Patches (4 page)

“I said, what are you doing here?” The man was frowning. “And who’s that dog? Why are you letting him beat on Patches?”

He stepped forward into the garage. He seemed bigger than ever as he gazed down at Charles and Sammy, who were sitting on the concrete floor.

Charles scrambled to his feet. “We — uh —” He could not think of a single thing to say.

“We were just playing with him.” Sammy had jumped up, too. “That’s Buddy. He belongs to Charles.” He jerked a thumb at Charles.

The man squinted at Charles. “Your name’s Charles?” he asked. “As in, Charles Peterson?”

Charles gasped. How did this man know his name?

“Well?”

Charles nodded. “I’m Charles Peterson,” he admitted.

“The one who wrote the letter, right? Hug your dog?”

Charles groaned. So
that’s
how he knew. Oh, man, was he in trouble now. He looked down at his shoes. “Yes, I wrote it.”

Sammy took a step closer to Charles and faced the man. “There wasn’t a
thing
wrong with that letter!” he said. “Everything Charles said was true!”

The man looked from Sammy to Charles. “Look,” he said finally. “I want to talk to you, Charles Peterson. Why don’t you and your friend and your dog come up on the porch?”

Charles would rather have come face-to-face with a ghost. But what could he do? He couldn’t say no. So he tugged on Buddy’s leash and called him over.

Hey! I was having fun! I thought you brought me over here to play!

“See you later, Patches,” said Sammy as he untangled the beagle puppy’s leash one more time.

Doooon’t goooooo!

Patches started crying the minute they were out of sight.

The man led Charles and Sammy around the house and up onto the front porch. He gestured toward two chairs. “Sit,” he said. Then he disappeared into the house.

Charles and Sammy sat down. They only had a second to exchange frightened glances before the man came back out, carrying a tray with three glasses of juice on it. He gave one to each of the boys, then sat down and took a sip from his own glass.

Buddy was sitting right next to Charles. He seemed to understand that this was no time to be fooling around.

After a moment, the man put down his glass. “So, you’re Charles. And — what’s your name?”

“Sammy.” Sammy’s eyes looked very big.

“Charles and Sammy. I’m Doug Stevens. And I guess you already know my dog, Patches.”

Charles and Sammy nodded.

“Patches is a great puppy.” Charles couldn’t help himself. “He’s really cute.”

Then Mr. Stevens did something that really surprised Charles.

He smiled.

“He sure is,” he said. “I thought so the very first time I saw him. He was such a little guy, the runt of his litter.”

“So was Buddy!” Charles couldn’t believe it.

Buddy jumped up when he heard his name.

What? Are we going somewhere?

“No kidding!” said Mr. Stevens. “He sure looks healthy now.” He chucked Buddy under the chin. “Hey there, little guy.”

Charles couldn’t believe it. Mr. Stevens was turning out to be a nice person!

“Buddy is a lucky puppy,” said Mr. Stevens. “I can tell he gets lots of attention from you.”

Charles wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m lucky, too. I mean, lucky to have Buddy.” He leaned down and gave Buddy a pat.

Mr. Stevens didn’t say anything for a little while. He just sat there looking at Buddy. Then he started talking again. “When I read your letter, I knew right away that it was about Patches,” he began very quietly. “At first, I was a little mad. It was like you were saying I am a bad dog owner.”

“I didn’t mean —” Charles began, but Mr. Stevens held up a hand.

“The truth is, when I thought about it, I
have
been a bad dog owner,” he said. “Patches does not
get the attention he deserves. My family is just too busy right now. We’re all off on our separate activities all day, and there’s nobody here to play with him.”

“Nobody? What about the man who just sits there all the time, in the living room?” Sammy blurted out.

Mr. Stevens raised an eyebrow. Charles could tell he didn’t like the idea of Sammy and Charles looking through his windows.

“Not that we were spying or anything.” Sammy was blushing.

