“That was really fun!” said Kate, as the girls walked home.
“Yeah, Mr. Z is cool,” said Lucie.
Up ahead a shiny blond ponytail caught their eye.
“It’s Darleen,” said Kate.
“You know, she was really nice to us when we were dogs,” said Lucie. “Should we say hello?”
“Sure, why not?” said Kate.
They ran and caught up with her.
“Hi,” said Lucie. “We hear you have dogs.”
“And cats and birds,” said Kate. “And frogs and—”
“I don’t have any frogs,” said Darleen. “But I do have two dogs, three cats, four hamsters, five fish, and one parrot.”
“Wow!” said Kate and Lucie.
“We don’t have even one pet,” said Lucie.
“We both really, really want a dog, but we can’t have one,” said Kate.
“Why? Don’t your moms like dogs?” said Darleen.
“They love them. But dogs aren’t allowed where we live,” said Kate.
The girls came to Kate’s and Lucie’s apartments. Their moms were out front, trimming bushes.
“Hi, girls!” called Mrs. Farber.
“How was school?” called Mrs. Lopez.
“You two live next door to each other?” said Darleen. “No wonder you’re stuck like glue.”
“That’s not very nice,” said Kate.
“Why do you say mean things to us?” said Lucie.
“Well, you’re always talking to each other,” said Darleen.
“What’s the matter with that?” asked Kate.
“Nothing, I guess. It’s just that you never talk to me,” said Darleen.
Kate and Lucie looked at each other. All at once they understood. Darleen acted mean because she felt left out.
“We’re talking to you now,” said Kate. “So can you stop being mean?”
“I guess so. Do you want to see my dogs?” said Darleen.
“Absolutely!” said Lucie.
“That would be really cool!” said Kate.
“Moms! We’re going to Darleen’s house!” they called.
“Have a good time!” called Kate’s mom.
“Be home in time for dinner,” said Lucie’s mom.
The three girls went on to Darleen’s house.
When they got there, Kate and Lucie got a big surprise.
Danny popped out of the house on the right. DJ popped out of the house on the left.
Kate and Lucie didn’t know where to look first.
“Hi, guys,” said Darleen.
“I can’t believe it!” said Lucie. “You live next door to Danny and DJ?”
“Poor you,” said Kate.
“They’re okay,” said Darleen.
“What are you two goofy girls doing here?” said Danny.
“We’re meeting Darleen’s dogs, for your information,” said Lucie.
“Well, for your information, we’re going to play basketball,” said DJ.
As the boys walked off, the street filled with the smell of DJ’s Banana-Fandana gum. It echoed with the sound of Danny’s basketball. Thunk, thunk, thunk.
The girls heard scratching sounds at the door. They heard whining and saw tails wagging.
Two dogs were looking out. One was black. One was tan. One was really big, and the other was really little.
“They are so cute!” said Kate.
“What are their names?” said Lucie.
“The big black one’s Bo. And the little tan one’s Boo,” said Darleen.“Come on, let’s go in.”
Kate and Lucie held out their hands for the dogs to sniff. The dogs started wagging happily.
“They love being petted,” said Darleen.
Kate scratched big Bo behind his ears.
Lucie sat on the floor, and little Boo jumped into her lap.
They heard a voice calling from upstairs.
“Hi, Darleen! Don’t forget to feed the dogs.”
“Okay, Dad. I’ll do it right now,” said Darleen.
“Ooh, can we help?” said Lucie.
“Sure,” said Darleen.
First, the girls fed Bo and Boo. Then they fed the three cats, Whiskers, Fluff, and Mouse. Then the four hamsters, Eeny, Meenie, Miney, and Mo. Then the five fish, Goldie, Fin, Swish, Glub, and Glitter.
“Hello, hello! Feed the birdie!” squawked the parrot.
“You’re next, Ollie,” said Darleen.
She filled his cup with seeds.
“Awk! Awk!” he said. “Ollie wants a ba-na-na!”
Kate and Lucie took turns giving him pieces of banana.
“Ready to walk Bo and Boo?” said Darleen.
“Ready!” said Kate.
“I’m so excited!” said Lucie.
Darleen laughed.
“I do it every day,” she said.
She gave a leash to Lucie and one to Kate.
“Call them,” said Darleen.
“Here, Bo!” said Kate.
Bo came running.
“Here, Boo!” called Lucie.
Boo came next.
Darleen helped put on the leashes, and they all went out.
“Hang on tight, Kate,” said Darleen. “Bo pulls.”
“I noticed that!” called Kate, who was already halfway down the block.
Lucie couldn’t keep up with them because Boo was stopping to sniff every three steps.
After a while, Bo stopped running. Boo stopped sniffing.
Kate and Lucie got to walk the dogs all the way around the block.
They were in dog-walking heaven.
11
Homework Helpers
“Walking the dogs made me want to be a dog,” said Lucie on the way home.
“Me too. Let’s do it!” said Kate.
They were about to slip behind a big tree when … Thunk, thunk, thunk.
“Do you hear what I hear?” said Lucie.
“I hear it,” said Kate. “Do you smell what I smell?”
“I smell it,” said Lucie.
