“Tommy and B-Boy are here!” Sandy yelled. “Wait until I tell Tommy about the robber.”
“Hi, Tommy!” Olivia’s face lit up as if someone had turned a spotlight on her.
The red-haired boy jumped off his bike. He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of gummy worms. “Open your mouth and I’ll give you one,” he told Olivia.
Olivia giggled. She put her head back and opened her mouth like a baby bird. Tommy dropped in a big, fat, orange gummy worm.
“Hey! I want one too.”
“Sure, Sandy. Here, catch!” Tommy flipped a yellow worm over to his friend. Then he popped a green one in his own mouth. They all chewed while Sandy told him about the robber that Coco had driven away, risking her own life, and getting a deep cut on her paw.
“She lost a lot of blood,” Sandy explained. “She has to take it easy for a whole week. She has to wear this big stupid collar that looks like a funnel so she can’t bite at the stitches. But she won’t limp or anything once it heals. That’s what the vet said.”
“That’s great,” Tommy said.
“But you know what?” Sandy asked.
“What?” Olivia and Tommy said together.
“Dad and I never heard Coco barking. We heard another dog howling. That’s what woke us up. It wasn’t Coco. It’s a mystery, that’s what Dad says, anyway.”
“How weird,” Olivia said, as Tommy stretched out another gummy worm in her direction but kept it dangling right out of her reach.
“Stop being a tease, Tommy,” she laughed, not sounding a bit mad.
“Yeah, it’s strange, and what’s even stranger…” Sandy hesitated.
“What?” Olivia and Tommy again said at the same time.
“I thought at first it was—no, it couldn’t be, but I thought for a minute—”
“What!” the two other children yelled.
“I thought the other dog sounded just like Paco. But that’s impossible.”
“Paco?” Olivia said. “Paco was asleep on the recliner all night. It couldn’t have been him.”
“I know. It seemed crazy to me too. But still—some dog was howling and woke us up. The vet said that saved Coco’s life. We got her to the vet just in time.”
“No! Was it that bad?” Olivia shivered all of a sudden.
Sandy nodded, his face solemn.
Paco whimpered again, his head hanging down.
“Howling. Here. Last night,” B-Boy put his mouth close to Paco’s ear and whispered. “It was you, was it?”
Paco nodded. “Sí, it was all my fault.”
“You cut Coco?”
“Of course I didn’t cut Coco,” Paco snapped. B-Boy was the most annoying Jack Russell terrier in the whole world.
“So what happened?” Suddenly B-Boy couldn’t stay still another second. He began running up and down the steps, up and down the steps, making Paco dizzy just watching him.
“If you must know, we went looking for the werewolf, but the werewolf found us first. He chased us. We ran through a junkyard, and Coco cut her foot.”
“You’re joking!” B-Boy skidded to a stop. His eyes turned into saucers. “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”
“Ay, caramba! Do I sound like I’m kidding! I nearly got my best friend killed. All because I took your stupid advice.” Paco stood up, his tail stiff. Maybe he’d feel better if he got in a fight with B-Boy.
“Don’t blame me!” B-Boy barked.
“I will too blame you!” Paco barked back.
B-Boy rushed behind Paco, darted in, and nipped the tip of Paco’s tail.
Paco whirled around and growled in B-Boy’s direction, showing his small white teeth.
“Half-pint! You can’t get me!” B-Boy barked.
Enraged, Paco leaped at B-Boy and tried to bite his leg.
“Hey! Stop!” Tommy yelled. Paco backed away from B-Boy, but he kept growling. He was so mad.
“Livy, what’s wrong with Paco?”
“Paco! What are you doing? What’s wrong with you!” Olivia’s voice scolded. She scooped up the little dog into her arms. “I told you he wasn’t himself. Maybe I should take him home.”
“No, don’t go! I think B-Boy started it. He jumped on Paco or something,” Sandy said. “They’ll be okay. Let’s go in and see Coco. I know she must feel left out if she heard our voices out here.”
