Belle's Challenge Read online

  “Buster and Belle won’t bite.” Katherine reached around her mother and patted me. “And they’re not dirty. Please let me stay. I was telling them my story.”

  “No. Come on, please.” Katherine’s mother gripped her hand tighter.

  Katherine’s face screwed up. She smelled like dry leaves.

  I glanced at Buster again. He slid in front of Katherine and raked the gravel with his tail.

  “Look at Buster.” Katherine pointed to him. “Isn’t he cute?”

  Buster’s bottom wriggled, then his back, then his whole body.

  I scooted to a spot beside him, cocked my ears and made my eyes as big as I could. Perhaps if we looked sweet, Mrs. Robinson would change her mind.

  “Please let me stay.” Katherine twisted her hand out of her mother’s.

  “No, I can’t let you do that, I’m sorry.” Mrs. Robinson’s voice wavered. “Come now, please. I am asking you nicely.”

  Buster pawed Mrs. Robinson’s knee.

  Mrs. Robinson’s breath exploded. “Stop!” Jerking Katherine behind her, she shoved Buster backwards.

  He staggered, ears and tail down.

  Susan and Darcy jumped up.

  I slid between Buster and Mrs. Robinson, ready to herd her away, should she shove him again.

  Margaret walked over and took us by our collars. “Excuse me,” she said quietly. “Our dogs won’t hurt anyone.”

  Mrs. Robinson gasped. “I thought that once about a dog. Now, I’ve got the scars to prove I shouldn’t have trusted the mutt.”

  “If you don’t want your children near dogs, I won’t let Katherine play with Belle and Buster,” Margaret replied. “But, please don’t shove them.”

  Mrs. Robinson folded her arms. “Send Katherine home immediately if she comes over here.”

  “We will, and will you ask Emily not to throw stones at Darcy and the dogs in our backyard.” Margaret smelled of iron.

  Mrs. Robinson stepped back, her own iron scent rising amid the pepper, vinegar and sour stomach. Squaring her shoulders, she spoke in a soft voice. “I believe Darcy provoked Emily into doing it.”

  “She did not.” Katherine put her hands on her hips. “Emily made up that story.”

  “Katherine,” reproached Mrs. Robinson, her tone dripping like someone had rolled her words in syrup. “We don’t imply that our sister is a liar.”

  Tears welled in Katherine’s eyes. “It’s true. I saw what happened.”

  “I’m surprised at you, Katherine.” With a grimace at Margaret, Mrs. Robinson turned and guided Katherine toward the footbridge.

  Katherine stumbled through the sage, crying.

  Margaret looked at Darcy and Susan, a question in her eyes.

  “It was my fault, Mom.” Darcy stared at the ground. “I invited Katherine to tell her story to the dogs.”

  Margaret sighed. “All right. Let’s leave the Robinsons alone from now on. Send Katherine home if she comes here.”

  I thought of Josie’s comment about Mrs. Robinson thinking she had perfect kids. What a flea brain Mrs. Robinson was. No wonder Emily was one, too.

  Buster licked my nose. “Too bad, Belle. You were doing good with Katherine.”

  “I wouldn’t have without you.” I let my nose wiggle, sniffing his water-plant aroma.

  He licked me. “You were your normal observant self and recognized what you had to do when I showed you.”

  “Well, I guess I am more comfortable with the job when I behave as I normally would.” I looked at Jazzy and felt hot.

  “Of course you are.” She clacked her teeth. “You have to be yourself. And you don’t just lie down and go to sleep while the kids read. You have to learn to sniff out their feelings and respond.”

  I looked at her. “So I just be who I am and see what the kids do?”

  “That’s it,” she replied.

  “That’s what I do,” Buster answered.

  I lowered my ears and tail. “But what if I don’t enjoy being a therapy dog?”

  “Then you’re about where I am with agility.” Buster dropped onto the patio and scratched his side with his hind leg. “And that’s no big biscuit. But I don’t think you’ve even come close to giving the job a good try until today.”

