Bailey (5 page)

All day Thursday, Kat had trouble concentrating on her work. She usually daydreamed about puppies, dozens of them in all sizes and colors. But today there was only one puppy in her thoughts: Bailey.

And the only thing she kept picturing was how much fun Bailey would have outside in the Tails Up! yard. She imagined him rolling in the grass and sniffing at all the outdoor smells. She imagined him free to run full speed from one end of the yard to the other, his ears flying out.

“Kat, are you with us?” asked her teacher.

“Yes, Ms. Mitchell,” said Kat, returning to her math problem.

After lunch, it was even worse. The afternoon went so slowly! When the class was supposed to be working on their stories, Kat found it impossible to keep her mind off Bailey. She couldn't wait to hear his little woofs when he saw her and Maya. She couldn't wait to stroke his silky head and tickle his tummy. And the yard? Maybe she would ask Aunt Jenn if she and Maya could take him outside, just for a few minutes.

Kat kept looking at the clock. The more often she looked, the slower the hands seemed to move.

Then Heather, who sat behind her, passed her a note. “Dreaming about Owen?” the note asked. It had little pink hearts all around it.

Of course, she knew right away who had written it. She looked over at Megan and Cora. The two girls were watching her, their hands over their mouths, giggling.

Angrily, Kat crumpled up the note in her hand.

Then Ms. Mitchell was crouching beside her chair. “Something on your mind today?” she asked Kat gently.

Kat saw the expression on Megan's and Cora's faces change. Now they looked scared.

“Yes,” she said, nodding. She held the note in the palm of her hand. It would be so easy to show it to Ms. Mitchell. It might finally stop Megan and Cora from teasing her.

“Do you want to tell me about it? Are you missing Maya?” Ms. Mitchell asked.

Kat paused. Maya. It was Maya who had suggested she take revenge on the two girls. Telling Ms. Mitchell about the note would serve them right. They'd probably have to stay in after school. Or they'd have to help out in the kindergarten classrooms at lunchtime. Something.

“Kat?” Ms. Mitchell asked.

Kat wanted to make the girls squirm. But she also she didn't want to be a tattletale. It wasn't like they were bullying her. Not really. And she hadn't even tried telling them to stop.

Kat made up her mind. “My aunt opened her dog boarding and grooming place in town,” she told her teacher. “And I'm helping her by looking after a puppy after school today. His name is Bailey.”

“I've seen your aunt's sign. Tails Up!, right?” Ms. Mitchell asked.

“That's it!” said Kat, her face lighting up.

“Hmmm… That sounds really exciting.” Ms. Mitchell knew how much Kat loved puppies. Everyone in the whole school seemed to know! “I have an idea. Since you're supposed to be working on a story now, why don't you write a story about Bailey? That way you can think about him and do your work, all at the same time?”

“Okay,” said Kat, giving her teacher a smile. “I'll try that.”

She picked up her pencil, and right away the words began pouring out. She didn't give Megan and Cora another thought.

After school, Kat waited outside for Maya. When Owen walked past, Kat saw a baseball fall from his pocket.

“Owen, you dropped your ball,” Kat said, picking it up for him.

Just then, Megan and Cora walked by. “Kat and Owen, sitting in a tree,” Megan chanted.

Cora started to join in, but Kat had had enough.

“That's it!” she yelled. The girls were surprised. They stopped and looked at her.

“I didn't tell on you in class today. But I still have the note. You need to leave me alone. Owen is
not
my boyfriend,” Kat said.

She looked at Owen. His face was completely red, and he looked very embarrassed. She hoped she hadn't hurt his feelings.

“But he is my friend,” Kat added. “And you need to leave him alone too.”

“We were only having fun,” Cora said.

“Yeah,” said Megan. “You don't have to be so sensitive! Come on, Cora, let's go.”

Megan and Cora stomped off across the schoolyard. Kat was shaking. They'd made her so mad!

“I was tired of them bugging me too,” Owen said. “Do you think they'll stop now?”

“I think they just pick on us because we're quiet. Now that we stood up to them, they might leave us alone,” said Kat. “And if not, I have proof they've been teasing us. They sent me a note.” She smiled and patted her pocket.

“Hi, Kat! Hi, Owen!” Maya walked up and beamed at them both.

“Hi, Maya,” Owen mumbled, looking at his shoes. “Um, I'd better get going. See you, Kat. And thanks.”

As Owen left, Maya turned to Kat. Her eyes were big. “What was that about?” she asked.

