No Dogs Allowed

by Stephanie Calmenson

  “The people at the shelter would never give innocent puppies to boys like you,” said Kate.

  “Dogs need proper homes with responsible owners,” said Lucie.

  “Owners who do not chew gum that will get stuck in their fur,” said Kate.

  “Owners who will not give them a headache bouncing a basketball,” said Lucie.

  “Do you think they’re talking about us?” said DJ, snapping his gum.

  “Could be,” said Danny, bouncing his basketball.

  “We’ve got to go now. We have a song to write,” said Kate, marching off.

  When they had gone a little way, Lucie got another idea and sang it.

  Can you get to the vet

  With your very own pet?

  Danny and DJ sneaked up behind them.

  Danny made up a new line. Then DJ. Then Kate got an idea. They took turns singing back and forth. Before they knew it, they had a whole song.

  “I guess we’re all going to have to enter the contest together,” said DJ.

  “No way!” said Kate and Lucie.

  “Way!” said DJ and Danny.

  “Well, we did write it together,” said Lucie.

  “So we have to send it together,” said Danny.

  “Oh, okay,” said Kate. “Lucie and I will send it to Amos.”

  “Don’t forget to put our names on it,” said Danny.

  “In really big letters,” said DJ.

  The boys turned and walked off in one direction. The girls went off in the other.

  It really was a pretty good song. The girls would write it up and mail it in as soon as they could.

  9

  Give Those Dogs a Bone

  On the way home, the girls passed the Lucky Find Thrift Shop.

  “Let’s go in and pay for our necklaces,” said Kate.

  “Good idea,” said Lucie, leading the way inside.

  “Hi, Mrs. Bingly!” Kate and Lucie called when they went into the store.

  “Hi, girls,” said Mrs. Bingly.

  “We owe you some money for the necklaces,” said Kate.

  “We forgot to pay for them this morning,” said Lucie.

  “Oh, that was when those dogs got in here,” Mrs. Bingly said.

  “Dogs? What dogs?” said Kate, poking Lucie in the ribs.

  “Two dogs suddenly appeared, and I had to chase them away,” said Mrs. Bingly.

  The girls kept quiet and quickly counted out their money.

  “Ooh, do you see what I see?” said Kate when they were finished.

  “You mean that basket of Chewies Dog Bones?” said Lucie.

  “That would be it,” said Kate.

  The idea of being dogs and chomping on those bones was very appealing. In fact, just thinking about the bones almost made them drool on the counter.

  “Let’s each get one,” said Kate. “After all, it’s for charity.”

  “You mean it’s for chewing!” said Lucie.

  “Very funny,” said Kate, handing the bones to Mrs. Bingly.

  “We’ll pay for these, too,” Lucie said.

  “Oh, have you gotten dogs, girls?” said Mrs. Bingly.

  “Um, no, but it’s Adopt-a-Dog Week,” said Kate. “We might find a dog or two who’d enjoy them.”

  “That’s very kind of you,” said Mrs. Bingly.

  The girls paid and went outside. Then they ran straight to the Dumpster.

  Ready … set … woof! They barked and gave high fives.

  Woofa-wow! Changing into dogs was easy now.

  They started chomping on their bones. They really had found two dogs who enjoyed them.

  “Let’s take our bones home and bury them,” said Kate.

  “Great idea,” said Lucie.

  They ran all the way home to the garden their moms had made.

  They jumped over the fence. Their dog noses were in overdrive.

  “Do you smell what I smell?” said Kate.

  “Could you mean carrots?” said Lucie.

  “Exactly,” said Kate. “Nice and crunchy.”

  They dropped their bones, dug up three carrots each, and chomped them down.

  Then they found the lettuce patch.

  “Tearing up lettuce is as much fun as chomping carrots,” said Lucie.

  “You’re right. Let’s do it!” said Kate.

  They each tore up a few heads of lettuce. Then they grabbed their bones.

  “Let’s bury them here,” said Kate, digging in.

  “No. Here!” said Lucie, digging beside her.

  “Wait, this is a good spot,” said Kate, starting a new hole.

