Top Dog by Eric Luper

Author:Eric Luper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2017-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

“This is hogwash!” Grandpa barks as we walk across the veterinary clinic’s parking lot to check in on Cocoa. Grandpa is wearing his Revolutionary War uniform, probably because he feels like he’s going to battle. Hannah and I walk alongside him, but we know better than to say anything when he’s this upset.

Mayor Bartley clearly does not know this.

“I’m sorry, Irving,” she says, struggling to keep up. “A large company like Regal Candy will bring more than a hundred new jobs to our town.”

“It will mean more money in your own pockets. It’s exactly what the British did to keep the Colonial leaders loyal.”

“Our town is struggling,” she says. “We have a chance to change that.”

“There are other ways to change things.” Grandpa’s face is red like the tomato soup he made on the campfire behind our house last week.

“We need the tax dollars,” she says. “Our roads are covered with potholes. Our schools need new computers. We’re not going to pass this up.”

“Mayor Bartley—”

“Irving, this conversation is over. If Regal Candy wants to start making their candy here, we’re going to let them. In fact, we’re going to make it easy for them.”

As she walks away, Grandpa pulls something out of his pocket. It’s mostly dull, but parts of it sparkle in the sunlight. “You know what this is?” he asks us.

I look closer. It’s a U-shaped piece of metal with what looks like a point sticking out of the middle.

“Is it something old people use to hold up their socks?” Hannah asks.

Grandpa starts laughing.

“It’s a spur,” I say. “Cowboys use them to get their horses to run faster.”

“Cowboys and soldiers,” Grandpa says, turning the old piece of metal over in his hands. “This one was used by the American cavalry just after the Revolution. Do you know why I carry it around?”

“In case you meet a horse?” I ask.

Grandpa chuckles again. “It reminds me that even when I don’t feel like running, sometimes I have to. We’ve been working hard to make sure our chocolate mill makes the best old-fashioned chocolate in the world. Are we going to let some big company take that all away from us?”

Hannah crosses her arms over her chest. “No way.”

I shake my head in agreement.

“Then what do we have to do?” Grandpa asks.

“We have to beat them,” I say.

“And how are we going to do that?”

Hannah and I stare at Grandpa Irving as he waits for an answer. All we give him is two shrugs.

“We need to outmaneuver them,” he says. “Big companies are like big armies. Ours is like a little group of soldiers. Sure, they’re bigger and stronger, but we can move more quickly. If we can find a way to outsmart them, we can take them down. And when a big company like that goes down, they go down hard.”

I smile but have no idea what we can do to outsmart a giant company like Regal Candy Corporation. Whatever we do, we’d better figure it out fast. Construction crews started working on the new factory this morning.

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