Leaving the backyard and the bright sunshine of the afternoon, they all went inside.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me.” Coco lay in her dog bed, her brown head at the bottom of what looked like a huge white funnel that circled her neck. Curtains covered the windows, making the room dim. Darkness lingered in the corners.
“Hey, hey, Coco.” B-Boy ran over and sniffed her up and down. “Nice collar. You look like a flower. A daisy.”
Paco stayed back, his head drooping. “I’m so sorry, Coco,” he sniffed.
“Come over here, Paco.” Coco’s voice was soft. She looked terribly weary, and her nose was pale.
Paco slowly walked closer. He couldn’t meet her eyes.
“Look at me.”
He raised his head.
“See. I’m OK. You saved my life. I’m going to be fine.”
Paco looked down again, blinking away tears. “I feel terrible,” he whimpered.
“Listen to me, Paco!” Coco’s voice sounded stronger than she looked. “We had a great adventure. And you know what? My family calls me their hero. They think I fought off a robber with a knife! I didn’t get in a bit of trouble for taking the hot dogs or losing my backpack. Instead, I’m being pampered. Sandy even made me this medal.”
She lifted her head so Paco could see a blue ribbon with a silver foil medal hanging around her neck underneath the big white funnel. Written on the medal were the words World’s Greatest Dog.
Coco’s voice turned gentle. “See, everything turned out great.”
Paco looked up, light coming back into his eyes. “It did? You’re not mad at me?”
“I’m not mad at you. Not even a little bit. Come on over here. You look worn out. I’m a little tired. Let’s take a nap.”
Paco squeezed into Coco’s dog bed. He curled up next to her. He closed his eyes and smiled. He felt comforted by her presence. All was right in his world.
“Hey hey Coco! What about me?” B-Boy was running around the dog bed, first circling in one direction, then stopping and running back.
“You can climb in too,” Coco said.
B-Boy grinned. He jumped into the dog bed and pushed his way into a spot next to Paco. He plopped down and fidgeted, trying to get comfortable.
Paco frowned. Nothing is ever perfect, he thought and wriggled away from B-Boy. Then, feeling happier, he fell into a deep sleep and didn’t dream.
But Coco didn’t dare to sleep. She kept a close watch over her two little friends. Even though she had told Paco that everything had turned out great, it really hadn’t. She knew the werewolf had followed them to town the night before, and she didn’t know why. Or what he planned to do.
All afternoon the children sat around the kitchen table playing Uno. They tried to be very quiet so they didn’t disturb Coco. They popped popcorn in the microwave. They made nachos. The hours passed. Paco and B-Boy slept. Coco pretended to doze.
Then the sound of a persistent doorbell broke the quiet.
Sandy threw down his cards. “It’s Victoria! She’s supposed to come over.”
The noise jarred B-Boy awake. He barked wildly. “The door! The bell! The door! The bell! Get them!” He jumped out of bed and dashed toward the front hall.
Paco lifted his head from his cozy spot in Coco’s doggy bed. He raised an eyebrow. Victoria? Maybe Natasha is here too, he thought.
Much to his surprise, his heart didn’t race. He didn’t feel an ounce of excitement a
bout seeing the sleek, elegant Afghan hound again. He still thought she was beautiful, but he didn’t want to be her boyfriend anymore.
Why bother getting up to see her? Paco heaved a huge sigh. He wasn’t ever going to turn into a werewolf now, and Natasha would never love a tiny Chihuahua. No importa. I don’t want to be a big bad werewolf after all. I don’t want anything to do with werewolves, muchas gracias! He shook his head sadly, and his dog tags jingled. He decided he might as well go back to sleep.
But out in the hall, something was happening that changed Paco’s mind.
A wave of unhappiness washed over Olivia when the doorbell rang, and Sandy announced that it was Victoria. She enjoyed playing cards with the boys. Although Olivia liked Victoria, things changed when she joined the group. The two boys acted dumb to get Victoria’s attention. They seemed to forget Olivia existed.
It just wasn’t as much fun when Victoria was there.
So when Sandy went to answer the door, Olivia decided to get Paco and go home. It was nearly dinnertime anyway.
