Fabulous Five 013 - The Christmas Countdown (3 page)

"Give me some more pennies!" Beth demanded, and
Melanie looked up to see her shaking Keith's arm.

"Get your own. I'm busy counting nickels," Keith
joked in response.

Melanie looked around the big oak, pedestal table in the
Edwardses' kitchen with satisfaction. Stacks of coins covered its surface.
There were silver piles of nickels and dimes glittering under the overhead
light and piles of pennies that looked like shingled anthills. Melanie and the
others were busy counting and stacking them into neat little pillars while they
munched on Mrs. Edwards's Christmas cookies. Melanie was silently relieved her
mother was at the grocery store so they could count the donations without her
asking questions about what they were doing.

"I've never seen so many pennies in my life," said
Shane. "You'd think
someone
would have thrown in a dollar bill."

"I know," said Jana. "It looks like a lot of
money, but it might not be."

"There! I've got the dimes all stacked," said
Randy, popping a gingerbread man into his mouth. "I counted six dollars
and forty cents."

"Let me write that down," said Christie,
scribbling the number on a pad of paper. "How much did we get in quarters?"

"We've only got fifteen quarters," answered Tony. "That's
a measly three dollars and seventy-five cents."

"Is that all?" complained Melanie. "I'll bet
we
put in half of them ourselves." She knew she was right. She had continued
to contribute a few cents at a time until half of her allowance was gone, and
she noticed Jana and Beth were doing the same thing.

"Yo! I'm finished with the pennies," said Tony,
sitting back and smiling appreciatively at the rows of copper coins neatly
arranged in stacks of tens on the table in front of him. "Twenty-five
dollars and thirty-one cents. And have you ever seen a better-looking bunch of
pennies?" he said, cocking his head and admiring his work. "They'd
pass inspection at the Chase Manhattan Bank."

"They wouldn't let
you
in the front door of the
Chase Manhattan Bank," Keith said sarcastically.

"Not if they wanted to keep the pennies they already
have." Shane laughed.

"How much do we have in nickels?" Christie asked,
looking at Melanie.

"I've got four dollars and eighty-five cents," she
answered.

"That comes to a grand total of, let's see . . . forty
dollars and thirty-one cents," Christie announced.

"Wow! That's a lot of money for one day," Melanie
said, looking at the table full of coins. If they collected this much every
day, they would definitely have enough to pay for the animals.

"Hmm. Let me do some figuring," said Christie. The
room was quiet as she busied her pencil. "We need exactly three hundred
thirty-four dollars and sixty-nine cents more, and, if we collect forty dollars
a day every day, it will take us eight more days to get enough."

"Gee," said Katie. "We've only
got
eight more days, and that includes two weekends."

"Yeah. And one of those days is Christmas Eve day,"
added Jana somberly.

"Do we still need that much?" asked Mona.

Melanie saw the hopeless look on Mona's face even though Matt
reached over and gave her hand a squeeze, and she felt a knot in her own
throat. Everyone was silent as gloom settled over the group like a dark rain
cloud.

"Hey, wait!" shouted Melanie. "Don't forget
we're going to have the ad about the animals in the paper, and Garrett's going
to take the pictures in the morning to put on the poster on our table. We're
bound to collect lots more money."

"That's right," joined in Beth. "I'll bet we
get bunches of money from the newspaper ad."

"And the paper ought to be on the porch by now,"
said Melanie, running to get it. She still hadn't figured out a way to explain
to her parents about the pet project, and time was running out. She would have
to come up with something before they saw the ad asking for money to be sent to
their own address.

"There it is," she said, spreading the paper on
the counter and pointing to an advertisement on page three. The others crowded
around to see.

"The money should come rolling in tomorrow or Monday,
anyway," said Melanie. "Why, we'll probably be able to donate enough
to build a new wing on the animal shelter," she added, trying to sound
more hopeful than she felt. "Maybe they'll even name it after us."

"It's still a lot of money," said Randy,
rearranging the stacks in front of him, and Melanie knew he was right.

"Well,
I
think we're going to do a lot better
when the money starts coming in from the newspaper ad and we get the pictures
of the animals on our posters," Melanie insisted.

