“Pweeese can’t I keeeeep eeeet? Pweeese? Pweeese? Pweeese?” begged Kenobi. He gave Obi his cutest sad-eyed puppy dog look.
“Don’t give me that look!” cried Obi, feeling a tug in her heart. “Stop it, Kenobi!”
But the puppy didn’t stop it. In fact, he did his darnedest to look even cuter. He dropped his ears and made his eyes look bigger, moister, more irresistibly cute.
“Stop it, Kenobi! Stop it this instant!” cried the gerbil. She placed her front paws over her eyes so she wouldn’t be tempted to look into the puppy’s face.
“Ohhh, aaawww wiiiight! I’ll wwwivet wwaack!”
Looking very dejected, Kenobi dropped the rubber ball at Obi’s feet. Obi picked up the ball in her two front paws. Having been in Kenobi’s mouth, the ball was all wet and slimy.
The two animals headed in the direction of the house where the German shepherd had been barking. Kenobi was so eager to go home and see Rachel again, he kept speeding ahead of Obi and then racing back.
“C’mon, Obi!” he barked impatiently. “Hurry up! Hurry up! You’re taking forever!”
“That’s because I’m carrying this rubber ball,” replied Obi. “Plus, don’t forget, I’m a little gerbil. You have bigger legs than me. Tell you what we can do, though. You can carry me.”
And so that was what they did. Kenobi dropped to the ground and Obi climbed up onto his back. She took a position at the back of Kenobi’s furry neck. Holding the rubber ball under one front paw, Obi grabbed hold of Kenobi’s collar with the other.
“Ready when you are!” cried Obi.
With a lurch that almost sent Obi toppling, the puppy sprang to his feet and off they went. Taking huge, leaping bounds, Kenobi dashed through the woods. It was all Obi could do to hold onto his collar and the rubber ball at the same time. Before long they arrived at the edge of the woods, behind the brown house where the really mean German shepherd lived.
Obi glanced about for him. He was nowhere in sight.
“We’re in luck!” said Obi. “The really mean dog who lives here must be in his house.”
“He’s scared of the woods, you know,” said Kenobi.
“How do you know that?” asked Obi.
“He never comes into them. Whenever he heard me in the woods, he always stopped right before he got to them.”
Now that Kenobi mentioned it, Obi realized that this was exactly what had happened when the German shepherd chased after her, too.
“That is odd,” said Obi. “But no time to think about that now. We’ve got places to go, people to see. Well, a place to go and a girl to see. I’m going to throw the rubber ball into the backyard, and then you and I will continue on our way home.”
Clutching the rubber ball in both front paws, Obi climbed up onto the puppy’s head. She stood and lifted the ball above her head. Leaning back, Obi gave the ball a good heave into the backyard. The ball flew through the air and landed, bouncing, onto the grass.
Then Kenobi did a very unexpected thing. He leaped forward and bounded into the backyard. Apparently, he thought Obi had thrown the rubber ball for him to chase after!
“Hey!” cried Obi as she lost her balance, fell backward, and began rolling down the back of Kenobi’s furry neck.
Chapter Twenty-three A Big Favor
Just as she was about to go tumbling down the puppy’s back, Obi was able to grab Kenobi’s leather dog collar. Clutching it tightly with both front paws, Obi held on to the dog collar for dear life.
“Kenobi! What are you doing!?” Obi screamed. “You’re not supposed to chase after the ball!”
“I can’t help it!” replied Kenobi. “If you throw a ball, I have to fetch it!”
Kenobi raced across the lawn to the ball and snatched it up in his mouth. Suddenly the puppy came to an abrupt stop. Obi felt Kenobi’s whole body stiffen. She heard the rubber ball bounce on the lawn, as it dropped out of Kenobi’s mouth. Then she heard a growl, a low, vicious, menacing growl.
Obi quickly scrambled up to the top of the puppy’s head. She froze. The German shepherd was standing, snarling, in an attack stance in front of Kenobi. He had a fiery, furious look in his eyes.
“Well, well, well!” he said, fixing his glowering eyes upon Obi. “Look who’s back! And you told me you weren’t a doggy-toy stealer!”
