Belle's Challenge Page 12

  The breeze rustled into the tent and the stench of fake roses seared my nose. A chair clattered as Emily sat down in front of us and laid her purse and a paper bag across two vacant seats next to her. Then leaning toward the row ahead of her, she tapped Josie on the shoulder.

  Thinking my nose would fry, I jumped to my feet and sneezed.

  “Yuck.” She reached into her purse, pulled out a tissue and wiped the back of her leg. Turning, she scowled at Darcy and Susan. “First that dog bites me, and now she sneezes all over my calf.”

  Susan smelled like pepper. “Oh, quit acting like a baby, Emily. Belle didn’t bite you, and you know it.”

  Before Emily could comment, Mrs. Redhouse spoke. “And now one of our junior story tellers, Miss. Katherine Robinson. She developed her story during our dog-based Reading Therapy Program.”

  Katherine stepped onto the stage, braids swinging over a tan top with matching skirt.

  I hopped to my feet and slid into the aisle as far as my leash would allow. Buster and Jazzy followed.

  The tent flap opened. Mayor and Mrs. Robinson entered. Emily waved, and they joined her.

  Mrs. Robinson reeked of the same fake flowers Emily did. I let out another huge sneeze, and the audience tittered.

  She saw me, and sour stomach wiped out the flowers. “Andrew,” she croaked, grabbing the mayor’s arm.

  “Shh,” the mayor hissed.

  A mixture of lightning and sour stomach clung to Katherine. Her knees shook as she looked from the people sitting around me to her parents. Opening her mouth, she let out a squawk and bent, as if to sit on an invisible chair.

  Should I go to her? Could I do that as a therapy dog?

  Wrenching his leash out of Darcy’s hand, Buster bounded onto the stage. “Come on,” he barked.

  Twisting my head out of my collar, I shot after him and braced my body against Katherine’s leg. Buster leaned against her other side.

  The crowd laughed and clapped.

  Mrs. Robinson leapt to her feet. “Katherine, come here this minute,” she shrilled running up after us, the mayor following.

  Katherine’s jaw dropped. She stared at her mother, then at us.

  “Jean!” the mayor said in a low voice. He tried to ease her off the stage and back into her seat. “She’s all right. Leave her alone.”

  Jazzy barked and snapped her teeth together. “Knock them into the middle of next week, kid.” The audience roared.

  Mrs. Robinson didn’t budge. “Katherine, get off this stage, or I will take all your privileges away from you.”

  Mr. Robinson started to lead his wife from the tent. She buckled her knees until her heels dragged in the dirt. The mayor scooped her into his arms and carried her out.

  Someone in the audience snickered. Others frowned. Most averted their eyes and gazed at their hands.

  The mayor carried her outside, and I heard him set her on her feet. “Control yourself. Calm down. Katherine is all right.”

  She gasped.

  The mayor said, “You are going to get help with that dog phobia of yours if I have to march you to a doctor.”

  Katherine stared after her father, eyes wide.

  “Now you’ve done it,” Emily shouted at her. “Mother is going to be a wreck for the rest of the day.” She ran toward the exit.

  “Emily,” Susan muttered.

  Tears welled in Katherine’s eyes.

  Buster and I both nuzzled her. She put her hands on our shoulders.

  “You can do it, Katherine,” Darcy called.

  Mrs. Redhouse and Josie walked to Katherine. Josie laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Do you want to tell your story, honey?”

  “Yes,” Katherine gulped.

  “Then go ahead.” Josie gave her a hug. “Don’t let Emily get to you.”

  “I want Belle and Buster up here with me.” She put her arms around both of us and squeezed hard.

  “They will be.” Josie smelled like hot iron. Giving Katherine another gentle squeeze, she returned to her seat and sat down. So did Mrs. Redhouse.

  Katherine gulped air like she’d come from the bottom of a lake and launched into her tale.

  The audience clapped. The Robinsons reentered the tent, the mayor between Emily and his wife. Settling them in chairs, he nodded to Katherine.

  Emily stuck out her tongue quick, like a lizard. “Nah, you can’t do it, Katherine. You’re gonna screw up,” she taunted.

