Reg flipped his university name badge over and showed me a picture of a brindle Staffordshire Terrier. He looked a lot like me—if I were part tiger.
“This was my Rico,” Reg said. “He was a Helper Hound. He died a couple months ago. I miss him.”
I sniffed the picture—a faint scent of rubbing alcohol—and then snuggled tighter into Reg. He smelled sad. I wanted to help.
“She’s very responsive,” Reg said.
Prof. Lester nodded. “I’m telling you. She’s the one.”
Apparently, Reg agreed. Because before I knew it, Reg adopted me. I became Spooky Boot! We moved my dog bed and food into Reg’s little house and headed off to Helper Hounds University. Because I only had three legs, I had to work extra hard on some of the tricks and skills Helper Hounds needed to know. But I figured it out. Plus, Mr. Tuttle, the founder of Helper Hounds, thought only having three legs would make me a better Helper Hound. It would help others relate to me, he said.
All I know is that my new life was looking great. After several months of training, I got my red vest and name badge and became an official Helper Hound.
Who could’ve imagined all this back when I was escaping out of back doors or when I was on that operating table?
As they say, all things turn out for the best—and it’s true! Now, let’s get back to Danny.
CHAPTER 4
I stretched my front leg forward and my snout toward the sky. I held the pose until Reg took my vest off the hook and brought it to me.
“You should teach doggy yoga—doga,” Reg laughed to himself as he snapped my vest on. “Never can get over your balance and flexibility.”
Reg said this to me whenever I practiced my poses. I do have good balance—and flexibility. So it is nice to show it off a bit. But really, I just love to stretch. Stretching feels so good and is so relaxing. Whenever we head out on a new Helper Hounds case or a day at school, I make sure to stretch as long and deep as I can. In fact, my second Life Rule is: S T R E T C H yourself. It’s good to really feel your muscles work. I can do anything after a good stretch.
I stood up straight as Reg snapped my vest and leash on. My tail swooshed back and forth. We were ready to go.
• • •
Reg and I stood at the bottom of a steep stack of white stairs.
“You okay with all these stairs, Spooky?” Reg asked.
I answered by hopping up two steps at a time.
The revolving doors to the courthouse gave me a little pause. There’s a weird rhythm and flow to those things. It’s hard to coordinate on my three legs. But I did fine. When we stepped out of the doors, Reg took off my vest and set it on the conveyor belt. A security guard told me to stop and stay. Then she called me through the metal detector. They took a wand and ran it all over my body. It beeped at my tags, but the guard didn’t seem worried. As Reg snapped my vest back on, I noticed a boy staring at me across the hall. He tugged at a woman’s coattail and pointed.
The woman turned to follow the boy’s point and smiled broadly. She tapped the man standing next to her.
Soon, the little family was walking right at us.
“You must be Spooky,” the woman said.
My butt shook at the sound of my name.
The man and woman stood up close; the boy tucked in behind them.
“Yes,” Reg said. “This is Spooky. You must be Danny.”
Reg peeked around the grown-ups. Danny pressed his face into the woman’s coat but nodded.
“I’m Caroline, and this is Ben,” the woman said. They shook hands. Ben leaned down to pet me. I sprawled on the floor, so I could get a better look at the kid behind Caroline’s legs. “And yes, this is Danny back here. The courthouse isn’t his favorite place.”
“Mine either, Danny,” Reg said. “I prefer my chemistry lab.”
“I have a chemistry set,” came a small voice from behind Caroline.
“Oh yeah?” Reg said. “What do you like to do with it?”
“Mix stuff,” the voice said. “And make bubbles.”
“Do you wear goggles and gloves when you mix stuff and make bubbles?” Reg asked.
“Yes,” the voice said. “Mama Caroline makes me.”
“Smart lady,” Reg said. “Wanna see a picture of Spooky in her goggles?”
Reg held out his phone. I sat up as Danny peeked around to see.
