Honey (4 page)

Noah came in third in the free-throw contest, and the green team won the game by just one point — but Charles hardly noticed. Instead of worrying about how he was going to tell Noah that he couldn’t keep his promise, Charles had started thinking about the letter he was going to write.

As soon as he got home, Charles went to find Honey. “Come on, sweetie,” he said. “I need you for inspiration.” Charles grabbed Mr. Duck and showed the raggedy stuffed toy to Honey. She barked happily and wagged her tail as she jumped for it. Holding the toy just out of Honey’s reach, Charles carried Mr. Duck upstairs. Honey followed him right into his room. “Good
girl!” said Charles, tossing Mr. Duck to the frisky pup. Then Charles lay down on the floor with Honey, and the two of them played tug-of-war for a while. Honey made Charles laugh out loud when she shook Mr. Duck so that his flapping wings smacked her in the nose.

Then it was time to get to work. Charles let Honey have Mr. Duck to chew on. When he sat down at his desk and opened his notebook, a picture fell out. It was the picture Noah had drawn of the boy and his service dog. What a great drawing! “Look, Honey,” said Charles, showing it to her. “This is going to be you someday!”

Honey glanced up at him with her mouth full of Mr. Duck. Charles thought she looked like she was smiling.

Whatever you said, it sounds like fun!

“More inspiration!” said Charles, propping up the picture so he could look at it while he wrote.
Then he pulled out a piece of paper and began. Charles liked to write on paper first, then copy what he’d written onto the computer. He made fewer mistakes that way, and never lost what he was writing.

Dear Mimi and all the people at Best Friends Service Dogs
, he wrote.

My name is Charles Peterson. My family fosters puppys who need homes. Right now we have one named Honey. She is a yellow Labrador Retreever almost a year old. Honey is very smart and helpful and sweet. She already knows how to pick things up and bring them to you, and she sometimes pulls my brother’s socks off so she can do stuff like that, too. She is a good, good girl
.

“Aren’t you?” Charles turned to look at Honey. “You’re a good girl, right?”

Honey chomped on Mr. Duck and made him squeak.

That’s me! I’m a good girl. Everybody tells me so.

“I thought so,” said Charles. He went on with his letter.

I think Honey would be a good service dog. She is mello like Murfy was when he was little. (That’s what Dee says.) And I know somebody who needs a service dog. His name is Noah and he can’t walk so he has a wheelchiar. He is only ten and I know you have to be twelve. But Noah is very machoor and a good artist too. And his family has had lots of dogs. So they know how to take care of dogs.

Charles shook out his hand. Was the letter getting too long? He had a lot to say.

I know that Honey has to go to puppy raisers and then get trained. But what if we (my family the Petersons) were Honey’s puppy raisers and then she could live with Noah while she was getting trained? Then he would have a best friend and he could help train her too.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.
Honey was really chomping on Mr. Duck now. “You’re silly,” said
Charles. He wanted to play with Honey some more, but first he had to finish the letter.

I promised Noah that I would help him get Honey for a service dog. Can you help me keep my promise? Yours sinserely, Charles Peterson.

Phew! Done.

“Charles?” There was a tap at the door and Mom peeked inside. “There you are! And there’s my little Honey-pie.” Mom swooped into the room and knelt down to hug Honey. She kissed her nose. “Who’s my Honey-bunny?” she murmured. Honey squirmed and wriggled and licked Mom’s face. Mom laughed as she hugged and kissed the puppy some more. Finally, she looked up at Charles.

He was looking back at her, his eyebrows raised.

“I know, I know,” Mom said, blushing. “I just really like this puppy, okay?” She came over to Charles’s desk. “What are you working on?”

First Charles thought he would hide the letter. In a way, he had wanted to figure this mess out on his own, without any help. But then he had a better idea. “It’s a letter,” he said. “Maybe you could help me with the spelling.” It was an important letter, and Charles wanted it to be perfect. He explained what the letter was about, and how Dee had asked him to write it.

Mom sat down on the bed with Honey on her lap. She read through the letter. “Good job!” she said. Then she helped Charles find the words that were spelled wrong, and they looked them up in the dictionary. After that, Charles typed it into the computer and e-mailed it to Mimi.

“Let’s not tell anybody else until we know more,” Charles suggested. This time he knew better than to get anybody’s hopes up. Anybody’s but his own and Mom’s, anyway!

Mom nodded and pretended to zip her lips. “Your secret is safe with me!” she said. “Now all we have to do is wait.”

They didn’t have to wait long. When Charles got home from school the next day, Mom pulled him into the den. “Guess what?” she whispered. “Mimi came to visit today. She wanted to meet Honey. And she brought Noah’s mom and dad with her! She asked a million questions, and they spent a long time with Honey.”

“So? Is Noah going to get Honey? Are we going to be her puppy-raisers? What did Mimi
say
?” Charles asked.

“Well,” Mom said. “There’s good news and bad news.”

“I didn’t know you guys were coming today!” Noah looked surprised. “Are you here for another drawing lesson?”