  Marigolds and petunias went flying as the dogs dug holes all around the garden.

  Finally, they each found just the right spot and buried their bones.

  When they looked up, Kate said, “Do you see who I see?”

  “You mean our mothers at the windows?” said Lucie.

  “Exactly,” said Kate.

  “Do you hear what I hear?” said Lucie.

  “Do you mean our mothers yelling?” said Kate.

  “That would be it,” said Lucie.

  Their mothers came running outside.

  “Scoot!” said Mrs. Lopez.

  “Scat!” said Mrs. Farber.

  “Scram, dogs, scram!” they said together.

  “I think they’re talking to us,” whispered Kate.

  “I think you’re right,” answered Lucie.

  “Ready … set … scram!” they said together.

  The dogs jumped over the fence, raced around the corner, and hid behind a mailbox. When they came out, they were girls again.

  Kate and Lucie strolled back home.

  They were just in time to hear Kate’s mother saying, “I can’t believe what those dogs did.”

  Lucie’s mom said, “It’s going to take forever to clean up the mess.”

  “Hi, Moms,” said Kate and Lucie.

  “Look what happened to our garden,” said Lucie’s mom.

  “Two dogs got into it,” said Mrs. Farber.

  “What bad dogs!” said Kate.

  “Shame on them,” said Lucie.

  Kate and Lucie were trying not to laugh. At the same time they were sorry. They really had been bad dogs.

  “Go inside, Mom,” said Lucie.

  “You, too, Mom,” said Kate. “We’ll clean up.”

  “Really?” said Kate’s mom.

  “Absolutely,” said the girls.

  Lucie picked up a rake. Kate got a shovel.

  They heard their moms talking as they walked away.

  “Our girls sure are growing up,” said Mrs. Farber. “It’s wonderful how they jumped right in to help.”

  “They’re really changing,” said Mrs. Lopez.

  “We sure are,” said Kate, replanting a marigold.

  “If they only knew,” said Lucie, raking up the scattered lettuce.

  10

  And the Winner Is …

  Arfa-arf! A few mornings later, Lucie’s phone rang. Of course it was Kate.

  “Want to go to the Sugar Shack?” she asked.

  “I’m sleeping,” said Lucie.

  “I said Sugar Shack,” said Kate.

  “Mmmff,” mumbled Lucie.

  “As in pink gumdrops,” said Kate.

  Lucie’s eyes popped open. “Meet you in five!” she said.

  When the girls got to the candy store, DJ and Danny were there.

  “Did you mail in our song?” said DJ.

  Kate and Lucie looked at each other.

  “Oops!” Lucie said to Kate. “Did you mail it?”

  “No. I thought you did,” said Kate.

  “No, you were going to,” said Lucie.

  The boys gasped. Kate and Lucie laughed.

  “Gotcha!” said Lucie. “We were just kidding.”

  “We mailed it together,” said Kate.

  “Hi, girls!” called Izzy, the store owner. “I’ll be right with you. I’ve got to go to the stockroom for more Banana-Fand
ana gum.”

  “I wonder who the gum could be for,” said Kate.

  “It couldn’t possibly be for DJ, could it?” said Lucie.

  “Very funny,” said DJ.

  Just then, the voice of Amos-on-the-Airwaves boomed out from Izzy’s radio.

  “Good morning, listeners! We have our contest winner! Make that winners!”

  Wonka-wonk! Amos honked his horn.

  “Who won? What are the names?” said Kate, hopping from one foot to the other.

  Wonka-wonk! Amos honked again.

  “The suspense is killing me,” said DJ, snapping his gum.

  “Come on, come on!” said Danny.

  “And the winners are Lucie Lopez, Kate Farber, and—ah-ah-choo!” Amos sneezed.

  DJ and Danny glared at Kate and Lucie.

  “Did you leave our names off?” said Danny.

  Honk! Amos blew his nose, then continued.

  “… DJ Jackson and Danny DeMarco!” he said.

  “Yippee!”

  “Yeowee!”

  “Hooray!”