“That man,” said Mr. Stevens, “happens to be my father. He’s eighty-nine years old. He is in a wheelchair. And he’s pretty much totally deaf. So he can’t hear it when Patches is crying, and even if he could hear, there isn’t much he could do about it.”

“Oh.” Sammy bit his lip. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” said Mr. Stevens. “I understand
that you boys only want what’s best for Patches. So do I. That’s why my wife and I have decided that this is not the right time for our family to have a dog. Your letter made us decide that we should find Patches another home.”

Charles stared at Mr. Stevens. “Really?” He couldn’t believe that his letter had actually made Mr. Stevens change his mind.

“You must think I’m a bad person,” Mr. Stevens said. “Somebody who doesn’t treat his dog right.”

“No!” said Charles. “I mean — maybe I
did
think that, a little. But you just didn’t
know.
It’s just like Ms. Dobbins said. She’s the director of Caring Paws. You know, the animal shelter? She said lots of people just don’t understand how much attention dogs really need.”

Mr. Stevens was nodding. “Exactly. My wife and I aren’t really dog people at all. I got a puppy for my kids because I felt bad about them not getting to go away for spring break this year. I had
to work, so we couldn’t go to Florida like we usually do. But Hannah and Christopher didn’t really
want
a dog. They’re busy with friends and soccer and dance and all that.”

Kids who don’t want a dog? Charles had a hard time imagining that. He and Lizzie and the Bean had
always
wanted a dog. But as Dad always said, “Different people are different.”

“My wife and I have already told the kids. They seemed to understand. So, I guess I’ll give this Ms. Dobbins a call,” Mr. Stevens was saying. “But I sure do hate to leave the little guy at the animal shelter.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Sammy said. “They’ll take good care of him there, and they’ll find him a great home.”

Charles was thinking. Maybe his family would end up fostering Patches. Wouldn’t that be great? He and Buddy could play all day long! Charles reached down to scratch Buddy’s head.

Suddenly, Mr. Stevens cupped a hand over his
ear. “What
is
that noise? I keep hearing this moaning sound. It’s not Patches, it’s something else. I always thought it was silly when people said the house next door was haunted. But lately I’m starting to wonder!”

Charles and Sammy looked at each other and started to laugh.

“It’s Noelle,” they said together.

“She’s Sammy’s cousin, and she’s fixing up the house next door. She must be listening to her headphones and singing along,” Charles explained.

Then Charles and Sammy looked at each other again.

“Noelle!” they both shouted. Of course! Noelle thought Patches was cute. She hated to hear him cry. And most of all, she was lonely working by herself and wanted a pal.

Charles jumped to his feet.

“What is it?” Mr. Stevens asked.

“I think we might know the perfect person to adopt Patches,” said Charles. “Want to meet her?”

“Well, this is very sudden, but — okay.” Mr. Stevens got up. “Be right back, Pop!” he shouted into the house. Then he followed Charles and Sammy down the porch stairs, across the driveway, and up onto the porch of the haunted house. The ghostly sounds were even stronger now, but the boys weren’t afraid at all.

Sammy looked through the window. “Yup, it’s her!”

Charles knocked on the door.

There was no answer. Noelle was singing so loudly that she couldn’t hear a thing. Charles knocked again. Then he gave up and pushed the door open.

“Hey!” Noelle beamed when she saw Charles and Sammy and Buddy. “This must be Buddy!” Charles had told her all about his puppy. She knelt down and held out her arms, and Buddy ran over to say hello. Then Noelle saw Mr. Stevens. “Oh,” she said. “Hi.” She stood up.

Mr. Stevens walked right over to her and stuck
out his hand. “I’m Doug Stevens, from next door,” he said.

“Noelle Pagano,” said Noelle, shaking his hand. “Good to meet you.”

Mr. Stevens looked around. “You’re getting a lot done here,” he said. “Nice work.”

