Honey

For Dog, who has always loved a good dog joke

“Whoa, Buddy!” Charles tightened his grip on the leash. Buddy might only be a puppy, but he sure was strong! He was barreling down the sidewalk, towing Charles along behind him.

“He can’t wait to see his sisters,” said Sammy.

“Maybe,” Charles said doubtfully. “But I think it’s just that Buddy’s always in a hurry. It’s like my dad’s favorite joke: This dog is wolfing down his food, eating as fast as he can, and his owner says, ‘What’s your hurry? Late for your nap?’”

Sammy cracked up. That was the nice thing about having Sammy for a best friend, thought Charles. He always laughed at Charles’s jokes. Charles laughed at Sammy’s jokes, too. In fact, the two boys were writing a joke book together!
First it was going to be called
101 Funniest Dog Jokes,
but then they found out that there already was a book with that name. So now it was
102 Funniest Dog Jokes.

“That could be joke number ninety-eight!” Sammy said. “We’re almost done!”

“Except for the pictures,” Charles said.

Both boys groaned. Neither of them was that great at drawing dogs. Sammy could draw dinosaurs and airplanes, and Charles could draw school buses and dump trucks. But dogs were hard. And the joke book would be
so
much better with pictures.

Sammy said the book would be a bestseller and that they’d be rich. Charles wasn’t so sure. But honestly, he didn’t really care. He just liked to think up jokes and write them down.

Just then, Buddy pulled at the leash again. This time, he wanted to sniff a tree. Buddy sniffed and sniffed. And sniffed. And then he sniffed some more. Charles stood there, trying to be patient.
Finally, Buddy lifted his leg and peed. Then he looked up at Charles.

What’re we waiting for? Come on! Let’s go!

And Buddy forged on ahead, pulling Charles behind him. Charles shook his head and smiled. Buddy sure was silly sometimes. But Charles loved his little puppy more than anything in the world. Buddy had soft brown fur and big brown eyes and a heart-shaped white patch on his chest. Buddy had come to stay with Charles and his family as a foster puppy, but he had ended up becoming a permanent part of the Peterson family. All the Petersons loved Buddy: Lizzie, Charles’s older sister; the Bean, his little brother (whose real name was Adam); and Dad. Even Mom, who was usually more of a cat person, had fallen in love with Buddy.

The Petersons had fostered lots of puppies who needed homes. That meant that they had given
each puppy a safe, happy place to live until they could find it the perfect forever family. The very first puppy the Petersons had fostered had been adopted by Sammy and his parents, next door. That was Goldie, a golden retriever. She and Buddy were best friends, just like Charles and Sammy.

“Maybe Buddy
is
excited about seeing his sisters,” Charles said to Sammy now as Buddy towed him along. It was true that Charles had told Buddy that they were going downtown for a special reason on that bright, sunny Saturday morning in February. Charles had explained to Buddy that they were going to have a family reunion at the Lucky Dog bookstore. Not a Peterson family reunion. No, this was Buddy’s
dog
family.

When Buddy had first come to the Petersons’, he had arrived along with his doggy mother and two sister puppies. That was the first time the
Petersons had fostered a whole dog family. It was a challenge to find homes for them all, but everything worked out in the end.

Jerry Small, who owned the bookstore, had adopted Skipper, the mother dog. She had a great life, since she got to hang around the store every day. All the bookstore customers loved Skipper. She was a star! Cocoa and Cinnamon, Buddy’s sisters, had been adopted by Mary Thompson. Mary was a real, live author. In fact, she was famous for a book called
So Many Puppies.
The amazing thing was, Cinnamon and Cocoa looked just like the puppies in that book. So it was perfect that Mary had decided to give them a home.

Once in a while, Mary called the Petersons to suggest a get-together. It was always fun to see the three puppies playing together, while Skipper stood nearby looking proud of her growing babies. Mary had called that morning, and everybody had agreed right away that it was time for a
visit. Since Lizzie was busy volunteering at the animal shelter, Charles got to take Buddy downtown.

