missing dog over the weekend.”
Lizzie let out a breath. What a relief! If the police had gotten a call about Noodle, that would mean his people were looking for him, and that they
did
care about him, and that they probably would want to take their puppy back instead of letting the Petersons adopt him.
Lizzie pulled Noodle onto her lap and gave him a great big hug.
“I know, it’s disappointing,” said Mom. “We all want to find Noodle’s people as quickly as possible. Think how much he must miss them!”
Lizzie tried not to. Instead, she sent Noodle a thought message:
Think about this: how much I love you!
Noodle squirmed deeper into Lizzie’s arms.
Mmmm, nice hugs. My people used to hug me like that. Even though this girl is nice, I still miss them!
“Mom, can you drive me and Charles to Loon Lake Park? There’s something I want to check out down there.” Lizzie put Noodle down and stood up. “And we can take the dogs for a walk, too.”
“By yourselves?” Mom looked doubtful. “Will you promise to be careful around that ice?”
“Of course!” said Lizzie. “I won’t go near it. Do you think I want to fall in?”
“Well, okay,” Mom said. “I have some grocery shopping to do. I’ll drop you off.”
On the way to the lake, Lizzie and Charles rodein the way back of Mom’s van, near the dog crate that held Buddy and Noodle. It was as if they were
all
trying to stay as far away as possible from the stinky Bean in his car seat.
“See you in half an hour!” Mom said as she let them off at the lake. “Be careful!” she called as she drove away with the Bean.
“That should be just enough time,” Lizzie said. She was holding Noodle’s leash, and Charles was holding Buddy’s. “Let’s go!”
Once again, Noodle pulled on his leash, dragging Lizzie along the shoreline. She noticed that the ice was beginning to melt at the edges of the lake. It was hard to believe that in a few short months she would be swimming in the cool, clear water! Most of the snow on the shore had melted away, too. Lizzie was disappointed. That meant they probably wouldn’t find any tracks.
“Where are we
going?”
Charles asked, stumbling along behind Lizzie.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the fallentree. “See, this is where the collar was.” Lizzie pointed to the branches hanging over the ice.
“All the way out there? How did you
get
it?” Charles asked.
“It wasn’t easy.” Lizzie remembered inching her way out on that tree trunk. Then she remembered something else: the way the tags had jingled when she poked at the collar with a stick. One tag would not make a jingling sound. There had been
two!
She had forgotten all about the other tag.
“Charles! That collar! Besides that name tag, there was
another
tag on it. A rabies vaccination tag.”
Charles’s eyes lit up. “Really? Maybe it’ll give us another clue about who Noodle belongs to! Where is it?”
“It’s back home,” Lizzie said. “Remember? Dad hung the collar on a nail in the garage, since it was too big for Noodle anyway.”
Suddenly, Lizzie didn’t mind anymore about not finding any tracks. She couldn’t wait to gethome to take a look at the other tag on that purple collar.
Dad was home by the time Lizzie and Charles got back from the lake. Lizzie ran straight for the garage and grabbed the collar. “See?” she said, when she was back in the kitchen. She showed it to her dad. “We forgot about the other tag!” Her words tumbled out as she explained. She picked up the magnifying glass on the table and looked at the tag. “Boston!” she said. “This says the dog was registered in Boston. Maybe Noodle’s owners are summer people who were up at one of the cabins for the weekend!”
Dad peered at the tag. “Huh. You may be right.” He grabbed the phone book and flipped some pages. “Ok, here’s a Boston area code that starts with eight. Let’s try that number!” He went right to the phone and dialed.
Inside
Lizzie let out a breath. What a relief! If the police had gotten a call about Noodle, that would mean his people were looking for him, and that they
did
care about him, and that they probably would want to take their puppy back instead of letting the Petersons adopt him.
Lizzie pulled Noodle onto her lap and gave him a great big hug.
“I know, it’s disappointing,” said Mom. “We all want to find Noodle’s people as quickly as possible. Think how much he must miss them!”
Lizzie tried not to. Instead, she sent Noodle a thought message:
Think about this: how much I love you!
Noodle squirmed deeper into Lizzie’s arms.
Mmmm, nice hugs. My people used to hug me like that. Even though this girl is nice, I still miss them!
“Mom, can you drive me and Charles to Loon Lake Park? There’s something I want to check out down there.” Lizzie put Noodle down and stood up. “And we can take the dogs for a walk, too.”
“By yourselves?” Mom looked doubtful. “Will you promise to be careful around that ice?”
“Of course!” said Lizzie. “I won’t go near it. Do you think I want to fall in?”
“Well, okay,” Mom said. “I have some grocery shopping to do. I’ll drop you off.”
On the way to the lake, Lizzie and Charles rodein the way back of Mom’s van, near the dog crate that held Buddy and Noodle. It was as if they were
all
trying to stay as far away as possible from the stinky Bean in his car seat.
“See you in half an hour!” Mom said as she let them off at the lake. “Be careful!” she called as she drove away with the Bean.
“That should be just enough time,” Lizzie said. She was holding Noodle’s leash, and Charles was holding Buddy’s. “Let’s go!”
Once again, Noodle pulled on his leash, dragging Lizzie along the shoreline. She noticed that the ice was beginning to melt at the edges of the lake. It was hard to believe that in a few short months she would be swimming in the cool, clear water! Most of the snow on the shore had melted away, too. Lizzie was disappointed. That meant they probably wouldn’t find any tracks.
“Where are we
going?”
Charles asked, stumbling along behind Lizzie.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the fallentree. “See, this is where the collar was.” Lizzie pointed to the branches hanging over the ice.
“All the way out there? How did you
get
it?” Charles asked.
“It wasn’t easy.” Lizzie remembered inching her way out on that tree trunk. Then she remembered something else: the way the tags had jingled when she poked at the collar with a stick. One tag would not make a jingling sound. There had been
two!
She had forgotten all about the other tag.
“Charles! That collar! Besides that name tag, there was
another
tag on it. A rabies vaccination tag.”
Charles’s eyes lit up. “Really? Maybe it’ll give us another clue about who Noodle belongs to! Where is it?”
“It’s back home,” Lizzie said. “Remember? Dad hung the collar on a nail in the garage, since it was too big for Noodle anyway.”
Suddenly, Lizzie didn’t mind anymore about not finding any tracks. She couldn’t wait to gethome to take a look at the other tag on that purple collar.
Dad was home by the time Lizzie and Charles got back from the lake. Lizzie ran straight for the garage and grabbed the collar. “See?” she said, when she was back in the kitchen. She showed it to her dad. “We forgot about the other tag!” Her words tumbled out as she explained. She picked up the magnifying glass on the table and looked at the tag. “Boston!” she said. “This says the dog was registered in Boston. Maybe Noodle’s owners are summer people who were up at one of the cabins for the weekend!”
Dad peered at the tag. “Huh. You may be right.” He grabbed the phone book and flipped some pages. “Ok, here’s a Boston area code that starts with eight. Let’s try that number!” He went right to the phone and dialed.
Inside
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