Superstar Watch (2 page)

Henry smiled and took the penny. He ran his finger over Lincoln’s face, then handed it back.

Benny grinned. He put his good luck charm back into his pocket.

Ms. Werner continued,” In just a few minutes, I will go down the line and take a close look at each dog. If your dog has the right look for the commercial, I will give it a bowl of our food to snack on. All other dogs will be sent home.”

“A snack!” Benny exclaimed. “I wish they had a snack for the dog owners, too.” His brother and sisters all smiled. Benny had a bottomless appetite.

The Alden children were now close to the platform where Ms. Werner and the blonde woman stood. They watched as Ms. Werner stepped off the platform. “Lisa,” she said to the blonde woman, “I’m going to get the food and bowls. You stay here and hand out coupons.”

Lisa didn’t look happy about her job. She grumbled as she sat down behind the coupon table.

A few minutes later, the Aldens saw Ms. Werner return with a pushcart. She had a big bag of Wundermutt dog food and a stack of plastic souvenir dog bowls. She started at the head of the line and poured a bowl of food for a very pretty golden retriever.

But the next two dogs in line did not get food. “I’m so sorry. Yours are not the kind of dogs we are looking for today. Lisa will give you some coupons for our dog food on your way out,” Ms. Werner told the owners.

“Yours gets a snack,” Ms. Werner said, and gave food to another dog as she continued down the line.

Benny put his hand in his pocket and rubbed his lucky penny again. “I sure hope Watch gets food instead of getting sent home,” he told Violet.

“Me, too,” Violet agreed. Benny handed her the penny. She rubbed it and handed it back.

“Yippee for Ninja!” Benny said happily when he saw the black Lab get a bowl of food.

But Ninja’s owner didn’t like being stuck in line. “My dog is a star,” he said. “He should have simply been given the role.”

Ms. Werner shook her head. “As I already told you, your dog must try out just like everyone else’s.”

“Hmph,” said Ninja’s owner. Ms. Werner turned away.

Ms. Werner continued down the line. When she finally got to Watch, she took a few extra seconds studying him.

Benny squeezed his penny tight. Jessie crossed her fingers. Violet was so nervous, she closed her eyes. Henry tapped his toe against the floor.

After what seemed like a very long time, Ms. Werner said, “A snack for your terrier.” She poured Watch a big bowl of food.

“Whew!” The Aldens all breathed huge sighs of relief. Watch had made it through the first round of the audition!

Ms. Werner set the bowl down in front of Watch. Jessie noticed the scent of a strong perfume.

“Do you smell flowers?” she asked her brothers and sister as Ms. Werner moved off to check out the next dog.

“Not flowers.” Henry lifted his nose and took a long sniff. “It’s more like lemons.”

“Achoo,” Benny sneezed. “Whatever it is, it’s making me sneezy!”

“I’m trying to remember exactly where I’ve smelled that odor before.” Violet stood quietly thinking for a while. “I know!” she declared at last. “That fragrance isn’t flowers or lemons. It’s citronella.”

“Citron … what?” Benny asked, rubbing his nose and sneezing again.

“Citronella,” Violet said. “It’s a lemony, flowery smelling oil that’s put in candles and sprays. It keeps bugs away.”

“Maybe Ms. Werner is wearing a new citronella perfume—perfect for summer time,” Jessie said with a laugh. “Whatever it is, I like it.” Jessie sniffed and added, “The scent sure does last a long time. I can still smell it even though she’s all the way down near the end of the line now.”

“Hmm,” Violet said, pinching her lips together and tugging at her long brown pigtails.

“What are you thinking?” Henry asked his sister.

“I don’t know yet,” Violet replied. “But something doesn’t feel quite right.”

“I was thinking that too, but not about the citronella.” Jessie said. “I was wondering why a big star like Ninja needs to audition for this commercial. What’s a Hollywood dog doing in our little town of Greenfield?”

“Want to know what I’m wondering?” Benny asked his siblings.

“What?” Henry, Violet, and Jessie asked at once.

Benny pointed at Watch who was sniffing the bowl of dog food in front of him. “Wundermutt food is Watch’s favorite. But he’s not eating it. Why not?” Benny took a step back and looked down the line. “Look,” he told his brother and sisters. “None of the dogs are eating the food.”