  “Ya-hoo!”

  Izzy came running out from the stockroom. When he saw the kids jumping up and down, he started jumping up and down, too.

  “Why are we jumping?” Izzy asked.

  “We won the Adopt-a-Dog song contest!” said Danny.

  Amos’s voice was still booming from the radio. “Are you listening in, prizewinners?” he said. “Come down to the studio this Saturday at 9 a.m. Be on time and be ready to sing your song!”

  “Wow! We’re gonna be on the radio,” said DJ.

  “Congratulations!” said Izzy, picking up a box of candies. “Have a caramel.”

  They all popped caramels into their mouths. Even Izzy.

  They all started talking at the same time. It wasn’t easy with caramel stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

  “I’ll lishen to oo on Shadaday,” said Izzy.

  “Thwank oo,” said the kids as they headed to the door.

  They waved good-bye to Izzy and raced home to share their prizewinning news.

  11

  Where’s That Dog?

  Saturday came around fast. Kate was so excited she was up at the crack of dawn. It was way too early to go to the radio station. But she was too excited to stay in bed.

  Kate got dressed and dialed Lucie’s number.

  Arfa-arf! Lucie heard her phone ringing. She thought she must be dreaming.

  Arfa-arf! She looked at her clock. It was 6:05 in the morning. Lucie wished she was dreaming.

  Lucie picked up the phone. “Why are you calling so early?” she said in a sleepy voice.

  “Let’s go for a run! A dog run,” said Kate.

  “You’re totally kidding, right?” said Lucie.

  “Totally not. Totally serious,” said Kate.

  “Totally tired,” said Lucie. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Wait. Think about it. Sniffing lamp posts,” said Kate.

  “I’m hanging up,” said Lucie.

  “Chomping sticks,” said Kate.

  “I’m not kidding,” said Lucie.

  “Finding tasty scraps,” said Kate.

  That got Lucie’s attention. “Okay! Meet you outside,” she said.

  As soon as they got to the park, Kate and Lucie changed into dogs.

  They sniffed lamp posts. They chomped sticks.

  Then Lucie sniffed out a tasty scrap under a bush.

  “Wait right here,” she said, diving in to get it.

  Kate was waiting when suddenly a squirrel came running down the trunk of a tree. Boing! Kate’s tail shot up in the air.

  Kate loved a good squirrel chase. The squirrel ran down the path. So did Kate.

  The squirrel crisscrossed back and forth. So did Kate. Kate was fast. But the squirrel was faster.

  The squirrel disappeared over a hill. So did Kate.

  Lucie came out from under the bush. Kate was nowhere to be seen.

  “Where’s that dog?” Lucie wondered.

  She went off to find her. She trotted around the park, then wandered out. As she was leaving, Kate was coming back to the spot where she’d left Lucie.

  “Where’s that dog?” Kate wondered.

  She looked around, but didn’t see her.

  “A-woo-woo!” she howled.

  No answer.

  “A-woo-woo-woo!” she howled again.

  Still no answer.

  This is terrible, thought Kate. We’ve got to change back to girls and get to the radio station. But we can’t change back unless we’re together.

  “A-woo-woo-woo!” Kate howled one more time.

  Lucie was too far away to hear Kate’s howls. But she did hear a dog barking.

  Behind a white picket fence, a tall Doberman pinscher was wagging his tail, looking her way. The Doberman looked like he wanted to play.

  Shimmy, shimmy, shimmy! Lucie wagged her whole backside.

  The Doberman ran and got a red rubber chicken toy. Squeak! Squawk! He tossed it up in the air. Squeak! Squawk! The radio station, the contest, and Kate floated right out of Lucie’s head.

  “I’ll play with you!” Lucie called.

  The toy dropped out of the Doberman’s mouth. He cocked his head, looking puzzled.

  “Oops!” said Lucie. “You’re not used to dogs talking like people, are you?”

  The Doberman slowly backed away.

  “Don’t go. Stay and play,” said Lucie.

  That did it! The Doberman turned and ran.