Was it possible that Buddy really
did
understand about seeing his family? Sometimes, when Charles or Lizzie asked, “Do you want to see Cinnamon and Cocoa?” Buddy’s ears would perk up and he would tilt his head from side to side as if he were considering the question. But of course Buddy also did that when you asked, “Do you want a treat?” or “Are you a good boy?” or even, “Who’s a big silly-head?”

The truth was, Buddy was a happy pup who was always eager to go wherever anybody wanted to take him. Sometimes he went down to the fire-house with Charles’s dad, who was a firefighter. Sometimes he went to the newspaper office with Charles’s mom, who was a reporter. Once Buddy had even come to school, so Lizzie could demonstrate while she gave an oral report on dog training. Mom had brought him, and she said
Buddy walked right up the front steps as if he’d gone to school every day of his life! He had even poked his nose into room 2B, Charles’s classroom.

“Well, here we are!” said Charles as the boys arrived at the bookstore. “Your favorite store, Buddy!” All dogs were welcome at Lucky Dog Books. In fact, Jerry Small even had a bulletin board full of pictures of his “regulars,” dogs who visited frequently. And he always kept a jar of especially good dog biscuits behind the counter. Like all the other dogs, Buddy knew just where those treats were. He pulled hard on his leash, dragging Charles right through the door and over to the counter.

“Hello there, Buddy!” said Jerry, who was standing behind the cash register. He dipped his hand into a big glass jar and pulled out a few biscuits. Skipper must have heard the jar opening, because she came trotting right over from her spot near the store’s coffee bar.

Buddy and Skipper crunched their biscuits, then started to sniff each other, tails wagging. Buddy put his paws up on Skipper’s shoulders and started to nibble on her chin.

“Where are Cinnamon and Cocoa?” Charles asked Jerry.

“I bet that’s them right now,” the store owner answered as the bell over the front door jingled.

Sure enough, in walked Mary Thompson. She held two green leashes in her right hand. Cinnamon was at the end of one, and Cocoa was on the other. And in her left hand, Mary held a red leash. A tall, lanky puppy with shiny golden-yellow fur dashed around her feet, tangling the red leash with the green ones and nearly tripping Mary.

“Who is
this
?” Charles asked, kneeling down to gather all the puppies into a big hug. The yellow puppy climbed right up into Charles’s lap — even
though she was way too big to be a lapdog! — and began to lick his face all over with her rough, pink tongue.

“This is Honey,” said Mary Thompson. “She’s almost a year old. She’s smart and sweet and wonderful — and she needs a home!”

“You’re kidding!” Charles looked up at Mary. “This puppy needs a home? But she’s so cute! Who would ever give her up?”

Now the puppy was chewing on Charles’s earlobe. It tickled so much that Charles laughed out loud.

Mmmm, delicious! I like the way this person tastes! And he’s laughing, so that means it makes him happy when I do this. I guess I’ll do it some more!

Buddy, who was probably a little jealous of all the other puppies, tried to climb over Honey so he could chew on Charles’s other earlobe. Mary
let Cinnamon and Cocoa off their leashes so they could join in. Charles fell over onto the store’s carpeted floor. Giggling, he opened his arms and the puppies climbed all over him, chewing and licking and snuffling and wagging their puppy tails. Skipper came over and joined in, pawing at Charles’s arm for attention and touching noses with each of her puppies in turn.

“Puppy pile!” yelled Sammy, throwing himself down next to Charles. Soon he was covered in puppies, too.

Mary and Jerry laughed. “I think they’re all happy to be together,” said Jerry.

“Nothing like a puppy reunion,” said Mary.

Finally, Charles sat up and caught his breath. He threw his arms around Honey and kissed the top of her soft, golden head. “Does this puppy really need a home?” he asked.

Mary nodded. “Honey belonged to a friend of mine. The whole family loved her, but now they have the chance of a lifetime — to move to London,
England! If they wanted to bring Honey, she would have to be in quarantine for six months.”

“Quar-what?” asked Sammy.

