Read Riley for Free Online Page B

thought for a minute. “How is a puppy like a penny?” she asked.
    â€œI don’t know,” said Grace.
    Maya shrugged. “Me neither.”
    â€œEach has a head and a tail!” Kat shouted. “Get it? A head and a tail?”
    â€œOh, that is such a bad joke,” said Grace, but she was laughing.

    â€œSo bad.” Maya was shaking her head and clutching her stomach as if she was in pain.
    â€œI know. So bad,” agreed Kat, smiling happily.

A short time later, Kat and Maya were playing with Riley in the park.
    Just like the day before, the girls stood a big distance apart and took turns calling to Riley and running with her. Riley loved the game. Her ears flew out as she bounded happily across the grass, first with one girl and then the other.
    Kat tried to hold the leash out from her body when she ran. She wanted to keep Riley from coming too close to her legs. But all at once Riley zigged and Kat zagged, and both of them fell down in a heap.
    Riley took the opportunity to jump on Kat and cover her in wet dog kisses.
    Click! Click!
    Maya had brought her camera along. “This will be a nice photo for our Puppy Collection. We can label it Kat and Dog !”
    â€œNice one,” Kat said with a grin.
    â€œWe can add it to the drawings we’ve made of Riley,” Maya said. She snapped a few more pictures of Kat lying on her back. Kat smiled up at her and hugged Riley close.
    A best friend, a new friend, and a sweet puppy to walk for a few more days! Kat thought to herself. I am so lucky!



Puppies were scampering across the grass. There must have been over twenty of them!
    Some puppies were brown, some were black, some were brown with white spots. Some puppies had perky ears and some had floppy ears. Some had big, wide paws; some had little dainty paws. All the puppies had sparkling eyes and wagging tails.
    Kat was in her classroom, sitting at her desk.
    Her eyes were closed. She was having her favorite puppy daydream.
    Her mother and father smile at her.
    â€œOf course you can have a puppy, Kat,” her mother says.
    Her father sweeps out his arm. “Have any one you want!”
    Kat smiles too. She looks at all the puppies, and she tries to choose. The little red Irish setter puppy gazing up at her with the dark-brown eyes? The black-and-white dalmatian puppy tumbling across the grass? The adorable Wheaten terrier pup with the brown face and the black muzzle?
    Suddenly the bell rang. School was over for the day, and the dream ended. But that was okay. Kat had puppy plans this afternoon.
    â€œLet’s go!” Kat said to Grace, who was at the desk next to hers. The girls jumped out of their seats, grabbed their things, and made a beeline for the classroom door. But before they reached it, they heard their teacher’s voice.
    â€œKatherine, Grace, where are you off to in such a hurry?” Ms. Mitchell stood at the front of the classroom. She was smiling.
    Kat liked her fourth-grade teacher a lot. For one thing, Ms. Mitchell knew how much Kat loved puppies—and her teacher liked puppies too.
    â€œYou won’t believe it, Ms. Mitchell!” said Kat. “Remember how I told you my aunt opened up a dog-grooming salon? We get to help her with a puppy today!”
    Ms. Mitchell smiled. “How wonderful!”
    â€œHer business is doing really well,” explained Kat. “She thought it would take some time to get going, but she was swamped with customers all last week. So she asked Maya and me to help out after school. Did you know that Grace loves puppies, just like me?”
    â€œI had an idea that she might,” Ms. Mitchell confessed, her brown eyes sparkling.

    Grace chimed in, “When Kat found out, she asked me to help out at Tails Up! too!”
    Grace was new to the town of Orchard Valley. She was slim with brown eyes. Grace often wore her long red hair in braids. She reminded Kat of Anne of Green Gables.
    It had taken a few