Fabulous Five 013 - The Christmas Countdown (2 page)

"You want us to do
what?
" asked Tony
Calcaterra, looking at Melanie with a surprised expression on his face.

It was the following afternoon and Tony, Keith, Randy,
Scott, and Jon were squeezed into a big corner booth with The Fabulous Five and
Mona at Bumpers. Shane was leaning against the side of the booth, and Matt was
standing next to him.

"We want you to help us earn money to free some dogs
and cats from the animal shelter. They're going to be put to sleep on Christmas
Eve if no one buys them," said Melanie.

"That's right," insisted Beth. "Those poor
animals will die while the rest of the world is singing carols and opening
presents." She cast her eyes down for dramatic effect. Then her face
brightened a little and she said, "You should see them. They're
sooo
sweet
and adorable."

"I've got a better idea," said Shane. "Why
don't we bake some dog biscuits with metal files in them and sneak them into
the animal shelter?"

"Yeah," said Keith. "The animals could saw
their way out, and we'd have a getaway van waiting outside."

"With fake tags to give them so no one would know they
were escaped convicts," added Randy.

"And Igor could be the getaway driver," Shane
offered. "He'd love it. He watches cop shows on TV all the time, and the
chase scenes are his favorites."

"Guys!"
said Jana. "We're serious. We've
got
to help these poor animals."

"That's right," agreed Christie. "Do you want
their deaths on
your
consciences?" She looked sternly at each of
the boys.

"Look," said Melanie. "It won't be hard to
earn three hundred and seventy-five dollars if we work together."

"Three hundred and seventy-five dollars?" asked
Matt, his voice rising in disbelief. "That's a lot of money."

"And we can't wash cars or mow lawns," said Randy.
"It's winter, remember?"

"Right," agreed Keith. "Besides, what would
we do with fifteen cats and dogs, anyway? Don't think you're going to ask me to
take two home. My mom and dad would kill me, even though it is Christmas."

"My mom and dad work and wouldn't want one either,"
said Jon.

Melanie looked down into her lap. What to do with the
animals once they had saved them had been worrying her, too. In fact, it was
just as big a problem as raising the money. They couldn't buy fifteen dogs and
cats and just turn them out onto the street.

"Let's not worry about that now," Melanie said,
crossing her fingers behind her back. "We'll give them away at school, or
something. We'll figure that out later, but first we've
got
to find a
way to earn money to save them."

"We don't have much time," said Tony. "Christmas
is only ten days away."

"It was ten days from
yesterday,
" corrected
Katie. "It's
nine
days from today."

"I said I'd talk to Mr. Bell to see if we can set up a
table in the cafeteria to ask for donations," said Christie. "Lots of
charities make appeals during the Christmas season because people are in a
giving mood. I'm sure that if I explain that to Mr. Bell, he'll let us."

"That's a good idea," Shane agreed. "Would he
let us make an announcement over the public address system, too?"

"Maybe," answered Christie. "I'll ask."

"What about advertising in the newspaper?" asked
Katie excitedly. "You know, we could prepare one of those ads that really
tugs at the old heart strings. My mom could write it, if your mother can get it
in the newspaper, Jana."

"That's a great idea!" responded Jana. "Since
my mom's the classified ad manager, she could probably get it in. And we can
include information about where people can send donations. Whose address shall
we put in?"

No one said anything for a moment, and Melanie held her
breath. Her parents might not like it if they found out she was involved in a
scheme to rescue dogs and cats, especially since she had been begging so hard
for a puppy of her own for Christmas. Still, no one else was volunteering, and
it would be a couple of days before donations would start coming in and they
would have to find out. Surely she could think of something to tell them by
then. Taking a deep breath, she said, "People can send the money to my
house."

"Good. I'll ask Mom to work on our ad tonight,"
said Katie. "Since she's a free-lance writer, it won't take her any time
at all."

"If you call me, I can copy it over the phone, and my
mom can take it to work with her in the morning," said Jana.

"I'll make up a schedule for sitting at the donation
table," said Melanie. "Two of us at a time can take care of it. We'll
have a boy and a girl there each day," she added, looking at Shane out of
the corner of her eye.

