Noodle (5 page)

Meanwhile, it was time to try another phone call. This time, Lizzie tried to figure out what she would say
before
she dialed. But the second call did not go much better than the first.

“Hello?” The man who answered spoke loudly and sounded annoyed.

“Hello, my name is Lizzie Peterson, and I found a puppy — or rather a purple collar — well, both, really, and —”

Click.
The man hung up before Lizzie could even finish.

“How’s it going, Miss Lizzie?” Dad came into the kitchen, wiping his hands on a rag. He had been working on his pickup truck out in the driveway.

Lizzie sighed. “Not very well, I guess.”

“Tell you what,” Dad said. “Why don’t I try for a bit? Maybe folks would listen a little better to a grown-up. Anyway, we need some of your famous signs. How about if you head upstairs and get to work on the computer, and I’ll take over on the phone?”

Lizzie was happy to hand over her list of area codes. “Come on, Noodle,” she said. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Noodle scrambled to his feet and followed Lizzie out of the kitchen.

Sure, sure, I’ll go anywhere with you! What are we doing next? Maybe we’re going to see my people!

Upstairs, Lizzie got out the camera and posed Noodle on the blue rag rug next to her bed. “First we need a great picture,” she said. “Look at me, Noodle!”

Noodle jumped up and ran over to Lizzie, sticking his nose right up into the camera.

Lizzie giggled. “No, Noodle! You have to sit!” She put him back into position. Then she stepped away and looked through the camera again, focusing on Noodle’s adorable face. “Ready?” she asked.

Noodle jumped up again. This time Lizzie just put down the camera and gave him a big hug. “You are the silliest!” she said. She lay down on the floor and let Noodle dance around her, snuffling at her hair and licking her ears. It was so much more fun to play with Noodle than to make a dumb sign looking for his owners — who probably didn’t even care about him, anyway!

“Noodle?”

Lizzie looked up to see the Bean peering around the corner of her door. “Come on in,” she said. “Want to play with Noodle?”

“Yeah!” The Bean ran into the room. “Noodle!” He threw his arms around the puppy.

Noodle squirmed away.

Pee-yoo! Sometimes I like yucky smells, but a delicious pile of garbage is one thing, and a stinky human is another. This little boy does not smell very good. Not like
my
people.

“Uppy?” the Bean asked. He tried again, reaching forward to give Noodle a big hug. But Noodle stepped away, and the Bean plopped down on his behind, looking sad and bewildered. “Uppy no play?”

Lizzie had a feeling she knew
exactly
why the uppy didn’t want to be near the Bean. “I think it’s your Fur,” she told her little brother gently. “I think Noodle doesn’t like the way it smells.”

“But — but — but —” The Bean looked as if he might start screaming any minute.

“I’m not telling you to wash it.” Lizzie held up her hands. “That’s your choice. But you know, every puppy needs a bath
once
in a while!”

The next day was Monday, and Lizzie and Charles had to go to school. Lizzie could hardly
stand
to miss one minute with Noodle. Before she left, she kissed and hugged him so much that Buddy got jealous and came over to put his paws up on her knee. He wanted attention, too.

“Of course I’ll kiss you, too, Buddy,” Lizzie said, kneeling down. “I’ll always love you best of all. But” — she bent down to whisper into his soft brown ear — “wouldn’t you love to have a little brother?”

All day in school, Lizzie daydreamed about what it would be like if Noodle could live with the Petersons forever. When her parents first agreed that Buddy could stay, it had been like a dream
come true. Having a dog of their own was the best thing that had ever happened to Charles and Lizzie and the Bean. So — what about having
two
dogs? Lizzie could hardly even imagine how much fun
that
would be.

So far, none of the phone calls they had made had turned up Noodle’s people. Maybe the Petersons would never find out who they were! Or, better yet, Lizzie pictured this: They
would
find them, but the people would say they just really couldn’t take care of a dog. They would ask if the Petersons knew anyone who wanted to adopt Noodle. “Well,” Mom would say, “I never thought we could handle one dog, much less two, but — we’d
love
to have Noodle!”

By the time school ended, Lizzie had practically convinced herself that Noodle was already hers — or at least that he would soon be hers forever. But she had figured out that it would probably be best if she
did
find his people, just so she would know for
sure
that he really needed a home. She
had a plan, too! During math period, when she should have been practicing fractions, she had been thinking dreamily about the day before at the lake, when she had found Noodle’s collar.

