Cody Harmon, King of Pets by Claudia Mills

Author:Claudia Mills
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780374302245
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Angus

Izzy Barr

Puffball

Kelsey Green

Furface

?

Rex

?

Sir B

?

Chicklet

?

Daisy

?

Doodle

?

Rex nuzzled his nose against Cody’s leg.

“Maybe I should take you and let someone else take Mr. Piggins,” Cody said aloud.

Rex looked up at him with his beautiful brown eyes.

But who else had a kindhearted dad with a pickup truck who would be willing to haul a five-hundred-pound pig to school? Plus, Kelsey had her heart set on making the Wilbur costume.

“Whoever gets you has to be worthy of you,” Cody said to Rex. “He can’t be the kind of person who would throw a stone at a squirrel even if the stone missed. You’re a perfect dog. You need to be with a perfect human.”

Rex gave his tail an approving thump. Cody knew Rex wasn’t bragging about how perfect he was. Rex thumped his tail because he approved of anything Cody said. Rex and Cody agreed on everything.

* * *

The only thing Cody hated even more than doing homework was talking on the phone, even to people he loved, like his Grandma Jean and Grandpa Joe. It was always a terrible moment when his mother would be on the phone talking to them, and she’d say, “Oh, Cody’s right here. I’ll let him say hello to you.” And then he could never think of a single word to say.

But now he found the Franklin School directory his mother kept in the drawer of the desk in the family room and looked up the number he wanted.

The person who answered was a woman who sounded like a mother. This was getting harder by the minute.

“Is…” Cody made himself keep going. “Is Simon there?”

“May I tell him who’s calling?”

What was that supposed to mean? Then Cody figured it out: this was a weird way of asking his name.

“Sure. I mean, it’s Cody. Cody Harmon. From school.”

A moment later he heard Simon’s voice. “Hello?”

“You don’t have a pet, right?” Cody asked.

“No,” Simon said, sounding bewildered by the question. Maybe Cody should have found some way to lead up to it.

“Do you want to have one?”

“Not really.” Simon sounded even more bewildered. “I don’t think I’d have time for one, because of homework and violin. Pets are a big responsibility.”

“I mean, would you like to borrow my dog for the pet show? You’d have to pay the ten dollars for his entry fee and make him a costume—not a dumb costume, but a costume that wouldn’t make him look ridiculous, because I don’t want anybody laughing at him. And you’d have to take good care of him, extra good care of him, during the show.”

“I could do those things,” Simon said. He paused. “But … why?”

Cody told him about his problem of too many pets, and not enough money to enter them, and the plan the girls had helped him make.

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