  “Oh, well. I guess I should have woofed,” Lucie said to herself. “If Kate was here, she’d be rolling her eyes at me.”

  Kate. The radio station. The contest. It all popped back into her head.

  I’ve got to get to the park. I’ve got to find Kate! thought Lucie.

  She ran down the street. An interesting smell from a tree came up on her right. She swerved to sniff it, then stopped herself.

  I’ve got to find Kate, she thought.

  She kept on running.

  When she got close to the park, she heard, “A-woo-woo-woo!”

  It was Kate!

  “Ruff! Ruff!” Lucie called back.

  She ran as fast as she could.

  “A-woo-woo-woo!” she heard Kate howling again.

  “Ruff! Ruff-ruff!” Lucie answered.

  Kate and Lucie could hear each other. They could smell each other. But they couldn’t see each other. That’s because Kate was on one side of the park and Lucie was on the other. And there were trees in between.

  “Ruff-ruff!”

  “A-woo-woo!”

  Kate and Lucie ran. They ran and ran. They didn’t know it, but they were running in a circle around the same path, going in the same direction.

  Lucie was near the water fountain. Kate was near the playground.

  Then Kate was near the water fountain. Lucie was near the playground.

  Suddenly, Kate got an idea. She turned around and started running the other way.

  Lucie got the same idea at the same time. She turned around too.

  They ran and ran. Just like before, they were going around the same path, in the same direction.

  Lucie looked up at the clock.

  “Only ten minutes to go! We’ve got to get to the station!” she said to herself.

  Lucie was so horrified, she stopped right in the middle of the path. All of a sudden, a dog smashed into her.

  “Kate!” said Lucie. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

  “I’ve been looking for you, too,” said Kate. “Come on, let’s go!”

  As fast as they could, Kate and Lucie changed back into girls. They ran like the wind to the radio station.

  12

  Doo-Wop, Doo-Wop!

  They made it to the radio station just in time. Danny and DJ were already there.

  “Hi, girls,” said Amos.

  “How come you’re panting so hard?” said DJ.

  “It’s a long story,” said Kate.

 
; “No time for stories,” said Amos. “Are you ready to wow our listeners?”

  “We’re ready!” said the kids.

  “I’ll give you a hand signal when it’s time to start,” said Amos.

  He set them in front of a line of microphones.

  “Testing! Testing!” said Danny, tapping the mike.

  “This is so cool,” said DJ, way too loud.

  Kate and Lucie rolled their eyes.

  “You are so mature,” said Kate.

  “It’s a good thing we’re not on the air yet,” said Lucie.

  But they were about to be. Amos was announcing them. He held up his hand and gave the go-ahead, then the kids began to sing.

  Doo-wop, doo-wop,

  Do we adopt-adopt?

  Doo-wop, doo-wop,

  Or do we not-adopt?

  Tell us, can you be at home?

  Can you buy him a bone?

  Will you brush her fur?

  Go on walks with her?

  Can you get to the vet

  With your very own pet?

  Will you wipe his drool?

  Take him to dog-training school?

  Then doo-wop, doo-wop,

  Go adopt-adopt!

  Doo-wop, doo-wop,

  Your pet is waiting for yooooou!

  As they sang the last note, the phones at the radio station started ringing like crazy.

  People wanted to adopt dogs. They wanted to donate money to the shelter.

  “Now, that’s what I call a winning song!” Amos said over the airwaves. “Keep those calls coming in.”

  He played Elvis Presley singing “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog!” Then he turned to the kids. “And now for your prizes,” he said. “First, you each get an Amos-on-the-Airwaves T-shirt. You can wear it while you listen to my show.”

  “Cool!” said Danny.

  “Next, you all get tickets to the new movie Dog Detectives!” said Amos.

  “Ooh, I want to see that,” said Lucie.

  “And now for the all-important prize number three,” Amos continued.

  He reached over to his desk and came back with a packet in his hand. “I am presenting each of you with an official Tuckertown Shelter badge. Wear it proudly. You will be special volunteers helping the dogs at the shelter.”

  The kids loved their prizes. They thanked Amos and walked home together, singing: