Ribsy became frantic. He felt as if the whole world had gone off and left him. He barked and barked and barked. There must be somebody someplace who would come and get him off this thing.
And there was somebody. Somebody way down below on the next street. “Ribsy!” It was Henry Huggins’ voice coming from the new station wagon, which was moving along with the rest of the traffic. “Ribsy!” Henry had his head out of the window and was pointing up at the fire escape.
At the sound of the voice he loved Ribsy went wild. He barked until he was hoarse. In his excitement his hind feet slipped through the fire escape. Terrified lest he fall through, he scrambled frantically to regain his footing on the metal bars. When his feet were planted safely once more, there was no sign of Henry anyplace. This terrified Ribsy even more. Henry had gone off and left him again. He barked so hoarsely and so wildly that even the body-and-fender men heard him.
One of them came to the back door of the shop and looked up at the dog on the fire escape. “Well, I’ll be doggoned,” he said, pushing his greasy cap back on his head. “How did you get up there?”
Ribsy whimpered anxiously. He felt better, just having someone speak to him.
“Hey, Bert,” the body-and-fender man called to someone in his shop. “There’s a dog on the fire escape.”
“No kidding?” Bert appeared and looked up at Ribsy. “Well, what do you know? How do you suppose he got up there?”
Ribsy tried to tell the men that he had to get down, that he had to run down the street and find Henry Huggins before he got so far away he could never find him again.
“What do you think we should do?” asked the body-and-fender man.
Bert shrugged. “Probably some kid put him there. Most likely it was Larry. He’ll probably get him down again.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” The two men knew Larry, who often came into the shop to admire the wrecked cars.
Suddenly Ribsy saw Henry Huggins appear from around the side of the building. “Ribsy!” the boy shouted. “I’ve found you!”
This time Ribsy barked for joy at the sight of the boy down below.
“Funny place to lose a dog,” remarked the body-and-fender man.
“I didn’t lose him there,” explained Henry, his eyes on his dog. “I lost him a month ago at the shopping center.”
“Then what’s he doing up there?” the man asked.
“Search me,” said Henry. All that really mattered was that he had found his dog at last. “All I know is I was talking to him on the telephone, and he started running, and nobody saw him after that.”
The two men looked at each other, shook their heads, and turned to go back into the shop. One of them said something that sounded like, “Poor kid. Too much TV.”
The other said, “Yeah. My boy watches those talking-animal programs, too, but he’s too smart to believe them.”
Next Ribsy saw Henry’s mother and father come around the corner of the apartment house. “I finally found a parking space,” remarked Mr. Huggins, and looked up at Ribsy. “Hello there, fellow.”
Ribsy made eager, anxious noises. Surely his family would not go off and leave him here.
“See, Dad,” said Henry. “I told you if we just drove around in this neighborhood we were sure to find him. I told you he couldn’t be too far from that Joe’s house.”
“You were right, Henry,” said his mother. “And now we don’t have to argue with that boy Joe about who owns him. How on earth do you suppose he got up there?”
Ribsy whimpered again, to remind Henry he would like to get off this thing.
“What worries me is how we are going to get him down,” said Henry.
By this time Larry Biggerstaff arrived. He had been sitting on the front steps worrying about how he was going to get rid of the dog, when he had noticed three people hurry down the side of his apartment building, and had overheard the words dog and fire escape.
“That’s easy,” Mr. Huggins was saying. “I’ll just go ring the bell and tell the manager we want our dog back.”
“Please don’t do that,” begged Larry, bursting into the conversation. “The dog isn’t supposed to be there, and I’ll catch it if the manager finds out about him. She might even evict me and my mother, like she always says she’s going to.”
Ribsy barked to remind the people below that he was still up here.
“Sh-h-h,” hissed Larry.
“I don’t get it,” said Henry. “What’s he doing up there?”
“Well, I was playing out in front with this old tennis ball I have.” From the way Larry spoke of the tennis ball it was easy to tell he did not think much of it. “This dog came along and wanted to chase it. And, well, I got to thinking he might be hungry, and so I started to take him inside, and the manager started chasing me, and I shoved him out on the fire escape to hide him. And, well, I have been sitting out on the front steps trying to figure out how I was going to get rid of him without the manager seeing me.”
“I see,” said Mr. Huggins.
