When the Going Gets Ruff

by Daphne Maple

  “Want to hold one?” the man asked.

  “Go ahead, hon,” my mom said.

  I hadn’t seen her walk up and her reaction nearly made me fall over in shock. Even more amazing was the way she was looking at the chinchillas and actually smiling.

  The man reached into the case and pulled out a chinchilla, handing it gently to me. It fit in one hand and its little claws dug into the soft skin of my palm. I tried to move it around but the claws still scratched.

  “They’re very soft,” the man said.

  My mom reached out a finger and stroked its side. “Oh, it really is,” she said.

  I pet it gently on the other side. It was soft. But it just sat there in my hand looking bored. And mousy. Not that there was anything wrong with mice but a mouse wasn’t exactly my dream pet. Especially one that just sat there doing nothing.

  “Let me give you our pamphlet on chinchillas,” the man said, walking to the front of the store and grabbing one from the wire display by the register. When he came back I handed him the chinchilla and he gave me the pamphlet.

  “We’re open tomorrow at ten if you want to come back for this little guy,” he said.

  “Actually I think we’d need a girl,” my mom said, giving me a wink.

  As we walked out I knew I should feel over the moon at my mom’s reaction. But somehow I didn’t, I just felt flat.

  “They’re cute,” my mom said, smiling at me.

  It was hard to smile back.

  “Maybe we should think about getting one,” she said as we drove home. She glanced over at me, almost quizzical, as though to gauge my reaction.

  “Okay, yeah, let’s think about it,” I said, working to sound enthusiastic. What was wrong with me? Getting a pet had been my dream forever and after all the careful arguments she’d shot down, this one was finally looking like a yes. I should be jumping up and down! Well, we were in the car so I couldn’t actually jump but I should at least be bouncing a little. But I wasn’t. I felt more like a soda that had lost all its fizz. Maybe I was just hungry?

  Even after a dinner of Old Farm Market’s tasty minestrone soup and just-baked bread, I was still feeling hollow inside. I helped my mom clean up after dinner and then went upstairs, where I pulled out the brochure on chinchillas. If I learned more about them maybe they would seem more exciting.

  The good news was that it turned out chinchillas were playful. But the bad news was that they were crepuscular, which meant that they were most active at dawn and dusk, two times I was pretty busy. Plus they mostly played with their toys in their cage, which wasn’t that exciting. No fetch or tug-of-war. Reading about them made me feel even flatter, if that was possible.

  So later that night, when I went down for a snack during my study break, I took the brochure in to my mom’s study.

  “Mom, I don’t think a chinchilla will work for us,” I said, showing her one of the pages. “It says here that you need to give them a bath in ashes once a week, to keep their fur clean.”

  I thought she’d be surprised but instead she nodded knowingly, almost like she had expected me to say something like this. Maybe she’d picked up on my lack of enthusiasm in the car. “That doesn’t seem so good,” she said. “It could get pretty messy.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Sorry I didn’t notice it before.”

  My mom smiled at me. “I’m glad you caught it now,” she said.

  I headed back upstairs, still not sure why I didn’t want the one pet my mom had finally agreed to. I remembered all the books my mom gave me about puberty and growing up. Had I somehow outgrown wanting a pet and not even realized it? But when I thought about how much I loved my time with the dogs at the shelter, especially Mr. Smashmouth, I knew that wasn’t it.

  All I could conclude was that the quiz was wrong and a chinchilla just wasn’t the right pet. So over the weekend I decided I’d take some more quizzes and do more research—now that my mom was finally starting to consider a pet, I needed to be ready!

  12

  “Are you ready for Sierra?” Kim asked when I arrived at her locker after the final bell had rung.

  “Totally,” I said. I’d been thinking about it for days. My plan was to get Gus first, since I didn’t want to risk letting Sierra loose in Gus’s house. He and I would go get Sierra, bring her to the dog park to play a bit with the other club dogs, and then take a walk together before heading over to the shelter. And by the time we got there, Sierra would have gotten out her wild energy and be ready to play nicely with the other dogs. Or at least not terrify them.

