The Fashion Disaster (2 page)

“And a manicure!” the other, red-haired girl said. “Don't forget about the manicure, Maya.”

“Like, duh, Nicki!” Maya groaned. “I'm the
one who picked out her cotton-candy pink nail polish, remember?”

Nancy glanced down at Lola's paws. The poodle really
was
wearing pink nail polish!

“Lola is
my
dog,” Maya said. “My parents let me take her to fashion shows, photo shoots, pawtograph signings—”

“Pawtograph?” Nancy asked.

“Lola signs her pictures with her paw print,” Nicki explained. “You know, autographs . . . pawtographs.”

Maya and Nicki introduced themselves. They were in the third grade, just like Nancy, Bess, and George. The girls lived in the next town, Valley View.

“My name is Nancy,” Nancy said. She pointed to Bess and George. “And these are my friends—”

BZZZZZZZ!

The noise made Nancy jump. It came from Nicki's watch.

“Twelve fifteen,” Nicki said. “Time for Lola's vitamin water break!”

Nicki pulled a bottle of water from her purple backpack and put it to Lola's mouth. She held it steady as Lola slurped loudly.

“Nicki is Lola's personal assistant,” Maya whispered. “She can't have her own dog because her brother is allergic. So being around Lola is the next best thing.”

Just then a gray, fuzzy-faced dog scampered over. He was wearing an orange vest that read “Adopt Me.” Nancy guessed the dog came from the Rollover Rescue Shelter. The shelter had set up a tent in the park for the day.

Chip and the dog touched noses. But when the fuzzy-faced pup walked toward Lola, Maya screamed, “A shelter dog! Get him away from Lola! Get him away!”

The little gray dog scooted in and out between Nancy, Bess, and George's legs. The girls laughed and shrieked.

“Percy! Sit! Stay! Heel! Cool your jets!” A boy wearing an orange T-shirt ran over. Nancy thought he looked about nine years old. The boy tried to catch Percy but with no luck.

“We've got him!” a voice called.

Two teenagers wearing the same orange shirts as the boy raced over. Nancy read their name tags. The teenagers were Tracey and Vincent. The younger boy's name was Rusty.

Tracey pointed her finger at Percy. Then, in a firm voice, she said, “Sit!”

Percy stopped in his tracks and sat down, just like magic!

“Good boy,” Vincent said.

“Wow!” Nancy said. “You guys are great with dogs!”

“That's because we're the Bow-Wow Brigade,” Vincent said with a smile. “We volunteer for
the Rollover Rescue Shelter. We feed dogs, walk them, clean their cages—”

“Ew!” Bess put in. “I hate cleaning out the hamster cage at school.”

“I don't mind,” Rusty said. “Before this, I volunteered at another pet shelter in Valley View.”

“Valley View?” Maya said. “There is no pet shelter in my town. And no shelter dogs, either!”

“Huh?” Rusty said, wrinkling his nose.

“What's wrong with shelter dogs?” Vincent asked.

“The dogs we rescue are great,” Tracey said.

“They're okay, if you like mutts and junkyard dogs,” Maya said. “My Lola is a purebred standard poodle from the south of France!”

“Yeah . . . and I'm Spider-Man,” Rusty muttered.

The Bow-Wow Brigade and Percy walked away. Nancy could tell they didn't like what Maya said about shelter dogs.

“We'd better go too,” Nancy said. “Chip is
in the fashion show later, and I'm walking her down the runway.”

“Lola walks down the runway all by herself,” Maya bragged. “As long as Nicki waves her favorite dog biscuit.”

“Chip has a favorite biscuit too,” Nancy said. “It's called Lick My Chops.”

“Shh!” Maya hissed. “Don't mention those yucky biscuits in front of Lola. She hates them!”

“Lola only eats Bone Appetit biscuits,” Nicki said. “They're from a fancy pet bakery in New York City.”

Nicki pulled a biscuit from her purple backpack. Nancy, Bess, and George jumped back. The biscuit smelled like stinky cheese!

“Lola's favorite flavor is blue cheese and onions,” Maya explained. “She can smell them a mile away!”

George squeezed her nose and said, “So can we.”

“Here. Give this to Lola,” Nicki said. She tossed a biscuit to Bess. “Then you can tell
everyone you fed the famous Diva Dog!”

Bess scrunched her nose as she caught the stinky biscuit. “That's okay,” she said. “I don't really have to—”

“Arrf!” Lola jumped at the biscuit, her paws landing on Bess's shoulders.

“Lola—no!” Nicki said.

Nancy gasped. Bess's brand-new daisy top was covered with muddy paw prints!

“Oh, no!” Bess cried as Lola jumped down, crunching the biscuit. “My new daisy top!”

“Are you lucky or what?” Maya said. “Now you'll have Lola's pawtograph all over your shirt!”

Nancy couldn't believe her ears! “Lucky?” she said. “Bess's new shirt is ruined.”

“And Lola has the worst dog breath I ever smelled in my life,” Bess muttered.

“Lola didn't mean it,” Maya said with a smile. “But I know how I can make it up to you.”

“How?” Bess asked glumly.

“Why don't you wave Lola's dog biscuit in the fashion show today?” Maya said.

