by Ellen Miles
Special thanks to Kristin Earhart
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
PUPPY TIPS
TEASER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
OTHER STORIES BY ELLEN MILES
COPYRIGHT
Brrrrr!
Lizzie Peterson pulled her hood up over her red wool winter hat. It hadn’t seemed so cold when she left her house, but that was before the wind had picked up. Now, it was fierce. The brisk gusts blew snow from the trees. Icy crystals prickled at Lizzie’s face. Brrrrr!
Lizzie usually loved snow. When it was light and fluffy, it was perfect for playing with Buddy, her family’s sweet, funny puppy. In fresh snow, Buddy would leap around, chasing and biting at snowballs. It made Lizzie and her younger brothers, Charles and the Bean, laugh out loud every time. Whenever the puppy managed to catch a clump of snow, he would immediately drop it and shake his head. The snow was just too cold for Buddy’s mouth!
Today’s snow was not light or fluffy. It was more like hail, hard little balls of ice. It left a shiny, crunchy layer on the snow from the day before. If the weather tomorrow was nicer, Lizzie would play outside with Buddy. Today, she had other plans. She was going to her friend Mariko’s house.
Lizzie had met Mariko in the Greenies, an environmental club. Last summer, Lizzie and Mariko had gone wild blueberry picking along with Lizzie’s best friend, Maria. Together, the three girls had filled two big buckets with the plump, ink-colored berries. They finished up with a lot of blueberries, even though they all admitted to sneaking some bites as they picked. Afterward they baked blueberry muffins at Mariko’s house. It had been so much fun. Lizzie remembered how delicious the whole house had smelled. She had imagined she was a character in Blueberries for Sal, which was one of the Bean’s favorite books.
Lizzie was excited for today, too. Mariko had invited her to make maple syrup candy, from real maple syrup. It sounded like something Lizzie—and her sweet tooth—would really enjoy. The only downside was that Maria couldn’t be there. Maria was training for a big indoor horse show, so she was busy for the next few weekends.
Lizzie adjusted her scarf to cover her nose and mouth. It was so cold! Plus, it had started to hail again—icy pellets that pinged off Lizzie’s jacket and stung her forehead. Even though she had gloves on, Lizzie shoved her hands into her pockets. She tried to walk faster, but the crusty snow was deep and hard to push through. Even though it would have been much warmer to ride over in the car with Dad, Lizzie had really wanted to walk to Mariko’s today. She had pictured a snowy adventure, but this was turning out to be a lot snowier and a little more adventurous than she’d imagined.
Just then, Lizzie heard a tiny bark over the frosty wind. It sounded close by. That bark was followed by another one. Lizzie was sure they were from the same dog. The barks did not sound like a happy dog playing in the snow. They were sharp and loud, like the dog was in trouble.
Lizzie forced herself to move more quickly, tugging her boots out of the deep snow. The park’s soccer field looked like a sparkling white ocean, with waves of snowdrifts reaching all across the meadow.
The barks came closer and closer together. To get to Mariko’s house, Lizzie needed to go left— but the barks were coming from the right. Lizzie hesitated. She had told her parents she would go straight to her friend’s house, but she couldn’t ignore a dog in trouble. She was sure they would understand.
Lizzie took a deep breath and trudged toward the barks. For a while, she could only see white. Then a black dot appeared, bouncing up and down through the snow. Lizzie squinted through the snowflakes and realized that the black spot was a nose! Soon, she saw eyes and a pink tongue, too. It was a puppy, with fur so white that it blended in with the snow.
Lizzie’s heart swelled as she pushed even faster toward the puppy. When they reached each other, he jumped up and put his paws on her legs. He pricked his oversized triangular ears and looked up at her with sparkling brown eyes as he yipped in excitement.
Who are you? Can you help? Someone needs you. Quick! I can take you there right away!
“Hello,” Lizzie said, kneeling next to the excited puppy. She was tempted to take off her gloves so she could bury her hands in his thick white fur. The puppy was gorgeous, from the tip of his fluffy tail to the tip of his shiny black nose. “Wow. A white German shepherd,” she breathed. “I’ve seen pictures of them, but never been near one in real life. You’re beautiful!” Lizzie nuzzled the puppy’s neck, breathing in his delicious puppy smell. Why were puppies so—so perfect? Lizzie’s family had fostered dozens of puppies who needed help, keeping each one just long enough to find it the right forever home—but she never got tired of how special each and every puppy truly was.
The puppy wriggled and yipped again, and Lizzie snapped back to attention. “What are you doing out here all alone? It’s pretty cold, little guy.” Lizzie reached around the dog’s neck and found a red collar. She felt for a license or name tag, but her hands were clumsy inside the padded gloves. “Spirit,” she said when she finally found the tag. There was a phone number, too. “It’s nice to meet you, Spirit. I wonder if I should call this number and get you home. Do you live around here?” The puppy barked three times and then took a few steps in the other direction.
Lizzie stood back up and looked all around. She thought about what she should do. She could take the puppy to Mariko’s house and call from there, but the puppy seemed to want her to go the other way.
Spirit barked once, spun around, and darted off. Lizzie didn’t think twice. She followed his tracks through the snow. Even though he was only a puppy, Spirit seemed to have a definite plan. She had to find out what it was.
Lizzie pushed through the snow, keeping the white puppy in view. Every once in a while, the puppy stopped floundering through the drifts to look back at her. Lizzie could tell he was checking up on her, making sure she was still following him. He was one smart pup!
“I’m coming,” Lizzie said, panting. She could see that Spirit was stepping in older tracks through the crusty snow. It looked as if the puppy was following his own path back to where he had started.
Spirit stopped and tilted his head. He stood completely still, ears pricked and nose lifted. Lizzie stopped, too. As soon as she did, she heard someone calling. The voice was low, but Lizzie was pretty sure the person was yelling for Spirit.
Instead of bounding off, the puppy looked back at Lizzie. He gave two more sharp barks.
Hurry! We’re almost there! They need help. We need help. My boy is hurt. Please hurry!
Even though he was very young—Lizzie guessed he was about five months old—Spirit seemed sure that Lizzie would follow him. He had the same confidence she’d seen in other German shepherds, like Champ, another puppy her family had fostered.
Lizzie was also confident—confident that she was close to the far side of the park. That meant there was a road nearby. She listened for a moment. This time, she heard two voices, one high and one low. Spirit heard them, too. He looked back at her again.
“What is it?” Lizzie asked the puppy. She bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “What is it, boy?” After a moment, she started walking again. As she plodded up to the puppy’s side, she saw a car—a car that had slid off the icy road and slammed into a tree. The front end was smashed. Lizzie could see the tracks where the wheels had spun out on the icy snow. She felt a chill go up her back, and she began to move more quickly. Was everyone okay?
A man stood next to the car. The back door was open, and he was leaning in. Lizzie could just make out the figure of a boy about Charles’s age in the backseat. Lizzie watched as the man talked to the boy and squeezed his hand.
Spirit took off toward them, with Lizzie close behind him. Just as the puppy was about to reach the car, an ambulance came around the corner with its red lights flashing. It came to a stop in the street. Two people in matching blue coats jumped out and ran over to the car.
Lizzie watched the rush of activity. Since her dad was a firefighter, she was used to being around emergency vehicles. In fact, she recognized Meg, one of the EMTs. EMTs—emergency medical technicians—were the people who helped figure out what kind of injuries a person might have, and whether they needed to be taken to the hospital.
Since she had heard two voices yelling, Lizzie was pretty sure that the boy in the backseat was still conscious, but she also could see that he wasn’t moving. One of the EMTs returned to the ambulance and came back with a stretcher.
With all the commotion around the car, the puppy could not get very close. He seemed to understand that he needed to stay out of the way and let the people do their jobs. But he watched everything that was happening very closely. Lizzie walked toward Spirit. The puppy was whining. He stood up and then sat back down.
“Is that your family?” Lizzie asked. Spirit looked up at her with his kind, dark eyes.
My people! I’m worried about them.
“Don’t worry,” Lizzie told him. “Everything will be okay. These folks know how to help.”
Spirit’s reaction reminded Lizzie again of Champ, who always seemed to know when something, or someone, needed help. Lizzie wondered if maybe Spirit had the same instinct. That would explain why the puppy had come all the way through the snow to find her.
After a while, the man stepped away from the car and glanced around. “Spirit!” he called. When his eyes fell on the puppy, he looked relieved. The man leaned over. “Come on, Spirit, here, boy!”
Spirit ran over and nearly jumped into the man’s arms. The man scooped him up and ruffled his fur. Then he carried the puppy over to the car.
Lizzie stepped a little closer. Even though she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she could hear the excited way the boy inside the car talked to Spirit. Their visit was cut short when the EMTs started to move the boy out of the backseat and onto the stretcher.
The man backed away and put the puppy down. He looked around, as if he was waking from a dream. Lizzie realized he must still be in shock from the accident. She walked toward him and introduced herself.
“Your puppy found me in the park,” she explained. “It’s like he was looking for help.”
The man nodded, still looking dazed. “Spirit ran off just after we crashed. I’m Hank. Hank Leckner. That’s my son, Eli. I—I think his leg is broken. Thank goodness that was the worst that happened.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Lizzie asked.
Mr. Leckner paused. “Do you live around here?”
Lizzie explained that she lived on the other side of the park. “I was on my way to visit my friend Mariko. Mariko Miyano.”
The man’s face brightened. “The Miyanos live just a couple of houses from us,” he said. “Maybe you can help. I need to get Spirit back to our house, since I’m going to ride with Eli in the ambulance.”
Meg turned around and smiled. “Mr. Leckner, I know this young lady,” she said as she latched a buckle on the stretcher. “You can definitely trust Lizzie with your puppy. She’s very reliable, and she knows everything there is to know about dogs.”
“Spirit,” Eli called, reaching out his arms to the puppy. Spirit whined in answer and put a paw on the stretcher, but Mr. Leckner held out a hand to calm him.
“Eli, buddy,” Mr. Leckner said. “You can’t hold Spirit right now. We need to get you to the hospital.”
As Meg and the other EMT carried the stretcher to the ambulance, Mr. Leckner talked to Lizzie. “I would really appreciate it if you could take Spirit and my car keys to my wife. Mariko knows which house is ours. It looks like I need to get in the ambulance with Eli right now.” He nodded at the EMTs as they rolled the stretcher into the back of the emergency vehicle.
“Sure,” Lizzie said. “I’d be happy to help.”
She heard Eli call out for Spirit again. He sounded so sad. Spirit barked twice, and Mr. Leckner gave him a pat. “You listen to Lizzie, boy. Okay? Be a good puppy,” he said. He picked Spirit up and carefully placed the puppy into Lizzie’s arms.
“I’m sure he will,” Lizzie replied, giving Spirit a squeeze. “After all, it was his plan to get me in the first place!”
Mr. Leckner smiled. “That’s true,” he said. “Thank you, Lizzie.” He rushed off to climb into the ambulance with his son.
Spirit and Lizzie watched as the ambulance took off, red lights flashing. Spirit whimpered softly. Lizzie could already tell that this was one sweet, loyal puppy. She hated to see him separated from Eli. Whenever Lizzie was sick, she always felt better if Buddy was with her.
But right now, Lizzie couldn’t think about Buddy. She needed to focus. She had someone else’s antsy puppy to deal with, another family’s car keys in her coat pocket, and a lot to explain to her friend Mariko.
Lizzie tried to soothe the little white pup. “Everything will be okay,” she said. She stroked his back as she walked toward Mariko’s house, but the puppy was not calm. He kept fidgeting, squirming around, and trying to get free.
“What’s the matter, boy?” Lizzie asked. “If you stick with me, I’ll get you home soon.” Now that she could walk on the partially cleared sidewalks, she could make better time. But Spirit kept whining and shifting in her arms.
They were only a block or so from Mariko’s by then. “All right. I’ll put you down if you promise to be good and stay with me,” Lizzie said, trying to sound firm. She hated to let a puppy walk without a leash on, but Spirit seemed so mature. Plus, it wouldn’t be easy for him to run far with all this snow. “Do you promise?” Spirit stopped squirming. He replied with a single, short bark.
I can be good!
“It’s a deal,” Lizzie said, bending down to place Spirit on the icy sidewalk. “Let’s go.”
The puppy stayed dutifully by Lizzie’s side as she made her way to Mariko’s house. Lizzie knew that Mariko’s dad was extremely allergic to dogs— and cats, and guinea pigs, and probably even fish. Lizzie came up with a simple plan. She would tell Mariko what happened, and then they’d go straight to Spirit’s house together. They could hand over the car keys and the puppy, and then they’d go back to Mariko’s to make the candy.
When Lizzie rang the Miyanos’ doorbell, Spirit sat down next to her. Lizzie looked at him. She admired his feathered tail, the one tiny pink spot on his pointed black nose, and his dark, thoughtful eyes.
“Lizzie!” Mariko said as she opened the door. She stared down at Spirit. “Hey, isn’t that one of the Leckners’ puppies? What’s he doing here with you?”
Mariko’s mom, Mrs. Miyano, appeared behind her a moment later. “Oh, that’s Spirit. I thought he was going out to live at Crowners’ Apple Orchard with his sister Sassy.”
“I don’t know anything about Sassy or the orchard,” Lizzie said. “I just know that Mr. Leckner’s car slid off the road down the street and Eli had to go to the hospital.”
“What?” Mrs. Miyano said. “What happened?”
Lizzie told as much as she knew, and Mrs. Miyano and Mariko peppered her with questions.
“Goodness,” Mrs. Miyano finally said. “As if that family doesn’t have enough on their plate just now.”
“Their plate?” Lizzie frowned.
“Mrs. Leckner is, like, eight months pregnant,” Mariko said, holding her hands way out in front of her stomach. “So they were in a hurry to find homes for all their dog’s puppies.”
“It was such a cute litter,” Mrs. Miyano added. “Six little white balls of fluff
. We were visiting every day for a while, and we got to know them all.” She sighed, then leaned over and put both hands behind Spirit’s ears, giving him a good scratch. Then she stood up. “You should take Spirit to the Leckners’ house right away. One more minute on our doorstep and Mariko’s dad will be sneezing for hours when he comes home.”
Mariko went back inside to get ready. Lizzie thought it really was too bad that Mr. Miyano was allergic. Mariko and her mom both loved dogs so much.
Mariko appeared again in a long, puffy lavender-colored coat and lace-up snow boots with a fuzzy lining. “Let’s go,” she said, pointing the way.
The two girls and the puppy set off. “That’s it, right there,” Mariko said after they’d passed a couple of houses. She pointed to a gray, two-story house with a wreath on the door. Spirit took off at once. With great strides, he bounced up onto the porch and stood at the door, his tail wagging in a swirling motion.
Here we are! This is my house! My people are inside. And my mom. I’m happy to be home.
Lizzie and Mariko rushed to catch up. Mariko knocked. “I think their doorbell is broken,” she said. “At least it was the last time we visited the puppies.” She took off her purple glove and knocked again, harder this time.
In a few moments, Mrs. Leckner opened the door. She smiled at Mariko. Then confusion clouded her face. “What’s Spirit doing here?” she asked. She stood in the narrow opening, so Spirit could not nudge his way inside.
“Mrs. Leckner,” Mariko began carefully, as if she didn’t want to shock her, “this is my friend Lizzie. She, um, saw Mr. Leckner down the street, and he gave her his car keys and asked her to bring Spirit here.”
Lizzie reached into her pocket and held the keys out. Lizzie noticed Mrs. Leckner’s hands shaking a little as she took them.
“Do you know what happened?” she asked. “Is Eli okay? I just got a jumble of texts from my husband, and I wasn’t sure what to do.” As she spoke, her hand moved to her very round belly, and she rested it there.