Bella
Authors: Ellen Miles
BELLA
For Kailyn and Maxx
“Happy birthday, dear Maria,” sang Lizzie, along with everyone else. “Happy birthday to you!”
Lizzie gave Maria a special smile as she sang. There were a lot of kids at the party — almost everybody in their class was there — but everyone knew that Lizzie Peterson and Maria Santiago were best friends. They sat next to each other in class, played on the same kickball team at recess, and always ate lunch together. They had the same favorite color (purple) and the same lucky number (eight). They both loved fudge ripple ice cream, cool socks, snowstorms, and reading.
Most of all, Lizzie and Maria loved animals. That was why Maria had decided to have her
birthday party at Caring Paws, the animal shelter where she and Lizzie both volunteered. It was Lizzie’s idea: she had gotten all excited when she had read about a boy who had his party at a shelter. “Instead of presents,” she’d told Maria, “everybody brought donations for the animals.”
Maria wasn’t so sure at first. “Why don’t you do it for
your
birthday?” she’d asked Lizzie.
“I will, but mine’s not for months and yours is coming right up. I know your real birthday isn’t until Monday, but we can have the party on Saturday. Come on, it’ll be fun! We can play animal-themed games, and decorate the meeting room with colorful paw prints, and have a dog bone–shaped cake, and everything.” Lizzie was full of ideas, and she could be very convincing. “It’s a great Caring Club activity, too. Think of all the donations you’ll get for the shelter.
Ms. Dobbins will be very happy.” Ms. Dobbins was the shelter’s director.
When Lizzie had started the Caring Club, Maria had been one of the first to join. Caring Club was for kids who loved animals and wanted to help them.
Maria’s favorite animals were horses. She loved to ride, and she spent a lot of time at the stable. Lizzie had gone with her a few times, and had even taken riding lessons for a while, but she had never learned to love horses as much as she loved dogs.
Lizzie really, really loved dogs.
In fact, Lizzie was dog-crazy.
She collected model dogs. She had a whole shelf of books about dogs and dog training. She had a “Dog Breeds of the World” poster hanging over her bed. And, best of all, she had a dog of her very own: Buddy, the cutest puppy in the history of the
universe. Buddy was a sweet, gentle, funny, medium-sized mutt, mostly brown but with a heart-shaped white patch on his chest. Lizzie adored him, and so did the rest of the family: her mom, her dad, and her younger brothers, Charles and the Bean (whose actual name was Adam).
The Petersons had first met Buddy when he came to them as a foster puppy along with his two sisters and their dog mom. The Petersons had fostered lots of puppies; that meant they took care of puppies who needed homes, just until they found each puppy the perfect forever family. But they had all fallen in love with Buddy, so they had decided to keep him.
Maria had a dog, too — or rather, her mother did. Simba, a big yellow Lab, was a Seeing Eye dog. He was trained to help Mrs. Santiago, who was blind. With Simba, Mrs. Santiago could cross busy streets, do grocery shopping, go for a hike in the woods — anything! Simba wasn’t exactly a
pet, but he was a smart, good dog. He was there now at Maria’s birthday party, helping guide Mrs. Santiago as she carried a bone-shaped chocolate cake to the table while everyone sang.
Maria shut her eyes, made a wish (Lizzie knew it was for a horse of her own), and blew out the candles. She had just started to cut the first slice when Ms. Dobbins opened the door and poked her head into the room. “I can tell you’re having a good time in here,” she said, smiling. “I wanted to thank you all for the donations. The animals and I appreciate your generosity.” She waved a hand at the pile of donations that the party guests had brought. It took up a whole corner of the room.
Lizzie looked at the pile and beamed. Right out in front she saw the fifty-pound bag of dog food she and her mom had lugged in, and a cat carrier that Brianna had brought. Daphne had contributed some brand-new dog toys, and Noah had saved up his allowance to buy ten leashes and collars.
Jimmy and Daniel had chipped in for a new cat tower, and Shanna and her dad had brought five cases of canned cat food.
“And I especially thank Maria, for having her birthday here,” Ms. Dobbins finished. “Most kids would rather have presents for themselves, but this shows that you really do care about animals.”
Maria smiled. “I like presents, too,” she said. “But I’ll get some from my family.”
Lizzie happened to know that Maria would also be getting a very cool pair of purple and green striped socks. She’d bought them yesterday, along with a matching pair for herself, and planned to give them to Maria on Monday, her real birthday.