Then she heard Sandy ask, “What’s the matter?” and the sound of Victoria crying. Forgetting she wanted to leave, Olivia ran toward the front door. Tommy trotted along right behind her.
Back in the dimly lit bedroom, Paco’s ears perked up at the sounds of crying and running feet.
Coco let out an anguished yip. “Something’s very wrong!” she cried. Right away, her thoughts focused on the werewolf. He did something terrible. She just knew it!
Coco tried to stand, but she couldn’t and sat back down. “Find out what’s going on, Paco, please.”
Paco scampered into the hall just in time to hear Victoria wail, “Natasha is missing!”
Paco’s heart lurched. Natasha? Missing?
All the children started talking at once. “What happened? What do you mean?”
“She’s gone,” Victoria gulped back her sobs. “We can’t find her. My brother Michael took her along this morning when he ran in the park. He always does. He said that all of a sudden, Natasha became very excited. She started barking as if she saw something. The fur on her back stood up. She growled and looked toward some trees. Michael thought he saw the shape of something big.
“He went to grab her collar and she took off. She raced into the woods. Michael heard terrible barking and growling. He followed her. But when he got to the woods, she was gone.
“And she never came back.” Victoria began sobbing again.
“Did you look for her?” Tommy asked.
Victoria nodded. “Mumsy, Poppy, and I rode around in the car. We asked everybody!”
“Did anyone see her?” Olivia tried to keep her voice calm. She didn’t want to sound upset, but she felt very shaken. She saw the streaks of tears on Victoria’s rosy cheeks. The pretty girl’s nose turned red as a cherry and started to run. Olivia handed her a tissue, then put a comforting arm around Victoria’s shoulders.
Victoria blew her nose and said, “We went to the police station. An officer said somebody in a corner house on Edgemount Street had reported two dogs running loose and heading for the interstate. One of them sounded like Natasha, but the other one—the other one was, he was—”
“What?” Tommy asked at the same time Sandy did.
Victoria shrugged. “Uh, not really a dog. The policeman said it might have been a wolf, or a coyote. He called animal control. He thought the big animal could be dangerous.”
Paco froze. He looked at B-Boy. B-Boy looked at Paco.
“It’s the werewolf,” Paco whispered. “He must have followed us into town.”
“Noooo!” B-Boy’s brown button eyes looked wild.
Paco nodded. “I think so, yes.”
“Then what happened?” Olivia asked Victoria.
“The policeman told us to go home. He’ll call us if they find Natasha. Animal control promised to send a team with a capture van out tomorrow. Poppy said we shouldn’t search anymore, to let animal control do it. But I’m so scared—maybe the big animal will hurt her by then. Maybe she’ll never come back!”
“That’s true! We can’t wait. She might run too far. Or she might get hurt. We have to look for her tonight,” Tommy decided.
“We do?” Olivia’s voice sounded shaky.
“Right!” yelled Sandy. “We can ride our bikes and cover a lot of ground.”
“Great idea!” Tommy high-fived him.
“But I don’t have my bike here,” Olivia protested.
“Neither do I,” sniffed Victoria who had stopped crying.
“We’ll have to meet up later, that’s all. But—”
“But what?” Olivia said.
“We better not tell our parents.” Tommy’s face looked sly.
“Nope. They’d never let us go,” Sandy agreed.
B-Boy was leaping up and down, barking wildly. He didn’t like this. “Paco, do something! Stop them!” he cried.
Paco thought fast. He raced to the doggy door and ran to Tommy’s bike. He took a deep breath and attacked the front tire, biting it as hard as he could with his little white teeth. He heard a hiss of air.
Then he rushed back in. The children were sitting around the kitchen table, talking, making plans about how they were going to get together with their bikes and sneak off to look for Natasha.
Paco motioned to B-Boy to follow him into the darkened room where Coco lay. He needed to tell his best friend that they had a problema. A gran problema.
“The werewolf followed us!” Coco cried. “We led him right to Natasha’s house. He must have lurked there until she went to the park. She’s so pretty. He dognapped her.”