“But I’m not!” protested Obi. “We’re here to return your favorite rubber ball!”
“Oh, is that what you’re doing?” replied the German shepherd. He sounded very skeptical. “But hold on a minute! If you’re returning it, that means you must’ve stolen it!”
“Actually, I prefer to use the word ‘borrow,’” said Obi, thinking quickly.
The dog’s eyes narrowed at Obi, and he began to growl. Quickly, Obi added, “But if you want to use the word ‘stolen,’ that’s fine with me! Anyway, Kenobi is very sorry that he took your doggy toy without asking. Aren’t you, Kenobi?”
The puppy was so terrified, he couldn’t speak. All he could do was tremble and whimper.
Obi tried to think of what she could possibly do to mollify the German shepherd. She pointed down at Kenobi and said, “He didn’t know it was your ball.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” said the German shepherd, “but the sign clearly states: ‘Beware of Dog! No Stealing Any of His Doggy Toys!’”
“What sign?” asked Obi, puzzled, glancing about the lawn.
“That sign!” said the German shepherd. He gestured to a spot behind Obi.
Obi turned to look. Indeed, there was a small sign. Somehow, she had missed it. Which really wasn’t surprising, since she had been so focused on keeping an eye on the German shepherd. The sign was on a short metal stake stuck into the lawn, near where the German shepherd’s back lawn ended and the next door neighbors’ back lawn began.
“And if you happen to miss that sign, there are others posted around the edge of my property,” said the German shepherd. “And the warning is on both sides of each sign!”
Obi read the words that were on the sign, but they weren’t the words that the German shepherd had said. They weren’t even close!
“That’s not what that sign says!” said Obi.
“Like you would know!” scoffed the German shepherd.
“As a matter of fact, I would!” replied Obi, insulted. “I can read, you know! The sign says ‘Invisible Fence’!”
The dog’s face fell. He stared at Obi. He looked incredulous. “Are you sure about that?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m sure!”
“Oh, man!” cried the German shepherd. All at once, he let down his guard. He slumped, and no longer looked so fierce. “That explains everything!”
“It does?” said Obi, surprised.
“Yeah, it does!” groaned the German shepherd. “My owners put up a fence that nobody can see, not even me! This invisible fence stops me from leaving the property—but only me! All other creatures can come and go as they please, but not me! No! I’m stuck here! I can’t leave the property! That’s why when I hear strange noises in the woods, I can’t go check out who’s making them. As soon as I get to the invisible fence, I have to stop! All I can do is bark!”
“Oh! Well, that explains that!” said Obi. It also explained why, the night before, the German shepherd had not chased her into the woods.
“I can’t believe my owners would do such a thing!” grumbled the German shepherd.
“Well, sorry I had to be the one to break the news to you,” said Obi.
The dog peered at Obi. “So you can read, huh?”
“A little,” replied Obi with a modest shrug.
“Since you can read, how would you like to do me a big favor?”
“Like what kind of a big favor?” asked Obi wari ly.
“I need you to read what it says on the bag of dog food that my owners feed me.”
“Why do you want me to do that?”
“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I can trust my owners anymore,” said the German shepherd. “If they p
ut up an invisible fence around the house, who knows what they’re feeding me. So what do you say? Will you read it?”
It occurred to Obi that perhaps she could use this favor to her advantage. “If I read it,” she said, “will you do us a favor? Will you let the two of us go?”
“Yeah, sure, fine, whatever!” replied the German shepherd, with a dismissive wave of his front paw.
From the way the dog had said “Yeah, sure, fine, whatever!” Obi got the distinct impression she could have asked the German shepherd for a much bigger favor.
The German shepherd led the way over to a slate patio where there was a sliding glass door in the rear of the house. The two dogs and Obi—who was still atop Kenobi’s head—gathered in front of the sliding glass door and peered in.
“There, see it?” said the German shepherd, pointing his paw.
Inside Obi spotted a big bag of dog food on the floor.
“Yes, I see the bag,” she reported.
“So? What does it say?”
“It says ‘Real Beef Flavor.’”
“That is such a joke!” cried the German shepherd. “It’s not real beef flavor! That dog food hardly has any flavor at all!”