“Ms. Dobbins! Ms. Dobbins!” Someone yelled from the front desk. “She’s here!”
“Oops, better go!” said Ms. Dobbins. “We’ve got a bit of an emergency on our hands. But have a great time — and save me a piece of cake!”
Lizzie wondered what was going on. What kind of emergency was it? Was one of the animals sick? “She’s here!” could mean that the vet, Dr. Gibson, had arrived. Or maybe it was Jan the plumber, if the dog-washing sink was stopped up again. Or had a cat escaped from the cat room and been caught near the front desk? Should she go help?
No, Ms. Dobbins seemed to be on top of things. Lizzie turned her attention back to the party. Once the singing and cake part was over, it would be time for games. Lizzie couldn’t wait for the animal-themed treasure hunt she and Maria had planned.
When the party was over, and Maria’s father had picked her and her mom up to take them to her grandparents’ house for a birthday dinner, Lizzie finally had the chance to ask Ms. Dobbins about the emergency. “What happened?” she asked.
“We had a very special new arrival,” said Ms. Dobbins. She put her finger over her lips as she cracked open the door to her office so Lizzie could peek inside. “Shhh! She’s asleep.”
At first Lizzie didn’t know what Ms. Dobbins was talking about. Then she gasped. “Oh! She’s so little,” she whispered. Under Ms. Dobbins’s desk, a tiny puppy lay sleeping, tucked inside a shoebox lined with an old towel.
They slipped quietly into the office, and Lizzie knelt down to take a closer look at the puppy in the shoebox. Ms. Dobbins had set up a lamp over the box to keep her warm. In the lamp’s golden glow, the puppy stretched and squirmed in her sleep. She opened her tiny mouth and yawned a pink puppy yawn. Lizzie felt her heart flip over. The puppy was only a few inches long, and mostly white with orangey-red spots like freckles. One ear was the same orangey-red color and the other was white. Her nose was pink, and her tiny paws were, too. Her ears were just little flaps, about the size of Lizzie’s pinky fingernail.
Now the puppy opened her mouth and made a little mewing noise, almost like a kitten. “Oh!” said Lizzie. The puppy looked up at her with milky blue eyes that did not quite seem to focus on her face. “Wow, her eyes are barely open.” She wanted to reach out a finger and stroke the puppy, but she was afraid she might hurt her. “How old is she?”
“Just under four weeks,” said Ms. Dobbins.
“Where’s her mom?” Lizzie knew that a puppy that age needs to be with her mother. She needs her milk, and she needs her warmth and her care. “Doesn’t she have any sisters and brothers?”
Ms. Dobbins sighed. “Her mother is very sick,” she said. “That’s why she’s here.” She sat down on the floor next to Lizzie. “Right before Maria’s party started, I got a call from my old friend Alexandra, who lives about two hours
away. Her cocker spaniel Sissy had puppies, but Sissy got sick right before she gave birth, and she is still sick, too sick to take care of them properly.” She paused and gave Lizzie a very serious look. “Sissy had five puppies, this one here plus four boys. But none of the boys made it.”
“You mean — they died?” Lizzie asked. She could hardly stand to think about it. Poor puppies! Poor little girl, all alone in the world without her mom or her brothers.
Ms. Dobbins nodded. “It’s so sad. Alexandra kept hoping that Sissy would get better, and she is improving. But Sissy still can’t take care of this last puppy, and neither can Alexandra. She’s too busy taking care of Sissy.”
Lizzie looked down at the puppy. She didn’t look much at all like the cocker spaniels on her “Dog Breeds of the World” poster, with their long, fringed ears and adorable faces. She looked more
like a hamster. A sick hamster. “The poor little thing!”
“I know,” said Ms. Dobbins. “When Alexandra called to ask for help, I agreed to take her. How could I say no? Her friend drove the puppy up and showed me how to mix the formula to feed her with.” She showed Lizzie a baby bottle full of white liquid. “It’s made with goat’s milk and raw eggs,” she said. “And some other stuff. Puppies this age have to eat every three or four hours. Maybe even more often in this case, since she is not growing as fast as she should be.”
“She does seem really small,” said Lizzie. She gazed down at the puppy, feeling a strange mixture of love and fear. This small, squirmy thing was so helpless!
