Mission Impawsible

by Daphne Maple

  “Definitely flyers,” Taylor said, already thinking ahead.

  “Right,” I said. Honestly I hadn’t even thought about how we’d let people know what we were doing. The fact that Sasha and Taylor had thought of it proved that Alice was right: it was going to take all of us to make the after-school dog club a success.

  “I’m in on the brainstorm,” Tim said. “We have to plan out how everything will work before we start soliciting clients.” Just then Boxer jumped up on Tim and stuck his tennis ball in Tim’s face. Tim began laughing. “Okay, so maybe we can’t have a meeting right now,” he said, taking the ball from Boxer and tossing it across the room.

  “Kim, when should we meet?” Caley said. “We should get this going as soon as possible.” Her cheeks were pink with excitement. I kind of couldn’t get over the fact that they were so enthusiastic about my idea. I mean, they were in high school but they were acting like I was the cool one.

  “Um, how about tomorrow afternoon, right after school, at the Rox?” I said. That was a homework day for me but I was pretty sure my parents would let me start late just this once. They understood how important this was.

  “Sure,” Caley said. “I can be late to drama for this.”

  “Works for me too,” Tim said as Boxer ran back over to him.

  “Sounds good,” Sasha said, and Taylor nodded.

  “Okay, that’s settled,” Tim said. “And now I think we should take this crew outside.”

  Tim, Caley, and Sasha headed for the back door, most of the dogs trailing after them. I was about to follow but then I realized Taylor was standing there, smiling at me.

  “What’s up?” I asked her.

  She replied by throwing her arms around me and hugging me tight. “You are so smart and awesome for coming up with this plan,” she said as she let me go. “And I’m so happy I get to be part of it!”

  “I’m really glad you’re part of it too,” I said, grinning at her. Because I was one hundred percent happy she was there. Sasha had been right about Taylor all along. It had just taken me a while to get it.

  We started for the back door but then I stopped in my tracks. “You guys, we need a name.”

  “For what?” Sasha asked.

  “For the after-school dog club,” I said. “We can’t call it that because dogs don’t go to school.”

  Everybody laughed.

  “How about Doggy Day Care?” Caley asked.

  Tim shook his head. “It’s not all day,” he said. “Just afternoons.”

  “What about the Dog Sitter Service?” Sasha asked.

  Caley wrinkled her nose.

  “You guys, it’s obvious,” Taylor said, grinning straight at me. “Everything in this town is named Roxbury Park something. So this will be the Roxbury Park Dog Club.”

  I burst out laughing.

  “Perfect,” Alice declared.

  And it was.

  10

  When the three of us walked into the Rox the next afternoon Caley and Tim were already there. They’d nabbed a corner booth and had two steaming baskets of sweet potato fries waiting for us.

  “Hi, guys,” Caley said as the three of us slid in next to them.

  “Help yourself to fries,” Tim said, his mouth full. “The Rox has the best sweet potato fries in the world.”

  “Have you actually tasted all the sweet potato fries in the world?” Caley teased.

  “I don’t have to,” Tim said. “It’s obvious these are the best.”

  “Kim’s parents own this place,” Sasha informed them proudly. “And that sweet potato fry recipe is theirs.”

  Caley’s eyes opened wide in admiration and Tim almost choked on his fries. “I’m moving into your house,” he declared when he could talk again.

  We all laughed.

  “Seriously, what makes these so good?” Caley asked, reaching for more.

  “It’s a mix of cinnamon and cumin,” I said. “And one or two more secret ingredients I can’t reveal.”

  “Later we’ll have to kidnap you so your parents will sell us the recipe,” Tim said.

  “One mission at a time,” Caley said, rolling her eyes. “Right now we’re saving the shelter with Kim’s awesome idea. And we should get started. We have a lot to plan before we can get this club off the ground.”

  “First things first,” Tim said, also ready to get down to business. “How do potential clients contact us?”

  “We could put our phone numbers on the flyer,” Sasha said, reaching for some fries.