Jessie, Henry, and Violet glanced up and down the audition line. “Benny is right,” Jessie said. “Not even one dog in the whole line is eating the food. The bowls are all still full.”

“Strange,” Henry said, rubbing his chin. “Most dogs will eat almost anything … It looks like we’ve stumbled onto a mystery.”

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

Suddenly the Aldens could hear the unmistakable sound of a dog eating. The children looked at each other. The sound was coming from near the end of the line.

“Hold on!” Jessie said. “That dog is eating the food.” Jessie pointed to a black and white speckled sheepdog. A boy about Jessie’s age was standing with the dog as it chomped away at his bowl of food.

“Why is that dog the only one in the whole line eating the food?” Henry wanted to know.

“Maybe the other dogs aren’t hungry,” Violet suggested.

“But Violet, they’re
dogs
,” Benny said. “Grandfather once told me that dogs are always a little hungry.” He patted his tummy and added, “Sometimes, I think
I
might be part dog.”

Henry and Violet laughed.

“Woof,” Jessie teased, patting him on the head.

From where they stood, the Aldens could hear Ms. Werner talking to the boy with the speckled dog.

“What is your name?” Ms. Werner asked.

“Dante Oliver,” the boy replied. “And this is Buffalo.”

Benny giggled and whispered to Violet, “That dog looks nothing like a buffalo.”

“Well, Buffalo sure seems to be a nice dog,” Ms. Werner said kindly to Dante. She put out her hand and Buffalo licked it. Suddenly Buffalo leapt forward. He pulled against his leash and tried to get closer to Ms. Werner.

“Down,” she said firmly, stepping away. “I’m going to put a star next to Buffalo’s name,” Ms. Werner told Dante. “We’re going to keep an eye on your dog.” Then she walked away.

“Oh no,” Benny said to his siblings, “Ms. Werner already likes Buffalo best of all because he ate the Wundermutt food!”

“Don’t worry,” Jessie assured her little brother. “The auditions have barely begun.”

Twenty dogs and their owners had made it through the first round. Ms. Werner and Lisa led them all to a special room in the mall reserved for the Wundermutt Company.

It was a large room. On one side there was an obstacle course, which was a little path with things for a dog to jump over or through—a wooden log, a small bench, a hoop. At the end of the course was a tall slide with thick stairs. On the other side of the room was a small stage with a set made up to look like a kitchen. Finally, at the back of the room, there was a little desk, a table with a coffee pot on it, and a few chairs. It looked like a makeshift office.

“Now we will pick the top three dogs,” Ms. Werner told everyone. “All the dogs will have to do a few tricks—lie down, play dead, roll over, fetch, and bark.”

When it was Watch’s turn to do the tricks, he did everything right! He lay down like a carpet and didn’t move. He played dead very well, and he rolled like a log, over and over until Jessie told him to stop. Watch jumped high to catch a ball in his mouth before returning it to Ms. Werner. And best of all, when Jessie told Watch to speak, he barked, loud and sharp.

“You sure trained him well,” Henry told Jessie. She beamed happily.

Watch rested while the Aldens watched the other dogs. Ms. Werner and Lisa watched the tricks carefully and Lisa wrote notes on her clipboard.

Benny giggled when a big black dog walked across the room on her back legs, an extra trick. “She looks like a bear!” Benny said.

Another dog they watched could easily fetch the ball, but wouldn’t give it back to Ms. Werner. After a few tries, Ms. Werner gave up and walked off.

Buffalo went next. He played dead pretty well, but didn’t stay dead very long. He fetched a ball, but didn’t catch it in the air. Instead, he waited until it stopped rolling, slowly got the ball, and very slowly brought it back.

“I think that Buffalo is part dog and part turtle,” Benny said.

Ms. Werner whispered to Lisa, who wrote on her clipboard. Buffalo’s turn was over.

“Oh look! There’s Lucky,” Violet said, recognizing the next dog. Lucky’s owner, Samantha Fine, was in Violet’s class at school. Lucky did very well at all the tricks.