Ms. Dobbins nodded. “She’s had a tough life so far and she’s not very strong.”
“What’s her name?” Lizzie asked.
“She doesn’t have a name yet. Alexandra wanted to wait to see how she does.” Ms. Dobbins put out one finger to pet the tiny puppy.
“How she does?” asked Lizzie. She felt an ache in the back of her throat. “You mean —”
Ms. Dobbins nodded. “I have to warn you, Lizzie. This puppy might not make it. Normally a four-week puppy can survive without her dog mom, as long as she has plenty of care from a human. But since Sissy was sick ever since she was born, this pup has not had a very easy start in life.”
Lizzie swallowed. The ache in her throat was worse now, and her eyes felt hot. “But you’ll take good care of her,” she said. “Right?”
“I’ll do my best,” said Ms. Dobbins. She stood up and dusted off her hands. “I think it’s time to get her settled at home. The staff can close up here today. I’ll grab all the formula supplies if you can carry the box out to my car.”
“Me?” Lizzie asked. Lizzie knew so much about dog breeds, and dog training, and dog care. But somehow, this tiny puppy made her feel as if she did not know anything at all. She was not sure she trusted herself to carry that box without dropping it or jarring the puppy inside.
Ms. Dobbins smiled. “Yes, you,” she said. “You’ll be fine.” She arranged another towel over the top of the box to keep the puppy warm, then picked the box up and handed it to Lizzie. “Follow me,” she said.
Lizzie followed Ms. Dobbins, cradling the box carefully in her arms. It wasn’t heavy at all; it probably weighed less than her math book. Lizzie felt the box move a little as the puppy squirmed around inside. Out in the parking lot, she followed Ms. Dobbins’s directions and gently set the box on the floor by the passenger seat.
“Okay, Lizzie. Thanks. I’ll let you know how she’s doing.”
Lizzie watched as Ms. Dobbins drove off. When her mom pulled in a few seconds later to pick her up, Lizzie burst into tears.
Her mom jumped out of the car. “What is it, honey?” She hugged Lizzie close. “Did something go wrong at the party?”
Lizzie cried even harder, burying her face into her mother’s familiar soft warmth. When she could speak, she told Mom about the puppy.
“Oh, sweetie,” said Mom. “That’s so hard.” She hugged Lizzie some more. “Tell you what. I could use your help in the kitchen this afternoon. Let’s go to the store, and then we’ll get busy. It’ll help keep your mind off the puppy.”
Lizzie followed Mom around the store, then helped her unpack the groceries at home and set out all the things they needed to make lasagna.
“I’m making two,” Mom explained. “One for us and one for our new neighbors. I saw the moving van arrive earlier today, and now there’s a car in the driveway. I’m sure a nice, easy dinner would be a welcome gift.”
Ordinarily, Lizzie would have been curious about who had moved into the house next door, which was so close that she could almost reach out and touch it from the kitchen window. But today it didn’t seem important.
“Okay,” she said. She knew Mom was trying to distract her, but it was not working too well. She stirred tomato sauce, and shredded cheese, and laid out lasagna noodles, but the whole time she was thinking about the puppy at Ms. Dobbins’s house. What was she doing now? Was she eating well from the bottle? Was she warm enough? Lizzie almost burst out crying again, thinking how much the puppy must be missing her mom and brothers.
When the lasagna was done, Mom wrapped it in foil and put a note on top.
Cook at 350 for one hour, until cheese is bubbly. Welcome to the neighborhood
! Then she asked Lizzie to deliver the lasagna while she cleaned up the kitchen.
Lizzie carried the heavy pan across the neighbors’ yard and knocked at the front door. Nobody answered. She waited for a few moments and knocked again. No footsteps came down the stairs. The house seemed completely silent. She wasn’t sure what to do, but finally she decided to set the lasagna on a small bench on the porch. Hopefully someone would come home soon and see it.
When she came back to the house, Mom was standing in the kitchen, looking upset.
“What is it?” Lizzie’s heart thumped wildly. “Mom! What happened? Did the puppy die?”
Mom shook her head, and Lizzie felt a wave of relief.
“But she’s not doing well. Ms. Dobbins just called,” Mom said. “The puppy is having a hard time learning to drink from the bottle. Ms. Dobbins called the vet, but she wanted to be sure you knew ahead of time that the puppy really might not make it.”