“Well, that’s what the bag says,” said Obi, shrugging. “Now, if you don’t mind, Kenobi and I need to be on our way.”
“Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention,” said the German shepherd.
“I’m happy I could be of help,” replied Obi.
The German shepherd escorted Obi and Kenobi across the back lawn. Suddenly, something on the grass caught Kenobi’s attention. He stopped and turned, his eyes cast downward. It was the rubber ball. It was still lying on the grass where Kenobi had dropped it. The German shepherd saw Kenobi eyeing his favorite doggy toy and let out a low growl. That did the trick. Kenobi continued across the lawn. In fact, his step quickened.
When they got to the edge of the dog’s property, the German shepherd abruptly stopped. “I’d accompany you farther,” he said, “but as you and I both now know, I can’t.”
“I totally understand,” said Obi, and gave the dog a sympathetic hey-don’t-give-it-another-thought look. Then, just as Obi was about to say goodbye to the German shepherd, Kenobi broke into a furious run. Caught unawares, Obi lost her balance and somersaulted down the back of the puppy’s neck. Once again she managed to grab hold of Kenobi’s collar just as she was about to tumble down Kenobi’s back. She peered ahead to see what had caused the puppy to bolt.
She should have guessed. Kenobi had spotted a gray house in the distance.
It was the Armstrongs’ house, his home.
Her home.
Their home!
Chapter Twenty-four Trapped!
Obi knew the puppy could run fast, but she had no idea just how fast until they were on their way home, with the Armstrongs’ gray house in sight.
Like the puppy, Obi could not wait to see Rachel again. She couldn’t wait to see Rachel’s face when she saw Obi riding on top of the puppy, standing on her hind legs and holding on to Kenobi’s collar, like a gladiator boldly astride a blazing, golden chariot. The girl was bound to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that Obi had found the puppy and brought him home. Rachel would be so happy to see Kenobi, but, Obi hoped, she would be even happier to see the gerbil, her puppy rescuer.
Kenobi dashed into the Armstrongs’ backyard.
He was bounding across the lawn when, over by the shrubs that grew alongside the Armstrongs’ house, Obi heard frantic thrashing sounds.
“Help! Help!” a terrified voice shouted from within the bushes. “Someone, please, help me! I’m not a criminal! Honest, I’m not!”
No, it couldn’t be, thought Obi.
“I don’t want to end up like my Uncle Leroy! Really, I don’t! Help! Someone, please, help me!”
It was him, all right. It was that daffy squirrel!
“Kenobi, wait!” cried Obi.
“I can’t wait!” replied Kenobi. “I want to go see Rachel.”
“I want to see her, too!” said Obi. “But hear all that yelling? Someone needs our help! And I think I know who!”
Kenobi showed no interest in either finding out who it could be or in helping. The puppy continued straight to the Armstrongs’ kitchen screen door. So Obi took matters into her own paws. She grasped Kenobi’s dog collar tightly in her front paws and threw her weight in the direction of the bushes. This caused the puppy to veer in that direction.
Now, if it had been just Obi investigating the situation, she would have approached the scene very cautiously, creeping into the bushes, glancing warily about. But that was not Kenobi’s style. The puppy’s style was to crash through the shrubs.
The squirrel was caught in a rectangular trap that was made of heavy gauge wire, beside the cement foundation of the house. The trap had two metal doors at each end. The doors had closed on the squirrel, so he couldn’t escape. The squirrel looked absolutely terrified. He was freaking out, doing flips and slamming his body against the sides of the cage.
And that was before he saw Kenobi. When the squirrel glimpsed the dog, he screamed, “Oh, no! First a trap! Now a dog! I can’t deal with this!”
Obi scrambled to the top of Kenobi’s head so the squirrel would see her.
“Calm down, Squirrel!” cried Obi. “It’s me, Obi!”
The squirrel stopped and stared up at Obi. “Obi?” he said, surprised.
“Yes, it’s me! You don’t have to worry about this dog. Remember that puppy I said I was looking for? Well, this is him. He’s a good dog. What are you doing in that cage?”
“I was trying to help you!” wailed the squirrel.
“Me?”
“You told me to go get help!”
“I did?”