  I saw her father squeeze her shoulder and watched Emily’s face contort into a pout.

  I kept my head against Katherine’s knee as she described Johnny and his piggy bank.

  “Johnny got a paper route, and he saved some of his pay each week. But lots of times, his mother needed his money for food.” Katherine let go of Buster but hung on to me. Lightning began to replace her sour stomach odor.

  Josie smiled at her.

  Mrs. Robinson leaned forward, poked Josie’s shoulder and glared. Josie waved her off and focused on the stage.

  Grinning back at her aunt, Katherine kept her hand on my neck and continued her story. “So Johnny saved slowly. Whenever he saw Mrs. Wright on the street, he crossed over to avoid her because she looked so stern striding along the sidewalk in her small felt hat. If her hair hadn’t puffed from under it, softening her face, she would have reminded him of a dragon lady.”

  “Dragon lady,” Emily scoffed. The mayor gave her a warning scowl.

  Squaring her shoulders, Katherine straightened her lips, lifted her chin, and looked down. “Johnny was scared that she would ask him how the saving was going, and if he admitted he had to save slowly, she would be mad. His father had said Mrs. Wright expected people to work hard and save harder. Johnny was afraid she’d say, ‘We don’t neglect our duties, young man.’”

  I smelled a single shot of pepper on Mrs. Robinson, and she leaned toward her husband. I could make out her words as she whispered to him, “Little squirt, she picked up the line I use when she hasn’t done her chores. Now the whole town will know how I handle her.”

  Josie’s sugar cookie scent swelled and merged with warm bread. She hid a broad grin behind her hand.

  The mayor frowned. “Maybe you’d better do some thinking, Jean.”

  Lifting her fingers off my neck, Katherine folded her hands. “Well, one day after school, Johnny decided to walk up on a mesa before starting his paper route. He liked to climb up high and look down on Appleton.” She stretched on tiptoe, then shaded her eyes and looked down at me, as if I were a town.

  I tried to think of how a town would look. Maybe just still, like dens in yards. I sat up straight.

  “When he got way up high,” Katherine pointed to the tent roof, “He heard an airplane. Br-r-r-r, went its motor. He saw it flashing in the sky. But then it dived.” Bending, spreading her arms and moaning, Katherine imitated a plane gliding out of the sky. Her arm hovered near my shoulder. I dropped onto the ground. A breeze ruffled my coat.

  The audience laughed, even Emily.

  I sat up and gave Darcy a pleading look. No more therapy work. I’ll give up dog biscuits forever.

  Darcy’s lips moved. “Good dog,” she mouthed. “Hang on.”

  Okay, with dog heaven’s help I’d get through this performance.

  Katherine stooped and touched the floor. “The plane headed right toward the mesa Johnny stood on, so he scrambled off the top in a hurry. The plane landed when he was only part way down, so he climbed as close as he dared and hid in some sage brush.” Her voice rose. “Three men got out. Two had guns. The third had something Johnny couldn’t quite identify. One of the men glanced in his direction, but didn’t spot him in the brush. The man looked so mean that Johnny turned and dodging from rock to bush along the path, eased himself off that mesa as quietly as he could. Then he ran all the way back to town and went to the police s
tation and told what he’d seen. Then he jumped on his bike and started his paper route.”

  No one in the audience moved. Darcy and Susan smiled, their eyes on Katherine. Wriggling my nose, I smelled Josie. She gave off the aroma of chocolate ice cream and lightning.

  Katherine drew a breath, paused, and suddenly smelled like a sour stomach. Her hand dropped onto me and she stared at the ground. “Um, um,” she mumbled. Her face turned red, and silence swelled.

  “Told ya you’d goof up,” Emily taunted. “Told ya. Told ya.”

  Tuning in her chair, Josie put a hand over Emily’s mouth.

  I exchanged a glance with Buster. Now what? Had she forgotten her story?

  A shot of sour stomach rolled off Josie. The river suddenly roared by the path leading to the tent.

  I pressed my nose against Katherine’s leg and nuzzled her.

  “Oh yeah,” she said. Facing her audience, she straightened, glared at Emily, and spoke aloud.