  “Hey,” Taylor said, coming up from behind me. She was twisting a braid tightly around her fingers.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Nothing really,” Taylor said, but her face was tense. “I just messed up in science and kind of got in trouble.”

  “What happened?” Kim asked, immediately concerned.

  “Brianna accidently gave me the wrong size beaker when she was passing them out to everyone,” Taylor said. “And my experiment went all over my lab table.”

  “That sucks,” Kim said, squeezing Taylor’s arm. Kim totally understood school problems.

  But I was more worried about Brianna problems. “Did Brianna give anyone else the wrong size?” I asked, shifting my backpack from one shoulder to the other.

  “No, but it was an honest mistake,” Taylor said. “I mean, she just passed them out randomly from the box Ms. Lewis gave her.”

  I wasn’t so sure. “I don’t think I trust Brianna,” I said as Kim closed her locker and we joined the crowd heading out of school. “I don’t like how she calls you ‘new girl.’”

  Taylor laughed. “I don’t mind,” she said. “I am the new girl. But thanks for having my back just in case.”

  “Always,” I said. If it didn’t bother Taylor I was willing to let it go, at least for now.

  “Do you guys want to sleep over on Saturday?” Taylor asked as we walked outside and ducked past a group of kids throwing a football. “We can do another trial run of Turkish delight and finish up the poster.”

  “Sounds great,” I said. It would be fun to make the Turkish delight as long as we weren’t at my house.

  I looked at Kim, waiting for her to agree, but she was biting her lip. “I’m not sure,” she said slowly. “I have a big math test on Monday and I should probably study.”

  “We can help you study for it after we make the Turkish delight,” I said.

  “And we can ask Anna for strategies,” Taylor added. “She might be a pain but she’s a pain who’s really good at math.”

  “Okay,” Kim agreed. “As long as we make sure there’s enough time for it.”

  “We will,” I promised.

  “And it will be good to get our social studies project done,” Taylor added.

  “Don’t forget we’ll need stuff for milk shakes too,” I reminded her. Our sleepover tradition was to make amazing milk shakes with add-ins like M&M’s, peanut butter, and my favorite, rainbow sprinkles.

  “Good thinking,” Taylor said. “I’ll make sure we have supplies.”

  We’d reached the street and I was eager to get Sierra. “I’ll see you guys at the park,” I said, heading off for Gus’s house.

  I jogged most of the way and it just took a few minutes to get Gus leashed up and out the door. “We’re going to get your friend Sierra,” I told him. Gus hadn’t exactly played with her before but he wasn’t one of the dogs that hid from her either. I was confident that the two of them together would have fun.

  The Finnegans lived just two blocks from Main Street, in a small white house with green shutters and lilac bushes lining the front walk. It was hard to imagine living in a little house with such a big dog! Though they did have a good-sized backyard that I noticed had a high fence. I hoped it went down deep too, so Sierra couldn’t dig her way out like she wanted to at Dog Club.

  Sierra began barking as soon as she heard us walk up the front steps.

  “Hey, Sierra,�
� I said as I opened the door. Sierra leaped up on my shoulders and I staggered backward. Gus barked in alarm. But I righted myself quickly and we walked inside.

  Sierra was racing around her house in excitement. It was kind of cute but a little worrisome—what if I couldn’t get her leash on? Gus sat beside me watching Sierra but luckily not trying to join her.

  “Sierra, come,” I called.

  Nothing.

  “Sierra, come,” I said as firmly as I could.

  Sierra flew through the entryway and into the living room. This was not going well. But then I saw the sticky note left next to Sierra’s leash on the dresser by the door. Dog treats inside top drawer to help Sierra stay still for her leash. Perfect!

  I located the treats, then shook the bag. Sierra came racing in and leaped up on me, but this time I was ready. I snapped her leash onto her collar and then pulled her down. “Sit,” I said firmly.

  Sierra wagged her tail.

  “Sit,” I said again, holding up the bag.