"I'll make a poster to tell people what it's all about,"
said Beth.

"I'll make a sign-up sheet for kids who want a cat or
dog," joined in Christie.

"And I'll ask Mrs. Graham if she would please talk to
her board of directors to see if they will give us a discount," said Mona,
her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

"Great," said Melanie. "And then we can all
meet by the fence in the morning and make our last-minute plans."

"One for all and all for the dogs," said Keith,
raising his cola cup high in the air.

"And for the cats, too," said Mona as she bumped
his cup with hers. They all cheered.

On the way home, Melanie thought about the pet project and
wondered if she was getting herself into more than she could handle. It was one
thing to want to help save the animals, and there was no question that she was
determined to do that. But her parents would have a fit when they found out
that the donations were being sent to
their house
. And what about
finding places for all the animals once they had been adopted? Was she being
too optimistic in thinking that people would volunteer to take them? she
wondered.

On the other hand, she thought, smiling to herself, there
were some good things about rallying so many kids to work together, also. For
one thing, it gave her the chance to be around Shane and maybe even to impress
him with what a kind and caring person she was. After all, he loved Igor, and
he seemed very interested in saving the dogs and cats. Surely he would like her
more than ever for being involved in such a worthwhile cause.

"Oh, Melanie!" Mrs. Miller, the widow who lived
next door to the Edwardses, called just as Melanie was turning up her sidewalk.

"Hi, Mrs. Miller." Melanie noticed the older lady
had a worried look on her face.

"Hello, dear. Have you seen my Duchess?" Duchess
was Mrs. Miller's Pomeranian dog. It was small with a pointy nose and long
blond hair, and Mrs. Miller kept a little pink bow between its ears. She
treated Duchess, who was old, too, as if she were her baby.

"No, I haven't," Melanie replied thoughtfully. "Has
she been missing long?"

"I let her out in the backyard a couple of hours ago,
and when I went to let her in, she wasn't there. I don't know
how
she
could have gotten out. The gate was closed and locked and there are no holes
under the fence."

"I'm sure she'll come back when she wants her supper,
Mrs. Miller. But I'll keep an eye out for her, just in case."

Melanie's mother was in the kitchen, as usual. Mrs. Edwards
liked staying home with her children and hadn't had a job outside the home
since before Melanie was born. She baked cakes and pies a lot, and the house
always smelled yummy when Melanie came in from school. Today, she and Jeffy
were decorating freshly baked Christmas cookies.

"Hi," Melanie said, putting her books on the
kitchen counter and snitching a warm cookie off the platter where they were
cooling.

"Hi," her mother responded cheerfully. Then her
expression clouded and she added with a sigh, "Honey, please don't walk
off and leave your books there. You know how much trouble I have keeping this
counter cleared off."

"And Santa's watching," said Jeffy, shaking a
finger at her.

"I won't." Melanie sat on a stool at the counter
and munched on the cookie. "Mrs. Miller just told me that Duchess ran away."

"Oh? When did that happen?" her mother asked.

"She doesn't know. She put her out back, and when she
went to let her in, she was gone. Mrs. Miller says there aren't any holes under
the fence."

"I bet she'll show up at her front door wanting to come
in any minute now."

"That's what I told her. I hope so, anyway. It would be
terrible if she lost Duchess right at Christmastime."

Melanie was quiet for a moment, choosing her words
carefully. "Uh, Mom."

"Yes."

"After school yesterday, The Fabulous Five all went to
the animal shelter."

"Oh? I think I know what's coming, and no, you can't
have a puppy. They're a lot of trouble to take care of, and I would be the one
who would have to do it."

"But the animals at the shelter are going to die if
someone doesn't take them. A man who works there told us that they have to put
some of them to sleep because they don't have enough room, and they're going to
do it on
Christmas Eve.
"

Her mother turned to look at her and wiped her hands on her
apron. "Look, sweetheart. There are a lot of animals in this world that
need taking care of, I don't deny that. But there's no way we can take care of
all of them."

"Not even one?" Melanie asked softly.

Her mother shook her head.

"What if it were a grown-up dog? It wouldn't be much
trouble, not like a puppy."