  “Well, it turns out lots of people saw the plane, but when the cops got to the mesa, it was gone. They just saw its tire tracks, so they figured it had taken off. But stories were flying all over town about it. People said bandits had landed it, and it was full of gold they stole in Mexico. The bandits had buried it and taken off again, but the cops couldn’t find anything buried on the mesa. Everyone asked Johnny what he’d seen, and he told his story until his mother said, ‘That’s enough. We don’t bore people with our doings. And, by the way, the wood box is empty. It better be full by suppertime, or you can say goodbye to your paper route.’”

  Katherine put her hands on her hips and glared at me as if I were Johnny.

  I flattened my ears and tried to look like a naughty kid, though I was so happy for her I could have danced on my hind legs.

  The audience clapped. Mrs. Robinson’s voice floated to me.

  “Oh, my gosh,” she said. “Do I look that fierce when I tell the kids to stop carrying on?”

  “You’ll have to ask them,” replied the mayor.

  She pressed her head into her hands.

  Katherine patted me and continued. “One day when Johnny got out of school, it was a warm day. So he decided to stop at the drugstore on Main Street for a glass of pop before starting his paper delivery. He walked in and found a lot of other people wanted pop too, because all the seats at the fountain were filled but one. When Johnny looked at it, his stomach went...” Jumping backwards, she cartwheeled, her foot just missing my head.

  “Oh, bones,” I said to Buster on the dog channel.

  The audience roared.

  Looking up, Mrs. Robinson exclaimed, “That wasn’t in the script!”

  Katherine straightened. “His stomach did that because if he took that seat, he’d sit next to Mrs. Wright, and she’d ask him about his piggy bank.

  “Mrs. Wright glanced around and saw him. ‘Come here, young man.’ She patted the seat next to her.

  “Johnny opened his mouth, shut it, and came over, heart pounding, cuz in those days kids did what grownups told them.”

  Screwing her face into a piggy snuffle, Emily choked back laughter. “Yeah, right, Katherine, they were perfect angels.”

  Trying to look like Johnny, I hung my head.

  “Easy, Belle,” Buster said.

  Ignoring Emily, Katherine clasped her hands. “Well, Mrs. Wright asked Johnny what kind of drink he wanted and suggested a root beer float. Johnny loved root beer floats, so he nodded. Then Mrs. Wright said, ‘Johnny, can you take me up to the mesa where that plane was?’

  “Johnny thought that maybe Mrs. Wright needed money for the bank because times had gotten so hard that President Roosevelt was going to close all banks in the country so he could see which ones had money and which didn’t. If the banks closed, no one could get any cash.

  “Johnny sipped his float and looked up at Mrs. Wright. ‘Yes, Ma’am, I can,’ he said, still thinking she’d ask him about the piggy bank.

  “‘Please take me there when you finish your drink,’ Mrs. Wright said. ‘I’ll give you something for your piggy bank.’”

  Katherine grinned, showing gaps in her teeth. “Well, Johnny hadn’t expected the piggy bank to come up in that way, so he just nodded and didn’t say anything.

  “They climbed the mesa and Johnny showed her where the plane had landed.

  “She said, ‘Thank you, young man. Come by the bank tomorrow. And now you’d better get to your paper route. I can find my way back to town myself.’”

  Katherine looked down at me. I got ready to dodge whatever she might act out next, but she folded her hands and faced the audience.

  “Well, Johnny obeyed, and he did go by the bank, and Mrs. Wright opened a savings account for him. She put in three hundred dollars and told him to leave it there until he grew up. That was a lot of money in those years.

  “Taking a deep breath, he admitted that saving money in the piggy bank was going slow.

  “‘Well, young man,’ Mrs. Wright said with a little smile. ‘You come every Saturday and sweep up for me. I’ll give you twenty-five cents. You put ten cents in the bank every week and pretty soon the piggy will be full because...’

  “Johnny grinned back at her. ‘Because, if I worry about the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.’

  “‘That’s right,’ said Mrs. Wright.