Danny giggled and then smiled at me.
“She lets you put those on?”
Reg nodded. “I brought some with me. Want me to show you how we do it?”
Danny nodded again.
“Actually, can you help me?”
Danny slowly moved from behind Caroline. Reg reached into his messenger bag and pulled out my goggles. I stood up and started wiggling. I didn’t know they had a lab in this place! Then I remembered: Sometimes Reg had me put on goggles to show people how good I was or how goofy I looked. I was never quite sure.
Danny giggled when he saw my ears flipped up above the rubber band.
“I might’ve gotten better than a D in chemistry if I had this girl in my class,” Ben said.
Caroline shook her head. “You might’ve gotten better than a D if you would have cracked open your textbook!” she said.
“Spooky helps students relax,” Reg said. “But she can’t help them pass if they don’t study.”
“True,” Ben said as he looked at his watch. “Judge Mathers and the district attorney are expecting us. We should head down there.”
Danny’s body stiffened. His face grew hard. Danny shook his head and stared down the long marble corridor. Once again, I smelled the sharp scent of panic. But Danny wasn’t afraid of me. He was afraid of whatever—or whomever—waited down the long marble hallway.
I stepped closer to Danny as he stared into space. I licked his hand. He still didn’t move.
“Danny, honey, Judge Mathers and DA Donaldson are very kind,” Caroline said. “You have nothing to worry about. Today is just a simple meeting.”
Danny didn’t move.
Caroline and Ben looked at each other. Then they looked at Reg.
Reg smiled and knelt down in front of Danny.
“Want to see what Spooky does when she gets nervous?” Reg asked.
Danny turned toward me, tilted his head, and nodded.
CHAPTER 5
Reg looked around the courthouse lobby. Then he handed my leash to Caroline and said, “Hold her, please. I’ll be right back.”
He walked up to a security guard and said something. The guard gave him a funny look but then shrugged his shoulders. The guard helped Reg carry three big rope barriers to where we stood.
“Can you help me?” Reg asked Danny. Danny nodded and held an end of one rope. Reg showed him how to connect it to another pole. Soon, we had blocked off a big triangle around where we stood.
“This way, we have some space,” Reg said.
Danny turned around in the triangle. “For what?”
“A little yoga, er, doga,” Reg said with a smile to himself.
“Doga? Like, doggy yoga? Here? Now?” Ben asked.
“Absolutely,” said Reg. “Spooky always gets a good stretch in before we do anything. That’s what she does when she’s nervous. And you know what? She’s on to something. Good stretches calm us. There’s a science to it, actually. I could tell you about the chemistry of that when we have more time.”
“That’s okay,” Danny said. “I just want to see.”
Reg pulled his hand up to a sit command. Then he waved his hand down. I lay down. Then Reg stretched his arms wide. I pushed myself back up. My front leg held stick straight. My back legs angled toward the floor. Once again, my snout reached high into the sky. For the first time I noticed the giant dome above us. Light streamed in through the windows all around it.
“Good
girl,” Reg said.
I shook it all off and sat back down.
“Why does she do that?” Danny asked.
“I can’t tell you for sure,” Reg said. “But I notice she does it just before we leave the house on every Helper Hounds case. I think it relaxes her.”
“How does she do it without that leg?”
“After she lost her leg, she worked really hard to get strong again.” Reg said. “Stretching and exercise were part of that.”
Danny nodded. “So maybe Spooky feels nervous and then she stretches and feels better?”
“I feel better—stronger even—after I go to yoga,” Ben said.
“Me too,” Reg said and turned to Danny. “Wanna try some stretches with Spooky?”
“Right here? With the people walking by?” Danny asked.
“Why not?” Reg said. “They probably could use some relaxing lessons too.”
Before Reg could even ask, I struck my pose again. Front leg straight. Back legs angled. Snout straight to the dome.
Danny scrambled onto the ground, lifted one arm up, stretched his toes all the way back, and turned his face to the dome.