“Well, you just get him down,” said Henry. “Fast.”
“Now, Henry,” said his mother.
“I didn’t put him out on the third floor,” said Larry, as if this helped the situation. “I put him out on the second, and he climbed up to the third.”
Ribsy was so eager to get down he put a paw on the ladderlike steps. He could not do it. They were too steep. He was afraid.
“We seem to have a problem,” said Mr. Huggins, looking up at the dog on the fire escape.
“Maybe you could boost me up to that little ladder that sticks down from the bottom part, and then I could climb up and carry him down,” offered Larry, who was glad someone had arrived to help him with his problem.
“Oh, no,” said Mrs. Huggins hastily. “We couldn’t let you climb down those steep steps with a dog. You might slip.”
Ribsy could not be patient any longer. He put his paw on the top step again.
“Maybe we could call the fire department and they could bring a net and he could jump,” suggested Henry.
“Don’t do that! Please don’t do that.” Larry objected strenuously. “The manager really gets excited when she sees a fire engine in front of the building.”
Ribsy was beginning to think the people below had forgotten all about him. He put a second paw on the steps. He wanted so much to get down. He wanted to feel Henry petting him again and to lick his face. Even though he was afraid, he was going to try.
“This is ridiculous,” said Mr. Huggins. “I’ll just go in the back door and up the back stairs and bring him in through the window.”
“And have someone mistake you for a burglar?” asked Mrs. Huggins. “Oh, no!”
“You go,” Henry said to Larry. “You got him up there.”
Larry looked frightened. “The manager might catch me.”
“Then I’ll go,” said Henry.
Ribsy reached for the second step and at the same time brought his hind feet down to the top step.
“No, you won’t,” said Henry’s mother. “You can’t go roaming around in a strange building.”
“We can’t just leave him—” Henry began.
Ribsy had started down the steep steps. It was too late to turn back even if he wanted to, and he did not want to. He found himself coming down the steps faster than he expected. The metal was slippery to his paws. Halfway down he slipped and tumbled, yelping, to the bottom, and there he was with his feet dangling in space again.
“Hey, look!” Henry pointed unnecessarily. Everyone was looking at Ribsy. “He got down by himself! That proves he wants to come home to us.”
Ribsy picked himself up and scrambled around trying to find places to set his feet.
“Did you hurt yourself, Ribsy?” Henry asked.
Ribsy managed to set his feet on the slats of the fire escape. “Wuf!” he said, and wagged his tail to show that he was still all right.
“Smart dog, Ribsy!” said Henry. “Now how do we get h
im down from there?”
The two men from the body-and-fender shop came out once more to see what all the commotion was about. “I hear that dog talks on the telephone,” remarked Bert.
“He did once,” said Mr. Huggins absentmindedly. He was wondering how they were going to get Ribsy down to the ground.
The two men exchanged a glance. “There’s a ladder in the shop that should reach almost to the bottom of the fire escape,” one of them said. “I’ll get it.” He returned in a moment with a paint-spattered stepladder, which he set up under the fire escape. It almost reached the metal ladder that extended down from the fire escape.
“I’ll go, Dad,” said Henry, eager to get his hands on his dog again.
“You’d better let me go,” said his father, mounting the stepladder.
With help so near, Ribsy barked joyfully.
“Sh-h-h!” hissed Larry.
Mr. Huggins climbed the stepladder and then the short ladder that was part of the fire escape. He crawled through the opening in the lower level of the fire escape and picked up Ribsy. “Hold still, boy,” he said, as Ribsy gratefully tried to lick his face.
“You’ll fall,” worried Mrs. Huggins. “You can’t possibly climb down the fire-escape ladder and the stepladder with a dog.”
“Don’t drop him,” begged Henry.
“I’m afraid that’s what I will have to do,” said Mr. Huggins.
“Go ahead,” said one of the body-and-fender men. “We’ll catch him.”
Ribsy felt himself being lifted over the railing of the fire escape, and then he experienced a terrible moment of panic as he fell through the air. Suddenly everything was all right. Four strong hands caught him. Ribsy wriggled out of the grasp of the body-and-fender men and sprang into Henry’s arms, where he licked Henry’s face for joy.
“Ribsy!” said Henry. “Ribsy, old boy!” He put the dog down at last, and Ribsy was so happy he waggled all over. Henry sank to his knees and hugged his dog.