Suddenly, she had remembered that she had seen paw prints in the snow near the tree. There was still enough snow on the ground that maybe, just maybe, she could find
more
paw prints — and follow them to find out where Noodle had come from!

On the way home after school, Lizzie admitted to Charles that she was hoping they could keep Noodle forever.

“But even if you find Noodle’s owners and they don’t want him, do you really think Mom would let us have another dog?” Charles asked as he and Lizzie arrived at their front door.

“I bet I could talk her into it,” Lizzie said as she pushed the door open. “Hi, we’re home!” she yelled. “Buddy! Noodle!”

The two puppies came galloping into the front
hall, with the Bean running after them. Both puppies were barking, and the Bean was squealing with laughter. Noodle ran right up to Lizzie and Charles.

Yay! You’re home! Time to play! If only my people were here to play with us, too, then this place would be perfect!

Charles let Noodle lick his cheek. Then he made a funny face. “Um, what’s that yucky smell?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

Lizzie didn’t say a word. She just pointed to the Bean and his matted Fur.

“Oh,” said Charles. “Right.” He leaned away from his little brother. Buddy and Noodle were edging away from the Bean, too.

The Bean frowned. Lizzie saw him sniff the arm of his Fur. Maybe, just maybe, he was almost ready to give in and let the stinky sweater be washed.

Lizzie’s mom came out of the kitchen. “Lizzie, I called the police station again,” she said.

Lizzie felt her insides go all mushy. “You did?” she asked. “Did they hear anything about any missing puppies?”

Mom shook her head. “Sergeant Martin was supposed to be back today, but he called in sick. The officer who answered said he didn’t think anyone had called about a missing dog over the weekend.”

Lizzie let out a breath. What a relief! If the police had gotten a call about Noodle, that would mean his people were looking for him, and that they
did
care about him, and that they probably would want to take their puppy back instead of letting the Petersons adopt him.

Lizzie pulled Noodle onto her lap and gave him a great big hug.

“I know, it’s disappointing,” said Mom. “We all want to find Noodle’s people as quickly as possible. Think how much he must miss them!”

Lizzie tried not to. Instead, she sent Noodle a thought message:
Think about this: how much I love you!

Noodle squirmed deeper into Lizzie’s arms.

Mmmm, nice hugs. My people used to hug me like that. Even though this girl is nice, I still miss them!

“Mom, can you drive me and Charles to Loon Lake Park? There’s something I want to check out down there.” Lizzie put Noodle down and stood up. “And we can take the dogs for a walk, too.”

“By yourselves?” Mom looked doubtful. “Will you promise to be careful around that ice?”

“Of course!” said Lizzie. “I won’t go near it. Do you think I want to fall in?”

“Well, okay,” Mom said. “I have some grocery shopping to do. I’ll drop you off.”

On the way to the lake, Lizzie and Charles rode
in the way back of Mom’s van, near the dog crate that held Buddy and Noodle. It was as if they were
all
trying to stay as far away as possible from the stinky Bean in his car seat.

“See you in half an hour!” Mom said as she let them off at the lake. “Be careful!” she called as she drove away with the Bean.

“That should be just enough time,” Lizzie said. She was holding Noodle’s leash, and Charles was holding Buddy’s. “Let’s go!”

Once again, Noodle pulled on his leash, dragging Lizzie along the shoreline. She noticed that the ice was beginning to melt at the edges of the lake. It was hard to believe that in a few short months she would be swimming in the cool, clear water! Most of the snow on the shore had melted away, too. Lizzie was disappointed. That meant they probably wouldn’t find any tracks.

“Where are we
going?”
Charles asked, stumbling along behind Lizzie.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the fallen
tree. “See, this is where the collar was.” Lizzie pointed to the branches hanging over the ice.

“All the way out there? How did you
get
it?” Charles asked.

“It wasn’t easy.” Lizzie remembered inching her way out on that tree trunk. Then she remembered something else: the way the tags had jingled when she poked at the collar with a stick. One tag would not make a jingling sound. There had been
two!
She had forgotten all about the other tag.

“Charles! That collar! Besides that name tag, there was
another
tag on it. A rabies vaccination tag.”

Charles’s eyes lit up. “Really? Maybe it’ll give us another clue about who Noodle belongs to! Where is it?”

“It’s back home,” Lizzie said. “Remember? Dad hung the collar on a nail in the garage, since it was too big for Noodle anyway.”

