Scout (3 page)

“Come on, Scout! Come on, Buddy! Chase me!” Lizzie ran to the end of the yard, looking over her shoulder to see if the puppies were behind her. Sure enough, Scout was bounding along, right on Lizzie’s heels! Buddy ambled a little farther behind, stopping now and then to sniff the ground or pick up a stick in his mouth.

As soon as school was over, Lizzie and Maria had headed to Lizzie’s house. They could hardly wait to see if Scout had what it took to become a search-and-rescue dog someday. That was the first great idea Lizzie had come up with that day during the assembly. Now that they knew how Casey had been trained, they could try it themselves.

Lizzie and Maria had decided to start with puppy runaways, the training game Meg had talked about. Meg had explained that a good search-and-rescue dog really enjoys following and finding people. “They think it’s fun,” she had said.

Scout sure seemed to feel that way. She dashed after Lizzie. She followed Maria when Maria ran the other way. And when Sammy and Charles and the Bean came outside, she followed them, too. She followed whoever was running — from end to end of the yard, up onto the deck, back down and around the side of the house, back up onto the deck, and out to the end of the yard again.

Scout thought this was the best game ever! It was so much fun to follow people. Nobody could get away from her! Scout loved the way the children laughed and patted her and kissed her when she ran after them.

Buddy liked the game, too, but not as much as Scout did. He seemed just as happy to chase his own tail as to chase one of the kids.

After they’d run around for a while, Lizzie flopped down on the deck to catch her breath. The others joined her. Scout climbed up in her lap, and Buddy curled up next to Charles.

“Well, I think Scout really has aptitude,” Lizzie announced. She rubbed Scout’s fuzzy, floppy ears and kissed the top of her head.

“Ap-
what
?” Charles asked.

“Aptitude,” Lizzie said again. “It means she has some natural talents that show she could be a good search-and-rescue dog.”

“What about Buddy?” Charles asked. He picked up Buddy’s paw and waved it in the air. “I want to be a search-and-rescue dog, too!” Charles said, in a squeaky voice that was supposed to be Buddy’s.

Lizzie reached over to pet Buddy. “Maybe someday,” she said. “But I think you’re best just as our sweet Buddy-boy.”

“If you ask me, police dogs are cooler,” Sammy said. “I thought Thor was awesome. Did you see the teeth on that dog? I bet the bad guys are really scared of him!”

Lizzie shrugged. “I think Casey’s job is more fun,” she said. “Thor spends his whole day in the police car, but Casey gets to go all over the country when somebody needs her help.”

“True,” Maria agreed. “She’s a real hero.”

“That’s why I want our class to sponsor her! She can be
our
class mascot,” Lizzie said. “That was my
other
great idea.”

“You mean, the way that class at the high school sponsors Thor?” Maria asked.

“Exactly!” said Lizzie. “And when Scout grows up and becomes a search-and-rescue dog, maybe our class can sponsor her, too!” She put Scout down
and jumped to her feet. “I have it all figured out,” she said, pacing up and down the deck. Scout followed behind her, padding along on her too-big puppy feet.

“We can write e-mails to Casey, so it’ll be like a language arts project. Mrs. Abeson will love that. And instead of just buying her treats and toys, like that class does for Thor, we’ll raise money to buy Casey things she really
needs,
like, I don’t know, maybe booties for her paws. Plus, we can get advice from Meg and Casey on how to train Scout.” Lizzie stopped for a breath.

“Maybe we can have a bake sale at school,” said Maria, getting into the idea. “That’s a great way to raise money.”

Lizzie and Maria talked about their idea for the rest of the weekend as they played with the puppies. And at morning meeting on Monday, they had no trouble convincing the rest of the class to sponsor Casey. Lizzie had gotten Meg’s
e-mail address from her dad, and she and Maria wrote a note during recess that very day. The note really went to Meg, but it was fun to pretend to write to Casey.

They heard back the very same day!

During recess the next day, Lizzie and Maria made posters for the bake sale. At lunchtime, they went around sticking them up. By the end of the day, every kid in school knew that Mrs. Abeson’s class had a new mascot.

Lizzie was putting up a poster near the nurse’s office when Daphne’s class passed on their way to the library. “Copycats,” Daphne said. “You got that idea from my uncle.”

Lizzie just shrugged.

“So what if Daphne thinks we copied?” she asked Maria later that afternoon. They were in the kitchen at Lizzie’s house, getting ready to make chocolate chip cookies for the bake sale.

Lizzie rummaged around in a cabinet and pulled out a bag of flour and a box of sugar. Last year her mom had taught Charles and Lizzie her secret cookie recipe, and Lizzie had permission to bake all by herself. Charles was allowed to mix dough, but he was still too young to turn on the oven if Mom wasn’t around. “Who cares what Daphne Drake thinks?”