  Sierra sat. “Good girl,” I told her, giving her a treat, which she wolfed down. I gave one to Gus too since he’d been waiting so nicely. Then the three of us headed out into the sunny afternoon.

  I knew to have a tight hold on Sierra’s leash, and good thing because we’d walked about thirty seconds before she spotted a squirrel and tried to chase it. She nearly pulled my shoulder out of the socket but I kept my fingers wrapped tight around the handle and Sierra’s ears drooped as the squirrel made its getaway.

  “You can run at the park,” I told her.

  Halfway down Main Street I switched arms since the one holding Sierra was getting tired. Gus was being his usual sweet self, if a bit more subdued, but he didn’t seem scared or upset by Sierra. So far my plan was working.

  Kim, Humphrey, Popsicle, Taylor, and Coco had arrived at the park before us and as soon as Sierra saw them she lunged forward. “Hold on,” I told her, bracing myself so I wouldn’t fall over.

  “She’s giving you a workout,” Kim observed, sounding slightly concerned.

  “It’s fine, I have dancer muscles,” I reassured her. Though I had to admit I was looking forward to a little break at the park—Sierra was strong!

  We were at the gate and Coco ran over to greet us. That set Sierra off—she jumped up to put her paws on the top of the gate and her head whacked into my elbow. I jerked my arm back and somehow in that moment, the leash fell out of my hands. Sierra was off like a shot, bounding down the sidewalk, the leash trailing behind her.

  In a panic I passed Gus to Kim and took off after Sierra. But the big dog had a good lead on me. I saw her turn on Elm Street but by the time I reached the corner, Sierra was gone.

  My whole body was shaking as I walked back to the dog park.

  “Where did she go?” Taylor asked, her eyes wide.

  “I have no idea,” I said, the words high and squeaky. “She just disappeared.” Gus came and rubbed against my legs, clearly sensing my distress.

  “We should go look for her,” Taylor said.

  “Yeah, but I have no idea where she went,” I said. Despite the warmth of the day I felt all shivery. “You guys, this is really bad.”

  There was a terrible moment of silence. Then Kim cleared her throat. “It’s going to be okay,” she said, though her voice didn’t sound right and her face was pale. “We need to get these guys to the shelter and then we’ll see about finding Sierra.”

  “Should one of us maybe stay out and look for Sierra?” I asked. The longer we waited, the farther away she could be.

  But Kim shook her head. “We have to get these guys safe and we have to tell Alice and the Finnegans what happened,” she said, walking over to Humphrey and snapping on his leash. “We’re going to need their help.”

  The thought of telling Alice and the Finnegans made me want to fall onto the ground and cry. But there wasn’t time for that, not when we needed to find Sierra. So I took a shaking breath and began to help Taylor and Kim walk the dogs back to the shelter.

  “Mr. Finnegan is on his way,” Alice said, coming out of her office, her face drawn.

  “I’m so sorry, Alice,” I said, tears springing to my eyes. This was horrible for her and the shelter and the club—it was like in that split second I let Sierra get away, I’d ruined everything.

  “Let’s just focus on finding Sierra,” Alice said, putting her hand on my shoulder for a moment. The warmth of it helped me choke back my tears. “I’ll stay here to look after the dogs. The rest of you can search.”

  “We should split into pairs,” Caley said. I’d never seen her look so serious, her normally rosy cheeks pale and her smile gone. “And each pair can check out a different part of town. Sierra has to be somewhere.”

  “Sounds good,” Kim said. She and Taylor had stuck close to me ever since it happened. “Sasha and I can go west, back toward the dog park.”

  Just then the front door opened and Mr. Finnegan burst in. “Have you found her?” he asked. He was out of breath—clearly he had run all the way here.

  “Mr. Finnegan,” I began, but Alice held up a hand and I stopped.

  “We haven’t found her yet,” Alice said in a soothing voice. “Our plan is to break into pairs and look for her. You and Tim can walk down Elm Street. That’s where the girls last saw her.”

  I held my breath, waiting for Mr. Finnegan to start yelling about how irresponsible we were for letting Sierra go, but he just ran his hands through his hair, which was messy from his run, and said, “Let’s go.”