Kat told her friend about the note Cora and Megan had sent her in class. Then she told her how she'd stood up to them.

“Wow, that's awesome, Kat!” Maya said. “I bet they leave you alone now.”

“I hope so. Anyway, we'd better get to Tails Up! Bailey's owner is coming tonight. We don't want to miss him!”

“Good idea,” said Maya.

• • •

The girls watched Bailey as he investigated one of the empty crates in the doggy day care room. He tilted his head to one side then the other. Now he put his front paws up on the side of the crate and tried to climb on top. The girls giggled as he toppled over, then bounded up and tried again.

Suddenly Maya said, “Oh, I brought my camera!” She ran to her backpack and got it out. “Now we can add Bailey to our Puppy Collection!”

“Good thinking!” said Kat. “Hey, maybe we can add the story I wrote about Bailey too.”

“Yeah!” said Maya. “I can't wait to read it.”

Maya started snapping shots of Bailey tackling the crate. Kat threw a chew toy for the puppy, and Maya took more photos of Bailey playing with it. When Bailey grew tired of the toy, Kat played chase with him around and around the room. Maya took even more shots.

Then she paused. “It would be so great if we could take Bailey out in the sunshine,” she said. “I know we can't,” she added hurriedly. “But wouldn't it be fun?”

“He'd love it,” Kat agreed. “Playing on the grass.”

“Smelling the bushes and trees,” said Maya.

For a moment neither girl said anything.

“I could ask Aunt Jenn,” said Kat.

She looked out the window. It was another beautiful day, but it was getting close to dinnertime.

“I'll be right back,” she told Maya. She hurried out of the room and into the reception area. A woman with a shaggy sheepdog was speaking to Aunt Jenn. It was almost impossible to tell the front of the dog from the back!

“Not too short, but I don't want the hair left too long either,” the woman said. “Alice prefers it that way.”

As the woman bent down to pat her dog, Aunt Jenn looked at Kat over her head and widened her eyes crazily. Kat couldn't help giggling.

“Okay, I think I have the right idea,” Aunt Jenn said, trying to interrupt. But the woman wasn't done yet. Kat had the feeling she'd been speaking for quite some time.

“Alice is nine years old,” the woman said, “and she is quite particular about her hairstyles.”

“I see, I see,” Aunt Jenn interrupted politely. “Well, let's take Alice into the grooming room, and I'll get her settled while you continue.” She slowly guided the woman and her dog toward the grooming room. As she went, she shot Kat another kooky look and mouthed, “Help me!”

“She's too busy,” Kat told Maya, returning to the doggy day care room. “I couldn't speak with her.”

“Okay, well,” said Maya. She was holding Bailey. “What do you think we should do?”

The girls went over to the window and looked outside.

“Your aunt told us not to take Bailey outside, but that was two days ago. That was on the first day we played with Bailey,” Maya reminded Kat. “She probably wasn't sure yet if we were responsible. She was just trying us out.”

“Yeah,” Kat agreed.

“I bet if you'd asked her now, she would have said yes,” Maya said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Kat said.

A squirrel searched for food in the back garden, twitching its tail.
What would Bailey do if he saw a squirrel?
Kat wondered. It made her smile.

“Hey, what did the tree wear to the pool party?” Kat asked Maya.

Maya grinned. “I don't know. What did the tree wear to the pool party?”

“Swimming trunks,” said Kat.

Maya groaned loudly. “Not funny,” she said.

The girls watched as the squirrel ran up the side of the fence and jumped onto a tree branch. Bailey's ears pricked up.

“You saw that squirrel too, didn't you, Bailey?” Maya asked with a laugh.

“The backyard looks pretty safe,” Kat said. “There's a fence all the way around it. I doubt Bailey could get into trouble back there.” She patted the puppy's head. “What do you think, Bailey? Do you want to go outside?” The puppy began to squirm and whine. Kat and Maya laughed.

“You do want to go outside, don't you, Bailey?” Kat said. “We thought so!”

“What if we take him outside for only a few minutes? Five minutes. We'll time it,” said Maya. She showed Kat her wristwatch. “Should we?”

Kat and Maya stared at each other. Should they do it, even though Aunt Jenn had said not to? She'd placed a lot of trust in them. She'd even let them come back and help again because they'd done such a good job the first day. They'd been responsible and taken very good care of Bailey. Then again, how could going in the backyard possibly hurt the puppy? It would be so much fun for him. Should they?