“Quarantine. That means she would have to be kept away from any other dogs, in case she had some sort of illness. She would have to live in a kennel, away from her family.”

“But she looks like such a healthy dog!” said Charles.

“She is, but that doesn’t matter,” Mary told him. “It’s just the rule. And my friend couldn’t stand the idea of putting Honey in a kennel for that long. She thought
I
should adopt Honey. She said Honey belonged with my puppies, because they all have ‘food’ names.”

Mary shook her head. “I tried it for three days. Honey is a good girl. She’s been to puppy kindergarten and obedience classes. Her family taught her excellent manners and socialized her well with other dogs and people. She’s nearly full-grown. But she is still definitely a puppy. And
there is absolutely no way I can handle three rambunctious puppies. Cinnamon and Cocoa keep me busy enough.”

Charles could understand that. As his mom said, even one puppy was a real handful sometimes. “Well,” he said, “maybe we could foster her. I mean, my family.” He gave Honey a squeeze. It would be so much fun to have her come to stay at his house.

Mary lit up. “That was just what I was hoping you would say!” Then she smiled nervously. “Um, in fact, do you think you could possibly take her today? I have company coming over for dinner and I just can’t imagine how I’ll get everything done with three puppies underfoot.”

Charles bit his lip. “I don’t know … I’d have to call my mom.”

But Sammy was shaking his head. “Forget about calling!” he said. “Take her! You know your mom won’t be able to say no once she sees this puppy.”

Charles rolled his eyes. Sammy was always full of wild ideas. Like when he thought they should hypnotize Charles’s mom into agreeing to keep Goldie, when she first arrived. Or when he wanted to go ghost hunting at an old abandoned house.

But the truth was that some of Sammy’s ideas were good, too. And Charles had a feeling his friend was right this time. After all, who in the world could look at a puppy as cute as Honey and not want to keep her around, at least for a little while? At least until they found her the perfect home.

He nodded. “Okay,” he told Mary. “We’ll take her.”

Mary looked relieved. “Really? That’s wonderful!”

Jerry Small seemed concerned. “Are you sure, Charles?” he asked. “I’d be happy to let you use the phone if you want to call home.”

But Charles wasn’t even listening anymore. He had his nose buried in Honey’s soft,
sweet-smelling fur and he was hugging her close. There was no way he would let Mom say no to this puppy. They just
had
to foster her. In fact, maybe they could even keep Honey forever! She would be the perfect pal for Buddy.

“Right, Buddy?” Charles asked, reaching out to pull his own puppy into his lap. The two puppies touched noses and snuffled at each other happily. Charles could tell they would get along beautifully.

Cocoa and Cinnamon wanted to be part of the fun. They climbed into Charles’s lap, too. Then all four puppies clambered down and jumped onto Sammy. Then they chased one another all around the bookstore, with Skipper trotting after them. Finally, the galloping pups knocked over a display, sending dozens of books tumbling to the floor.

Jerry let out a loud whistle. “Maybe that’s enough puppy playtime for today,” he said.

“Yes, I need to get home and get dinner started.”
Mary scooped up Cinnamon and Cocoa and clipped on their leashes. Then she bent down and gave Honey a big hug and kiss. “I’ll miss you, cutie-pie,” she said. “But I just know you’re going to love the Petersons.” Honey squirmed happily and wagged her tail.

I love everybody who’s nice to me!

Charles found Honey’s leash and snapped it on. “Can you take Buddy?” he asked Sammy.

As the boys left the store, dragged by two eager puppies, Charles heard someone call his name. “Hey, Charles!”

Who was calling him? Charles turned around and saw a tall, skinny boy walking toward him. It was Harry! Harry was one of the coolest guys around, a high-school baseball star who drove an old red convertible. Also, he was really nice. Charles had gotten to be friends with Harry when Harry’s aunt and cousin had adopted Princess, a
spoiled little Yorkshire terrier that the Petersons had fostered.

“Hi, Harry!” Charles loved having a chance to show off his cool older friend to Sammy.

Then he saw who Harry was with.