  As we all filed for the door Alice beckoned me over. “Don’t worry about apologizing right now,” she told me quietly. “There will be time for that later, but now we need to focus all our energy on finding Sierra.”

  “Okay,” I said. I really wanted to tell Mr. Finnegan how terrible I felt but I knew Alice was right: all that mattered right now was finding Sierra.

  “Does everyone have their phones?” Tim asked when we were outside the shelter.

  Everyone except for me nodded. Of course I’d forgotten mine like I forgot everything.

  “As soon as you find her, text Alice and then the rest of us,” Tim said.

  And then we all fanned out, everyone moving as fast as they could.

  Kim and I speed-walked down Main Street and now that it was just the two of us I could finally say everything I was thinking. “What if we don’t find her and it gets too dark to search?” I said. “Or she gets hurt? Or someone dognaps her?”

  Kim put an arm around my shoulders and hugged me. “None of that is going to happen,” she said. “We’re going to find her.” She had made her voice confident but I saw the wrinkle of worry etched between her brows. She was concerned, and why wouldn’t she be? Any of those things could happen, or worse, and we both knew it.

  “It’s all my fault,” I said, my voice breaking.

  “Sash, it was an accident,” Kim said firmly. “Don’t fall apart now. We need you to help look for Sierra.”

  She was right. I pushed my worries down and the two of us ran toward the dog park. As we got close I saw that there were a few dogs playing together and for a moment I thought one toward the back corner might be Sierra. But then the dog bounded forward and it was a big collie, not our wild German shepherd.

  “Let’s go down Calico Drive,” Kim said. She led the way, with me close on her heels. Every minute or so one of us called her name as we peered down driveways and behind trees, but there was no sign of Sierra. The sun was getting lower in the sky and I felt a chill creep over me, though I wasn’t sure if it was the cold or knowing what I had done.

  “I wonder if we should turn around,” Kim said. Her face was in shadow but I could hear the anxiety in her voice.

  Then her phone beeped with a text. Kim reached into her pocket so fast she fumbled the phone and nearly dropped it. But when she read the text a big smile came over her face. “Caley and Taylor found Sierra!” she said, throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, hard, relief making my legs so
weak I wasn’t sure if I could stand on my own.

  “Let’s go back,” Kim said after a minute.

  I nodded, steadied myself, and we headed back to the shelter.

  When we walked in the door everyone was smiling, the dogs were running around, and Sierra stood next to Mr. Finnegan, who held her leash tightly in one hand. He was talking to Alice and I rushed right over to them.

  “It was my fault we lost Sierra,” I told him. “And I’m so sorry.” I didn’t want him to think for one minute that Alice or any of the others were responsible for this.

  “The last time she got loose it was my fault,” Mr. Finnegan said, looking at me kindly. “And then it took us hours to track her down. So believe me, I understand how easily it can happen.”

  It was nice of him to say but I knew it had been my job to keep Sierra safe, and I’d totally let him and Alice and everyone down.

  “Where did you guys find her?” Kim asked. She was petting Sierra, who looked slightly disappointed all the excitement had ended. She’d probably had fun frolicking around town on her own.

  “In the Cotswalds’ front yard chasing a squirrel,” Caley said, coming up and putting an arm around my shoulders.

  “That sounds like Sierra,” Mr. Finnegan said affectionately. “Thank you so much for finding her.”

  “We’re happy she’s back safe and sound,” Alice said. She spoke in a calm voice but I could see from the way that her ponytail was falling apart and the tightness in her face that she had been worried. Really worried. And she was probably still thinking about how bad this could have been and how lucky we were that Caley and Taylor had found Sierra so fast. I was certainly still thinking about it.

  “I should get this girl home,” Mr. Finnegan said, pulling a reluctant Sierra toward the exit. “Thank you again.” The door closed softly behind them.

  “Well, that was an afternoon of drama,” Caley said, dragging her arm across her forehead in an exaggerated gesture of relief.