“When that owl flew off with you, you yelled, “Quick, Squirrel, go get help!’”
Now Obi remembered. She couldn’t imagine who the squirrel would be getting help from. “Who were you getting help from?”
“Mr. Durkins, of course!” replied the squirrel. “You know, your little mouse pal who lives in the Armstrongs’ house.”
“How did you end up in this cage?” Obi asked.
“I was running around the outside of the house, looking for Mr. Durkins, when I came upon this cage. It had a small pile of nuts in it! Well, you know me! I love nuts! So I thought I’d try one. I went into the cage, and then suddenly—bam!—the two doors crashed down, trapping me inside. Look at me, Obi! I’m a criminal, like you, trapped in a cage! I don’t want to be a criminal! I don’t want to end up like my Uncle Leroy! He got caught in a cage just like this, and nobody has seen or heard from him since!”
The squirrel burst into tears.
“It’s okay, Squirrel,” said Obi. She felt bad for the creature—and guilty. If she hadn’t told the squirrel to go get help, he wouldn’t be trapped in this cage. Obi had told the squirrel she looked out for her friends, that she wouldn’t let bad things happen to them. Well, here he was, stuck in a trap, the thing the squirrel feared most. “Don’t you worry, Squirrel!” Obi went on. “We’re going to get you out of there!”
“How?” blubbered the squirrel. “I’ve been trying to get out of this cage since last night. It’s escape-proof!”
“There’s got to be a way,” said Obi. She put a paw on her chin and studied the cage. The squirrel had said that the cage doors had crashed down after he entered the cage. Obi wondered what would happen if she were to pull up on one of the doors.
Obi decided to give it a try. She had Kenobi move closer to the cage. Then she jumped down from the puppy’s head to the top of the cage. She stepped over to one of the doors. Using both front paws, Obi pulled up. The cage door began to lift! Before Obi could lift it any higher, though, Kenobi started sniffing the cage, which caused the squirrel to have another panic attack. He went berserk, slamming his body against the sides of the cage. Obi toppled over, letting go of the cage door. The cage door crashed down.
Obi spr
ang to her feet. “Squirrel!” she cried. “You need to stop bouncing around! I can’t open the door with you bouncing around like that!”
But the squirrel was so distressed, running around the inside of the cage, Obi wasn’t even sure he had heard her. Obi had to get the squirrel to stay still. But how? Then Obi thought of something. Well, actually, someone.
Obi focused her gaze on the puppy and said, “Kenobi, I need you to bring me over to the Armstrongs’ woodpile.”
“Why?” Clearly, this was not something Kenobi wanted to do. All he wanted to do was run to the kitchen screen door and let Rachel know he was back home.
Obi knew the puppy didn’t have the attention span for a long explanation, so she simply replied, “I just do!”
“Oh, all right! But then can we go see Rachel?”
“Yes, absolutely!” replied Obi.
Obi hopped back onto the puppy’s back, and Kenobi raced over to the woodpile that was at the edge of the woods.
“Gertrude!” Obi shouted at the woodpile. “It’s me, Obi! I need your help!”
Obi saw Gertrude’s small, plump figure inside the dark log cave. Using her cane to walk, Gertrude limped out into the open air. “Obi, you’re back!” Her eyes widened at the sight of Kenobi. She pointed her cane at him and said, “Who’s this?”
“This is Kenobi,” replied Obi. “This is the puppy I was looking for.”
“You found him!” exclaimed Gertrude. “Good for you! I told you you would find him!”
“Look, Gertrude, I need your help. Can you come with us for a moment?”
“You want me to ride on top of that dog?” Gertrude did not sound too thrilled about the idea.
“If you don’t mind, yes,” said Obi. “Don’t worry—you’ll be safe. Really.”
Gertrude turned to the mouth of the cave. She yelled to the mice who were inside the cave to continue drawing, that she’d be right back. “Okay,” she said to Obi. She trusted Obi so much that she showed no hesitation as she stepped onto the puppy’s back.
Once Gertrude was safely on board, Kenobi raced back to the caged squirrel. The squirrel was still flipping out, crashing against the wire walls of his prison.
Gerbil on a Mission Page 10