  I felt my stomach tighten. “Actually I don’t think my parents would be okay with that,” I said, worried I sounded like a total baby. “They’re pretty strict about who I give my cell phone number to.”

  Sasha’s shoulders slumped. “I didn’t think of that,” she said. “My mom wouldn’t be happy to see my number all over town either.”

  “Mine either,” Caley said, surprising me. “And actually I asked Alice this yesterday. She thinks we should set up a special email account just for the Dog Club and then people who want to call can just use the number of the shelter.”

  “That sounds great,” I said, relieved. “And we can help Alice answer the phone so she isn’t the one having to deal with the scheduling and stuff.”

  “Good idea,” Caley said with an approving nod.

  I couldn’t help feeling pleased at her casual praise.

  “What about getting the dogs to the club?” Tim asked, his fingers scraping the bottom of the fry basket. “And also we need more of these.”

  Caley flagged down Wendy, who ruffled my hair before she scooped up our fry baskets for refills.

  “You really are royalty,” Tim said, making me giggle.

  “Some owners might be able to take a break from work to drop their dogs off at the shelter,” Taylor said.

  “And maybe those who can’t can leave us a key and pay an extra fee to have us pick up their dogs and walk them to the shelter,” Sasha added.

  Tim was nodding. “I like how you think,” he said. “Because the more money we get for the shelter, the better.”

  I saw Sasha’s cheeks turn rosy at his words.

  “Speaking of money,” Caley said, “I talked to Alice about this too and she said it makes the most sense for her to handle the money stuff—making invoices, collecting payments, and all that.”

  “Great,” Taylor said. “I think that might have been a lot for us to handle.”

  “Agreed,” Caley said.

  The fries arrived at the table and we all dug in. They were crisp and steaming and totally delicious. We ate silently for a minute and then Caley looked at her watch.

  “I need to get to drama,” she said. “Is there anything else we should go over?”

  I cleared my throat. “Not to get ahead of ourselves,” I said, “but I was thinking we probably need to have a limit of how many dogs we can take.”

  “Good point,” Taylor said.

  “Yeah, things could get pretty crazy with twenty dogs running around,” Sasha agreed.

  Caley and Tim were nodding.

  “Kim, what do you think is a good limit?” Caley asked me.

  I was pleased to be asked but then thought carefully about her question. “Probably no more than six at a time, at least to start,” I said.

  “Sounds good,” Tim said as he and Caley stood up.

  “The fries are on us,” Caley said, getting her wallet out. “You guys finish up and we’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Actually they’re on me,” I said with a grin.

  Caley smacked her forehead theatrically. “Of course, you own the place,” she said.

  “Which is why we’ll be hanging out with you all the time,” Tim said with a wink.

  After they’d gone Sasha grinned at us. “This is really happening, you guys,” she said.

  Taylor raised her glass of ice water. “To the Roxbury Park Dog Club,” she said.

  Sasha and I raised ours as well. “To the club,” we cheered.

 
; “This is for you,” I said to Mrs. Cronin on Monday morning as I handed her one of the flyers Sasha and Tim had made.

  She took it just as her phone rang.

  “You can read it later,” I said as I snapped Humphrey’s leash on.

  “I will,” she promised as she clicked on her phone.

  Humphrey and I made our way down the driveway. The sun was shining but it was cooler than yesterday. Fall was definitely coming.

  “Today you get three of us,” I told Humphrey, who barked joyfully when he saw Sasha and Taylor walking up to us, their arms piled high with more flyers.

  They both knelt down to greet Humphrey, who rolled over for a good belly scratch.

  “I put these up all around my neighborhood last night,” Taylor said. “And my dad put some up at Old Farm Market when he went shopping last night.”

  “Great,” I said. Old Farm Market was on the edge of town and most people in Roxbury Park did their big grocery shopping there. A lot of people would see that flyer.

