Shadow (2 page)

The puppy liked the girl right away. He liked
everybody,
but especially people who smiled at him that way. Would she like him, too? As soon as he had a chance, he was going to lick her face all over.

“This is Shadow,” said Dr. Gibson. She didn't seem to notice that Lizzie didn't say hello or invite her in. “I know I shouldn't have brought him over without asking first, but I just couldn't stand to leave him home alone.”

By then the rest of the family had crowded in behind Lizzie.

“Wow,” said Charles. “He's so cute! How old is he?”

“Aww,” said Dad. “What a great little pup.”

“Uppy!” yelled the Bean, reaching up to try to pat the puppy.

Even Mom, the cat lover, was impressed. “Would you look at him?” she asked. “Isn't he something?”
Then she seemed to remember her manners. “Come in, why don't you, Dr. Gibson?”

“Call me Katie, please,” said the doctor as she came inside. She smiled at Lizzie. “You look as if you're itching to hold this puppy. Want to take him while I get my coat off?”

Lizzie held out her arms, and the vet handed the puppy to her. His soft, warm weight made Lizzie sigh happily. And when he put one paw on either side of her neck in a sort of puppy hug, she felt as if her heart would burst. “Hello, Shadow,” she whispered into one of his silky ears. “Good boy.” The puppy nuzzled her cheek with his nose, then licked her face all over, which made her giggle.

Then the puppy struggled to get down, and Lizzie carefully lowered him to the floor. He ran straight for the Bean, who was laughing and clapping his hands.

“Grab him!” said Mrs. Peterson.

Lizzie wasn't sure whether her mom meant
Shadow or the Bean, but there wasn't time, anyway.

“It's okay,” said Dr. Gibson. “Shadow is terrific with little kids. He played with my one-year-old nephew all day today. He's just a puppy, but he acts almost like a grown-up dog.”

They all watched as the Bean threw his arms around Shadow. “Uppy!” the Bean cried. Shadow's frown disappeared. His little tail wagged so fast that it was nothing but a black blur. The pudgy puppy licked the Bean's cheeks, nose, and ears.

This little person was so much fun! It was just like being back with his brothers and sisters, who loved to tumble all over one another and wrestle and play. Right away, Shadow knew he would do anything for this little person. Anything!

“Shadow's a pretty special pup,” Dr. Gibson told them when they were all sitting down to eat the chocolate cake Mom had brought home. By then,
Lizzie had scooped up Shadow again and he was sitting in her lap while she ate. The Bean stood next to Lizzie's chair, stroking Shadow's ears. “He's a purebred Labrador retriever, with papers and everything,” the vet explained.

“Papers, like to pee on?” Charles sounded confused.

Lizzie smiled. “No,” she told him. “That's for housebreaking. The kind of papers she's talking about are proof that he is a purebred dog. They tell who his mother and father are, and where he comes from.”

“That's right, Lizzie,” said the vet, sounding impressed. “Anyway, this special pup needs a home. A family in town bought him from a breeder, but almost right away they found out that their son is allergic to dogs! So they asked me to find him a good home, and I thought of you.”

She smiled at Charles and Lizzie. “You did such a good job taking care of Snowball and finding him a home. Mrs. Peabody brought him in the
other day for a checkup, and he looked so healthy and happy. Remember how sick he was when we first saw him?”

Lizzie nodded. But she wasn't thinking about Snowball. She was thinking about Shadow, the adorable little puppy who was now nestled in her arms, fast asleep. “Can we, Mom?” she asked. “Can we keep Shadow?”

“Keep?” Mom asked. “Or foster?”

Lizzie already knew she would love to keep Shadow forever. But Mom probably wouldn't say yes to that. “Foster,” she said. “Just until we find him a really great home.”

“Yeah, foster!” Charles agreed quickly. Lizzie knew Charles was like her. He would do anything to keep the puppy — even if only for a little while.

Mom nodded thoughtfully. “It's hard to say no to this little guy,” she said. “What do you say, Paul?”

“I'm all for it, if you are,” Dad said.

“One thing I should say,” said Dr. Gibson, “is that it would be best if you can find Shadow a
permanent home quickly. He is only nine weeks old, and this is an important time for him to learn how to be part of a family. We don't want him to get too attached to you and then have to start all over again.”

Mrs. Peterson was nodding. Lizzie and Charles just looked at each other, and Lizzie knew they were thinking the very same thing. Maybe
they
could be Shadow's permanent home.

But then Mom spoke up. “That makes sense,” she said. “And the timing works for us, too. We have a family vacation planned in a couple of weeks. We're visiting relatives in South Carolina over spring break.”

Lizzie knew that her mother was right. She was really looking forward to seeing her cousins. They had two really cool dogs, named Pogo and Winnie, to play with.