“Thanks!” Noelle crossed her arms. Charles could tell she was wondering why they were all there.

Mr. Stevens could probably tell, too. “Listen,” he said. “Maybe you’ve noticed our dog, Patches, out back.”

“I sure have,” said Noelle.

“I’m sorry for all the noise he’s been making,” Mr. Stevens went on. “But, thanks to Charles’s letter, we’ve finally figured out that our family is not really ready for a dog.”

“Oh?” Now Noelle looked interested.

“So we’re going to give him up for adoption.”

Noelle was quiet for a moment. And for another moment. Finally, Charles couldn’t stand one more
second of suspense. “What do you think, Noelle? Want to adopt Patches?”

“Me?” Noelle looked surprised. “Well — I’d love to! But —”

“But
what?”
Sammy said.

“Well, a dog is a big responsibility,” Noelle said. She looked thoughtful. “It’s not something to rush into. But I’ve wanted a puppy for a long time and Patches would be great company. And my landlord already told me it was okay to have a dog in my apartment, and —”

“So it’s okay!” Sammy said. “Come on! What are you waiting for?”

Sammy grabbed one of Noelle’s hands and Charles grabbed the other. They pulled her over to the window so she could see across the driveway to where Patches was tied up in the garage. She looked at him for about one second. Then she turned back to face Mr. Stevens, and now she was smiling. “I’ll take him. Definitely.”

“Really?” asked Mr. Stevens.

“Really!” said Noelle. “Should we go over and tell Patches right now?”

She led the way outside and across the driveway to the garage. “Hey, boy,” she said softly as she knelt down to pat the puppy’s long, droopy ears. “What do you say? Want to be my pal? Want to come home with me and keep me company when I’m working?”

Patches put his feet up onto Noelle’s knees and licked her face. Then he plopped back down onto his little butt and pointed his face to the sky to howl a happy song.

Hoooorrraaaayyy! Hoooraayyy! Today is my lucky daaaaaaay!

Charles and Sammy grinned at each other and slapped high fives. “You did it, man!” said Sammy. “You found a great home for Patches!”

Wow! Charles realized that Sammy was right. Even though Patches had never come to stay with
the Petersons, he was a foster puppy just like all the others. Like Goldie and Snowball and Rascal, like Shadow and Buddy and Flash and Scout. And just like all the others, Patches had found the perfect forever home.

What should you do if you see a dog (or any kind of animal) being mistreated? The best thing is to tell an adult: one of your parents, a teacher, or a friend. If there is a Humane Society in your area, the people who work there can help.

If you love animals and care about how they are treated, you can do what Charles did and write a letter to the editor. Or you can do what Lizzie does and volunteer at your local animal shelter.

It’s very sad that some people are not nice to animals. But you can make a difference by taking good care of your own pets. Don’t forget: Hug your dog!

Dear Reader,

Before Django, I had another dog named Junior. He was a black Lab, too. I adopted Junior from my local animal shelter when he was about one year old. He had been left at a gas station (just like Snowball, in Puppy Place #2!). Junior was a wonderful dog, but it was easy to tell that he had not had a happy life before he came to live with me. He was shy and afraid of loud noises, and he hated it when people argued. He was the sweetest dog and very easy to love. Junior died of old age many years ago, and I still miss him!

Yours from the Puppy Place,
Ellen Miles

THE PUPPY PLACE

Goldie
Snowball
Shadow
Rascal
Buddy
Flash
Scout
Patches
Noodle
Pugsley
Princess
Maggie and Max

TAYLOR-MADE TALES

The Dog’s Secret
The Pirate’s Plot
The Cowgirl’s Luck
The Penguin’s Peril

SCHOLASTIC JUNIOR CLASSICS

Doctor Dolittle
The Pied Piper
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Wind in the Willows

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 permisson, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Copyright © 2007 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.

First printing, March 2007

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e-ISBN: 978-0-545-31181-6