Just Grace Walks the Dog
Page 6
For the second night in a row I was super tired. Maybe all this thinking about real dogs was more work than just thinking about Chip-Up. Poor Chip-Up—he didn't even get to go outside today. I was hoping Dad wouldn't notice that part.
JOHN'S HOUSE
John's house was right across the street from the park just like he said it was. Before we got there Dad told us that we had to be serious about our new job and that meant no fooling around. We all said yes, we knew that already, but I was still thinking that Bernie would probably like it better if there was at least a little bit of fooling around.
When we got there Dad and John did a lot of talking. At first it was sort of interesting stuff, but then it got really boring once Dad found out that John was a guy who knows a lot about trees and plants. Dad had all sorts of questions about how to fix up our yard, which I think looks perfectly fine just the way it is.
I was happy when John had the suggestion of us taking Bernie for a practice walk in the park while he and Dad watched from his front porch. Bernie is a good dog to practice on because he doesn't pull on his leash or want to chase squirrels or skateboard wheels. I was surprised, but I was liking Bernie a lot more than I thought I would.
Before I knew him, I would never have put his kind of dog, with little stubby legs, on my list of dogs I liked. But after spending time with him I could tell that if I had a dog like Bernie, I would love him very much. The most fun part was holding the leash, but I was good about it and let Max and Mimi have turns too. Sammy didn't want a turn at all.
WHO IS GOING TO DO IT
Everything was going perfectly, and then all of a sudden Bernie pooped. Mimi said there were poopy bags on the leash holder, so that was lucky, but someone still had to pick it up. I didn't want to do it because I didn't have my rubber gloves with me. Mimi was holding the leash so she said she couldn't do it. Max said it was too stinky and he might throw up if he got too close, so he couldn't do it. None of us wanted to do it, and the worst thing was that Dad and John were watching us. If we didn't pick it up they would for sure take our dog walking job instantly and completely away from us.
Then Sammy said, "Boy, you are such a bunch of babies. I'll do it." And he pulled out the poopy bag and walked over and picked it up. It was like he was our surprise hero. Mimi even said a little "Yeah!"
WE DID IT
When we got back from the walk, Dad and John were still forever talking about trees. They said that we had done a great job, and this meant that we could keep our dog walking job, which was really good news. I couldn't tell if they knew that none of us wanted to pick up the poop. Hopefully they were too busy talking about trees to notice. Sammy had turned out to be a super-big helper on the dog team, even when he didn't like dogs!
John showed us where he hid his front door key so we could get into the house on Monday to pick up Bernie. And Dad made us all promise that we would not go poking through John's things, which we wouldn't have done anyway because we know it's not nice to be nosy like that. I almost couldn't wait for Monday to come.
On the way home Dad told us that John was a landscape architect. A regular architect is a person who draws designs so that people can make houses. A landscape architect draws where the grass and trees and rocks and bushes go. Dad said it was a very interesting job to have, but it didn't seem very exciting to me.
When we got back to my house we all sat together on the front lawn. Dad went inside but then he came back with a box of cookies. Max said, "Your dad is the greatest," which is mostly true, but he was not the greatest because of the cookies, because the cookies were not even from him.
There was a note on top of the box that said, "For Grace. Thank you, A. Hurley." Nobody saw the note but me, which was good because I didn't want to do a bunch of explaining about why Mr. Hurley was giving me a box of very delicious cookies to eat. Sometimes a person just gets tired of explaining stuff.
WE ARE TRULY HAPPY
Max was super excited about our new job. He said when we had finished working for John we could make posters, and then we could do the dog walking job for other people too. It was so amazing to think that we were doing this great new thing. Even Sammy was excited.
I looked across the street to see if I could see Mr. Hurley. I kind of wanted him to see how much we were all liking his extra-delicious cookies. He wasn't there, but someone else was watching us, and I was 100 percent completely surprised that it was Grace L. She was sitting on the front steps of Mrs. Witkins's house, which is not a place I would ever think I would see her. Mimi saw me looking across the street, so she did too. Pretty soon we were all staring at Grace L., who was staring right back at us. I started to feel my guilty feeling again. It was the same guilty feeling that I had pretended to ignore when I was sitting with the other Graces and Grace L. was watching us. It was the kind of feeling that could make my tummy say it did not want anymore supertasty cookies.
