New Beginnings (7 page)

Chapter Twelve

W
hen we get home, we find Mom painting roses on a
WELCOME TO WRENCHES & ROSES
sign at the kitchen table. Mom's brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and she's got pink and green paint smudged on one cheek.

“Cool sign,” I say. I give her a kiss on her clean cheek.

I'm thinking I'll have to bribe Josh somehow to convince him to go with me to Dr. Mac's. Now would be a perfect time, because Mom looks happily busy.

“Where's Josh?” I ask.

“David called, and Josh went to visit him down the street,” she says. “It's nice to see him making friends right away.”

“I don't know how he does it,” I say.

Mom sets down her brush and gives me a hug.

I melt in her arms. I want to tell her how tough this has all been, but she's got enough worries with the store. So I just say, “Thanks, Mom. I needed that hug.”

“Me too, sweetie, me too,” she says. Then she pulls away and dabs at my chin with a napkin. “Oopsie, I didn't mean to get paint on you.”

“Do you know when Josh will be back?” I ask.

“I told him to be home by six thirty—in time for dinner.”

Six thirty! Too late. Dr. Mac's clinic closes at six o'clock. And when we were there yesterday at five forty-five, Dr. Mac said Maggie would be home any minute. I'd love to peek in on the tiny kittens if they're still there, but if I want to avoid Maggie, maybe I could just call to make the appointment? Then Josh could take Cuddles in to be spayed, and I can avoid Maggie and the clinic altogether.

Back in my room, I carefully take Cuddles out of her cage and let her hop around with Sophie watching her. Meanwhile, I set up Cuddles's new water bottle and clean out the wet cardboard and newspapers from her cracked and dripping old bottle.

“Don't let her chew on anything, or tell me if she starts,” I say.

“Okay,” says Sophie, grinning her biggest smile and happily petting Cuddles. Cuddles looks calm and happy, too, so I take the opportunity to make my call to Dr. Mac's in the hallway—away from both Mom and Sophie. I punch in the number from the free spay coupon and hope that Maggie is still at practice and won't answer the phone. I downright dread hearing her voice. If she answers, I'll just hang up. I hold my breath while it rings—three, four, five times.

“Dr. Mac's Veterinary Clinic,” a friendly voice says on the other end of the line. “This is Sunita speaking. How may I help you?”

“Sunita?” I say, finally taking a breath. I'm so relieved it's her and not Maggie. “It's me, Jules. From school, with Chewie, the rabbit from Mr. Hart's class.”

“Of course I remember you, Jules!” Sunita says. “Is Chewie okay?”

“Oh yes, she's fine. I just want to make an appointment with Dr. Mac to have her spayed. Mr. Hart gave me a coupon and said she was old enough now, so I should get her spayed as soon as possible.”

“Okay,” Sunita says. “But Dr. Mac will want to do a quick checkup a day or two before she does any surgery, and we'll need to set up a file for Chewie. I can do that for you over the phone if you want. Then I'll check with Dr. Mac to see when her next available appointment and scheduled surgery days are.”

“Okay,” I say. “But we changed Chewie's name to Cuddles, so could you please set up her file as Cuddles?”

“Cuddles, what a cute name!” Sunita says. Then she takes down all my info and my parents' info, too.

“Okay,” Sunita says, “let me check with Dr. Mac.” She puts me on hold, with first a silly duck song playing in the background, then the one about the farmer and his dog.

She's back on the line a few minutes later. “Guess what?” Sunita says. “David just arrived to help feed the abandoned kittens, and your brother is with him.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and the tiny kittens are so sweet. Oh, and we had a cancellation at five fifteen today. Dr. Mac says you can bring Chew—I mean Cuddles, by for her presurgery checkup then if you want. You live nearby, right?”

“Yes, I'm just down the street,” I say. “Is there anyone else there?”

“Just Dr. Gabe. He's another vet, but he's all booked up. You'll see Dr. Mac.”

I look at the clock. “Okay,” I say. “Thanks, Sunita. I'll be right over with Cuddles.”

I hang up and tell Mom my plans.

“Jules, I'm glad you're being a responsible pet owner,” Mom says. “But next time please tell me first before you make any appointments, all right? How much will a checkup cost?”

“Mr. Hart gave me a free coupon to get Cuddles spayed,” I say. “And I think the presurgery checkup is part of the free coupon.”

“Well,” Mom says, “I'd like to go with you, but I need to finish this sign and clean up before dinner.”

“I can handle it,” I say. “I can carry Cuddles in her cage and ask any important questions.”

“All right,” Mom says. “Give me a call if anything comes up.”

“I will,” I say. With any luck, Cuddles can have her checkup, and I can see the kittens and get out of there before Maggie arrives.

