Flash (5 page)

Meet Scout, an adorable German shepherd puppy with a talent for helping people.

“Let’s play hide-and-seek with Scout and Buddy!” Charles said. “That’s a good way to train Scout to be a Search and Rescue dog. I’ll go hide behind that tree, and you send Scout and Buddy to find me.”

When Charles was hidden, Lizzie called the puppies. Scout came running, but Buddy was still busy sniffing around. “Oh, well,” said Lizzie. “Scout’s the one we really want to train. Go find Charles, Scout! Find him!”

Scout looked up at the girl. She wanted something. What was it?

“Here, I’ll show you,” said Lizzie. “Let’s find him together!” She ran, leading Scout closer to where Charles was hiding. “Find him!” she said again, hoping to teach Scout what that meant.

Scout sniffed. She smelled the very special, wonderful scent of someone she loved. Charles! She bounced around the tree. There he was! She jumped up happily, barking. How wonderful to find her boy! And now he was giving her some treats. Yum!

“I think she gets the idea,” said Lizzie. “She sure is a fast learner. Let’s try again. I’ll distract her while you hide.” Lizzie looked around for Buddy and spotted him over by some big boulders. He looked happy enough, exploring on his own. He didn’t seem interested in hide-and-seek, but that was okay.

Charles ran off again and hid himself behind a bush. After a minute, Lizzie told Scout to “Find him!” Scout took off like a rocket — straight for the bush.

Hide and seek with Scout was so much fun. Charles hid again, and then Lizzie hid twice. Scout got better and better at finding them quickly. It was hard to fool her! She could sniff them out no matter how well they hid. Her nose was amazing.

Finally, when both Charles and Lizzie had run out of puppy treats, they plopped down on the ground for a rest. Scout put her head on Charles’s knee and stretched out one paw onto Lizzie’s leg. Lizzie scratched the puppy’s ears. “Great job, Scout,” she said. “Maybe you can teach Buddy how to do it, too.”

“Where is Buddy?” Charles asked. “Buddy!” he called.

Lizzie expected Buddy to come galloping over. But he didn’t. She started calling, too. “Buddy! Where are you?”

“Maybe he thinks he’s playing hide-and-seek,” said Charles.

Lizzie called again. She knew Buddy had to be somewhere nearby. After all, the whole area was fenced in. But suddenly, she was beginning to worry. How could she have let him wander off? She felt terrible. She had gotten so wrapped up in training Scout that she had forgotten — just for a moment — about the most important little puppy in the world: her puppy, Buddy!

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

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

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 Permissions Department, Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Copyright © 2006 by Ellen Miles
Cover art by Tim O’Brien
Cover design by Steve Scott

First printing, November 2006

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E-ISBN 978-0-545-32443-4