“But I thought that was Nicki's job,” Bess said.

“It
is
my job!” Nicki agreed.

“Not today, Nicki,” Maya told her.

Nicki's face turned about as red as her hair.

“Fine!” she snapped. “I am sick of being a maid to that diva dog, anyway. Whatever Lola wants—Lola gets!”

Chip barked after Nicki as she stormed off.

“Nicki said ‘diva' like it was a bad thing,” Maya said with a shrug. She turned to Bess. “Well? Will you do it?”

“I don't know,” Bess said slowly.

“Go for it, Bess!” George exclaimed.

“You'll get to be in the fashion show,” Nancy said. “Just like Chip and me.”

Bess's eyes lit up. Finally she smiled and said, “Okay. I'm in.”

“Neat!” Maya said. “Lola's Bon Appetit biscuits are in a basket inside her trailer. My mom and dad filled it with fresh ones about a half hour ago.”

“Are your parents in the trailer?” Nancy asked.

“No,” Maya said. “They're at the mayor's lunch party in the park rec hall right now.”

“My mom is there too!” George said. “She's a caterer. She cooked veggie lasagna and double-chocolate brownies for the party. I hope she brings home a doggy bag.”

“Was that another dog joke?” Bess groaned.

Maya waved good-bye as she walked off with Lola.

Suddenly the loudspeaker crackled and an announcement blared. The fashion show would begin at one o'clock sharp.

“It's twelve thirty now,” Nancy said, glancing at her watch. “We'd better pick up those biscuits.”

“What if I can't find them?” Bess asked.

“You will,” George said. “Just follow the smell!”

On the way to Lola's trailer, the girls saw kids from their school, River Heights Elementary. Ned Nickerson was walking his German shepherd, Max. Kevin Garcia was there with his
beagle, Hudson. Andrea Wu was trying to stop her terrier, Angus, from chasing a squirrel.

But when the girls saw Peter Patino they had to stop and stare. Peter was walking a gigantic dog with thick black fur. A string of drool hung from the dog's mouth.

“Is that your dog, Peter?” Nancy called.

Peter stopped to give the dog a biscuit. “It's Mayor Strong's dog, Huey,” he called back. “I'm just walking him while the mayor has his lunch party—whoaaaaa!”

The dog barked as he dragged Peter away.

“It looks like Huey is walking Peter!” Nancy giggled.

The girls stopped to watch a clown make balloon animals in the shape of poodles. Then they remembered the biscuits, and they raced to the pink trailer and filed inside.

“Check out this place!” Nancy exclaimed.

Pinned to the wall were fashion photos of Lola. A fancy brass dog bed stood against the wall. Racks and shelves were filled with canine
clothes and accessories. There was even a frilly vanity table that held bottles of doggy perfume!

“Now
this
is a doghouse!” George said.

“There's the basket!” said Bess. She ran to a brown basket that stood on a small table. Inside the basket were three dog biscuits. Nancy held Chip back as the puppy jumped at the treats.

“They don't smell so bad this time,” Bess said. “Must be a different flavor.”

George pointed to a sticky-looking puddle on the floor right next to the table. “Don't step in that,” she said.

“Ew,” Bess said, looking down. “I guess even diva dogs can have accidents!”

The girls left the trailer and ran straight to the fashion show runway. They checked in by the stage with Mr. Drew, and then Nancy and Chip lined up with the other owners and their dogs. Nancy saw a bulldog dressed as a cowboy, a dachshund wearing a leather jacket with silver studs, and even a Chihuahua in a
hula skirt. But sitting like a princess at the front of the line was Lola the Diva Dog!

“Don't worry, Chip,” Nancy whispered. “You'll always be top dog to me.”

She was petting Chip when Mayor Strong and a woman walked by. Nancy recognized the woman with the dark hair and bright-red lipstick. Her name was Patsy Ray, and she owned the Funky Fido Boutique.

“I still can't believe Lola is wearing that outfit,” Patsy said in an angry voice. “I wanted her to wear one of my designs!”

“And I already explained it to you, Patsy,” Mayor Strong said. “I promised Lola's owners she could wear an outfit from her new calendar.”

Patsy's bone-shaped earrings swung back and forth as she shook her head. “Big mistake!” she said. “My clothes are so much cuter.”

Then Patsy turned on her high heel and walked away.

Wow
, Nancy thought.
And they call Lola a diva!

Mayor Strong walked up the steps to the runway. The crowd cheered. Nancy's tummy fluttered like a million butterflies. She saw her dad out in the audience. It was showtime!

“I'm sure you're all excited to see Lola strut her stuff,” Mayor Strong said with a smile. “But first let's welcome another superstar, Broadway actress Lorette Waters!”

Lorette waved as she joined the mayor on stage. “Thank you, Mayor Strong,” she said. “Thank you, River Heights!”

Nancy listened as Lorette spoke about the importance of adopting homeless shelter dogs. Next the actress sang a song she'd written herself called “Send in the Hounds.” As Lorette belted out the last stanza, she turned dramatically toward Lola.

That must be Lola's cue
, Nancy thought.

She saw Bess at the end of the runway, waving a biscuit high. Lola's ears perked up. But instead of walking toward the biscuit, she just looked at it!