian said. “Officer Fallon might be Christmas shopping.”
“If this is his puppy,” Bradley said, “maybe Officer Fallon went out looking for him.”
Lucy glanced at the other houses along the street. “The puppy could have come from one of those houses,” she said. “Just because Pal found the tracks in front of this house doesn’t mean the puppy lives here.”
“Right,” Bradley said. “Maybe he just ran across Officer Fallon’s driveway on his way to Main Street.”
&nbs
p; “We should take him home,” Brian said. “He must be hungry.”
“Wait a minute. I just thought of something,” Nate said. “Jimmy Fallon lives over on Pheasant Lane. That’s near here.”
“Who’s Jimmy Fallon?” Lucy asked.
“Officer Fallon’s grandson,” Nate said. “If Officer Fallon adopted this puppy from Furry Feet, Jimmy would know it.”
“Great idea, Nate! Let’s go ask him!” Bradley said.
Nate led the kids and Pal farther down the street. They crossed a dirt road without a name, and turned right onto Pheasant Lane.
“It’s the green house,” Nate said. “We played soccer over here last summer.”
“Let’s see if they’re home,” Brian said.
“But what if the puppy was meant to be a Christmas present to Jimmy from his grandfather?” Bradley asked. “We’ll be spoiling the surprise.”
“Or maybe Jimmy is giving his grandfather a puppy for Christmas,” Nate said. “Only the puppy ran away!”
“Let’s find out,” Bradley said. He rang the doorbell.
A tall woman wearing a red sweater answered the door.
“Hi, Mrs. Fallon. Is Jimmy home?” Nate asked.
She smiled. “No, I’m afraid not,” she said. “He’s gone off with his grandfather. Some secret mission!”
She looked at the puppy, whose head was sticking out of Bradley’s jacket. “Oh, how cute,” she said. “Is it yours?”
Bradley shook his head. “No, ma’am,” he said. “We were wondering if it was Jimmy’s. Or Officer Fallon’s.”
Jimmy Fallon’s mom smiled again. “Nope, no puppies live here. And I know Jimmy’s grandfather doesn’t have one, either.”
“Do you think Jimmy was giving the puppy to his grandfather for Christmas?” Lucy asked.
“Goodness, no,” Mrs. Fallon said. “I helped pick out Jimmy’s gifts for his grandfather. He’s getting a new pocketknife and a wool scarf.” She petted the puppy’s head. “Do you mean this little tyke is lost?”
The kids all nodded. “We found him on the sidewalk near Furry Feet,” Brian said. “We’re pretty sure Mrs. Wong gave him to someone. And Pal traced him back to Officer Fallon’s house. We saw his tracks in the snow by the driveway!”