“I sure don’t. Scout!” said Maria, laughing as she pulled the puppy out of the cabinet where the cookie sheets were stored. “She’s so curious. She just wants to learn about
everything
.”

Scout wriggled in Maria’s arms. She
was
curious. Of course she was! It was a big world, and she was only a little puppy. But that wasn’t going to keep her from exploring.

Meanwhile, Buddy was chasing a crumpled-up piece of paper around the kitchen. He would bat it away, then run after it, tumbling over his own
paws. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper in his mouth and shook it — so hard that he fell over. He rolled onto his back and chewed on his prize until Lizzie took it away and threw it in the trash can.

“No eating paper, Buddy!” Lizzie said patiently. These days, Buddy seemed to want to taste everything he came across. Maybe it was because he had lost some baby teeth and his adult teeth were coming in.

Buddy looked up at Lizzie. He knew she wasn’t really mad at him — but he also knew she wasn’t going to give him back the paper. He scrambled to his feet and ran off to find something else to chew on.

“Okay, I think we have all the ingredients. Let’s check the recipe and make sure.” Lizzie looked over the things they had laid out on the kitchen counter: flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract,
chocolate chips, cookie sheets, a mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons.

“Where is the recipe?” Maria asked.

Lizzie looked around for the handwritten sheet her mother had left out. It was nowhere to be seen. Then she remembered the paper Buddy had been playing with. “Buddy!” she said. “Was that our recipe?”

Buddy looked up at her with a guilty expression on his face. His tail wagged uncertainly. He plopped down on his pudgy behind and held up one paw.

Lizzie sounded mad. Had he done something wrong?

She went back to the trash can and pulled out the crumpled, chewed-up piece of paper. She smoothed it out. Sure enough, it was the cookie recipe. “You silly!” Lizzie shook a finger at Buddy,
but she was laughing. Baking cookies was fun. Baking cookies with two puppies in the house was even
more
fun.

Yay! Buddy knew everything was okay now. Lizzie was laughing again.

Lizzie read the recipe over. “I think the only thing we forgot is baking soda.” She went over to the cabinet to find some. Scout jumped up to follow her. “Baking powder — no, that’s not it,” Lizzie muttered as she checked the labels. “Here it is!” She pulled out a small yellow box.

Maria had been checking the recipe. “What about extra butter for greasing the pan?” she asked.

Buddy was busy with something under the table, but now his head popped up. Had he heard his name?

“I said
butter,”
Maria said, laughing. “Not Buddy.”

Buddy went back to whatever it was he was playing with. Lizzie got some more butter out of the fridge, and the girls began to measure ingredients.

“Okay, last thing we add is the chips.” Lizzie shook out her arm. Stirring the stiff batter was hard work. “Where are they?” She looked over the counter, which was now a big mess. Used measuring cups, dabs of butter, and spilled flour and sugar were all in a jumble.

Maria looked, too. “I don’t see them.”

Just then, Scout began to bark. She ran under the table and pulled something away from Buddy. It was the bag of chocolate chips!

“Oh, no!” Lizzie said. “Chocolate can make dogs really, really sick!” She reached down and gently took the package out of Scout’s mouth. “Phew,” Lizzie said after she’d taken a good look. “He didn’t get it open yet. It’s just a little slobbered-on.”

Maria gave Scout a big hug. “You’re already a search-and-rescue dog! You found the chips and stopped Buddy from eating them.”

Scout knew she had done something very, very good. She licked Maria’s face all over, paying special attention to the spots that were smeared with cookie batter.

When they finished baking the cookies, Lizzie and Maria went upstairs. While Lizzie checked her e-mail, Maria lounged on Lizzie’s bed. Both puppies sprawled across her lap. Scout was gnawing gently on Buddy’s ear while Buddy tried to eat the belt loops on Maria’s jeans.

“I can’t wait to give Casey her flotation vest,” said Maria.

“Well, you’re going to have to.” Lizzie was suddenly serious. “Check out this e-mail Meg just sent our class.”

“I’ll take three brownies and one of those snickerdoodles,” said Mr. Schaeffer.

Lizzie handed them over with a big smile. “Thanks!” she said as she took the two dollars he gave her. “Casey appreciates your support!”

As the principal walked away, Lizzie looked over the table that had started out covered with cookies and cakes. It was already half empty. “Wow, we’ve sold so much, and it’s only eleven-thirty!” Lizzie said to Maria. The two had just arrived to take the last shift of the class bake sale.

“I know,” Maria said. “I think it’s the pictures that get to everybody.” She turned to look at the pictures on the wall behind them. One was a big blowup of the picture Meg had sent. Casey looked
like a real hero, standing at attention in her orange vest. There were also some smaller pictures that the girls had taken of Scout practicing her puppy runaways.