Then a new thought occurred to her. "Guys," she
said breathlessly. "Listen to this. What if . . ." She paused and
looked around the table nervously. What she was going to suggest was a pretty
wild idea. She could only hope that the others would go along with it. "What
if, instead of giving Christmas presents to our friends, we donated the money
we would spend to save the animals."

No one said anything for a moment. Melanie held her breath
and crossed her fingers in her lap, but even though she wanted everyone to say
yes, part of her was already regretting that she might not exchange presents
with The Fabulous Five.

"I think it's a great idea," said Katie. "It
would have a lot more meaning than buying the same old sweater or stuffed
animal for each other."

"I agree," said Jana. "It's what the
Christmas spirit is all about."

"Igor would certainly go for it," said Shane. "He
hates the crowds in the malls during the Christmas season."

Everyone was nodding and agreeing, and Melanie felt warm all
over that she had such special friends.

"But right now we've got to get this money put away,"
said Christie. "I'll keep track of what we collect if someone else will
take it to the school office for safekeeping."

"I'll take it," said Tony. "I'd like to see
the look on Mr. Bell's face when he sees I'm doing something he can't send me
to Teen Court for."

"Oh, he knows you've reformed," joked Katie. And
then as if she had second thoughts, she said, "But maybe I'd better go
with you just to be safe." They all laughed.

"My dad's coming by for me. Do you have a ride home,
Your Honor?" Tony asked Katie.

"No, I don't, and yes, I would like one."

"Before everybody leaves, there's still one more thing
to talk about," said Melanie, shifting nervously in her chair. "What
are we going to do with all of the animals once we get them?
Nobody
has
signed up to take one."

"And Mrs. Graham won't let us move them out of the
shelter until an adoption paper has been signed for each animal," added
Mona.

"Whose parents would be willing to take them
temporarily?" asked Christie. "Just until we find permanent homes?"

No one said anything, and most looked at the floor.

"Does anyone have a basement?" asked Mona.

"We have one," said Katie. "But we also have
a cat. Libber would go berserk if we put a dozen dogs down there."

Melanie bit her bottom lip. Her house had a basement. Still,
there was no way to hide that many animals from her family. Even if the cats
were quiet, the dogs would bark.

"We'll just have to keep thinking," she said with
a sigh.

The rest of the group got up along with Tony and Katie and
started putting on their jackets and sweaters. Melanie put one paper bag inside
another for reinforcement and then dropped the coins in. As they were gathering
in the foyer to leave, the doorbell rang.

"Hi, Mrs. Miller," Melanie greeted her neighbor
when she opened the door. "Why . . . what's wrong?" The older woman's
eyes were filled with tears.

"I've looked all over for Duchess and still haven't
found her," said Mrs. Miller.

Melanie took the woman's hand and pulled her into the foyer.

"Who is it, dear?" Mrs. Edwards called from the
living room. She had just come in the back door with the groceries and was
hanging up her coat in the front closet.

"It's Mrs. Miller. She hasn't found Duchess yet."

Her mother came into the foyer. "I'm so sorry, Clare. I
was convinced that someone would have found her and returned her to you by now."

"Me, too," said Melanie as the others gathered
around. Why hadn't she remembered to look for the little dog on her way to
school this morning? She could have walked over to Hickory Street and then gone
up Allendale instead of her usual route, and maybe Duchess would have been
there waiting for someone to help her find her way home.

"Melanie, why don't you and Jeffy look some more?"
asked her mother. "Maybe you can go in a new direction. Come on into the
living room, Clare. You can have a cup of coffee with me while they're looking."

"We can help, too," said Jana. "I don't have
to get home right away."

"Neither do I," said Randy.

"Me neither," said Shane.

"Hey, that's great!" cried Melanie. "Tony,
you and Katie have to go, but everyone else can stay and join our search party.
Don't worry, Mrs. Miller. We'll find her."

"Right on!" said Keith. "We'll form a puppy-posse."
He opened the door and raised his arm as if he had a sword and was leading a
charge. The others piled out of the house behind him.

