Cody (4 page)

Without a word, Lizzie handed her mother the phone. She could not believe this was happening!

“This is Betsy Peterson,” Mom said into the phone. “And to whom am I speaking?”

Lizzie could never have been so polite! In fact, she couldn’t even stand to listen to the rest of the conversation. She went back into the living room, with Cody following her. Then she sat down by the fire, pulled Cody onto her lap, and kissed the top of his head.

“Who was that on the phone?” Dad asked.

Lizzie just buried her face in Cody’s neck. She couldn’t seem to say a thing.

A few moments later, Mom came back into the room. “Well!” she said. “This is a new twist.”

“What is going
on
?” asked Dad.

“That was the people who used to own Cody,” Mom said. “Tim and Cheryl Stone. I guess Mrs. Stone saw Cody downtown with Lizzie and Maria today” — she glanced at Lizzie, who nodded miserably — “and, well, now they want him back.”

“What?” Charles looked shocked. “Why?” Buddy, who had been sleeping on Charles’s lap, woke up for a second and looked around.

“Well, because now he can walk on a leash, and he doesn’t bark all the time. They think they might be able to handle Cody after all.” Mom sighed. “They miss him.”

“I can understand that,” Dad said slowly. “He’s a lovable pup. But —”

“I know,” Mom said. “What about Chief Olson? I explained that we had already found a great new home for Cody. But they insisted on coming over to talk about it.”

Lizzie hugged Cody closer. “When?” was all she said.

“They live just over on Foster Street. They’ll be here any minute.” Mom looked around at all the unhappy faces. “What could I say? Maybe they have a right to take Cody back. After all, he was their dog first.”

“But —” Lizzie began.

The doorbell rang before she could say another word. Buddy and Cody started to bark. Lizzie told them “Quiet!” and they both stopped.

Mom gave Lizzie a stern look. “Let’s just hear these people out,” she said. “It’s only fair.”

Lizzie did not agree. She didn’t think there was one fair thing about the whole situation. But she could see that once again she was going to have to keep her opinion to herself. Anyway, Mom had left to answer the door.

“Come on into the living room,” Lizzie heard Mom say. And then, there she was — the pinched-face woman. She was wearing an orange sweater with a jack-o’-lantern face on it. With her was a
man whose face was not pinched at all — in fact, it was round and pink.

“Tim Stone,” he said, in a big, booming voice. He smiled a broad smile as he held out his hand to Dad for a shake. Then he turned and saw the spotted pup in Lizzie’s lap. “Cody!” he boomed. “Come here, boy!”

Lizzie remembered how Cody had ducked when the woman had tried to pet him on the street, so she was not at all surprised when the puppy did not jump up and run to Tim Stone.

Tim Stone came over and scratched behind Cody’s ears. “There’s my boy!” He held out his arms and Lizzie felt like she had to hand Cody over, even though she hated to. Tim Stone cradled Cody awkwardly for a moment, then handed him to his wife. She held the puppy gingerly, as if trying to avoid getting his white hairs on her sweater.

“I guess we’ll take him on home, then,” said Tim Stone, with the same big smile.

“No way!” Lizzie burst out. She could not help herself. She knew nobody had asked her, but she had a definite opinion about all of this and she was not about to keep it to herself. “First of all, you gave Cody up! You
abandoned
him, just because he barked and pulled on the leash and shed hair all over the place. Now he doesn’t bark as much, and he’s learning not to pull, but he still sheds, and he’s still a puppy. A puppy who’s going to chew things, and make mistakes, and — and what are you going to do the first time he misbehaves? Abandon him again?”

Dad cleared his throat. Lizzie wondered if he was going to tell her to tone it down, but instead he faced the Stones. “You know, Lizzie has a point. We might need to think about this,” he began.

“What’s there to think about?” Tim Stone pulled some papers out of his pocket. “Cody is ours. We can prove it! Here’s the receipt from the pet store where we bought him. He wasn’t cheap, either.”

Dad nodded. “I understand. But we thought
this puppy needed a home, and we found him a good one. As a foster family, that’s what we do. You gave him up, and now you’re saying you want him back. But Chief Olson, my boss down at the firehouse, wants him, too. Perhaps he’d even be willing to give you the money you paid for Cody, I don’t know. Anyway, we will have to think about what’s best for Cody.” He got up and took Cody out of Cheryl’s arms. “Thank you for coming by.”

Cheryl and Tim Stone did not look happy. But Dad was not backing down. He brought Cody to Lizzie and placed the sleepy little puppy carefully into her arms. Then he walked the Stones to the front door and said good night.

Lizzie looked down at Cody, who was lying in her lap. Then she looked at her parents. “I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice.

“Don’t be,” said Mom. “You were right to speak up.”

“Absolutely,” Dad agreed. “At first I thought that the right thing to do would be to give Cody back to the Stones. But what you said is true! He
is
still a puppy, and I think they were right in the first place about not being puppy people.”

“Did you see how that lady made a face when Cody kissed her?” Charles asked. “They are
definitely
not puppy people.”

