The Good, the Bad & the Beagle
Page 20
New Arrivals
When Veronica and Sylvie showed up at the Ferguson apartment the following afternoon Mrs. Ferguson answered the door. She was still in her nightgown and still holding a cup of coffee. And just beyond her, lo and behold, were three of the cutest puppies Veronica had ever seen. They were running and rolling and slipping and sliding around Mr. Ferguson’s leather-bound chair. The white parts of their coats were so shiny they sparkled like snowflakes. Two were solid white and had the most perfect ears. Ears that were undeniably Cadbury’s. One puppy, a golden and white one with slightly shaggy hair like his mother’s but his father’s coloring exactly, began to lick Veronica uncontrollably the minute she picked him up. He was white except for a left caramel ear, a caramel patch on his left side, and a caramel circle above his tail. He had that same tail Cadbury had, the kind of tail that looked as though it had been dipped in a bucket of white paint.
“Three of them found homes while we were still in Miami, but we had to come home with the others. It was just too much. Mr. Ferguson and I are desperate to get rid of the rest. They’re just destroying everything!” As if on cue, another puppy came running over with a piece of Mrs. Ferguson’s fur coat in its mouth.
“Oh my! Put that back! Come here!” Mrs. Ferguson yelled, chasing the speedy little pup around her living room. “Do you girls know anyone who wants puppies?”
“Um, yeah! Me,” Veronica said.
“And me!” Sylvie echoed.
“You do? Isn’t it too soon?” Mrs. Ferguson said. “Your parents weren’t sure you were ready.”
“I’m ready,” Veronica said, holding the little caramel one close. She wondered if she should choose one who didn’t look so much like Cadbury, but this one looked deep into her eyes. She was sure he was smiling at her. “I am so ready,” she said. The puppy looked ready too.
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
175 Fifth Avenue, New York 10010
Copyright © 2014 by Catherine Lloyd Burns
All rights reserved
First hardcover edition, 2014
eBook edition, October 2014
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Burns, Catherine Lloyd.
The good, the bad, and the beagle / Catherine Lloyd Burns.
pages cm
Summary: Shy, eleven-year-old Veronica Louise Morgan of New York City is not happy about having to attend Randolf School for Girls, but by the end of her first year she not only has some new friends, she may have finally convinced her parents that she is ready to own a dog.
ISBN 978-0-374-30039-5 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-374-30040-1 (e-book)
[1. Dogs—Fiction. 2. Family life—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. 6. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.B9364Goo 2014
[Fic]—dc23
2014010848
eISBN 9780374300401