They broke up into groups of twos and started tramping
through the snow, searching the neighborhood in different directions. Melanie
went with Shane, but as much as she was glad to be with him, the little lost
dog was all she could think about. They cut through a side street and then went
into an alley behind homes calling Duchess's name. They looked in backyards and
stood on their toes to see through dirty garage windows trying to find her.
Shane threw a snowball at one doghouse, but he retreated quickly when a big
Labrador retriever came out and snarled at them.

Finally, after winding their way through streets and alleys
for an hour, they returned to Melanie's house, their faces red from the cold air.
The others were gathered on the front steps.

"Any luck?" Melanie asked as she and Shane flopped
on the steps next to them.

"Naw," said Keith. "I've yelled 'Duchess' so
much, I'm afraid I'll start calling Beth Duchess."

"You do and I'll call you Fido," Beth protested.

"I really hate to tell Mrs. Miller we couldn't find her
dog," said Jana. "Is there anyplace else we can look? Is there a
place she usually ran to when she got loose before?"

"Not that I know of," Melanie said dejectedly. "As
far as I know, she's never gotten out of her yard before."

"We looked all around the fence and couldn't find where
she might have dug her way out," said Randy.

"You know what could have happened?" offered
Shane. "There are people who steal dogs and sell them to medical research
laboratories. Someone could have come along, reached over, and picked her out
of the yard."

Beth made a face. "Don't talk that way."

"Well, it's true," Shane insisted. "It
happens
.
"

"Maybe Duchess was picked up by the dog warden,"
said Mona. "We could call the animal shelter to see if they have a
Pomeranian."

"Good idea," said Melanie. "I'll sneak into
my kitchen through the backdoor so Mom and Mrs. Miller won't know we're home. I'd
rather wait until we find out if the shelter has her dog before telling her we
couldn't find her."

When Melanie reached Mrs. Graham, she said there were no
Pomeranians at the shelter. Back outside she reported the grim news.

"Well, I guess we'd better tell Mrs. Miller we couldn't
find her dog," said Jon. They all looked at each other, dreading passing
on the news.

Just then the front door of Melanie's house opened and Mrs.
Edwards and Mrs. Miller came out.

"Did you find Duchess?" asked Melanie's mother. There
was a look of hopeful expectation on Mrs. Miller's face.

Melanie searched for the least painful way to answer. In the
brief moment she hesitated, the look of hope faded from Mrs. Miller's face, and
Melanie knew she didn't have to tell her a thing. Mrs. Miller already knew the
answer.

"Melanie!" Her mother's voice calling her sounded
stern. Melanie had cleaned up the cookie crumbs and soda glasses from where her
friends had been counting money in the kitchen. What else could she be
disturbed about? Her mother was standing next to her father's chair in the
family room.

"What's the meaning of this?" her father asked,
shoving the newspaper toward her. It was opened to the page containing their ad
asking for donations. Her heart sunk to her feet. This was it. The moment she
had been dreading.

"Uh . . . it looks like an ad about some animals,"
she said, hoping to bluff her way out of a mess.

"It says that a group of kids are trying to buy cats
and dogs from the animal shelter and are asking for donations," said her
mother. "It also says to send donations to Miss Melanie Edwards, and it
has our address. What in the world are you going to do with a bunch of cats and
dogs?"

"Play with them," said Jeffy, who had walked into
the room. "When are we going to get them? How many will there be?"

Mr. Edwards frowned at him. "We're
not
getting
any cats and dogs."

"We're going to find homes for them," Melanie
said, trying to sound positive. "We've got a sign-up list at school and
everything. The shelter is getting overcrowded and will put them to sleep if
someone doesn't take them."

"Melanie, why didn't you talk to us about this before
you started the whole thing?" asked her mother.

"I was afraid you'd get mad and say I couldn't get
involved," she answered with her head down. "We were only trying to
help some animals who are going to die on Christmas Eve if someone doesn't do
something." She felt a big lump starting to build up in her throat, and
she knew that she was going to cry. She hated crying, especially in front of
her mother and father.

