Dog Daze (19 page)

“I did not think the summer would turn out this way,” she said, rejoining the girls a few moments later.

“Saving dogs wasn’t even on my list of things to do during the summer!” Vee said, a corner of her mouth turned up. She slanted a look at Esther, who made a face.

“Your lists! I guess they saved us for the Waddle, though.” Esther lifted one of her fingers to inspect a chip in the polish.

“But Wink—” Aneta stopped. So much had happened. Her mom had said she had learned a lot. Some of it hurt. How could people treat animals that way? A deep sigh welled up within her at the same time as a long pink tongue slurped her ankle. She grinned and bent down.

The not-so-small-anymore, tricolored puppy wriggled and tried to do the same to her face. She nuzzled his neck. She’d washed him today; he smelled like lavender. Her Wink. As she set him down, he hop-stomped over to a larger dog with the same markings, leaning against Gram’s leg. The older female nudged him with her nose, licking under his ears. Wink closed his eyes in doggy delight.

“It is so funny that all the people on the waiting list for Wink were your relatives!” Esther said.

Mom answered. “Aneta’s grandmother started it. Then the rest of The Fam added their names in case she didn’t clear adoption. They were going to make sure Wink got his forever home with a Jasper if I didn’t change my mind.”

“And then your grandmother adopts Wink’s mother. At least we
think
Baba is his mother,” Vee said, sliding a striped bead onto her cord. “She looks more like him than your Uncle Luke’s Ethel.” She set down her bracelet to face Aneta. “Is Ethel better now?”

Gram answered her from nearby. “Oh yes. Luke has her out walking every day. She’s getting better food than Puppy Pellets, and her coat is shiny. You’ll see her one of these days. Luke’s got a basket for her on his scooter.”

“Nadine is working on adopting the other puppies out,” Mom said, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Paws ‘N’ Claws Animal Buddies does good work finding forever homes.”

“Good,” Sunny said with a bounce of her head.

“Well,” Zeff said, standing and stretching from his spot by C.P. “I gotta head. Early courier route tomorrow.” He helped a medium-sized, tricolored basset up to a standing position. The dog staggered a moment then shook himself. “Me and the Fred gotta get.”

“How are his back legs coming?” Mrs. Martin asked, dipping a pita chip into the guacamole.

“I massage his legs.” Zeff looked down at the dog who gazed up at him, long snout quivering, eyes drooping. “He might always limp, but he’s definitely better.” He slowly led the older dog toward the french doors.

“Sunny, did you tell the girls about your new dog?” Mrs. Quinlan asked with a grin.

Vee, Esther, and Aneta whipped their heads around to glare at Sunny, who was giving her mother the “shh” look with a finger to her lips.

“Mom! I wanted to surprise them by inviting them to the house to see her.”

“Her?”

“What is she?”

“How could you not tell us?”

“I thought your brothers had asthma?” The questions came fast and furious.

Sunny pulled a picture from her pocket. “You can see her right here.” She passed it around. Aneta saw a gigantic dog sitting in a desert scene.

“Where did you take this? It is not around here,” she said, passing it on to Vee, who inspected it closely before passing it on to Esther.

“C’mon, Sunny, don’t keep them in suspense,” her dad said, standing up. “You’re being a tease.”

Sunny burst into giggles. “All right,” she said, collecting her picture and gazing at it fondly before returning it to her pocket. “Her name is Dezzie. She’s a giant mixed breed—”

“We could
see
that,” Vee muttered.

“She’s our cyber dog,” Sunny continued, ignoring Vee. “We adopted her from Big Dog Animal Rescue in Utah. We send money every month to help take care of her until she gets her forever home. Us kids are all donating part of our chore wages to her.”

“That would have to be a big forever home,” Esther said.

“And your parents are kicking in, too,” reminded her father.

“Big Dog Rescue sends us pictures of her being cute. We can watch her on their web cam.” Sunny twirled.

“You girls did a good thing,” said Vee’s stepdad, raising his red plastic cup in salute. Immediately the other parents did the same. “To the S.A.V.E. Squad!”

The girls blushed and joined in the applause, laughing and applauding each other with exaggerated bows. Wink, Baba, and Fred aroo-aroo’d!

Aneta—full of chips, guacamole, sour cream, and love—sighed. Yes. They were the S.A.V.E. Squad. It is what they did. It was who they were. Just like she was a Jasper. Aneta Jasper.

Mom’s Peanut-Butter Cookie Recipe

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Set oven at 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Shape dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes.

Kathleen’s note: Yes! Those are the ONLY ingredients. My student Emily brought these to class one time, and I fell deep into cookie love. She got the recipe from her grandmother. She says if you are feeling super special, put an unwrapped Hershey kiss on top right after they come out of the oven. P.S. Emily likes to write. Do you?