On either side of the pictures were blowups of Casey’s e-mails. And Maria had drawn a map of Mexico, with a star showing the place where the earthquake had happened. Over the whole display was a big banner that said:
HELP MRS. ABESON’S CLASS SUPPORT CASEY
!

Lizzie looked at the map and felt a twinge in her belly. Casey and Meg were so far away! And the work they were doing could be dangerous. Whole buildings had been wrecked in the earthquake. Casey was helping to find people who had been trapped inside.

There had only been one e-mail that day, a short one to say that Meg and Casey had arrived in Mexico and that they might not be able to write again for a few days. Lizzie knew she would worry about them until they were both home, safe and
sound. Someday Scout might be doing that kind of work, too!

Lizzie picked up another chocolate chip cookie and tossed a quarter into the change box. “Split this with me?” She offered a piece to Maria.

Maria took a bite of her half. “These turned out pretty well,” she said. “Maybe having two puppies around only adds to the recipe.”

Lizzie laughed. “Yeah. Good thing we noticed Buddy licking the cookie sheets after I greased them. They definitely needed washing before we used them. That puppy gets into everything!”

“Kathy can’t wait to see him and meet Scout today,” Maria said.

Kathy was Maria’s riding teacher. She and her husband ran a stable nearby, and they had adopted Rascal, a Jack Russell terrier puppy the Petersons had fostered.

Kathy had invited Lizzie and Charles to bring the two puppies over to play while Maria had her lesson that afternoon. Kathy and her husband
had fenced off a huge area for Rascal to play in, so the puppies would really be able to run — without being able to run away! Kathy called it Rascal’s playpen.

By the time the last of the lunch crowd had disappeared, Maria and Lizzie were left with a nearly empty table. They counted up the money they’d made.

“I have thirty-three dollars,” Lizzie announced.

“Plus fifteen seventy-six,” added Maria, adding up the piles of coins she’d stacked. “I don’t know who gave us that penny.”

“Every cent helps!” said Lizzie. She was adding up the total. “Forty-eight seventy-six!” she announced. “Wow, almost fifty dollars. We can get the flotation vest for Casey — and maybe we can also get a little orange vest for Scout. That way she can start to feel like a real search-and-rescue dog.”

“Maybe my dad can drive us by the pet store on the way home today,” Maria said. “I know
Casey and Meg won’t be back for a while, but it would be nice to have presents ready to welcome them home.”

After school Maria’s father picked up Maria, Lizzie, Charles, Scout, and Buddy and drove them to the stable.

“Oh, look at this little girl!” Kathy said when they all climbed out of the car. She knelt down to say hello to Scout. Buddy ran over, too, jumping into her arms and licking her face. Kathy laughed. “Yes, hello to you, too,” she said to Buddy.

“Where’s Rascal?” Lizzie asked.

“He’s inside,” Kathy told her. “I thought
three
puppies might be a bit too much.” She was petting Scout. “What a sweet girl,” she said. “Have you found a home for her yet?”

Charles shook his head. “Not so far,” he said. He and Lizzie had made some posters and they had put them up around town, but the Petersons had only gotten one phone call, from somebody
who really wanted an older dog. Charles and Lizzie didn’t mind. They wanted to make sure Scout found a great home, hopefully with someone who wanted to keep training her for search and rescue. Meg had promised to help when she got back from Mexico. In the meantime, it was great for Buddy to have a pal.

“Well,” said Kathy, getting up and dusting off her knees, “I could play with these two all day. But Maria has a lesson. Why don’t I show you Rascal’s playpen? After we get done riding, we’ll join you in there for some more playtime. Maybe I’ll bring Rascal then, too.” She led them behind the barn to a fenced-in area.

Lizzie couldn’t believe how big Rascal’s playpen was. It was like a park, with trees, bushes, and even a creek to splash in.

“This is great!” Lizzie said. “A safe new place for you two to play.” She bent down and unclipped the puppies’ leashes.

Buddy dashed off immediately, with Scout tearing after him. They zoomed around, stopping every few seconds to sniff all the new, exciting smells.

Hey, check this out! Over here! Whee! Buddy had found a mud puddle to roll in.

“Oh, Buddy!” Lizzie said. “What a mess.”

Scout was busy sniffing a trail she had found. Another dog used this place! Scout followed his scent from bush to bush.

“Scout!” called Charles. “Don’t wander off too far!”

“Let’s play a game with them,” Lizzie suggested. “How about puppy runaways? That’s great training for Scout.”

“No, let’s play hide-and-seek!” Charles said. “Like Meg did with me at the demonstration. 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 to be 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, 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!