"Melanie, please. I've got enough work to do. Any kind
of a dog needs to be let in and out, fed, watered, and walked. I just don't
have enough time for it."

Melanie sighed. This certainly wasn't the time to tell her
mother about the plan to save the animals.

Later in her room, Melanie looked out her window, watching
the snow fall softly. Under the streetlight in front of her house she could see
Mrs. Miller. The older woman was walking toward one end of the block, calling
out her dog's name. At the corner she turned around and walked in the other
direction and called again. Melanie pressed her face to the window. She could
see Mrs. Miller's footprints in the new snow, but no tiny paw prints were
anywhere to be seen.

Oh, no, thought Melanie, Duchess must still be missing. She
vowed to call Mrs. Miller in the morning. If Duchess still hadn't shown up,
Melanie would look for her on the way to school. Maybe she'd also suggest that
Mrs. Miller put an ad in the lost-and-found section of the newspaper.

With a sigh Melanie sat down on her bed and opened her
notebook to a clean sheet. Before she started her homework she wanted to work
out the schedule for kids to sit at the cafeteria table and collect money. I'm
glad it was my idea to make up the schedule, she thought gleefully, so now I
can pair myself up with Shane.

Melanie smiled to herself as a new and even better idea
occurred to her. Why not call Shane right now and ask him to help her work up
the schedule? She jumped up from her desk and headed for the phone. Working on
the pet project could even turn out to be fun.

"There are Randy and Keith," said Melanie, waving
to the two boys as they parked their bicycles at the bike rack. She and the
rest of The Fabulous Five were waiting at the school fence along with Mona,
Shane, Tony, Jon, Scott, and Matt.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Beth.

"Randy had an extra bowl of dog biscuits for breakfast,
and I had to wait for him," Keith said with a laugh. "And then he
kept chasing cars on the way to school."

"What a funny guy," responded Katie.

"The meeting of the official committee to save the
animals will come to order," said Melanie, taking charge. "No more
wisecracks until we've finished our business. Christie, did you get to talk to
Mr. Bell last night?"

"Yep, and he said we can put up a table in the
cafeteria. He thought it was a very good idea, but he wants us to place the
table where it won't interfere with traffic. He also suggested we have a money
box, and if we want, we can take it to the office, and they'll keep it in the
safe for us." Taking a deep breath, she added, "He also ask me if we
had homes for the animals, and I told him we were working on that."

Melanie tried not to let Mr. Bell's concern about homes for
the animals dampen her spirits, especially since the rest of The Fabulous Five
were jumping up and down with joy over being able to put up a donation table in
the cafeteria.

"Will they make an announcement over the public address
system for us?" asked Jon.

"Yes," answered Christie. "He asked when we
wanted to start it, and I said this morning."

Jana announced that her mother had taken the ad Willie
Shannon wrote to work that morning, and her mom had said she was sure they
would run it as a public service so it wouldn't cost them anything. Beth held
up the poster she had made the night before.

"Would the animal shelter let us take pictures?"
asked Tony. "If they will and we can find someone who has a camera, we can
put pictures of the cats and dogs on the poster and on the table."

"I'm sure they would," said Mona.

"That's a great idea," said Jana. "Let's ask
Garrett Boldt. He takes pictures at all the games and is taking the pictures
for the yearbook."

"We can take the film to one of those one-hour photo
places and get them back the same day," Tony added.

"Did you talk to Mrs. Graham about her asking the
shelter board to see if we can get a reduced rate?" Jana asked Mona.

"I called her, and she said she'd ask," answered
Mona. "I'm supposed to call her back in a couple of days. She also said
that if we do adopt the animals, someone would have to sign an adoption paper
for each one, guaranteeing that he or she will take care of it or return it to
the shelter. She was really firm about that. She said she thinks it's great that
we want to save the animals, but she told me at least three times that we have
to find homes for them before the shelter will release them."

Nobody said anything for a moment, and Melanie knew they
were all probably as worried about homes as she was. "Shane and I made up
a schedule last night," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "I've
got copies for everyone. Shane and I will take today."

"I hate to say it, because it might jinx us," said
Christie, "but I'm impressed with our plan. We ought to get enough money
real quick."