The scent of Banana-Fandana gum came floating their way.
The boys were bouncing and snapping down the street.
“Where are you two boys going now?” asked Kate.
“We went home for snacks,” said DJ. “We’re on our way back to the park.”
“We have homework about animal communication,” said Danny. “So we’ve got to go watch some animals.”
“We already had that homework,” said Lucie. “My report on pigeons got an A.”
“My report on cats got one, too,” said Kate. “Why don’t you guys go look at some squirrels?”
“Maybe we will,” said Danny. “Or we’ll check out the dog run at the park.”
Kate and Lucie elbowed each other.
“Dogs have very interesting body language,” said Kate, trying not to laugh.
“A report on dogs could definitely get you an A,” said Lucie.
“Yeah, well, whatever. See ya later,” said Danny.
The boys started toward the park. Kate and Lucie quickly made a plan.
They slipped behind a hedge, came back out as dogs, and caught up with the boys.
“There are those dogs again,” said DJ.
“We can study them, then go back to the basketball court,” said Danny.
Kate howled. Lucie barked.
The boys took out their notebooks. They wrote, “WOO-WOO!” and “RUFF!”
Kate and Lucie knew DJ always had Chompy Chips in his backpack. They each pointed a paw back and forth between the backpack and their mouths.
“Wow, these dogs really know how to communicate!” said Danny. “Give them some chips.”
“I’ve got to write in my notebook first,” said DJ. He wrote and read out loud: “Begging behavior. Point paws for treats.”
DJ got some Chompy Chips from his backpack and tossed them to the dogs.
Kate and Lucie caught them in the air. They had to work hard to hold back their giggles.
; For their next communication, Lucie wrote BALL in the dirt. Kate wrote PLAY.
“Amazing!” said Danny, grabbing his notebook. “I never knew dogs could spell.”
“Wait till we give our report in class,” said DJ, rolling the ball toward the dogs.
“We won’t just get an A. We’ll get an A++,” said Danny.
The girls were proud. They had done their work well. They waved good-bye with their tails. As they went, they saw Danny and DJ writing fast in their notebooks.
“I wish we could be there to see them give their reports,” said Kate. “Do you think they’ll get an A++?”
“I think they’ll get A-goofy-goofy,” said Lucie.
12
Cat Show Catastrophe
The girls had walked a few blocks when sniff, sniff.
“Do you smell what I smell?” said Kate, lifting her dog nose in the air.
“As in meow-meow?” said Lucie.
“Exactly,” said Kate.
“Let’s investigate,” said Lucie.
The dogs followed their noses to the Tuckertown Community Center. Out front was a huge sign that said CAT SHOW TODAY.
As soon as Lucie saw the sign, she picked up speed.
“Where are you going?” said Kate.
“I smell cats, and I smell—”
Just then the side door of the center opened.
“Liver!” Lucie called over her shoulder.
Shimmy-shimmy-shimmy! Lucie’s wagging tail put her backside into overdrive. She disappeared through the open door.
“Come back!” called Kate.
Too late. The door had already slammed shut.
Uh-oh, thought Kate. I see trouble ahead.
She pictured Lucie inside, surrounded by hundreds of cats.
I’ve got to get her out of there, Kate thought.
She stood guard at the door, waiting for someone to open it. While Kate waited, she listened. So far, she hadn’t heard any people screaming. She hadn’t heard any cats caterwauling. But with her shaggy, liver-loving friend inside, it wouldn’t be long before there was chaos.
Finally, the door to the community center opened and Kate ran in. The room was filled with tables. The tables were filled with wire crates. The crates were filled with all kinds of cats, and all kinds of owners fussing over them.
“Here, Lucie, Lucie!” Kate whispered.
No answer.
She tried again. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Kate heard rustling noises coming from behind a heavy red curtain. Then she heard crunching and snarfing-down-food noises. There was no mistaking who was making those sounds.
Kate peeked under the curtain. Lucie’s head was buried inside a bag of liver treats.
“Do not take another bite!” hissed Kate. “You’ll get sick.”
“These are delicious,” said Lucie. “Here, try one.”
“This is not snack time,” said Kate, joining Lucie behind the curtain. “We’ve got to change back to girls before anyone finds us.”
“Oh, all right,” Lucie said.
She gulped down the last treat.
Then Lucie held up her paw and said, “Ready … set—”
Kate and Lucie were about to say “Woofa-woof” and give each other high fives when the curtain jerked back.
“Eeeek!” screamed a lady from the cat show.
“Aaaaarf!” barked Kate and Lucie, jumping back.
“We’re busted!” said Kate.
“Run!” said Lucie.
The cat-show lady hung on to the curtain, trying not to faint.
Kate ran left. Lucie ran right. They didn’t realize they were going in opposite directions.
There were cats and people everywhere they looked. Ahead of her, Lucie saw a circle of Persian cats. She heard the judge saying, “Persian cats are elegant and calm.”
“Reoowwww!” screeched the cats as Lucie raced by.
So much for calm, thought Lucie.
Meantime, Kate was passing a circle of Maine coon cats. The judge was saying, “Notice their long, beautiful coats.”