Her parents were quiet for a moment. "How do you know
they're going to be put to sleep on Christmas Eve?" her mother asked in a
low voice.

"A man at the animal shelter told us, and Mrs. Graham,
who works at the desk, says it's true."

"Humph!"
Mr. Edwards cleared his throat. "Well,
uh, if kids are signing up at school to take them, I guess it would be all
right. How many dogs are we talking about?"

"Dogs and cats," corrected Melanie. "Mrs.
Graham says it will be about fifteen."

Mr. Edwards whistled.

"And you're going to find homes for all of them?"
asked Mrs. Edwards.

"We'll take one each!"
shouted Jeffy.

"No, we won't, young man," his mother scolded. "I've
got enough work to do around here without animals under my feet."

"But we'll take care of them," pleaded Jeffy. "Won't
we, Melanie?"

Melanie looked at him. Jeffy had fallen to his knees and was
clutching the legs of his mother's slacks with both hands. His face was twisted
in a grimace as if he were about to cry. He's pretty good, thought Melanie. I
should have told him about this before.

"Jeffy, get up," commanded Mrs. Edwards. But she
looked as if her resolve was shaken.

"Well, I guess it's all right if you go ahead,"
she said, "as long as you find homes for them, and I mean someplace else."
She turned and went back to the kitchen.

"How many kids have signed up for a pet?" asked
her father.

"I don't know. I haven't seen the list lately,"
Melanie said, dodging the question.

"Hmmm."
He looked at her a moment and then
dug out his wallet. "Here. Just make sure that you find somewhere
else
to keep them."

Melanie looked at the ten-dollar bill he handed her. "Oh,
Dad, that's great!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Melanie got to the animal shelter ahead of Garrett and Mona
on Saturday morning, and while she waited for her friends to arrive, she stood
on the top step, watching huge snowflakes drop from the sky and thinking about
the predicament she and her friends had gotten themselves into.

Since her parents had seen the newspaper ad last night, she
was seriously beginning to worry about what would happen if they collected
enough money by Christmas Eve day and then couldn't find homes for all the dogs
and cats. Would the shelter refuse the money and put the animals to sleep
anyway? It was obvious that her parents wouldn't take them in. Her thoughts
rushed to Rainbow. She couldn't let them put Rainbow to sleep. She absolutely
couldn't!
And no matter how much help the other kids were, it was her responsibility. She
was the one who had started the whole thing by wanting a puppy for Christmas
and coming to the shelter with Mona.

Just then Garrett jogged up the steps with Mona. He waved
his camera and called out, "Okay, show me my canine and feline models."

Garrett was an eighth-grader, and Melanie thought he was
really cute. In fact, he ranked number three on her crush list, right after
Scott and Shane and just before Derek Travelstead. But she didn't have time to
think about romance now. She had to save the animals.

"They're inside, Flash," Melanie said. "Let's
go."

Mrs. Graham greeted them cheerfully and told them that
Charles would get the animals they selected out of the cages for them.

The sound of barking rose to a frenzied pitch as Melanie
opened the door to the room where the cages stood. The dogs jumped at their
cage doors, as they had when Melanie and the others had come to see them on
Wednesday. The cats stared at them and a few meowed silently in the din of
barking.

"When you're finished, I'll show you the adoption
papers that will have to be filled out if you take any of the animals,"
said Mrs. Graham. She left them to their picture-taking.

"I don't know which ones to choose," said Melanie.
"They're all so cute."

"Why don't we start with that little white dog?"
suggested Mona. "I know it's one of the older ones. It's been here a long time."

Charles, who turned out to be the man with the sideways cap,
took it from its cage. It was small with cute little button eyes that peeked
through its shaggy white hair.

"Oh, it's adorable," Melanie said, holding it next
to her cheek. "Its tongue looks like a little pink cookie."

"Do you want to be in the picture with it?" asked
Garrett. He had mounted his flash attachment on top of his camera and was ready
to shoot.

"No! Not the way I look this morning," said
Melanie, reaching up to smooth her hair.

They took the white dog's picture and then the picture of a
black poodle that pranced around excitedly on sticklike legs and was hard to
stop long enough to snap its picture.