Suddenly, Lizzie didn’t mind anymore about not finding any tracks. She couldn’t wait to get
home to take a look at the other tag on that purple collar.

Dad was home by the time Lizzie and Charles got back from the lake. Lizzie ran straight for the garage and grabbed the collar. “See?” she said, when she was back in the kitchen. She showed it to her dad. “We forgot about the other tag!” Her words tumbled out as she explained. She picked up the magnifying glass on the table and looked at the tag. “Boston!” she said. “This says the dog was registered in Boston. Maybe Noodle’s owners are summer people who were up at one of the cabins for the weekend!”

Dad peered at the tag. “Huh. You may be right.” He grabbed the phone book and flipped some pages. “Ok, here’s a Boston area code that starts with eight. Let’s try that number!” He went right to the phone and dialed.

Inside her jacket pocket, Lizzie crossed her fingers. Was this it? The moment of truth when they would find Noodle’s owners?

But Dad shook his head. “No answer.” He was still holding the phone to his ear. Then he held up a finger. “Hold on, there’s a machine!” He waited for a second, then said, “Hello, my name is Paul Peterson from Littleton, near Loon Lake. Have you lost a puppy? We’ve found him, and he’s safe and sound. Call us!” Quickly, he rattled off his phone number and hung up.

“Now what?” Lizzie asked.

Dad just shrugged. “I guess we just have to wait to see if we hear back,” he said.

“Anything?” Lizzie asked as soon as she got home from school the next day. “Did anybody call?”

“Not yet,” said her mother.

Lizzie could hardly stand it. She had thought they were so close to finding Noodle’s owners, but why hadn’t anybody called back? Lizzie sat at the kitchen table, fiddling nervously with the purple collar. Finally, she couldn’t stand sitting still for one more minute. She had to
do
something. “Buddy!” she called. “Noodle!” Both puppies came galloping into the kitchen. “Look at you two,” Lizzie said. “Your paws are all muddy from being at the lake yesterday. How about a bath?”

“Now
that
sounds like a good idea,” said her
mother. “Maybe Charles can help. Just be careful and —”

“Keep the door closed!” Lizzie laughed. She knew Mom was remembering the last time Lizzie had given two puppies a bath. They had managed to escape and run through the house, splattering soapy water everywhere.

Charles ran the water while Lizzie gathered towels and puppy shampoo. Then she rounded up Buddy and Noodle and brought them into the steamy bathroom. She and Charles had just lifted Noodle into the tub and then Buddy, when there was a knock at the door.

“Bath time?” the Bean asked, when Lizzie opened the door a crack. “Bath time for puppies?”

Lizzie’s eyes widened. Why not? There was more than one way to wash a Fur!

“Yes!” she said. “That’s right! Bath time for puppies!” And a few minutes later, the Bean joined Buddy and Noodle in the tub — with his
Fur on! The two puppies and the little boy wriggled in the suds while Lizzie rubbed puppy shampoo into the Bean’s Fur and started to scrub. Good-bye, oatmeal! Good-bye, grape juice! Good-bye, milk and toothpaste and dog food!

Puppy bath time was noisy and wet and took quite a long time. Finally, while Charles and Lizzie were rubbing the puppies and the Bean with towels, Mom called from downstairs. “Lizzie! Charles! Can you come right down? We have company!”

Noodle, still a little damp, led the way downstairs. Lizzie saw a round, dark-haired woman waiting in the front hall. There was a girl next to her, about Lizzie’s age, with the same dark hair.

“Lizzie, this is Mrs. Rispoli,” Mom said. “She just drove all the way up from Boston. And this is her daughter, Sophia.”

Lizzie’s heart thumped. Instantly, she knew exactly who these Rispoli people must be. They
were Noodle’s owners. The people who didn’t care about him. The people who had totally abandoned him.

But Mrs. Rispoli was rushing toward Noodle. “Oh, there he is!” She scooped him up before he even got to the bottom of the stairs. “You darling!” She kissed him over and over on the top of his head. Sophia squeezed in so she could kiss Noodle, too. “I don’t believe it!” cried Mrs. Rispoli. “This is so amazing! I hope it’s okay that we drove straight here. I tried to call, but I kept getting voice mail. So we just drove up to Littleton and asked where the Petersons live — and here we are!” She kissed Noodle all over and hugged him tight.