Bernadette in the Doghouse
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Joshua wasn’t afraid of Lady at all anymore. Sometimes he would sit next to the dog patting her, and he liked to help Bernadette and Keisha take her for a walk around the block. But one day, Lady wouldn’t come with them. She started whining and scratching at the door to go into the house. Mrs. Marsh pulled herself up with her walker and said good-bye to the children. Her face looked worried.
“I think I’m going to have to take Lady to the vet,” she said. “She’s behaving so strangely.”
“We’ll come back tomorrow after school,” said Bernadette. “Maybe Lady will feel more like going for a walk then.”
But when they arrived the next day, neither Mrs. Marsh nor Lady was on the porch like they usually were. Joshua was upset.
“Is Lady sick?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Joshie,” Keisha answered.
“Pick me up so I can ring the doorbell and see if they’re home,” he insisted.
“I don’t think we should,” said Bernadette’s mother. “If Mrs. Marsh wanted company, she’d be outside. So if she’s not waiting for us, it must be because today isn’t a good day for a visit.”
“But remember what Mrs. Marsh told us the day we met her, Mom?” said Bernadette. “She said it’s never rude to offer to help somebody. So she’ll understand if we ring the bell just to see if everything’s okay.”
Bernadette’s mother considered this for a moment. Then she said, “Just to see if everything is okay. We’re not inviting ourselves in afterwards, Bernadette. We’re going straight home.”
But they didn’t have to invite themselves in. Mrs. Marsh came thump thump thumping to the door at once and opened it in great excitement.
“Come to the kitchen, my dears, and see what a surprise my beautiful Lady has for you!”
And there, on the doggy bed next to Lady, were two tiny golden puppies with long silky ears. Their eyes weren’t even open yet and they were making soft mewing sounds that made them sound more like cats than dogs.
“Look, Joshie, these doggies can’t bite. They don’t even have teeth yet!” said Keisha.
“I want one,” he said. “Mrs. Marsh, can I have a puppy?”
“Joshua!” said Monique. “That’s rude!”
“No, it isn’t,” said Mrs. Marsh. “But it is something you will need to talk to your parents about first. Lady and I are getting too old now to take care of puppies, so in a couple of months we will have to give them away to a good home—or two.”
“We can be a good home, Mom, can’t we? Please, Mom, double please with cherries on top? And even some broccoli to make it healthier?” Bernadette begged, trying to hug her mother and jump up and down at the same time.
“Maybe. We’ll have to see what your father says,” Bernadette’s mother replied, but she was laughing.
And Bernadette laughed too, because she knew from experience that a “maybe,” with laughter, was at least three quarters of the way to a “yes.”
The end
About the Author
SUSAN GLICKMAN started writing about the adventures of Bernadette and her friends for her own children. Bernadette in the Doghouse is the sequel to Bernadette and the Lunch Bunch. Susan lives with her family, including Toby the dog, in Toronto.