  “The next day, President Roosevelt closed the banks. Mrs. Wright went up and down the street with a suitcase and saw that the business men had enough money to keep their stores open. Johnny said she had a stack of gold coins in the suitcase, but when he asked if they came from that airplane, she said...” Katherine lifted one finger as if making a point.

  “She said, ‘Don’t you know that curiosity killed the cat?’

  “Some people muttered that if Mrs. Wright did take the robbers’ gold and put it to good use, it served the crooks right. Others wondered how she knew where they’d hidden the gold, or how she knew they were bad guys.”

  “Johnny’s father guessed Mrs. Wright was just curious about where the plane landed, and used that as an excuse to give Johnny a start in life. She often helped people if she thought they deserved it.

  “When people asked her if she’d helped business men with money from that plane, she commented that gossip was an interesting thing and walked away.

  “Johnny grew very rich. That plane never came back to the mesa, and when other people went looking for the gold, they never found it. All that we know for sure is a plane landed on the mesa, and three men jumped out. By the time the cops got there, the plane had taken off, and no one ever found any buried treasure. The end.” Katherine bowed.

  The audience cheered and stood up. Flushing pink, Katherine bowed again.

  Emily stuck out her tongue at Katherine. “You couldn’t have done it without those stupid dogs.”

  The mayor took her arm and marched her out of the tent. “I have had enough of your shenanigans for one day. Be quiet if you’re wise.”

  Mrs. Robinson remained seated, looking sad, thoughtful, and hurt.

  Wagging my tail, I gave Katherine’s hand a whiskers kiss and jumped off the stage.

  Darcy opened her arms, and I dove into her lap. I’d gotten through the performance, though it had taken all my self discipline. I was a flea bag as a therapy dog.

  Whimpering, I pressed against Darcy. Dog heaven, don’t let her be disappointed in me.

  Chapter 16

  Showdown

  Susan, Jazzy, Darcy, Buster, and I walked out of the tent. The sun’s heat set me panting, and I dashed under the trees by the river into the shade. Buster followed, running to the water’s edge. He thrust his face into the water and gulped. Jazzy and Susan joined us. Jazzy sank her muzzle deep and drank.

  Thirsty as I was, I stopped a few paces behind them, not wishing to get wet. For a moment, I watched dusty
leaves tumbling into the churning foam. Catching the current, they swooped into mid stream, spun, and slammed into islands of fallen branches and mud. The mounds smelled of wet earth, plants and – duck feathers! A mother mallard marched her family onto one of them.

  A whiff of fake roses and pepper stung my nose. Lifting my ears and staring up the path, I saw the mayor marching Emily toward the park entrance. From behind me came the stench of more fake roses and the sweet smell of snap dragons.

  Katherine raced to us and gathered me in her arms. “Thank you, Belle.” She waved to Buster who had just lifted his nose. “Thank you, Buster.”

  Breaking away from her father, Emily bounded up. “You were just plain lucky, Katherine, that you remembered most of your story. You almost blew it, didn’t you?”

  Mrs. Robinson appeared. “Katherine, once and for all, get away from those animals before you get bitten.”

  “Ha!” Emily sneered, pointing to me. “There’s the one that bites.” She smelled like rotten potatoes, the stink of a lie if I ever smelled one.

  Susan stepped between me and Emily. “She does not, Emily. Besides, you kicked her. I saw it. At soccer and at the library.”

  Darcy glared at Emily, the reek of pepper rolling off her. “Take it back.”

  Smelling of sour stomach, Emily slithered sideways and raised her hand to her face. Her gaze darted from Darcy and Susan to her mother and sister.

  Mrs. Robinson lunged at Katherine. “Come here, now.”

  Katherine dodged, hopping close to the water.

  Emily put her hands on her hips. “You heard mother. Come. Now!”

  Katherine stuck out her tongue, and put her arms around Buster. “Emily, you’re the biggest jerk on the planet.”

  “At least.” Susan agreed. “If not in the universe.”

  “Belle never hurt anybody.” Darcy tapped her foot. “And the world knows it.”

  I thought of the time I bit Uncle Jim and almost nipped Darcy in my sleep, way back when Bonehead abused me and people were scary. Lucky no one in Appleton knew those secrets.