Paco snorted. “Maybe he did. But maybe she ran off with him. She likes big, dangerous dogs. She said so herself.”
“Paco!” Coco scolded. “I don’t believe she ran away with him. I believe she was trying to protect Victoria’s brother. The werewolf overpowered her and carried her off. Otherwise she would have come back.”
“That’s bad. That’s terrible.” B-Boy yelped.
“It is.” Worry lines appeared on Coco’s forehead. “Worse, the children are going to look for her.” Her soft brown eyes looked right into Paco’s. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Paco?”
“Sí?” He didn’t know what Coco was getting at.
Her eyes bore into his. “We must keep the children safe. We can’t let the werewolf get them. That’s more important than anything else.”
“Ay! Claro!” Paco agreed
“But I can’t walk.” Coco’s frown lines deepened. “It’s up to you and B-Boy to stop them from going to look for Natasha.”
“Me? And B-Boy?” Paco lay down by Coco’s doggy bed. His misery blanketed him with woe. “I don’t know how. I don’t know what to do.”
“You bit Tommy’s tire. You did. It was smart to do that,” B-Boy offered, then stared intently at his tail. He considered chasing it. When he felt especially nervous, he did stuff like that.
Paco shook his head from side to side. “No. It was dumb to bite the tire. He’ll just fix it. I don’t know how we can keep them from looking for Natasha.”
“And if they look for Natasha they’ll find—” B-Boy didn’t finish his thought. Instead, he needed to chase his tail. He started whirling in a circle.
“B-Boy!” Paco yipped. “Alto! Stop it! We have to think.”
“Can’t think. Can’t think. Must run.” B-Boy twirled around and around.
Paco turned to Coco. “B-Boy’s not so good at thinking. What should we do?”
Coco closed her eyes. Then she opened them. “We’re looking at this the wrong way. I have an idea. We can’t stop them.”
Paco smacked his forehead with his paw. “Ay! Ay! Ay! I know that. That’s not much of an idea, Coco.”
“But think about what we can do. We know where the werewolf lives. So we kno
w where Natasha is. The children don’t know that, not yet, anyway. If you and B-Boy find Natasha first and bring her back, the children won’t have any reason to look for her.”
B-Boy stopped whirling and looked at Coco, his eyes filled with admiration. “That’s brilliant!”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Paco sputtered. “B-Boy and I are little dogs. The werewolf is huge and mean and dangerous. And what if—”
“What?”Coco asked.
“What if Natasha likes him—” Paco could barely stand to say what he was thinking. His voice became so soft the rest of his words faded away to a whisper, “and she doesn’t want to come back.”
“Paco!” Coco cried, angry at first. Then she repeated his name with kindness. “Paco, that’s not going to happen.”
Coco understood her Mexican friend better than he did himself. She knew his feelings were hurt. “Natasha loves Victoria with a dog’s loyal heart. She would fight to the death to protect her or her brother. She would never willingly leave her family. Yes, she likes to run free and far and fast. She’s a hound, you know. The desire is in her. But not this time. She’d come back if she could. But I know she can’t. The werewolf followed her to the park and dognapped her.”
“Awful. Terrible. Poor Natasha,” B-Boy ran in circles around the doggy bed.
“Yes, it is terrible,” Coco nodded. “Paco, you and B-Boy have to rescue Natasha before the children reach Mount Diablo. We can’t let them run into the werewolf.”
Paco knew she was right, and yet he feared he couldn’t do it. “I’m muy poco, too small and weak to bring her home—even with B-Boy helping. What if the werewolf sees us and stops us? What if we have to fight him?”
Coco mentally counted to ten. It wouldn’t do to yell. She couldn’t go with them, so she must help Paco find the courage to do what must be done without her. When she spoke, her voice was calm. She hid her frustration well. “Paco, my dearest friend, you might not be big, but you are smart. Think! Who else can go with you? Who else would help you fight the werewolf if you have to? You’re only weak if you go alone. Do you understand?”
Chihuawolf Page 5