Chapter Thirteen

I
convince Sophie to stay home and decorate a cardboard box for Cuddles.

“When I get back,” I tell her, “I'll cut out some windows and doors. I saw some cardboard tubes in the store we could use for tunnels. But you can draw the door and window lines and color some parts in while I'm gone. Use these water-based markers because they're nontoxic. Don't use anything else. It might not be safe for Cuddles to chew.”

Sophie reluctantly agrees, tells Cuddles good-bye, and starts to decorate the box.

I carefully scoop up Cuddles, put her in her cage, and latch the door. Then I head down the street to Dr. Mac, Sunita, David, Josh, those adorable tiny kittens, and hopefully
not
Maggie.

The bell jangles when I enter, and there is Sunita, smiling behind the desk with the big old orange tabby seemingly on guard duty next to her.

“Hi, Jules,” she says to me, and then she gently pets and lifts the big cat. “Down you go, Socrates,” she says as she puts him on the floor. “Now we have room for Cuddles.” Sunita pats the counter for the cage.

“Okay, if you could just check over Cuddles's new file I set up and make sure all the info is correct, I'll tell Dr. Mac you're here,” Sunita says. “And then do you want to see the kittens?”

“Yes, please.” I check over the file, then I follow Sunita. The kittens are in the Dolittle Room again, and so are Josh, David, and a handsome man whose name tag says D
R
. G
ABE
. Each of them is feeding a tiny towel-wrapped kitten from a little bottle. Three kittens suck their bottles, and two are in the box, mewing.

Everyone says hi. Sunita introduces me to Dr. Gabe, who looks right at me, steps forward, and shakes my hand. I was expecting Dr. Gabe to be an older man, not this tall, cute guy, much younger than Dr. Mac. Dr. Gabe's hand is warm and strong, and I just keep shaking it, staring at his blue, blue eyes. He smiles at me, and I can't seem to let go or stop shaking hands.

Luckily, one of the kittens mews and that brings me back to my senses. I drop my hands and hold them behind my back. I can't believe Josh gets to feed one of the kittens. Of course he is good with animals, but I can't help feeling jealous. I don't know if he's an official Vet Volunteer, but I know I'm not. And here he is, looking totally at home, like he's having a good time with David.

David's kitten is done with the bottle now and after he holds it up to burp it, he shows Josh how to swab at its rear end with a wet cotton ball to “help it learn how to pee and poop. The mother cat usually does this, really,” he says, making a goofy face.

David's making jokes about how he's an “elimination expert” now. “Just call me the Prince of Poop. I know, I know, it's a thankless job, teaching kittens how to poop and pee, but someone's got to do it. The Prince of Poop to the rescue, with his sidekick Josh, the Duke of Doody!”

Sunita rolls her eyes and says she'll be right back once she knows which room Dr. Mac wants to examine Cuddles in. While she's gone, I look at the clock and wonder what time Maggie will get back. I feel out of place, especially worrying what Maggie will say if she sees me here.

Sunita pops her head back in a few minutes later. “Okay, Dr. Mac is ready in the Herriot Room,” she says.

Josh nods his head to me, silently reminding me to smile with a fake smile of his own. David sets down his cotton ball and gently waves the kitty's paw at me. “Poo-bye!” David says, wiggling his nose. “Smell you later.”

Sunita helps me with Cuddles's cage and shows us to the Herriot Room.

“Hello, Jules,” Dr. Mac says. She looks at the chart. “And this must be Cuddles. Oh, we're going to need your mom's or dad's signature before we go much further.”

“I have a coupon,” I say. “Mr. Hart gave it to me.”

“The coupon is fine,” Dr. Mac says. “We just need an adult to sign the consent for veterinary care form.” She holds up a page. “I don't suppose one of your parents could drop by?”

“Um, they're both kind of busy today. But I can bring it home and have them sign it, then bring it back the day we have Cuddles spayed,” I say.

“Well, it'd be better if it were signed even before our checkup today. You live nearby, right? Sunita can keep an eye on Cuddles here if you wouldn't mind running home to get it signed. Then we can proceed. I'll just look in on my next patient while you're gone.”

“Okay,” I say, even though I'm thinking,
No, no, no
. What if Maggie returns?

I take the form and say, “I'll be right back.” Then I head out the door, looking at the clock. Five twenty-five.

I run home. Five thirty.

Mom signs the form at five thirty-two.

I run back.

Five thirty-seven.

The door jangles as usual when I enter the clinic. But Sunita is nowhere to be found. The doors to the Dolittle Room and the Herriot Room are both closed. Even Socrates, the big orange cat, is gone.