  I sighed. Maybe he was right. I’d been trying to be him, and hating every minute of it. “All right, I’ll be my serious self and not the clown. Maybe I can learn to like the library. At least I hope so for Darcy’s sake.” I’d discipline myself to pay attention to the kids while lying on the blanket.

  Chapter 14

  Progress?

  “Buster! Happy New Year.” Three girls charged our blanket as we lay on the library floor awaiting readers.

  I sat up. All right, Belle. Watch them carefully. Flaring my nostrils, I tried to sniff out the kids.

  The first smelled like popcorn in the microwave. “Happy, happy New Year.” She hopped like popcorn, too, pigtails bobbing.

  The other two fizzed like cherry pop and ginger ale, jumping from one foot to the other. “Let me pet Buster.”

  “No, let me.”

  I did not recognize their scents. Holy bones, I hadn’t paid attention when I came here.

  The floor shook as the kids’ boots clomped. A breeze ruffled my tail, and I tucked it under me.

  Buster cuddled up to Little Ginger Pop. Margaret guided Cherry Fizz to Jazzy, and tried to sit Pop Corn next to me. She took off hopping on one foot and plopped next to one of the other dogs.

  Whew. They would have been too much for me. I stretched my tail out.

  Darcy stroked me. “It’s okay, Belle,” she whispered.

  My heart sank. I had to try harder.

  A snapdragon smell mixed with butterscotch ice cream. My tail shot straight up and wagged.

  Katherine skipped to me and knelt just away from my paws.

  Dog heaven, bless you. I extended my muzzle and gave her a whiskers kiss.

  “I’m ready to tell my story. Me and Auntie Josie worked on it.” She smiled at Josie, who settled on the edge of our blanket, and patted my head.

  “We’ve done some research, haven’t we?” she said. “And you read almost all of what we found aloud to me.”

  Katherine nodded. “We went to visit people who are real old and knew Mrs. Wright. And we got to read some of her letters at the museum. There were pictures of the bank. And Johnny as a kid.” Her smile split her face, just like her Auntie Josie’s did. When Katherine grew up, she’d be Josie all over again, except for her hair and eye color.

  I stretched and lay down. Oops. Raising my head, I fastened my gaze on Katherine. Placing her hands behind her, she stood in front of me and took a breath.

  “Remember the movements we planned to go with the words,” prompted Josie.

  The story began as it had before. Mrs. Wright came to Appleton with her husband and worked at her brother’s bank.

  “She became the first woman bank president in all of New Mexico and one of the first in the whole United States.” Katherine spread her arms wide. “One day, a family named the Eatons came to live in Appleton from Missouri…” Faltering, Katherine looked at Josie.

  “Son,” Josie prompted.

  “Oh yeah,” Katherine said under her breath. Twisting her hands together, she continued. “They had a 10-year-old son named Johnny who had brown eyes and hair and freckles on his nose.”

  “Wow,” said Darcy, smelling like lightning. “Good description.”

  Feeling her excitement, I wagged my tail.

  “Belle likes what you said,” Darcy said with a smile.

  Katherine grinned, and her plump cheeks turned pink as a new born pig.

  “When Johnny’s father got to town, he opened an account at…” Frowning, she paused, then rushed on. “Opened an account at Great Aunt Katherine’s ban
k. It was a big place all full of gray marble and brass cages where the people sat who gave you money. They’re called tellers.

  “Now when a new person came in, Mrs. Wright herself left her office to welcome them. She was …” Her fingers twisted again.

  “Small,” Josie whispered.

  Katherine unclasped her hands. “Yeah. She was small and trim with gray hair in a bun, and she always wore a skirt, white blouse, jacket and oxford shoes.”

  Dog biscuits. Katherine had worked on her story. Never mind an occasional stumble. I gave her a whiskers kiss.

  “Belle loves what you’ve done.” Darcy clapped her hands.

  Josie’s smile filled her face.

  Katherine smelled of warm bread and snapdragons. I wagged my tail as hard as I could.

  Someone walked on the carpet behind me. The scent of fake roses burned my nose. So did the odor of ink and paper. Rabid skunks. The mayor and Emily. Mrs. Redhouse must have let Emily back into the library, since the kicking incident had happened so many sun times ago. Now, what in dog heaven would happen?

  The mayor and Emily stepped around in front of Katherine and me. Josie’s scent of butterscotch turned to hot, hot iron, and she locked her gaze on the mayor’s. I wondered if her determination would melt her.

  Katherine faltered. Giving her a nudge, I opened my eyes wide and cocked my head, hoping I looked extra cute.

  The mayor nodded to Katherine, neither smiling nor frowning. Emily folded her arms and stared at Darcy.

  Sour stomach and lightning smells rolled off Darcy like a waterfall.

  Nearby, Margaret rustled, and I sensed she had one eye on us.

  Katherine dropped her hand on my shoulder and grabbed my hair. Her grip hurt. Licking my chops I fought an instinct to run.

  Darcy slid her fingers over Katherine’s and laid the little girl’s hand flat on my back. Dog heaven, bless Darcy.

  Moistening her lips, Katherine continued, though her voice trembled. “N-now Johnny had come to t-the bank with his father, and he was staring at the g-glowing fixtures in the bank’s ceiling, as well as at the well-dressed young women sitting on tall stools counting m-money. Mrs. Wright handed him a shiny metal piggy bank.”

  Katherine lowered her voice. “‘Young man,’” she tried to say in a firm tone, as Mrs. Wright might have. “‘You put some money in this bank every week until you can’t get anymore in.’”

  I wondered how stern she’d sound if her voice wasn’t shaking. Fleas on the mayor and Emily for showing up right now.

  Katherine drew a long breath and let it out slowly. “Johnny needed both hands to hold the bank, and he wondered how he would ever get enough money to fill it. Times were hard because it was 1930, and the Great Depression had started. His father had lost his job and come to Appleton to try to grow fruit.

  “Johnny didn’t dare tell Mrs. Wright any of that. She looked as ferocious as a bear in her black suit, and he half imagined she’d eat him for lunch if he told her anything.” She glanced at Josie again.

  Josie lifted her head high.

  Craning her neck, Katherine looked over our heads as if at someone very frightening and much bigger than she.

  The scent of a single shot of electricity mixed with both Emily’s and the mayor’s odors.

  Katherine had surprised them with the movement. Good!

  Katherine assumed her normal posture. “But Mrs. Wright smiled at Johnny. ‘If you save your pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.’”

  The mayor glanced at Josie.

  “Sis,” he muttered, “You’ve probably started a family riot. But I don’t think I care.”

  Josie’s smile about swallowed her chin, and I wondered if she heard him.

  Emily flicked her tongue at Darcy like a lizard.

  Biting her lip, Darcy ignored Emily, but from her peppery odor, I knew Darcy struggled to keep silent.

  Putting a hand on Emily’s arm, the mayor led her away.

  I stuck my nose into Darcy’s hand, then into Katherine’s. Glancing at Buster, I realized he lay alone on his blanket. Ginger Pop had left.

  Katherine caught her breath. “That’s as far as I’ve gotten on the story.” She looked down. “Sorry I forgot in a couple of spots.”

  “That’s okay,” said Darcy and Josie together. “It will come. Just keep practicing.”

  I gave her another whisker’s kiss, then heard Buster’s voice on the dog channel.

  “Are you enjoying your session, Belle?” he asked.

  “Yes, I am, Buster. But I think I enjoyed it because I was working with Katherine. The other kids scared me. I don’t think I’m a very good therapy dog.” I sighed and lowered my ears. “Darcy will be disappointed in me.”

  Chapter 15

  On Stage

  Stretching long in the sage brush under the window to Darcy’s sleeping burrow, I gazed at the tiny moon. Spring had come, and a warm breeze fluffed the hair on my back. Buster snored beside me, probably worn out by today’s session at the library. Margaret, Bob and Darcy rustled. Their happy odors drifted to me on the breeze, and I guessed they were in the computer burrow.

  Voices murmured from a den across the irrigation ditch. I detected pen and ink and roses. Pepper tinged the mix. Opening one eye, I saw the mayor and Mrs. Robinson sitting on their patio.

  “Why, Andrew?” Mrs. Robinson rattled a cup, setting it down with force on a hard surface. “Why do you let Josie take Katherine to the library after school?”

