Roxbury Park Dog Club #5 by Daphne Maple

Author:Daphne Maple
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

9

Lily was gone in the morning. For a moment I worried the whole thing had been some kind of dream, but then I saw the nesting spot where she’d slept next to me all night. She was definitely here, but where? And what if she was doing something that might upset my mom? I leaped out of bed and rushed out of the room to find her.

She wasn’t in the hall or the bathroom, and luckily she wasn’t in my mom’s empty bedroom either. I flew down the stairs and finally found Lily in the dining room with my mom, who was drinking her morning cup of coffee from her favorite butterfly mug.

“I’m already covered with dog hair,” my mom announced, no “good morning” or anything as I came over and rubbed Lily’s side.

My mom was petting Lily’s head with the hand that wasn’t gripping her coffee, which was great. But the way she was scowling was less great. A lot less great.

“How can one dog shed so much fur?” she groused, picking a piece off her pants.

“She has long hair,” I said defensively. “And dogs shed when they’re nervous. Lily’s had a big change in her life and I think she’s handling it great so far.”

My mom shook her head dismissively. “The point is that she’s barely groomed at all. I’m not sure anyone has ever taken the time to truly get her coat clean and shaped. She looks like a yeti.”

A burst of anger crackled through me and I pressed my lips together to keep from saying something I’d regret. I wasn’t even sure what a yeti was, but clearly it was bad and I hated hearing my mom criticize the club, not to mention the job I’d done brushing Lily the day before.

“I’m taking her to the Pampered Puppy,” my mom announced. “If she’s going to stay here for a few weeks she needs to look decent, and I can’t spend the whole time cleaning up after her.”

With that she headed upstairs to get ready for work, which was probably good because I was having trouble keeping my temper in check.

“You look perfect,” I told Lily, hugging her close.

Lily licked my cheek, clearly unfazed by the fact that she had been insulted. Sometimes it was a good thing dogs couldn’t always understand what people said.

I walked to the kitchen to see about feeding Lily, but when I got there I saw that my mom had already taken care of it. Which was probably why Lily was so calm, but it surprised me. We’d agreed that Lily’s care would be my responsibility. For a moment I felt a flash of gratitude toward my mom, but then I realized Lily had probably been bouncing around in a way that was cute but that annoyed my mom. So my mom had probably fed her to calm her down. Which made it less nice.

“Let’s go upstairs,” I told Lily. “I’m going to get ready for school.”

But just then my mom reappeared. “Lily, come,” she called as she strode toward the front door.

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.