Penny and Peter (5 page)

"Why, she must have gone out of this door!" said Mrs. Sawyer. "Now, how do you suppose she knew that it was open?"

"Just smelled the fresh air, I suppose," said Mr. Sawyer. "I'll see if I can find her. It is so terribly dark. There isn't any moon."

"I'll come with you," said Patsy.

"No, you stay here with Mother," said her daddy. "I can look better by myself. I don't want to have to look for you as well as the dog."

"It is past your bedtime, Patsy," said her mother. "We'll go upstairs and get you tucked into bed."

"But I can't go to sleep until Daddy finds Tootsie," said Patsy, beginning to cry.

"Now, don't worry about Tootsie," said Mother. "You couldn't possibly lose anything as big as Tootsie. She will be back in no time. Daddy will have to build a separate house for her, I can see that. Tootsie! What a name for a Great Dane!"

Patsy went upstairs and her mother followed. It took Patsy a long time to get ready for bed because, every few minutes, she ran to look out of the window. There was no sign of Tootsie or Daddy. At last, she was tucked into bed and although she tried to stay awake until Tootsie came back, she was soon fast asleep.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sawyer hunted all over the neighborhood for the dog. She seemed to have melted away. After an hour, he came home and telephoned the police. They said that they would radio the police cars and that they would be on the lookout for a Great Dane.

The fact was, Tootsie had not gone far. She had galloped through the Sawyers' living room and out of the door, across the porch and across the drive that lay between Patsy's house and Penny's.

Penny's father had opened the front door to put out the milk bottles and had decided to walk around to the back of the house to see if the toolshed door was locked. He left the front door open and Tootsie walked in. She sniffed the rugs in the hall and she sniffed the carpet on the stairs. No one was around, for Peter and Penny and their mother had gone to bed.

Tootsie walked up the stairs. She sniffed around the upstairs hall. The door into Penny's room was open, so Tootsie walked in. She sniffed all around. She sniffed the bed. Penny was sound asleep. Tootsie turned around three times and lay down beside the bed. In a few moments, she, too, was sound asleep.

Penny's daddy came into the house and locked the front door. He put out the light on the hall table and climbed the stairs. He opened his bedroom door, went in, and closed the door behind him.

The house was quiet and dark. Everyone, including Tootsie, slept. But she didn't sleep very long. She woke up, thirsty and hungry. She got up and stretched her great body. Again, she sniffed around the room. Then she went into the hall. Silently, she padded down the carpeted stairs. She went into the dining room and sniffed her way to the kitchen door. She could smell chocolate cake and she liked chocolate cake.

With her great nose, Tootsie pushed the swinging door open. The cats' bowl of water stood under the sink. Tootsie lapped it all up. It wasn't a very big drink but it was better than none. Then she lifted her head and sniffed some more. She followed her nose to the kitchen table and the odor of chocolate cake grew stronger. She put her paws up on the table and looked right at a great big chocolate cake.

Minnie had made the cake but had not had time to ice it, so Penny's mother had iced the cake before she went to bed and left it on the table to set.

Tootsie stuck out her long tongue and took a great lick of chocolate icing. It was good. It was so good that Tootsie went back for more. Only this time, she took a great big bite right out of the cake. She swallowed it down and took another bite. Half of the cake was gone. Two more bites and all that remained on the plate were crumbs and smears of chocolate icing.

Tootsie licked her chops and smacked her lips. She felt much more comfortable inside. She pushed open the swinging door and made her way through the dining room, up the stairs and into Penny's room.

There was a big chair in Penny's room, almost as big as a couch. Tootsie jumped up on the chair, settled down, and went to sleep.

Toward morning, she woke up. Something was biting her. She lifted her hind leg and scratched. Her leg made a noise as it beat against the chair cushion.

Penny stirred in his sleep. He turned over and opened his eyes. A very faint light came through the window so that everything in the room showed dimly. Everything looked a little bit strange and unreal. Through his eyes, half closed with sleep, Penny looked at the big chair. He thought he saw a great big dog in the chair. The dog was asleep.

Penny began to feel scared. It looked like a dog in his chair but he didn't have a dog and he had never seen such a big dog before. He guessed he would go tell Daddy.

Very quietly, Penny crawled out of his bed. In his bare feet, he pattered over to the room where his mother and daddy slept. He opened the door and in the dim light, reached the side of his daddy's bed.

"Daddy!" he whispered. "Daddy!" Daddy grunted.

"Daddy!" whispered Penny, gently shaking Daddy's shoulder.

Daddy opened one eye. "What's the matter?" he whispered.

"There's a great big dog in my chair," said Penny.

"What's 'at?" said Daddy.