"We'll have enough money in plenty of time,"
agreed Melanie cheerfully. The way everyone was helping made her feel great.
What could go wrong when The Fabulous Five were pulling together and the other
kids were helping? They were unbeatable.

"I hate to keep bringing it up again," said Randy,
"but Mrs. Graham was right. What
are
we going to do with fifteen
dogs and cats?"

Melanie didn't have any better answer than she had before,
but she refused to let one detail quench her enthusiasm. "We'll think of
something. I know we will. For one thing, we'll put a sign-up list on the table
for anyone who wants a pet. We'll have plenty of kids asking for one in no
time."

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Randy insisted. "Have
you talked to your mom and dad about your getting Rainbow?"

"Well . . . kind of," answered Melanie.

"What did they say?" Randy asked.

"I just need to talk to them a little more. They'll
change their minds." Melanie tried to sound confident. "It's only my
mom I have to convince."

"Only your mom." Randy laughed. "That's like
saying
only
the Supreme Court."

"What if we put the table next to the door so that the
kids can give their leftover change as they're leaving the cafeteria?"
asked Shane.

"Good idea," said Melanie, handing the rolled-up
poster to Mona and picking up one end of the table. She and Shane positioned it
so it could easily be seen by anyone leaving the room.

Mona pressed the poster flat and then taped it to the front
of the table while Melanie and Shane dragged two chairs over.

"There," said Mona, standing back and viewing her
handiwork. "That ought to get everyone's attention."

"We could put speed bumps in front to slow people down,"
suggested Shane.

Melanie gave Shane a big grin. "Maybe you could lie
down and be one?"

"Are you kidding? With the stampede of kids going
outside after lunch, that's a sure way to get killed," he answered,
smiling back at her.

"I guess we're ready for business," said Mona,
opening the shoe box she had brought to collect the money in. "I want to
be the first one to donate." She opened her purse and dropped some change
in the box.

I've got something, too," said Shane, taking a plastic
sandwich bag out of his pocket. It was full of pennies, nickels, and dimes. "Don't
tell anyone—it might get back to Igor—but I stole this out of his piggy bank.
He'll never miss it. The one thing he's not good at is counting."

"Wait a minute," said Melanie, digging in her
purse. She came up with a quarter, two dimes, and a nickel and dropped them
into the box. "
Now
we're ready for business!"

People started wandering into the cafeteria. Several stopped
and read the sign. Marcie Bee and Sara Sawyer were the first to come over to
the table.

"Is this what Mr. Bell was talking about over the
public address system this morning?" asked Marcie.

After Melanie and the others explained it to them, she and
Sara put money into the box.

As the cafeteria filled, more and more kids noticed them and
added to the growing pile of pennies, nickels, and dimes. A few dropped in
quarters. Some said they'd like to donate but couldn't, explaining that buying
Christmas presents had taken all of their money.

Beth, Katie, Jana, and Christie all came with their hands
full of change to add to the collection. They each had robbed their banks.

Garrett Boldt came by with his camera hanging from his
shoulder, as usual. After he had donated, Melanie asked him if he would take
pictures of some of the animals at the shelter. He agreed to meet her and Mona
there in the morning.

Melanie was exuberant as she watched the level of money rise
in the box. Even though it was Christmas season and most kids didn't have a lot
to spare, almost everyone tried to help. She and Shane were having a great time
talking to people and explaining what they were doing.

At one point, Laura McCall came by with the rest of The
Fantastic Foursome, Melissa McConnell, Funny Hawthorne, and Tammv Lucero.

"What are you doing?" asked Laura suspiciously.
She ignored Melanie and spoke directly to Shane.

After he told them, each of The Fantastic Foursome put money
into the box. Laura looked back at them as they left.

Even Laura can sympathize with poor, unwanted animals at
Christmastime, thought Melanie. Maybe she isn't totally selfish after all.

Melanie stuck her finger in the box of money and stirred it
so she could see the silver coins among the copper pennies more easily. At this
rate it shouldn't take long to get the three hundred seventy-five dollars they
needed. She had a vision of herself opening the door to the cage and Rainbow
jumping out to freedom.