“It’s not fair if I balance on two arms and two legs if Spooky can only balance on three,” Danny said.
“That’s nice of you,” Reg said. “But Spooky’s okay with you using all four if it helps. Spooky would use her other leg if she had it!”
Caroline snapped a picture before Danny put his arm down.
“Don’t post that,” Danny said. “Not till I get better at balancing.”
“I won’t,” Caroline said. “But later you’ll want to see how cute the two of you look practicing.”
And apparently, we did look cute. Because lots of other people stopped to watch us. Some snapped pictures, and Reg politely asked them not to post anything. You never know if they’ll listen. People get pretty excited when they see a Helper Hound out in “the wild.”
I’ve also gotten good at ignoring the looky-loos who try to get glimpses of Helper Hounds at work. So, I ignored everyone and focused only on Danny. As he stretched his head up, I went back into my pose. Together, we stretched. Side by side. Body by body. I could hear his heartbeat slowing down.
But then someone walked by with a breakfast burrito. I caught one quick whiff, and I decided to practice another of my life rules: Stop to Sniff the Air. There’s just something about a long deep sniff that somehow calms the jitters and tells us all is right with the world—what with all its interesting smells. And that proved true again as I took a long, deep sniff of the scrambled egg and sausage and peppery cheese….
Danny noticed my deep sniffing and added a deep breath of his own. Now he was really getting the hang of it!
I held my stretch two more quick sniffs and then shook it off. Danny looked over at me and did the same. We both stood up.
Reg moved the ropes back by the security guard and said, “I think our yoga session is probably over.”
“How you feeling?” Caroline asked.
Danny smiled. “Much better!” He put his hand over his heart. “My heart’s not racing.”
“Good news,” Ben said. “You ready to go meet the judge and the district attorney?”
Danny closed his eyes, stretched his fingers, and took a deep breath.
“I’m ready,” he said.
CHAPTER 6
Judge Mathers opened the door and immediately knelt down. Her robes bagged around her as she scratched my head.
“Excuse my manners,” Judge Mathers said as she smushed her face into mine. “I know I should ask before I pet her. But I had a Staffordshire terrier like her when I was a girl. Mine was white with a black spot right on her eye. She looked like a panda.”
Judge Mathers made bear claws with her hands and winked at Danny.
Danny looked at me and scrunched his eyebrows. “Spooky looks more like a hippo.”
“She does!” Reg said. “And for what it’s worth, the judge is right. Always ask before petting a strange dog. Of course, Helper Hounds have to be okay with people petting them—even without asking. The judge knows that,” Reg added.
“I do!” Judge Mathers said. “In fact, it’s why I wanted you to be here with Danny. He has to be very brave today, and I thought Spooky could help him.”
Judge Mathers motioned her arm toward her office and stepped back, so we could walk in. Right away, I spotted a wide sofa along a wall of windows. Since there’s nothing quite like being comfortable and being able to watch the world go by, I walked straight to the sofa and looked back longingly at Reg.
“She’s very polite,” Caroline said. “She’s asking if she can climb up, isn’t she?”
“She is,” Reg said. “If we were at home, or anywhere without her vest on, Spooky’d definitely climb right up and make herself comfortable. But when she’s at work, Spooky knows better.”
“Well, she’s welcome to climb up,” Judge Mathers said. “Perhaps Danny can sit next to her. I’ll pull up chairs, so you and District Attorney Donaldson can talk.”
While DA Donaldson introduced himself to everyone in the room and Judge Mathers excused herself, I climbed up on the sofa, took a quick peek out the windows to make sure no trouble was happening outside, and curled up. I put my big head right on Danny’s lap. I could hear his heart beating—all the way down in his leg. When the DA pulled up his chair, Danny’s heart beat faster and faster again. It was time to remind Danny of the tricks. I stretched my front legs way out and stuck my snout in the air for a good sniff. Danny stretched his legs beneath me and took a deep breath himself. His heartbeat slowed back down.
“Now,” DA Donaldson said. “Today you’re going to be called on to tell the truth. Another lawyer and I will ask you questions about what you saw, about what happened the day your bike was stolen. All you have to do is remember the best you can and answer their questions. You don’t have to say more than they ask. It’s really quite simple. And Spooky can sit with you the whole time.”
“Even when I have to go up front?” Danny said.
“Even when you have to go up front,” DA Donaldson said.
Danny looked straight down at me and gave my head long strokes.
“I understand you’ve been in court before,” DA Donaldson said.
“When I got adopted,” Danny said without taking his eyes off me.
“That must’ve been a happy day!” DA Donaldson said.
Danny nodded. Caroline and Ben smiled at each other.
“But he didn’t have to go in that box then,” Ben said. “He got to stay with Mama Caroline and Dad.”
“I understand,” DA Donaldson said. “And that’s why Spooky is here. Spooky gets to go in the box—as you call it—with you. She can be with you the whole time. She’s done this before, you know.”
Danny stretched his legs and took a deep breath. “Yes,” Danny said. “I know. But what about the guy?”
“The guy?” Judge Mathers asked. “Oh, the defendant? Yes, he will be there too. So that part also feels scary, I know.”
Caroline reached forward to touch Danny’s knee. “And not only is Spooky there, but we’re in the room too,” Caroline said. “The guy can’t hurt you. He’s the one who did something wrong.”
“That’s true,” DA Donaldson said. “And think of it this way: In a courtroom, we tell and listen to lots of stories. And from those stories, the jury tries to determine what is the true story—what happened and what didn’t. Your role today is very important in helping us get to the true story. Lots of kids have been getting their bikes stolen in town. There are lots of sad kids! You were already so brave to tell the police when you saw those bikes getting taken…especially since he scared you so much.”
I felt Danny’s heart beat faster.
“He still scares me,” Danny said. “I still have bad dreams about the
look he gave me when I saw him taking the bikes. I don’t want to see him again.”
Danny burst into tears, and I burst into action. I pressed my head deep into his chest. He hugged me tight.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” DA Donaldson said.
It was the court bailiff. “Trial is about to start,” she said.
DA Donaldson stood up and we followed him out.
CHAPTER 7
Reg handed Danny my leash. Danny wiped his tears and then said, “You want me to walk Spooky?”
Reg nodded. “Spooky can feel you through the leash, did you know that? She can tell if you’re relaxed or nervous or happy or sad. And if you try really hard, you can feel her too. Spooky’s feeling pretty chill today and will be happy to send her chill up the leash.”
Danny scrunched his eyebrows and shook his head. Then he grabbed the leash. Reg was right: I’m always happy to share my chill (it’s actually a Life Rule!), so I did my best to send it up my leash to Danny.
“Wait,” Danny said just before we walked out of the judge’s office. “One more thing.”
With my leash still in hand, Danny stretched out on the ornate rug. I followed suit. Then I rolled over and shook my legs in the air. Danny did the same.
Caroline, Ben, and Reg all laughed. The court bailiff did not. She held her arm into the hallway and tapped her watch. It was time to go. Together we walked toward the courtroom. I could hear Danny’s deep breaths and feel his heart pounding. I gave Danny a huge smile and sent more chill up the leash. But then, a scent caught my nose.
I stopped dead in my tracks. So did Officer Torres.
“Spooky!” came a voice from behind Officer Torres.
My tail began to wag. Officer Lester!
“My sister told me you were going to be in court today. Was hoping I’d see you,” Officer Lester said as she walked up. My wiggles were about to get the best of me, so I sat. If I weren’t in my Helper Hounds vest, I’d have jumped into the lap Officer Lester created when she squatted in front of me. But I was working, so I just wiggled and wriggled in my sitting position.
Spooky Helps Danny Tell the Truth Page 2