Kate was noticing their long, beautiful coats standing on end and their backs arched high. The cats hissed and pulled at their leashes as she passed.
Lucie and Kate were darting back and forth, over and under grooming tables, in and out between show rings. People were screaming. Cats were caterwauling.
I knew this would happen, thought Kate.
Luckily, just as Kate reached the door, it opened.
Not so luckily, Lucie couldn’t get to the door in time. She was being chased by a coon cat, who was being chased by her owner. They chased Lucie up a long flight of stairs.
Lucie ducked into a room. The room was a playroom for toddlers. There were no toddlers there now. Just lots and lots of toys.
I’ll be safe in here, thought Lucie.
She used her back legs to push the door shut behind her. Then she looked up at the doorknob.
Uh-oh, she thought.
The big, round doorknob needed human hands to open it. The only way Lucie could get human hands again was to have Kate beside her ready to work their dog-bone magic.
“A woo-woo!” Lucie heard a dog howling outside. She ran to the window and saw Kate running in circles, looking for her.
“I’m up here!” Lucie called.
Kate looked up.
“What are you doing there?” she called back.
“I got chased up the stairs,” Lucie said.
“Well, come back down,” said Kate.
“I can’t. The door’s closed, and I can’t turn the knob,” said Lucie.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” said Kate. “This is a catastrophe!”
“You mean a dog-astrophe,” said Lucie.
“Har-har-har. Very funny,” said Kate, rolling her eyes.
Just then, Lucie saw Carmen and George, two workers from the local animal shelter, coming down the street. Someone must have called to report the dogs at the cat show. Their job was to rescue stray animals, and they were hurrying toward Kate.
“Run, Kate, run!” Lucie called from the window.
Kate didn’t ask any questions. She just ran.
Carmen started chasing Kate. George looked up at Lucie in the window. The next thing Lucie knew, George was running into the community center.
Lucie heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
She heard footsteps coming down the hall.
She heard doors opening one by one.
The footsteps were getting closer. And closer.
They stopped outside the playroom.
Slowly, the doorknob turned.
13
The Getaway!
The door to the playroom opened. George looked around. He saw a play kitchen. He saw a book corner. He saw a block corner and a doll corner. Then his eyes passed over a corner of stuffed animals.
There were two teddy bears, a fuzzy owl, a ginger-colored dog with a big, floppy hat, a tall giraffe with a green leaf in its mouth, and a monkey holding a toy banana.
George scratched his head.
“Where’s that dog I saw?” he wondered. “I must be in the wrong room.”
He ran out and kept going down the hall.
When the sound of footsteps was gone, the ginger-colored dog jumped up and said, “Ta-daa!”
It was Lucie.
“Pretty neat trick, huh?” she said to the stuffed animals. “I saw it in a movie.”
She shook the big, floppy hat off her head and headed for the playroom door. Thank goodness George had left it open when he ran out.
Lucie slipped out of the room and down the stairs. The cats had settled down, and the show was back to normal. As soon as the door to the center opened, Lucie ran out.
She was just in time to see Kate coming her way. Kate was panting, and her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth.
“Hurry! Carmen is really fast!” said Kate.
“We’re faster!” said Lucie. “Follow me!”
Carmen turned the corner at high speed and kept on going. She ran right past the bush where the dogs were hiding.
“Phew! That was a close call,” said Kate.
“She might come back,” said Lucie, trying to catch her breath. “We’d better change to girls fast.”
“Woofa—pant-pant—woof!” they said and gave each other high fives. With a pop and a whoosh, they were girls again.
Kate and Lucie peeked out from the bush. Carmen was coming back. And George was with her.
“We lost them,” Carmen said to George.
“I hope those dogs will be safe and find their way home,” he said.
“Thanks, George,” Kate whispered to Lucie.
“We think we can find our way home,” Lucie whispered back.
With Carmen and George out of sight, the girls came out from under the bush. On their way home, they passed the library and saw someone running up the steps. It was a familiar someone.
“Hey, look,” said Lucie. “It’s Mr. Z.”
“Maybe he needs to read about animal communication for school tomorrow,” said Kate.
A few seconds later, Darleen came running down the library steps with a stack of books.
“Hi, Kate. Hi, Lucie,” said Darleen. “I just saw Mr. Z going into the library.”
“We did, too. Maybe he’s going to do his homework,” said Lucie.
“I’m going home to feed my pets,” said Darleen.
“You’re so lucky,” said Lucie.
“Hey, want to come over and hang out with us on Saturday?” said Kate.
“Sounds good,” said Darleen, waving good-bye.
Kate and Lucie kept walking toward home. A few doors up from the library was a dentist’s office. They were surprised to see Mr. Z coming out.
“Wow, he did his homework already?” said Lucie.
“And got his teeth fixed, too?” said Kate.
“He’s fast,” said Lucie.
“So’s his dentist,” said Kate.
When the girls were almost home, they decided to go to Lucie’s house.
“Hi, Mom!” called Lucie.
“Hi! We’re in here,” called Mrs. Lopez.
Both moms were in the bedroom trying on clothes for their blind dates. There were six outfits set out on the bed.
Teacher's Pets Page 3