“Lucky’s good,” Henry said, “but I think Watch is just as good.”

Finally all the dogs had finished their tricks. Lisa tucked the clipboard under her arm and followed Ms. Werner out of the room.

“Ninja was really good, huh?” Benny said while they waited. “Did you see him catch that ball Ms. Werner threw? That was way better than a regular fetch! I knew Ninja could jump super high. He does it on TV all the time.” Benny loved seeing his hero do tricks.

“I wonder who they’ll choose for the next round,” Henry said.

The dog owners grew suddenly quiet as Ms. Werner and Lisa returned. There was a man with them. He was heavyset and bald.

Henry heard Ms. Werner say, “I still think it’s crazy that company employees can’t enter their dogs in the audition.”

“Rules are rules,” the man said firmly “I don’t want to discuss it again.”

Ms. Werner pinched her lips together. Then she introduced the man to everyone in the room. “This is the owner of the Wundermutt Company, Mr. Lillipool,” she said. “The search for a new Wundermutt star was his idea.”

“And a fine idea it was,” Mr. Lillipool said with a wide grin. He walked around, petting dogs and greeting everyone.

“Hello, children,” Mr. Lillipool said to the Aldens. “Who is this?” he asked, bending low to scratch Watch beneath his collar. Watch immediately dropped to the floor and rolled on his back, wanting his belly to be scratched, too.

Mr. Lillipool laughed. His deep chuckle filled the room. “What a wonderful dog!” he exclaimed. He wished the Aldens good luck and then went off to look at the other dogs. They watched the way Mr. Lillipool petted each dog. “He sure loves dogs,” Henry said.

When Mr. Lillipool was finished, Ms. Werner walked him to the door. They stood near the entrance whispering for a moment or two. At last Mr. Lillipool left and Ms. Werner turned to the group.

She clapped her hands and announced: “Our final three dogs are …”

Benny and Henry held their breath.

“Ninja,” Ms. Werner said.

Ninja’s owner raised his eyebrows. “Well, that’s no surprise!” he said.

Jessie and Violet held their breath, too, as they waited to hear the next name.

“Watch,” Ms. Werner said. The Aldens all exhaled at the same time.

“Whew!” Jessie said. She wanted to cheer, but there was one more name to be called.

“And our last finalist is,” Ms. Werner paused. Finally she called out: “Buffalo.”

“Buffalo?”
Henry wondered.

Dante, Buffalo’s owner, nodded at Ms. Werner. He didn’t cheer or shout. Henry noticed that Dante didn’t even smile. “I don’t think Dante’s very excited that Buffalo was picked,” Henry said to Jessie. “I wonder why.”

“It’s like he knew Buffalo would make it all along,” Jessie said.

Henry was about to say something more, but Ms. Werner interrupted.

“Thank you to everyone who tried out today. Please help yourselves to some Wundermutt dog food coupons on your way out,” Ms. Werner told the crowd. She and Lisa stood near the door, saying good-bye to the other dog owners and handing out coupons.

“I don’t understand how Buffalo got picked. He did all the tricks, but lots of dogs did better,” Jessie said.

Violet went over to her friend Samantha and gave her a hug. “Your dog was really good,” she told her.

“We did our best,” Samantha replied, petting Lucky’s head. “But if you ask me, Watch should get the commercial. He was amazing.” Samantha glanced over at Dante and Buffalo. “Buffalo didn’t do very well, did he?” she asked. “I don’t understand why he gets to stay.”

The Aldens waved good-bye to Samantha and Lucky and watched them leave.

Then Benny said, “I have two questions about Buffalo.”

“What are they, Benny?” Henry asked.

“Number one,” Benny held up one finger. “Why is he the only dog who ate the food? And number two,” Benny held up a second finger. “Why does Buffalo get to stay when he didn’t do very well in the audition? Do you think Ms. Werner really likes him best already?” Benny stopped and looked at his fingers. “That was actually three questions.” He shrugged.

Jessie smiled. “Three important questions.”

“You’re right, Benny,” Henry said. “The Wundermutt audition mystery is getting even more mysterious.”

It was time for a short break.

The Aldens decided to get to know the other dog owners a little better. They went to talk to Dante first.