Lizzie gave the sleepy puppy a squeeze. “But
they did pay for Cody,” she said. “Can we really say no if they want him back?”

“I’m not sure,” Dad said slowly.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Mom raised her eyebrows and went to answer the door. When she came back into the room, the Stones were with her. Lizzie hugged Cody closer. Were they going to insist on taking him right now?

“We didn’t even make it all the way home,” said Cheryl Stone, all in a rush. “We realized by the time we got to Elm Street that you were one hundred percent right.” She was looking straight at Lizzie. “We really didn’t mean to abandon him, you know. We thought we were doing the right thing, giving him to your family. But it wasn’t right to just leave him and run away. Was it?” she asked her husband, giving him a nudge.

Tim Stone smiled sheepishly. “No,” he admitted. “I guess we were just a little overwhelmed by Cody’s energy. I think maybe we’ll get ourselves a grown dog instead of a puppy.”

“Or a cat, even,” said Cheryl Stone. “I’ve always been more of a cat person, really.” She and Mom shared a smile.

“What about the money?” Dad asked.

Tim Stone waved a hand. “Why don’t we just consider it a donation to the fire station? You people provide a tremendous service for the whole community. It’s the least I can do.”

“And that,” Lizzie told Maria as she finished telling the story the next morning, “was that!” They were walking downtown again, with Cody. Only this time Charles and Sammy and Buddy and the Bean were all with them. And this time Cody was going to the firehouse to stay! First, though, they were all going to be part of the big Halloween parade. Lizzie and Maria had finally come up with the
perfect
costumes for themselves — and for everyone else, too.

It was a crisp, sunny day — just right for a
parade! As they walked, Cody pranced ahead of them all with his head held high.

Oh, boy, oh, boy! I think we’re going to that fun place again, with the big dog that looks just like me!

Chief Olson was out in front of the fire station, giving one last polish to the big chrome bumper of his old fire truck. The chief was looking snappy in his navy blue dress uniform, with its shiny brass buttons. “Well, well, well!” he said. “Look who’s here!” He knelt right down and opened up his arms, and Cody ran to him. The puppy’s tail was wagging like crazy as he licked the chief’s face all over. Gunnar walked over and touched noses with Cody, as if to say, “Welcome, little one.”

The chief had been totally focused on Cody. But now he looked up at Lizzie, Maria, Charles,
Sammy, and the Bean. He burst into laughter. “Perfect!” he said.

All of them had on white pj’s, with black spots painted all over. Lizzie had used Mom’s eyebrow pencil to draw whiskers on all their faces, and they all wore funny hats that Mom had found at the variety store, with black spots and floppy ears. They were dressed as Dalmatians, every one of them! Even Buddy had on a little white vest with black spots. And of course Cody didn’t need a costume at all. The chief’s fire truck would be
full
of Dalmatians!

“And you’re right on time,” the chief went on. “We’re supposed to be heading down to the corner of Main and Broadway. The parade is starting in five minutes!” He helped them all up into his fire truck, carefully placing Cody onto Lizzie’s lap and Buddy onto Charles’s. Then Gunnar jumped into the front seat and the chief swung up into the driver’s seat next to him. He started the truck and pulled slowly out of the parking lot. Behind
them came the three Littleton fire department trucks, filled with the rest of the firefighters, all in uniform. Lizzie turned around to wave to her dad, and he grinned and waved back. She gave Cody a big squeeze, and Cody gave her a happy snuffling kiss in return. Lizzie knew that this little puppy had found the perfect home.

A puppy is a big, big responsibility, for kids
and
for adults. Before people get a puppy or a dog, they should be sure they are ready. Puppies and dogs need lots of care and love — but even with the best care, they can be a real handful! Puppies make “mistakes” in the house. They chew things. They have lots and lots of energy! And grown dogs can be a handful, too. They might bark, or dig in the yard, or jump up on visitors. If you’re going to be a dog owner, you have to be prepared to deal with all of that — with a smile! It’s all worth it for the special kind of love our dogs give us in return.

Dear Reader,

I am very sorry to have to tell you that my dog Django, the sweetest, happiest black Lab ever, has died. He was eleven years old, which is pretty old in dog years. We had so many wonderful times together.

I will always treasure my memories of Django, starting from when I brought him home as a tiny puppy. It makes me smile just to think about how cute he was!

It’s never easy to lose a pet that you have loved, but your memories will help to keep your pet alive in your heart.

Yours from the Puppy Place,
Ellen Miles

Ellen Miles is crazy about dogs, and loves to write about their different personalities. She is the author of more than 28 books, including the Puppy Place and Taylor-Made Tales series, as well as
The Pied Piper
and other Scholastic Classics. Ellen loves to be outdoors every day, walking, biking, skiing, or swimming, depending on the season. She also loves to read, cook, explore her beautiful state, and hang out with friends and family. She lives in Vermont.

If you love animals, be sure to read all the adorable stories in the Puppy Place series!

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Copyright © 2008 by Ellen Miles.
Cover art by Tim O’Brien
Cover design by Steve Scott

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, LITTLE APPLE, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
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First printing, October 2008

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e-ISBN: 978-0-545-32454-0