  “My mom said she’d put some up in the break room at her office,” Sasha said, giving Humphrey one last rub before I tugged on his leash to get him walking. “And in some of the other stores near town that are too far for us to walk to.”

  “She’s not worried about you being around even more dogs?” Taylor asked with a grin.

  Sasha rolled her eyes. “Of course she is,” she said. “I had to promise I’d never, ever forget my shelter clothes and that I’d shower twice as long after.”

  Taylor and I laughed.

  “My mom is so embarrassing,” Sasha said with a sigh.

  I reached over with my free hand and patted Sasha’s shoulder. Most of the time she just laughed about her mom’s rules but I knew there were times when it got to her.

  “At least she doesn’t call you Sugar Plum in public like my dad,” Taylor said.

  I tried not to laugh but then I caught Sasha’s eye and we both burst into giggles.

  Taylor grinned wryly. “It sounds funny but it’s the most mortifying thing ever when he does it at school.”

  “You are sugary sweet,” Sasha said, and Taylor pretended to punch her in the arm. That got Humphrey excited and he began to bark.

  “Settle down, girls,” I said in my best Mrs. Benson imitation. It wasn’t very good but they laughed anyway.

  It was really fun to be in on the joke with Taylor and Sasha.

  We turned onto Main Street and Sasha and Taylor began to hang flyers.

  “So will your parents put up flyers at the Rox?” Sasha asked, securing one to the bulletin board at the park entrance.

  “They said they’d do it first thing this morning,” I said. My parents had been really excited when I showed them the flyer and the email we’d written, and promised to do all they could to help.

  “Excellent,” Sasha crowed. “Everyone in town goes to the Rox.”

  We continued down Main Street with Sasha and Taylor papering every telephone pole and bulletin board with a flyer.

  “So that’s done,” Sasha said, after the last flyer had been hung and we were on our way back to the Cronins’.

  “What else can we do to get the word out?” Taylor asked.

  “I was thinking we should put up flyers at all the vet offices in town,” I said, almost tripping over Humphrey, who had stopped short to sniff a candy wrapper. I pulled him forward before he could try to lick it.

  “Good idea,” Sasha said. “And we should do the pet stores too, for dog owners getting food and stuff.”

  “Definitely,” I agreed. “Like the Pet Emporium.”

  “Oh, good idea,” Sasha said.

  “Can you guys think of anywhere else?” I asked.

  They both shook their heads.

  “I think after this we wait,” Sasha said. “And get ready to start taking calls.”

  We were almost back to the Cronins’ and Humphrey was moving a bit more slowly.

  “Do you want breakfast, Humphrey?” I asked.

  His sweet brown eyes opened wide and he began trotting, his nails clicking on the sidewalk.

  Sasha and Taylor burst out laughing.

  “I’ve never seen him move so fast,” Sasha said.

  “All it takes is the right motivation,” I said, chuckling as Humphrey raced up the porch steps as fast as his short legs would take him.

  Mrs. Cronin was still on the phone when she came to the door so I didn’t get to ask her about the flyer. I was pretty sure she’d look at it though. And the way we’d papered Roxbury Park with flyers, I felt confident that a lot of people would read about our Dog Club.

  The question was, would any of them actually sign up?

  That afternoon when we got to the shelter Alice called us to her office for a meeting. We filed into the cozy space, which had a cluttered desk on one wall and a small, lumpy sofa set across from it. The walls had pictures of all the dogs who had been at the shelter. One of my favorites was of Sammy, the dog my family adopted when I was little. And I noticed a new one of Mr. Smashmouth and Lily cuddled together under a tree that was really cute too.

  Today Alice had on a white T-shirt covered with rainbow dog paw prints, and there were dark circles under her eyes, as though she’d been up late the night before. “I made a new section on our website,” she said. “It took me a while since this computer is so slow but I think it turned out well.” She turned the computer screen so we could see it. Roxbury Park Dog Club was at the top and then there was a section explaining the club and the service we offered.

  A jolt of electricity zipped through me as I read it. It looked so professional!