“Hello?” I call. “Sunita? Josh? Dr. Mac?” I guess I should just go knock on the door of the Herriot Room, where I last saw Sunita and Cuddles. But what if Sunita moved Cuddles to another exam room? What if Dr. Mac is seeing a different patient in the Herriot Room? I don't want to interrupt.

Then I see the big old friendly basset hound lumbering out of the side door. He wags his tail and sniffs at me. “Hey there, Sherlock,” I say, leaning down to pet him. “Where is everybody?”

I sit in one of the chairs to wait for Sunita or whoever comes out first. Sherlock leans against me and wags his tail. I pet him while I wait and look over the consent form one more time. Mom signed it just fine, but oops, no one filled in our address. I walk to the counter where I saw Sunita with a pen earlier. Sherlock trots behind me.

“I know there was a pen here,” I tell Sherlock. I lean over the counter and peek in the open drawer. Yep, pens, paper clips, and uh-oh, an open cash box. They shouldn't keep cash out in the open like that. I grab a pen and reach over to close the drawer.

The front door jangles behind me. I turn, and it's Maggie. “Hey, what are you doing? Who said you could snoop around the office?” she says.

My mouth goes dry. Now what am I supposed to do? I'm sure she thinks I'm trying to steal something. I stand and look down at Sherlock for a lack of anywhere else to look. He is still wagging his tail, but slower now as he looks back and forth between us, tilting his head, puzzled.

“Come,” Maggie says to Sherlock. He trots over to her and rubs his head against her leg.

“I can explain,” I say. “I was just looking for a pen.”

“A pen?” Maggie repeats.

“Yes. I have an appointment with Dr. Mac,” I say. “A checkup for my rabbit.” I look around, but of course Cuddles and Sunita are still nowhere to be seen. Maggie looks, too, as if she doesn't believe me, as if she thinks I'm there only to steal stuff and bother her.

“Listen,” I say, “I know we started off on the wrong foot on the bus and in the hallway at school, not to mention in gym class, and I'm sorry about all that, but that doesn't mean—”

Maggie sighs a big sigh. I look at Sherlock again. His ears are drooping and his tail no longer wags, as if he's been scolded for doing something wrong. Sherlock didn't do anything wrong and neither did I.

“Look,” I say. “I'm here to get Dr. Mac to check my rabbit. I just needed to borrow a pen.” I hold up the pen in my hand.

“Fine, get your rabbit taken care of, and then go. And in the future, could you please just stay away from me, my pets, and our office drawers?” Maggie says. “Come on, Sherlock.” Sherlock follows her into the side room.

Wow, I've never had anyone dislike and distrust me so much before. Ignore me, yes. Not invite me over, yes. Talk about me behind my back, yes. But out and out tell me to stay away from them? No, that's never happened before. I feel rotten.

I take a deep breath and try to recover before anyone sees me. But the door jangles again and a girl with a crow on her shoulder walks into the office.

“Hi,” she says. “You're one of the new twins, right? I'm Brenna Lake.”

This must be the Save-Our-Streams Brenna whom Sunita was talking about.

“Hi, I'm Jules,” I say. “Jules Darrow. I like your bird. What's his name?”

“Edgar Allan Poe Crow,” she says, as if it's perfectly normal to have a crow on your shoulder. The crow tilts his head and looks at me, as if he thinks I'm a curious creature, too. “Where is everybody?” Brenna asks.

“I think they're in the exam rooms,” I say. “I wasn't sure if I should knock or not, so I'm just waiting.”

A horn honks outside.

“Well, I can't stay,” Brenna says. “My mom is waiting. I just came to drop off these flyers for our Stream Cleanup Day this Saturday. I hope you can come.”

“I'd like to,” I say.

“Great. We're starting at nine in the morning. Everyone's meeting at the wooden bridge behind Quinn's horse stables. Wear boots and bring work gloves.”

“I'll be there!”

“Perfect. And please come to the school library at lunchtime on Thursday,” Brenna says. “I'll explain the cleanup in more detail then. We need all the help we can get.” Brenna smiles a little mischievously now and adjusts her long dark hair behind her ear. “And bring your adorable brother, too. Everyone's talking about him.”

The horn honks again.

“Gotta go.” She opens the door. “Can you give these flyers to Dr. Mac? Or ask Maggie to tape a flyer in the window for me? I have to run.” And with that, Brenna and Edgar Allan Poe Crow are right back out the door.

Sunita emerges from the Herriot Room. “I heard the door. Who was here?”

“Brenna,” I say, walking away from the waiting room and the open side door, toward Sunita. “She dropped off some flyers for Stream Cleanup Day. She asked if you could tape one in the window.” I figure asking Sunita is better than trying to talk to Maggie.

“Of course,” Sunita says. “Did you get the consent form signed? Dr. Mac is ready for you and Cuddles. Come on in.”