Read Fabulous Five 013 - The Christmas Countdown for Free Online Page A

"If
you really do take several of them, we're going to have to have an adult sign one of these for each dog and cat."
    Melanie stared at the formal-looking paper. It made their
project seem even more serious. She had thought they would just pay the money
and the shelter would give them the cats and dogs. Well, when they found people
to take them, she was sure they wouldn't mind signing a little adoption
agreement. But what if they couldn't find enough people? What would they do
then?
    "I'll take the film over to the one-hour photo lab and
have the prints back this afternoon," said Garrett as they stood in front
of the animal shelter a few minutes later. "I'll drop them off at your
house," he said to Melanie.
    "Thanks, Garrett. You really are super," she said,
and then said good-bye to Mona.
    On the walk home, Melanie thought again about the adoption
agreement. There was no way Mrs. Graham was going to let them pay for all the
animals and just take them if there was no one to sign the papers. She thought
back to the conversation at her kitchen table yesterday when she and her
friends were counting money.
    Christie had suggested that someone with a basement might
keep the animals temporarily. That wasn't a bad idea, thought Melanie, but no
one had agreed to do it. She thought about her own basement again. There was no
way that it would work. Her parents had already said that they wouldn't agree
to housing fifteen cats and dogs.
    Could I hide them down there? she wondered, but the
instant she thought of it, she knew it wouldn't work. The washer and dryer were
in the basement, and she or her mother did a load of laundry practically every
day. And besides that, Jeffy rode his tricycle down there when the weather was
bad outside. The only other possibility was the room behind the garage that her
father used for a workshop. He hardly ever went out there this time of year,
but it was too small for so many animals, and besides, it wasn't heated.
    Melanie trudged along in the snow, feeling more dejected
than ever. Nothing was working out right. She had been so optimistic at first.
She had believed that she and her friends would earn the money quickly and find
lots of homes for the animals and she would get Rainbow for her own. She had
even thought that she could work on the project with Shane and that he might
even ask her out. But none of it had come true. Not the money, not the homes,
not Rainbow, and not even Shane.
    Shane. Melanie stopped in her tracks. Why hadn't she
thought of it before? Shane Arrington might just be the answer to some of their
prayers. She took off for her house at a run and dialed his number without even
taking off her coat.

CHAPTER 7
    "Shane? It's Melanie," she said when he answered.
    "Oh, hi, Mel. How's it going? Are you calling to say
that you've inherited a million dollars? Or that you've found someone to take
all the animals?"
    Melanie crossed her fingers for luck and took a deep breath.
"Not exactly," she said slowly.
    "Isn't 'not exactly' usually followed by 'but'?" he
asked cautiously.
    This was it. There was no turning back now. "Actually
it is," she said, and then plunged on in. "Not exactly, but I
was wondering how your parents would feel about signing the adoption papers and
keeping the animals at your house until we can find homes for all of them. I
mean, you've said so often that your mom and dad are really cool and laid back
and nothing bothers them and that they believe in love and peace and—"
    "Whoa!" cried Shane. "Just a minute. Let me
get this straight. You're saying that if we raise the money to spring
the animals and if we can't find people to adopt them, you want my
parents to take them all in?"
    Melanie closed her eyes and crossed her Fingers again.
Everybody knew that Shane's parents had been hippies and that they still made
the peace sign and talked about love among all people on earth. Surely they
loved animals, too.
    "Could you ask them?" she asked. "I mean,
maybe they would. It