"I wonder why Grace L. is sitting on Mrs. Witkins's steps," said Max. Then without thinking I said, "Let's find out," and I moved my arm and hand in that come-over-here way.
ONE LAST MYSTERY
Grace seemed a little shy at first but that was not for long. We had so many questions and such delicious cookies that she forgot about the being-shy part pretty fast. The reason we had so many questions is that she knew exactly why Mrs. Witkins had been sneaking into her basement window at night.
Grace L.'s mom is friends with Mrs. Witkins, which is why Grace L. was sitting on the outside steps. Mrs. Witkins was inside, showing Grace's mom a quilt she was making for her daughter Emily's birthday, which was in a couple of weeks. She wanted the quilt to be a surprise, so every night she left the house, saying she had to go to a meeting or shopping, but instead of going anywhere she snuck back inside through the window and worked on the quilt in the basement.
Grace said Mrs. Witkins had a huge bruise on her leg from falling through the window. She told us Mrs. Witkins had said, "It's not so easy to climb in and out of windows when you are old."
Sammy said he was a little disappointed that Mrs. Witkins was not a spy but just a sewing-loving person instead. Still, it was pretty cool that she was working so hard to make a nice surprise for Emily. Grace L. made us promise not to tell anyone about the quilt, because if Emily found out about it before her birthday, Mrs. Witkins would be 100 percent heartbroken. We all promised not to say anything, and I was pretty sure Sammy would keep the secret, because after Grace L. left he asked me what a quilt was.
MY LAST JOURNAL WRITING
I passed Dad on the way to my room and, feeling brave, I said, "Dad, can I have a dog?" He didn't say yes. He didn't say no. He said, "We'll see," which is total proof that his outside shell is breaking. If I weren't so tired I would flashlight Morse code Mimi all about it. Now all we have to do is pick out the kind of dog we want. This is not so easy, and it will probably take a long time, because dogs are a lot like people. There are a lot of M&M's out there. At first their outside seems like one thing, but then when you get to know them, you find out that underneath they are something else.
Mrs. Witkins was like a professional spy tonight. She disappeared into her basement window as quick as a flash, and that was because she had a new mysterious stool under the window to help her. Mr. Hurley dropped more litter around the neighborhood, and Oliver was happy about that. Chip-Up is sleeping on my bed again, and he looks just perfectly happy with his head on my pillow. Even though I have a job with a real dog, I'm going to keep him for a while, at least until I get my real dog, and I can just tell that's going to be happening pretty soon.
I had to write five sentences in the end because sometimes you can't say everything you need to say in just four sentences. I was sure that Miss Lois was not going to mind. She was a teacher and teachers all liked stuff like extra writing. Plus, it was nice to tell her how everything worked out—that way she wouldn't be wondering about it, because everyone likes to know how a story finishes at the end.
Extra Credit Report on D
ogs
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DOGS I WOULD NOT WANT AND WHY
Dear Miss Lois,
If you want to give me some extra marks for doing this extra part for my project then I will not be unhappy about that kind of thing happening.
SPANIEL (CLUMBER)
This kind of dog comes from England, which is a place I would like to visit, mostly because they speak English there and that would be helpful when you are on vacation. I read that these types of dogs drool and snore. This is not something I want to be happening at night when I am sleeping, especially if I let the dog sleep on my bed with me.
BEAGLE
This is another dog from England. It is a very cute dog, but it has a very powerful nose. Once it smells something it likes, it takes off and chases that smell, and even if you call it and call it, your dog will not come back. I do not want a running-away dog!
PLOTT
This dog comes from the United States so you might think that it would be perfect for me, but that would not be true. It is the kind of dog that loves to hunt and chase bears. I hope to never have bears near me, so this is not the kind of dog I am needing.
CHINESE CRESTED DOG
If there was an award for strangest-looking dog, this is totally the dog that would win. It's mostly funny-looking because it doesn't have hair on the main part of its body. It's the kind of dog that you have to dress in clothes or else it will get cold when you go outside. It would probably be a good dog for Valerie because she likes to make outfits.
KOMONDOR
This is a dog that looks like a giant mop. You can't even see its face.
This is the end of my report and most of what I know about dogs that would not be right for me.
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What Grace Will Be Thinking About in Her Next Book