  “Awesome,” Taylor said with a grin.

  “I think it covers everything,” Alice said. “And I put in an email address just for the club, and the number of the shelter so dog owners can get in touch, for questions and for scheduling. You guys can be in charge of that.”

  “Perfect,” Sasha said happily.

  “We’re all pitching in,” Alice went on. “And I’m always here if you need me. But the club is yours and it’s going to be hard work to run it.”

  I felt a sliver of worry at her words but Taylor was nodding. “We’re ready,” she said.

  Alice smiled. “I know you are and I know you can handle it. And I am here to help, so never hesitate to ask.”

  We all nodded. I appreciated Alice saying that and I knew we’d need her help sometimes. But I really liked the club being ours and I wanted to handle everything we could by ourselves. I wanted to show Alice and everyone else that we could do it.

  “Let’s go over everything you’ll need to be on top of,” Alice said.

  “Wait, let me just get my notebook so I can write this down,” I said, realizing that if we were going to be in charge, we couldn’t forget anything.

  Alice waited, an approving smile on her face, until I’d gotten a notebook and pen out of my backpack, and then she went on. “First there’s what you’ll need to find out from prospective clients, before we let them sign up for the club.”

  I nodded, writing down every word.

  “We need to make it very clear that we have to have vaccination records from every dog,” Alice said. “All dogs who come must be vaccinated and spayed or neutered, no exceptions. We also need to let them know that every dog at the shelter is spayed or neutered and up to date on their vaccines, so clients don’t have to be concerned about that.”

  “Sounds good,” Sasha said.

  “We’ll tell people the club starts next Monday,” Alice said. “To give us a week to iron out any last-minute details.”

  “Great,” I said. It was so exciting to think that by this time next week the club would be up and running!

  “Then there’s making sure you have contact information for all the owners, in case you need to get in touch with them,” Alice went on.

  “Maybe we can make up a list that attaches to the schedule,” Taylor said. “That way we all have it on our phones when we’re out walking the dogs and on the of
fice computer here.”

  “Good idea,” Alice said. “You girls are going to do a great job. The next step is getting calls and clients, and then we’ll take it from there.”

  “Great,” I said, closing my notebook and putting it away.

  Alice stood up. “Now go ahead and have fun with the dogs.”

  The three of us headed out and were warmly greeted by Lily, Boxer, and Hattie. I noticed Taylor knead Boxer’s head affectionately and I grinned. She had come a long way!

  “Let’s take them outside,” Sasha said.

  So we headed into the yard with the dogs, now joined by Mr. Smashmouth and Popsicle, bounding ahead of us. I threw a tennis ball and all five dogs raced after it.

  Sasha picked up the Frisbee so there would be something else to chase, but then made a face. “I think this toy might be over,” she said.

  I looked over and saw that it was nearly split in half. “Yeah, the sharp edges could cut the dogs,” I said.

  Sasha walked over to the garbage under the porch to get rid of the useless toy. “Won’t it be great when we have enough money to buy some new balls and stuff for the dogs?” she asked.

  “As long as the club actually works,” I said.

  Taylor squeezed my arm. “It will,” she said.

  I really hoped she was right.

  Sasha found Boxer’s favorite green Frisbee, which was in better shape, and began throwing it for Boxer and Lily, while Hattie and Popsicle were having a friendly tussle over a rubber bone. I was happy to see Hattie being a little more independent. And watching her made me think of something else. Caley, Tim, and Alice had helped us with setting up the club, like how to run it and all the details we needed to tell clients so that the dogs would be safely cared for. But there was a whole other set of details, things that we’d need to be on top of if we wanted the club to work. “I think we should have a club notebook,” I said.

  “But we’re doing the schedule online and contact information online,” Sasha said. “Couldn’t we just put any notes up there too?”

  “We could, but Alice’s computer is really slow and I’m not sure she’ll want us using it all the time,” I said. “And, if it’s a notebook we can pass it around between all of us and take turns writing in it at night and stuff.”