Lizzie, Charles, and the Bean always had the best time in South Carolina. And it was true that it wouldn't be fair to leave a puppy as young as
Shadow in a kennel for almost two weeks. But Lizzie knew it was also true that giving up Shadow would be one of the hardest things she'd ever have to do. She was already in love with the little black puppy with the serious face.

Shadow felt warm and safe on the girl's lap. He knew she would take good care of him. And he would take care of her, too. He squirmed into a more comfortable position, sighed happily, and went back to sleep.

By the end of the weekend, the whole family was in love with Shadow, and he loved them all, too. The puppy and the Bean seemed to have an extraspecial bond. They were never apart. They roamed all over the house together. Sometimes the Bean was toddling and the puppy was scampering after him. Sometimes Shadow was trotting ahead and the Bean was trying to keep up. They napped together curled up on a soft, fleecy dog bed and took turns playing with the Bean's favorite stuffed toys. Shadow seemed to think it was his job to protect and watch over the Bean, as if the Bean were a younger puppy who needed his care.

Shadow was a good puppy. He was already
mostly housebroken, and he usually whimpered at the door if he needed to go out.

And he loved to cuddle. Lizzie spent most of Sunday evening with Shadow sleeping on her lap while she watched a movie. She loved the little puppy noises he made in his sleep while she stroked his silky ears. Once in a while he would wake partway up, stretch and yawn, and kiss her on the chin. That was the best.

Lizzie and Charles had a hard time leaving the house on Monday morning when it was time to head for school. “Good-bye, Shadow,” Lizzie said, scooping him up for one more hug. She kissed the top of his silky head. “You be a good boy, okay?” She put him down and he bounded back to the Bean's side.

Shadow was sorry to see the girl and boy leave, but now he could concentrate on the smallest person in the house. He loved his new friend so much!

Charles and his best friend, Sammy, chattered about the new puppy all the way to school. Lizzie walked behind them, wishing she had a best friend, too. It would be fun to tell somebody about all the funny things that Shadow had done over the weekend, like sticking his head into the Bean's toy chest and pulling out a stuffed bear that was twice as big as he was.

Charles was lucky. When the Petersons had moved to Littleton last summer, Charles had found a best friend who lived right next door. But there were no girls Lizzie's age in the neighborhood. She was friendly with most of the girls in her class, but she didn't have a
best
friend.

Often at recess Lizzie spent her time reading or looking things up on the computer instead of playing jump rope or kickball. Lizzie didn't really mind that, but once in a while she thought it would be nice to have someone to share her secrets or exciting news with.

She thought about telling the whole class about
Shadow during their morning meeting, but at the last minute she decided not to. Somehow she wanted to keep him to herself for a little while. Knowing she was going to have to find him a good home and give him up soon made him seem even more precious to her.

Anyway, that day everybody was talking about Helen Keller. Mrs. Abeson had asked how many of them had been reading the book over the weekend, and lots of hands went up. “What interesting things did you find out about Helen Keller?” Mrs. Abeson asked.

“I don't see how Helen Keller could climb trees and stuff like that,” Noah said. “I mean, she couldn't
see
anything.”

“Blind people can do lots of things,” said a girl named Maria Santiago, who was even newer to Littleton Elementary than Lizzie. Usually Maria was really shy. Lizzie was a little surprised to hear her speak up.

“That's right,” Lizzie said. “I found that out this
weekend. I spent a lot of time wearing a blindfold so I could see what it was like to be blind. It wasn't so hard to learn my way around the house.” Lizzie didn't mention how many times she had almost tripped over toys that Shadow and the Bean had left lying all over the place. “The only thing was, I didn't feel
really
blind because I could still see light and dark through the blindfold.”

Again, Maria put up her hand. “Lots of blind people see light and shadow,” she said softly. “The world isn't completely dark for most of them.”

Lizzie looked at her. All of a sudden, Maria was starting to seem like a little bit of a know-it-all. What had happened to the girl who hardly ever spoke in class unless she was called on? Lizzie shrugged. “Maybe,” she said. “Another thing I noticed was that my hearing didn't really get any better. Supposedly when you're blind your other senses — like hearing and touch — start to make up for it, but maybe that takes a while to happen.”

Maria was shaking her head. Mrs. Abeson called on her. “Maria? Did you have something to say?”

“Well, only that it's kind of a myth that blind people can hear better,” said Maria. “Their hearing is the same. They just learn to pay more attention to what they hear.”

Mrs. Abeson nodded. “That makes sense,” she said.

Lizzie frowned. Wasn't that the same thing
she
had just said? And how did Maria know all this stuff, anyway? Lizzie couldn't help being curious. But Mrs. Abeson had moved on to asking everyone to get their math homework out, so there was no chance to find out more.

The rest of the day dragged by. Lizzie couldn't wait to get home and see Shadow again. When the last bell rang, she grabbed her jacket and met Charles and Sammy outside. The three of them ran almost all the way home.

“Shadow!” Lizzie called when she and Charles got home. “Here, pup!” She was dying to see the little black puppy. Where was he?