Absolutely Lucy

by Ilene Cooper

  “Good job, Lucy.” Mr. Quinn gave Lucy a pat. “Ready to go, Bobby?”

  “I asked Bobby to go get ice cream with us. Is that okay, Mom?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Candy’s mother said. “Bobby doesn’t live too far from us. We can take him home.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Mr. Quinn said. “I’ll take Lucy with me.”

  No one had asked Bobby if he wanted to go. He didn’t want to go. He felt shy just thinking about it.

  “I’m going to have Rocky Road ice cream,” Candy said. “What kind do you like, Bobby?”

  Before Bobby could answer, Candy said, “I bet you like chocolate. Maybe we can get banana splits. What about it, Mom?”

  Mr. Quinn and Lucy left. Bobby found himself walking out of the park with Candy, her mother, and Butch.

  They went to the ice cream shop. Candy had a banana split. Bobby had a double dip cone. Chocolate.

  Bobby and Candy sat outside the shop eating their ice cream.

  Candy said, “I’m going to work with Butch all week until he comes when I call him. He’s very smart. He’s just not trying.” Candy giggled. “That’s what my teacher says about me sometimes. Maybe you should come over to my house with Lucy. We can practice together. Saturday would be a good day. You can come over in the afternoon.”

  The worst thing about being shy was never knowing what to say next. Bobby could see this wasn’t going to be a problem with Candy. She talked enough for both of them.

  “Will you come?” Candy asked.

  Bobby licked his ice cream cone. It tasted great.

  “Yes, I’ll come. Absolutely.”

  Now Bobby had two friends. And what a surprise! His friends were an elderly man and a girl. Even so, Mr. Davis and Candy made very good friends. It was easy to be around them. He had fun with them. They made him laugh. Sometimes, he even made them laugh.

  Lucy and Butch had been going to obedience school for three weeks. Lucy came when she was called. She would sit. She would fetch a ball. Butch would not fetch a ball. He would not sit. He still answered to his name only when he felt like it.

  One day in August, Bobby and Candy were sitting on Bobby’s porch. Butch and Lucy were sleeping at their feet.

  “My mom’s getting kind of mad at Butch,” Candy said. “She doesn’t think he’s trying very hard.”

  Bobby thought maybe Candy’s mother was right.

  “I told her Butch is trying. Maybe he’s just dumb.”

  Butch must have heard this. He opened his eyes and growled.

  “Sorry, Butch,” Candy said. Butch closed his eyes and fell back asleep. “We’re going to miss two classes while we are away. Mom says I can use the time to practice stuff Butch hasn’t learned yet.”

  “You’re going away?” Bobby asked. This was the first he had heard about Candy going somewhere.

  “Oh, yes. We’re going to the lake for two weeks,” Candy told Bobby. “We’re going to stay in a cottage.”

  Bobby had a funny feeling in his stomach. He wasn’t sure what the feeling was. Then it hit him. He was feeling funny because he was going to miss Candy. He had never missed a friend before.

  The day Candy left, Bobby was lonely. He decided to take Lucy for a walk and visit Mr. Davis. But when they got to the yellow house, Mr. Davis was locking his door. He was carrying a small suitcase.

  “Are you going somewhere?” Bobby asked.

  “Yes, Bobby,” Mr. Davis said. “I’m going to stay with my daughter for a while.”

  “Are you feeling all right?”

  “Don’t worry. I’m fine,” Mr. Davis answered. “But my house is so hot. I have just the one small air conditioner in the bedroom. My daughter’s whole house is air conditioned. I’m going to stay there until it gets cooler.”

  “Oh.” Bobby had that funny feeling in his stomach again.

  Mr. Davis looked at Bobby. “I won’t be gone very long. As soon as we get a good, cool breeze, you look for me.”

  “Have a good time,” Bobby said in a small voice.

  Lucy yipped. It seemed like Lucy knew that Mr. Davis was leaving, too.

  A car honked.

  “There’s my daughter,” Mr. Davis said. He hurried down the stairs. “See you, Bobby. Bye, Lucy.”

  Bobby sat down on Mr. Davis’s rocking chair. He picked up Lucy and put her on his lap. There was that funny feeling again. He was lonesome. He missed his friends.

  One day passed. Then another and another. Bobby wasn’t just lonesome anymore. He was bored. Bobby was so bored.

  He spent most of his time watching television.

  “Do you want to go to the library and get some books?” his mother asked.

  “No. It’s too hot to read.”

  His mother frowned. “It may be too hot to play ball, but it’s never too hot to read.”

  Bobby was grumpy. “I just don’t feel like reading.”

  “Do you want to go to the swimming pool later?” his mother asked. “That would cool you off.”

  Bobby shrugged. “I don’t care.”

