Too Big to Run (7 page)

Kitty smiled. “I hope we have that problem!” she said. “And don't worry. There are always plenty of dogs here. If yours goes to a new home, you'll just have to choose a different one.”

“Which dogs do you think we should pick?” Adam asked Kitty.

“I already picked mine.” Janey walked over to Ace's kennel. The lively black dog jumped and barked happily when he saw her. “Ace.”

“Zach's mom told Mrs. Reed about the Walk and Wag,” said Janey. “And she and
Pepper are coming. She can meet Ace then.”

“Okay,” said Kitty. “Anything to help Ace get a good home. He's already had several adopters pass him over.”

“Really?” Janey was surprised, but also glad—she didn't want anyone to adopt him except Mrs. Reed. “How come?”

“I know,” Zach put in. “Because he's a spaz!”

Kitty laughed. “Well, sort of, yes,” she said. “Not every dog is suitable for every type of home. You need to make sure the match is right, otherwise neither dog nor owner will be happy. Ace wouldn't do well with young children, for instance—he'd be too likely to knock them over by accident, just being himself.”

“He probably wouldn't be a good dog for my family, either,” Lolli said. “He might chase the goats and sheep, or run off if we didn't watch him every second.”

Janey looked at Zach, expecting him to make a joke about Roscoe being too lazy to run away. But he looked thoughtful.

“I guess Matthew and Maxi aren't a very good match, either,” he said. “Matthew loves
to run, but Maxi is too big to run.”

“Yeah.” That made Janey feel sad for a moment. “I hope he figures out a way to spend time with her that doesn't hurt her knees.”

“Let's get her knees fixed first,” Lolli suggested. “We can worry about the rest later.”

“Wake up, sleepyhead. Time to get ready for the walk-a-thon!”

Janey opened her eyes. Her mother was smiling down at her.

“What time is it?” Janey asked with a yawn. Her head felt fuzzy and her eyes so heavy she could hardly keep them open.

“Six o'clock. You told me to wake you, remember? You wanted to have plenty of time to get ready for your dog walk-a-thon.”

That made Janey wake up. “Oh, right,”
she exclaimed, sitting up in bed. “I can't believe it's finally here!”

Twenty minutes later, she was dressed and shoveling cereal into her mouth. Twenty minutes after that, her dad was driving her to the animal shelter.

“Are you sure you have everything you need?” he asked as he pulled to the curb. “If you forgot anything, just call me and I'll run it over to the park. And of course your mom and I will come by later to cheer you on.”

“And to pay the money you promised to sponsor me, right?” Janey said.

Her dad chuckled. “Of course!”

The shelter normally didn't open until nine on Saturdays. But today Kitty was already there. So were Dr. Goldman, Zach, and Adam.

“Where's Lolli?” Janey asked.

“She's going straight to the park with Roscoe, remember?” Adam said. “We'll meet her there.”

“Oh, right.” There were so many details to remember that Janey had trouble keeping track of them all. She looked at Kitty. “Should we get our dogs now?”

“They're ready and waiting,” Kitty responded. “I even took Ace for a quick run in the courtyard when I first got here.”

“Uh-oh,” Zach joked. “I hope you didn't wear him out so he can't walk very far!”

Kitty laughed. “I don't think you have to worry about that. Ace could do this walk-a-thon twice over and still have plenty of energy.”

Soon they were all piling into the shelter's van with their dogs. Adam had chosen a terrier mix named Duke, and Zach was going to walk a small dog that looked like a mix of so many different breeds that the shelter had named her Misha, short for Mishmash.

Ace was so excited that he almost pulled the leash out of Janey's hand as he leaped into the van. “Hang on, boy,” she said with a laugh. “Wait for me!”

“Be careful not to let him get loose,” Kitty told her. “If he does, we might never catch him.”

“I'll be careful,” Janey promised. She held onto the leash tightly with both hands.

When they reached the park, the work began. Lolli was waiting for them with Roscoe. Her parents were there, too, since they'd offered to help set up for the fundraiser. Lolli's dad watched all the dogs while the others got to work.

There was a lot to do! Before long Janey was out of breath and sweating a little. But it was fun, too. They laid out a course, marking the way with colorful flags. They set up a finish line with bright tape and balloons. Lolli's parents had brought a folding table
where people could sign in, and Janey taped the poster she'd made to the front and then carefully set out piles of sign-up sheets and instructions.

By the time everything was ready, people were starting to arrive. A pair of young women walking a pair of pugs hurried over. “Where do we sign up?” one of the women asked.

“Right here,” Janey said. “Your dogs are supercute!”

More people were already hurrying over. Janey barely had time to give the pugs a quick pat before she had to get back to work.

“Wow,” Lolli said. “I can't believe how many people are here!”

“And how many dogs.” Janey glanced around. She and Kitty and Lolli had just started the course with Ace and Roscoe. Lolli's parents and Zach's mom had taken over at the sign-in table so the kids could participate in the walk-a-thon.

“Easy, Ace,” Lolli said as the Lab mix leaped up at Roscoe. “Roscoe doesn't want to play right now.”

Janey tugged on Ace's leash. The cute black dog was more excited than ever. He kept trying to dash over to say hi to every dog he saw. And that was a LOT of dogs!

But Janey kept a tight hold on his leash. Kitty walked by her side. Janey also kept a lookout for Mrs. Reed.

“Let me know if you see Mrs. Reed and Pepper,” Janey said. “I want to be sure they get to meet Ace.”

“Okay.” Lolli glanced at Ace, who was straining against his leash and barking at a passing greyhound. “Do you think she'll like him?”

“Of course!” Janey said. “She'll love him. He's medium-sized, right?”

“True,” Lolli said. “That part is a perfect
match. But like Kitty was saying…”

“Look, there they are!” Janey interrupted. “Hey, Mrs. Reed! Wait up!”

She hurried to catch up to the woman. Kitty followed them. Pepper saw them coming first and wagged his tail.

Then Ace barked and leaped toward the smaller dog. Pepper jumped back, looking alarmed.

“It's okay, baby.” Mrs. Reed scooped up the Chihuahua and smiled at the girls. “Well, hello there! I understand you kids put this whole fundraiser together to help one of Dr. Goldman's patients. What a wonderful idea!”

“Thanks,” Lolli said. “Maxi's owner can't afford surgery, and we wanted to help.”

“This is Ace,” Janey blurted out as Ace jumped up on Mrs. Reed's legs. “He's the one in the photos we sent. He's, um, a little excited today.”

“I can see that.” The woman chuckled and let Ace sniff her hand. “Hello there, Ace. Aren't you a lively fellow!”

“Yes, he has lots of energy,” Janey said. “That means he could be a good therapy dog, right?”

“A therapy dog? Hmm.” Mrs. Reed looked at Kitty. “Maybe if he settles down a bit.”

“What do you mean?” Janey said. “I thought he'd need energy to go visit lots of places with you.”

“Yes, but many of the people we visit are sick or elderly or both,” Mrs. Reed explained. “A dog that's too energetic can be too much for them.” She patted Ace. “He's a cute fellow, though. I'm sure he could do lots of things. Maybe dog agility or something like that?”

Janey wasn't sure what to say. This wasn't turning out the way she'd planned at all! How was she going to convince Mrs. Reed that Ace really was the perfect match for her?