  “I can’t control where Josie chooses to take her.”

  “Then let’s put her in an after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club.”

  “She’s fine with Josie.” The mayor’s words sounded like his hammer coming down at the council meeting. “I’m beginning to think the therapy dog experience has been good for her. She should continue it.”

  I watched him shift on a long chair. “Katherine’s ability to read out loud has improved a lot this year. And you couldn’t have gotten her to stand up and tell a story last fall.”

  With a touch of pride, I lifted my head, clanking my dog tags.

  Mrs. Robinson sighed. “Yes, Katherine is doing fine. But does she have to read to dogs?”

  The mayor’s pepper smell receded. “She has to learn to be around them, Jean. Dogs are here to stay.” He let his words purr, almost like a kitten snuggling into a lap. “I don’t want her to have your phobia.”

  “But that Belle might have bitten Emily. I don’t want Katherine around her.”

  “I have my doubts that Belle bit anybody.” The mayor shifted again, and the chair springs creaked. His voice pricked like a sharp stick as he spoke, and he smelled a touch peppery again. “Let Katherine go with Josie. Don’t mess with success. As for Emily, it is time to get her to someone who can help her. There is no shame in getting counseling.”

  The mayor rose and clomped into the house. Mrs. Robinson followed.

  I put my head on my paws, thinking that the mayor would probably get his way, judging from his tone. I certainly would not have challenged him.

  Good for Katherine. As long as she was happy, I suppose I could be. Sighing, I watched the moon vanish behind a cloud.

  The moon didn’t come out the next night. When it shone again, it grew until it hung round and full. It shrank, disappeared and grew twice more.

  Its third round fullness brought hot weather, and one night I found myself stretched on the tile in Darcy’s sleeping burrow beside Buster, who sprawled on his side snoring. A bone pile of kids had stood in line to read to him today.

  I’d heard the final rehearsal for Katherine’s story. Tomorrow, she’d tell it at the festival, and the reading therapy dog program would end for the hot time.

  Thank you, dog heaven, even though I like Katherine.

  Rising, I walked to Darcy and stuck my head in her la
p as she sat at her computer writing. Leaning down, she rubbed my neck and shoulders. “You’re a good dog, Belle. You’ve really helped Katherine a lot. Yes.”

  I lifted neither ears nor tail.

  “But you just don’t like working with the other kids, do you? They jump around too much.”

  Letting my nostrils flare, I tried to guess how she felt about it. The scent of light lilies of the valley clung to her, but she smiled with her mouth and not her eyes. “I really thought you were going to be good as a therapy dog, you’re so sweet. But sometimes life’s a surprise, I guess.”

  Flattening my ears, I tucked my tail between my legs. I had let her down. Tomorrow, I’d better be good.

  * * *

  When the sun rose, its heat seared through my coat. By the time we arrived at the storytelling festival, leaves hung limp on trees, and the whole earth seemed to pant.

  Saliva splashing off my tongue, I scurried down the path toward the river, where water tumbled over stones close to shore.

  Buster strained on his leash, stretching his neck toward the sound as Darcy led him to a tent hiding among the trees like a blue and white ball under a sage clump.

  Poor guy. I half felt like dipping a paw into the water.

  A cheer burst from the tent. Mrs. Redhouse congratulated the performer who had just finished.

  Darcy walked faster, skipping over a branch. “Come on, guys. We need to get there in time to hear Katherine.” Sticking my tail in the air, I followed her into the enclosure. Its dark coolness made me feel like I’d walked under a giant evergreen bush back in Illinois. Yes, summer sun times demanded moments in the shade here in New Mexico.

  Susan waved and tapped a metal chair next to her. Darcy settled on the seat while Buster and I stretched on the ground beside Jazzy.

  We touched noses. The gurgling river filled my ears, and I drifted on the sound. Now and again voices rose, sometimes laughing, sometimes making silly noises. A happy aroma mixed with a dog pile of other smells – Jazzy’s earth, Buster’s water plants, Darcy’s flowers, Susan’s sage, bread, garlic and clean cloth.