It was the next afternoon, and Sammy and Charles had just arrived at the community center. They had more than one surprise planned for Noah! “Actually, we brought some people we want you to meet,” said Charles. He glanced back at the door just in time to see Mom and Mimi walk in. Charles introduced his mom to Noah.

“Hi, Mrs. Peterson,” he said.

Mom smiled. “Hi, Noah! I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And so have I,” said Mimi, reaching out
to shake Noah’s hand. “I’m Mimi, from Best Friends.”

“Oh!” said Noah. “You mean — the service dog people?”

“That’s right,” said Mimi. “And I have some good news for you, thanks to Charles, who is a very convincing writer.”

Noah’s eyes lit up when Mimi mentioned good news.

She went on, explaining the plan. “I met Honey yesterday. Just as Charles told us in a letter he wrote, she is an especially mature and well-behaved puppy. In fact, she’s almost grown-up enough to start training to be a social dog, without having to go to puppy-raisers first.”

Mom and Charles looked at each other with sad smiles. That had been the bad news Mom had told Charles about. They would not get to keep Honey around after all. But the good news that Mimi was about to tell Noah more than made up for it.

“Do you know what a social dog is?” she asked Noah.

“Uh-uh.” Noah shook his head.

“Well, sometimes we place a dog with a person who’s too young to handle a service dog. That person, his parents, and the dog all train together to become a team. The dog is allowed to go everywhere with the person, except to school, as long as one parent is with them. It’s a great program. The person and the dog really have a chance to bond. And all the people they meet get a chance to learn about dogs that help people.” Mimi took a deep breath. “Your parents met Honey yesterday, and they have agreed to take on this project with you.”

“So, you mean Honey and I will be a team?” Noah was starting to smile. Then he frowned. “But what happens when I get older? Do I have to give her up?”

“Nope.” Mimi was smiling, too. “If you guys work well together — and I have a feeling you
will — then eventually you will do a whole lot more training together, and Honey will graduate from being your social dog to being your service dog!”

“Because by then I’ll be old enough —” Noah began, as if he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Old enough to have a service dog of your very own. To have Honey!” Mimi was beaming. “There’s just one more thing we have to make sure of. We need to be absolutely sure that you and Honey will get along as well as Charles thinks you will.” She turned toward the front door and waved.

Lizzie walked in, with Honey walking proudly next to her on her red leash.

Noah straightened up. “That’s Honey, isn’t it?”

“That’s Honey,” said Charles.

Noah’s smile was huge. “Honey!” he called. “Here, Honey!”

Hearing her name, the little pup picked up the pace, eagerly pulling Lizzie across the room.
Honey ran right up to Noah and put both front paws up on his knees.

Hello! Hello! I just know we’re going to be best friends!

Noah reached out to pat her. “Oh!” he said. “Her fur is so soft! And she’s even more beautiful than I imagined.” He bent down to kiss the top of her head. “Hello, Honey,” he said. “Hello, sweet girl.”

Charles felt Mom’s hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw her happy-sad smile. She was going to miss Honey as much as he was — but like everybody else, she could see right away that Honey and Noah belonged together.

Lizzie looked over at Charles and gave him a thumbs-up. “Good job,” she mouthed.

“I can’t believe I’m finally meeting Honey,” said Noah. He kissed her some more. “I can’t believe she’s going to be my service dog.” He looked up at Charles and Sammy. “It’s all
thanks to you guys,”
he said. “I owe you big-time. If there’s ever anything I can do for you — anything at all —”

“Actually, there
is
one thing you can do for us,” said Charles. “We’ve been meaning to ask.”

Sammy nodded. “Since you can draw dogs so well —”

“Would you illustrate our joke book?” Charles finished.

“Full credit!” promised Sammy. “A three-way partnership. You’ll be rich, just like us!”

Noah grinned. “I’d be happy to,” he said. He stroked his puppy’s head. “On one condition: Honey gets to be on the cover!”

Some people might think it’s mean to make a dog work instead of letting it just be a pet. But the truth is, many dogs are happiest when they have a job. Every dog likes to help his or her owner, whether by being a service dog like Murphy, herding sheep like Flash the border collie, or even just showing off a new trick or walking nicely on a leash, as your own dog might do. Give your dog the chance to do something that makes you proud — you’ll
both
be happy!

Dear Reader,

Can a dog really be your best friend? Ask anybody who lives with one! Dogs make you laugh every day with their silly ways, and they comfort you when you are sad. They’re always up for a game or a walk, or just a quiet cuddle. Dogs are very good at keeping secrets, and they are great at making new friends. They like hugs and kisses and they are happy to share your lunch. Most of all, your dog will always, always love you, no matter what. Now, that’s a best friend!

Yours from the Puppy Place,
Ellen Miles

P.S. If you think Honey has a heart of gold, give PATCHES a try.

Ellen Miles likes to write about the different personalities of dogs. 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 © 2009 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. Lexile is a registered trademark of MetaMetrics, Inc.

This edition first printing, December 2009

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e-ISBN: 978-0-545-32456-4