  Now his mother was getting mad. She said, “Bobby, all you do is watch TV. At least take Lucy for a walk.”

  Bobby looked at Lucy. Lucy was stretched out in front of the air conditioning vent. She did not look like she wanted to go anywhere. Then Bobby looked at his mother. She did not look like she was going to take no for an answer. So Bobby got up and clipped Lucy’s leash on her.

  “We might melt,” Bobby warned his mother.

  “If you don’t come back, I’ll look for two puddles of water—one with a tail floating in it.” Mrs. Quinn was smiling.

  Bobby and Lucy went outside. He glanced at the house across the street. He hadn’t seen the new kids in a long time. Maybe they were on vacation like Candy.

  Then Bobby saw someone coming out of the house. It was the boy who was about his own age. The boy began bouncing a yellow tennis ball. He acted like he didn’t know Lucy and Bobby were across the street. But Bobby could see him peeking at them about every third bounce.

  Should I say hi? Bobby wondered. He could feel his face getting red, and it wasn’t just from the heat. He was being shy again. Maybe he had two friends now. But he still didn’t want to go up to a strange kid and say hello. Bobby walked more quickly down the block.

  Suddenly, Lucy stopped. She had spotted something. The yellow tennis ball was rolling in her direction.

  Lucy knew what to do. She had done it plenty of times at obedience school. She tugged at her leash so she could fetch the ball. She grabbed it with her mouth as it rolled by. She tugged on her leash. She tried to get Bobby to cross the street. She wanted to give the ball back to the boy.

  Bobby didn’t want to go across the street. But Lucy did.

  The boy was in no hurry to get his ball. He just stood there as Bobby and Lucy came toward him. His eyes were down on the sidewalk.

  He’s not very friendly, Bobby thought. Then Bobby realized that he knew that look. He knew it very well. It wasn’t the look of someone who was unfriendly. It was the look of someone who was shy.

  Lucy scampered up to the boy. She dropped the ball at his feet and gave a happy bark.

  “Can you give her a pat for bringing you the ball?” Bobby asked. “That’s what they tell us to do at obedience school.”

  The boy didn’t say anything, but he patted Lucy’s head.

  Lucy pushed the ball with her paw.

  The boy looked up. “What’s her name?” the boy asked in a small voice.

  “Lucy. What’s your name?” Bobby asked boldly.

  “Shawn.”

  “I’m Bobby. I live across the street.”

  “I know,” Shawn said. “I’ve seen you. She looks like a great dog.”

  “She is,” Bobby said.

  “My mom won’t let me get a dog yet.” Shawn smiled. “But I’m working on her.”

  “Dogs make great friends,” Bobby told him.

  “I’ll tell my mother that,” Shawn said.
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br />   Neither boy said anything for a few seconds.

  Bobby felt uncomfortable. That’s how he felt when he couldn’t think of anything to say to the kids at school. Bobby thought maybe it was time to go.

  But Lucy had other ideas. She picked up the ball in her mouth. She looked first at Bobby, then at Shawn.

  “She wants to play,” Bobby said. He took the ball from Lucy’s mouth. Then he took a great big breath. “We have a fenced-in yard for Lucy. Do you want to come to my house and play with her?”

  Shawn looked happy. “I’ll go ask my mother,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Bobby sat down on the grass to wait for Shawn. He pulled Lucy close to him.

  “Lucy,” he whispered, “I have a feeling Shawn might be my third friend. Wow,” he continued softly, “three friends.”

  He thought about how he had met each of his friends. He met all of them because of Lucy. Lucy was like a lucky charm.

  Bobby gave his dog a squeeze.

  “Even if I make a hundred friends,” he told her, “you will always be my best friend. You are absolutely the best dog in the world. Absolutely, Lucy.”

  Lucy barked. She agreed.

  Read the next books about Lucy!

  “Ben!” Shawn said. “What happened to Lucy?”

  “She … she ran away!” Ben said in a shaky voice.

  Bobby jumped up. “Ran away? Where?”

  “That way.” Ben was confused. He pointed in one direction. “Or maybe that way.” He pointed in the other direction.

  “Which way was it?” Shawn demanded.

  “I’m not sure.” Ben was almost crying. “But she was chasing a big orange C-A-T!”

  On the way out, a large, colorful poster taller than the boys caught Bobby’s eye.

  The poster had a drawing of different kinds of animals crowded together in front of a television camera. Across the top were the words WANTED: SPOKESPET FOR PET-O-RAMA! Under the picture of the animals it said, “Is your pet cute? Smart? Funny? Enter the Pet-O-Rama spokespet contest and your pet could be on TV!”

  Bobby read the poster carefully. Cute, smart, funny? That described Lucy! She could win the spokespet contest, easy!