The Puppy Problem by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

All of a sudden, a deep, gravelly voice startled her. “Hi, again,” it said.

“What?” Nancy said. She looked all around. But she couldn’t see anyone!

“Down here,” the voice said.

Nancy looked down and saw Ralph Caruso kneeling in the bushes in a neighbor’s yard. He was wearing thick leather gloves and was digging a hole.

“Oh, hi,” Nancy said, stepping back. “You scared me. What are you doing—burying something?”

“No,” Ralph said with a laugh. “I’m trying to dig out these weeds for Dave Tang. He hired me to do some yard work. But the weeds are stubborn. They don’t want to come out.”

Hmmm, Nancy thought as she walked on. This was a very strange day. First she ran into Sam McCorry. Then the stray dog started following her. And now Ralph Caruso seemed to be there every time she turned around.

It’s almost as if my suspects are following me, Nancy thought.

When she reached her driveway, Nancy skipped all the way to the backyard.

“Hi, puppy,” Nancy called. Instantly, the puppy came running.

Nancy picked her up and cuddled her in her arms. Then she carried her into the house. As soon as she walked in, Nancy noticed that the kitchen smelled good. Hannah was bending over the oven, pulling out a pan of chocolate chip muffins.

“Mmmm—muffins!” Nancy said.

“Yes, and don’t let your dog eat them this time,” Hannah scolded in a friendly voice.

“She didn’t eat them last time,” Nancy protested.

“Maybe,” Hannah said. “Maybe not.”

“No fair,” Nancy said. She rubbed noses with the puppy and kissed it on the head. “Don’t listen to Hannah,” Nancy said. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

But just to be sure, Nancy carried her puppy back outside, far away from the muffins. She didn’t want to take a chance that the puppy might eat one this time. Then Hannah would never stop teasing her about it. And worse, what if the chocolate made her puppy sick?

For the rest of the day, Nancy played with the puppy. She brushed her, took her for a walk, and played fetch with her.

“How’s it going?” Carson Drew called from the back gate as Nancy threw a stick for her puppy to chase.

“Great!” Nancy said. “She seems to know how to fetch things. I didn’t even have to teach her.”

Nancy’s dad laughed. “That’s because she’s a Labrador retriever,” he said. “All retrievers will fetch. Retrieve means to go get something and bring it back.”

“That’s so cool,” Nancy said.

“I think so, too,” Carson said with a smile.

After dinner Nancy and her father took the dog for another walk. They walked around two blocks, right past the house where Nancy had seen Ralph Caruso digging weeds.

“Daddy, do you trust Ralph Caruso?” Nancy asked.

“Sure,” her father said. “Why do you ask?”

“Because he’s always around when food is stolen,” Nancy said.

She told her father about the groceries that were stolen from Mrs. Ratazchek’s car. And about how Ralph Caruso had been at the Drews’ house right after the muffins were taken.

“Oh, that doesn’t mean anything,” her father said.

“I know, but—” Nancy started to say.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.