"I said, there's a great big dog in my room. It's the biggest dog I've ever seen. It's in my chair."

"You've been dreaming," said Daddy.

"No, I haven't, Daddy," said Penny. "There is a dog there. You come and look."

"There couldn't be a dog there, Penny," said Daddy. "We don't have a dog. Come on, get into my bed and go to sleep again. It's awfully early."

Penny liked nothing better than to get into bed with Daddy, so he climbed in. He put his head on his daddy's chest and felt the comfort of his daddy's big arms around him.

"You just had a dream," said Daddy.

"Well, I thought it was a real dog," said Penny, and he dozed off to sleep.

About an hour later, Tootsie woke up. The chocolate cake had made her thirsty. She couldn't stand it. She wanted a drink. She lifted her head and gave a terrific yelp. Daddy, Mother, Peter, and Penny all woke up with a start.

"What was that!" cried Mother.

Daddy was already out of the door, followed by Penny. Peter met them as he ran out of his room. "What's the matter?" he cried.

Daddy led the way to Penny's room. There, in the clear morning light, was Tootsie, barking her head off. When she saw them, she wagged her great tail and let out a powerful "Woof!"

"Great snakes!" cried Daddy.

"I told you there was a dog, Daddy," said Penny. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Where did he come from?" said Mother, looking in the door.

Tootsie began barking again.

"Oh, be quiet!" said Daddy. "You'll wake the neighborhood."

"Maybe he wants a drink," said Peter.

Daddy went into the bathroom and turned on the water in the washstand. As soon as Tootsie heard the water running, she came into the bathroom. Placing her paws on the edge of the basin, she drank and drank.

In the midst of the drinking, the front doorbell rang.

"Who can that be, at this time of the morning!" said Mother.

Daddy ran and put on his bathrobe. Then he went down to the front door. When he opened it, there stood Mr. Sawyer.

"Did I hear our dog barking?" he said.

"Well, you heard a dog all right," said Penny's daddy. "Is your dog a Great Dane?"

"She is, I regret to say," said Mr. Sawyer, stepping into the hall. "How did she get in here?"

"Hanged if I know!" said Penny's daddy. "She evidently spent the night in Penny's room."

Then he called upstairs, "Bring her down, Penny. She's Patsy's dog."

Penny brought the big dog down, while Peter and Mother hung over the banister asking questions.

"This isn't Tootsie, is it?" said Peter.

"That's Tootsie," said Mr. Sawyer, and everyone laughed.

Not long after Mr. Sawyer and Tootsie departed, Minnie arrived. She had spent the night in town. She walked into the kitchen through the back door. When she saw the empty cake plate, her jaw dropped.

"Goodness!" she cried. "Who ate all that chocolate cake?"

Having spent her first night in Penny's chair, Tootsie seemed to think that Penny's chair was her bed. So the second night, Tootsie came and scratched on the front door of Penny's house. Penny let her in and Tootsie ran right upstairs and jumped on the big chair.

In a few moments, Patsy came after her. "Tootsie! This isn't your bed and this isn't where you live. Come home right away," said Patsy.

Patsy took hold of her collar. "Come home," she said.

Tootsie wouldn't budge, so Peter and Penny got behind Tootsie and began pushing her. It was like trying to move a rock, but finally Tootsie decided that she might as well go. She went so suddenly that Patsy sat down on the floor with a thud as Tootsie leaped over her. Peter and Penny, who were shoving from behind, fell on their faces on the chair.

Finally, Patsy got Tootsie home but she just scratched on the doors to go out again. At last, Patsy got her into her bedroom.

"You're my dog," she said, very severely, "and you must sleep in my house."

Tootsie rolled her eyes and lay down on the floor, while Patsy undressed.

In a few moments, her mother came in.

"Tootsie must learn that this is where she lives," said Patsy, "and that she must sleep where she lives."

"Yes," said Mother, "but I will be glad when Daddy builds a house for her outside. She is much too big to sleep indoors."

After Patsy was tucked into bed, Tootsie began to walk round and round the room. Patsy sat up. She patted the bed and said, "Come on, Tootsie, you can sleep in my bed."

This seemed to please Tootsie. She gave a leap and landed, with a terrific thud, on the bed. The bed shook violently. Then
Crash!,
and Patsy's bed collapsed. The spring and the mattress dropped to the floor and Patsy and Tootsie lay in a heap.

Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer heard the crash and came running to Patsy's room.

"What happened?" cried Mrs. Sawyer.

"Tootsie broke the bed," said Patsy, trying to untangle herself.

Her daddy helped her up. "My goodness!" he said. "That dog will break the house if we keep her inside much longer. I'll have to start building a kennel for her right away."