Lost and Found by Laura Dower

Author:Laura Dower [Dower, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781480422575
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Published: 2013-08-27T00:10:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“MOM!” MADISON CRIED AS she walked into the house. “Mom? I’m home from skating.” She removed her hat and gloves and headed over to the kitchen for a warm drink.

“Oh, Maddie!” Mom wailed. She came running out from the kitchen, carrying the portable phone. “Oh, Maddie!”

“What?” Madison cried. In a split second all the worst-possible things that could ever happen raced through her mind.

“Oh, Maddie!” Mom kept saying the same thing over and over.

“Is it Dad? Is it Gramma?” Madison asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Phinnie!” Mom cried again. “I took him out for a long walk, and when we came back, I must have left the door open a crack because the next thing I knew, he was gone. He’s gone!”

Madison fell backward onto the couch. “Gone? That’s not possible!”

“I drove around the neighborhood. I was just calling that nice lady Eileen over at the Far Hills Clinic in case someone reports finding a missing pug. Oh, I don’t know what else to do.”

“Phin is lost?” Madison said, still not believing what was happening.

“Not lost, exactly. Oh, I think he ran away. I’m so sorry, honey bear,” Mom said. She threw her arms around Madison’s shoulders.

Madison broke free and tugged on her rainbow hat again. She grabbed Phin’s leash, which was hanging on a hook in the hall. “I have to find him.”

“He’s never, ever done this before,” Mom said. “He has to be somewhere nearby.”

Madison raced for the front door. “I’ll go look for him. Mom, you stay here in case he comes home.”

“I don’t want you looking by yourself,” Mom said. She looked heartbroken.

“I’ll just make a loop around Blueberry Street. I know where he likes to sniff and play. Maybe he headed over to Aimee’s to see Blossom?”

“I checked. But you should check again. I’ll call over there and let Aimee know you’re coming. Maybe she can help you search.”

But Madison didn’t want any help. She had to find Phinnie on her own.

First she walked their usual short route down Blueberry Street and looping back. She checked all the bushes and areas where Phin loved to sniff most.

“Phinnie!” Madison cried. “Phinnie!”

One of their next-door neighbors, a real estate broker named Olga, was out shoveling her driveway. Madison waved and asked if she’d seen Phin, but she hadn’t. She offered to drive Madison around, but Madison wanted to walk.

Around the corner from them, Madison checked out what was happening at a small playground with a swing set and monkey bars. Sometimes Phinnie liked to run around and play near there, although they hadn’t been since the summer. Three little kids were building a snowman.

“Have you seen a dog?” Madison asked.

“I don’t like dogs,” one little girl said.

“Oh.” Madison didn’t know what to say to that. The little kids went back to building their snowman.

She turned onto Ridge Road, where Fiona and Chet lived. There were a bunch of old Victorian homes on this block with big yards and other dogs. She saw Charlie, a Dalmatian, playing in the snow. His owner was on the porch.

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