“Whew! That’s a relief,” said Larry.
Mr. Huggins reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet. “I think part of the reward money should be yours,” he said to Larry.
“What for?” Larry looked suspiciously at Henry’s father as if he thought he might be joking. “I didn’t do nothing.”
“You put him up where we could see him,” said Mr. Huggins, and held out three one-dollar bills. “If you hadn’t put him up on the fire escape, we could have driven around all day without seeing him.” Larry looked doubtfully at the bills.
“Sure,” said Henry. “You put him up there in plain sight.”
Larry took the three bills. “Thanks. I can buy a good ball with this.” He grinned at Mr. Huggins and at Henry. Then he patted Ribsy.
Ribsy was so happy he wriggled all over for Larry, too.
“And now I think we’d better go home before Larry’s manager catches us,” said Mr. Huggins, as the men took down the ladder and carried it into the body-and-fender shop.
“I wonder if that dog knows how to dial the telephone, too,” remarked Bert.
“If he does he ought to be on TV,” answered the other man.
Henry, his parents, and Larry walked along the side of the apartment house with Ribsy bounding along beside them. In front of the building they ran right into Mrs. Kreech, who was sweeping the front steps.
“I knew you had a dog, Larry Biggerstaff,” she said triumphantly. “Wait till I talk to your mother about this!”
“There must be some mistake,” said Mr. Huggins politely. “This is our dog. He never belonged to Larry.”
“But—” began Mrs. Kreech.
“No,” said Mr. Huggins firmly. “The dog is ours, and has been for several years. We just—misplaced him for a while.”
Mrs. Kreech did not know what to say, so she went back to sweeping the steps.
Henry opened the door of the station wagon, which still smelled like a new car. “Hop in,” he said to Ribsy.
Ribsy accepted the invitation. He jumped in and settled himself on the seat. This time he knew he was welcome. Henry climbed in beside him. He picked up the leather collar, which was lying on the seat, and fastened it around Ribsy’s neck. Ribsy thumped his tail on the upholstery.
Mrs. Huggins smiled at Ribsy and did not say a word. Ribsy could ride in the new station wagon all he wanted.
About the Author
BEVERLY CLEARY is one of America’s most popular authors. Born in McMinnville, Oregon, she lived on a farm in Yamhill until she was six and then moved to Portland. After college, as the children’s librarian in Yakima, Washington, she was challenged to find stories for non-readers. She wrote her first book, HENRY HUGGINS, in response to a boy’s question, “Where are the books about kids like us?”
Mrs. Cleary’s books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented in recognition of her lasting contribution to children’s literature. Her DEAR MR. HENSHAW was awarded the 1984 John Newbery Medal, and both RAMONA QUIMBY, AGE 8 and RAMONA AND HER FATHER have been named Newbery Honor Books. In addition, her books have won more than thirty-five statewide awards based on the votes of her young readers. Her characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby, as well as Ribsy, Socks, and Ralph S. Mouse, have delighted children for generations. Mrs. Cleary lives in coastal California.
Visit Henry Huggins and all of his friends in The World of Beverly Cleary at www.beverlycleary.com.
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Enjoy all of
Beverly Cleary’s books
FEATURING RAMONA QUIMBY:
Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest
Ramona the Brave
Ramona and Her Father
Ramona and Her Mother
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona Forever
Ramona’s World
FEATURING HENRY HUGGINS:
Henry Huggins
Henry and Beezus
Henry and Ribsy
Henry and the Paper Route
Henry and the Clubhouse
Ribsy
FEATURING RALPH MOUSE:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Runaway Ralph
Ralph S. Mouse
MORE GREAT FICTION BY BEVERLY CLEARY:
Ellen Tebbits
Otis Spofford
Fifteen
The Luckiest Girl
Jean and Johnny
Emily’s Runaway Imagination
Sister of the Bride
Mitch and Amy
Socks
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Muggie Maggie
Strider
Two Times the Fun
AND DON'T MISS BEVERLY CLEARY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHIES:
A Girl from Yamhill
My Own Two Feet
Credits
Jacket art by Tracy Dockray
Jacket design by Amy Ryan
Copyright
RIBSY. Copyright © 1964, renewed 1992 by Beverly Cleary. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition FEBRUARY 2008 ISBN: 9780061972386
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