Next Charles took a sleek gray cat and a long-haired yellow
one out of their cages, and Mona held them together as Garrett shot a close-up
of them in her arms.

They took a picture of a mixed-breed dog that Melanie
thought must be a cross between a golden retriever and a dachshund. Blond hair
covered its long body, but its legs were so short it looked to her as if it
were on its knees.

Garrett took pictures of two more dogs and a cat before
asking, "Do you want any more?"

Melanie looked around at the rows of cages and wished they
could take all of the cats and dogs out and hold them for a little while. She
understood now why Mona came three times a week to play with them. It seemed
like such a little thing to do when the animals loved it so much.

"One more picture," she said, looking toward the
cage at the far end of the row on the right.

Charles let Rainbow out, and she came directly to Melanie
and Mona. Both girls hugged her.

"If I can talk my parents into getting her, you can
come and play with her as much as you want," Melanie said to Mona.

Mona smiled and held up her crossed fingers.

"Take our picture with Rainbow," said Melanie.

"I thought you didn't want your picture taken,"
responded Garrett.

"This is special," answered Melanie, pulling a
piece of mistletoe out of her backpack and holding it over the dog's head. Then
she and Mona smiled for the camera and so did Rainbow.

On the way out they stopped at Mrs. Graham's desk as she had
asked.

"This is the adoption agreement we ask everyone who
takes one of our animals to sign. It gives information about the animal, but
more importantly it says that the person will feed and take care of their new
friend, they will take it to a veterinarian if it's hurt or sick, and they won't
allow it to be used for any experimental purposes."

Mrs. Graham continued, "It also says you will tell us
if the animal becomes lost, and you will bring it back if you don't want it
anymore and not just give it to someone else. The adoption agreement has to be
signed by an adult."

"Gee," said Mona, "I didn't know you were so strict.
That's great."

"It's almost like adopting a kid," said Garrett.

"We care about our animals," said Mrs. Graham. "If
you really do take several of them, we're going to have to have an
adult
sign one of these for each dog and cat."

Melanie stared at the formal-looking paper. It made their
project seem even more serious. She had thought they would just pay the money
and the shelter would give them the cats and dogs. Well, when they found people
to take them, she was sure they wouldn't mind signing a little adoption
agreement. But what if they couldn't find enough people? What would they do
then?

"I'll take the film over to the one-hour photo lab and
have the prints back this afternoon," said Garrett as they stood in front
of the animal shelter a few minutes later. "I'll drop them off at your
house," he said to Melanie.

"Thanks, Garrett. You really are super," she said,
and then said good-bye to Mona.

On the walk home, Melanie thought again about the adoption
agreement. There was no way Mrs. Graham was going to let them pay for all the
animals and just take them if there was no one to sign the papers. She thought
back to the conversation at her kitchen table yesterday when she and her
friends were counting money.

Christie had suggested that someone with a basement might
keep the animals temporarily. That wasn't a bad idea, thought Melanie, but no
one had agreed to do it. She thought about her own basement again. There was no
way that it would work. Her parents had already said that they wouldn't agree
to housing fifteen cats and dogs.

Could I
hide
them down there? she wondered, but the
instant she thought of it, she knew it wouldn't work. The washer and dryer were
in the basement, and she or her mother did a load of laundry practically every
day. And besides that, Jeffy rode his tricycle down there when the weather was
bad outside. The only other possibility was the room behind the garage that her
father used for a workshop. He hardly ever went out there this time of year,
but it was too small for so many animals, and besides, it wasn't heated.

Melanie trudged along in the snow, feeling more dejected
than ever. Nothing was working out right. She had been so optimistic at first.
She had believed that she and her friends would earn the money quickly and find
lots of homes for the animals and she would get Rainbow for her own. She had
even thought that she could work on the project with Shane and that he might
even ask her out. But none of it had come true. Not the money, not the homes,
not Rainbow, and not even Shane.

Shane.
Melanie stopped in her tracks. Why hadn't she
thought of it before? Shane Arrington might just be the answer to some of their
prayers. She took off for her house at a run and dialed his number without even
taking off her coat.