by Nancy Krulik
“Aaaahhh!” the two-leg shouts.
“I wasn’t sniffing; I was hiding!” I bark.
But the two-leg doesn’t understand. He pushes me out of the way and races right out of the little house.
Ow! I bump my head on the glass window.
The two-leg doesn’t stop to say he’s sorry. He just runs out of there, tripping over Watson as he goes. He doesn’t say he’s sorry for that, either. “Shhh,” Watson whispers. “Stay very still.”
I don’t talk. I don’t move. And pretty soon, I see the dogcatcher. He runs right by us. He turns the corner and is gone.
“We’re safe,” I tell Watson.
“For now,” he warns. “But we might not be so lucky next time. We’ve got to hurry and find your bone!”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I run out of the little house as fast as I can.
Watson speeds ahead of me. He has little paws, but they can really move.
I’m right behind him. And then…
Sniffety, sniff, sniff. My nose smells a cookie on the ground.
But I don’t stop. Not this time. Nothing is worth going back to that pound. Not even a peanut-butter cookie! So my paws keep on running.
No dogcatcher can catch me! Zoom, zoom, zoomee!
CHAPTER 8
“That was close,” I gasp as Watson and I finally stop running long enough to catch our breath. I’m tired and thirsty. So is Watson. I can tell by the way his long pink tongue is hanging out of the side of his mouth with little drops of spit all over it.
Ding-dong, ding-dong!
What was that sound? I try to bury my ears in my paws.
“Don’t worry,” Watson tells me. “That’s just Big Ben.”
I look around for a big dog named Ben. But I don’t see anyone. It’s just me and Watson, standing near a garden of flowers.
“Who’s Big Ben?”
“I don’t know,” Watson admits. “I’ve never met him. But he makes that bonging noise all day long. You can hear him all over the city,” Watson says as he lies down on the grass and sticks out his tongue. “It sure is hot out here.”
“I know what you mean.” I start rolling around on the cool grass. Out of the corner of my eye I see a two-leg watering flowers with a long green snake. It looks just like the snake Josh uses to water our flowers back home.
Wiggle, waggle, water! I bark excitedly. I run over for a sip. The two-leg turns to me and cups his hand at the snake’s mouth so I can drink more easily. The water is cold and wet. Slurpity, slurp, slurp. I can’t drink it fast enough.
“Sparky!” Watson barks nervously. “Get away from him. He could be from the pound.”
But I know this two-leg isn’t from the pound. He would have grabbed us by now if he were.
I guess Watson has figured that out, too, because he slowly walks over and takes a few quick sips from the long green snake. Then he backs away.
It makes me sad to see Watson so afraid. I can’t imagine what it’s like not to trust any two-legs. But I guess it’s because Watson’s never had a two-leg to love him the way Josh loves me.
“Are we near the queen’s house?” I ask Watson.
Watson looks around. “Not far,” he says.
Wiggle, waggle, whoopee! My happy tail starts dancing again. Watson and I are almost home!
Watson sets off and I follow.
“There it is,” I tell Watson. “It’s the duck sign. And the tree!”
Diggety, dig, dig.
“It’s right where I buried it.” I bark excitedly as the magic bone appears in the dirt.
“That is some amazing bone,” Watson admits. “I’ve never seen or smelled one like it.”
“I know,” I agree. “It’s the best-smelling bone ever.”
“And you just bite it, and the next thing you know you’re somewhere else?” Watson asks me.
I nod my head. “We just have to make sure we both take a bite at the exact same time so we can go home together.”
Home. The word makes me feel tingly all over. “You’re going to love home,” I tell my new friend. “There’s always plenty of food and water. And Josh. Josh is the best part.”
Just then, I hear footsteps coming up behind us. I grab my bone and dart into the bushes. It could be the dogcatcher!
I figure Watson must be right behind me. But he’s not. He’s where I left him, staring at two two-legs who are walking toward him. He doesn’t seem scared. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to tell that these two-legs aren’t dogcatchers. One of them is too little. The bigger two-leg looks like she could be his mommy.
I watch from the bushes as the little two-leg walks over and gently reaches out his hand to Watson. Watson looks up at him but doesn’t move.
The mommy two-leg says some-thing that I don’t understand. But she doesn’t sound mad or mean. She sounds nice.
Watson’s tail must think she sounds nice, too, because it starts to wag. Watson walks over to the little two-leg and lets him pet his head. A minute later, the mommy two-leg scoops Watson up in her front paws.
Watson doesn’t seem scared at all. In fact, he looks up and gives her a kiss with his tongue. The mommy says something to her little two-leg. A big smile breaks out on his face.
The next thing I know, the mommy two-leg begins to walk away with Watson in her arms. The little two-leg follows along next to them.
Watson lets out a whimper. It’s very quiet, but I can hear him. “Home,” he says happily. “I’m finally going to have a home.”
Huh? “But you already have a home,” I call to him. “With Josh and me.”
“That’s your family,” Watson explains. “This one will be mine. Because they chose me.”
I know how Watson feels. It’s great to know a two-leg wants you. Like the way I know Josh picked me because I make him happy. It’ll be just Josh and me again when I get back.
But right now, it’s just me and my bone. Alone. In London. And the dogcatcher could be anywhere.
Ticktock…ticktock.
What’s that sound?
I look down. Right there at my feet I spot a little ticktock toy. It has a crack in it, like the one I broke at home. But this one is still ticktock ing.
Josh would really like this! Quickly, I scoop up the ticktock toy and run back to my bone.
Thumpety, thump, thump, thump. Suddenly my heart starts to pound. What if Watson was wrong? What if the magic bone doesn’t send me home? I’ll be stuck here in London, all alone, without any friends—and with the dogcatcher still hunting me.
There’s only one way to find out: I have to take a bite.
Chomp!
Wiggle, waggle, whew.
Suddenly I feel dizzy—like my insides are spinning all around—but my outsides are standing still. Stars are twinkling in front of my eyes, even though it’s daytime! And all around me I smell food—fried chicken, salmon, roast beef. But there isn’t any food in sight.
I wait for the big boom. The boom that makes me feel like I want to run and hide. The boom that makes me feel like I want Josh to hold me tight. The boom that just might take me home…
Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom!
The kaboom ing stops. Just like that. The loud, scary sound is gone.
Slowly I look around. There’s my tree! My fence! And best of all, my house! It’s not big or made of stone like the queen’s home. But it’s all mine. Mine and Josh’s. Watson was right. The magic bone has brought me home again.
I wonder what Josh would do if he saw my magic bone. Would he take a bite? And if he did, where would he go? What if he didn’t know how to get back to me? I don’t want Josh to wind up in a pound. I better hide my bone so he can’t find it.
Diggety, dig, dig. I dig a big hole right near Josh’s new flower bed, drop the bone in, and cover it with dirt.
I grab the new ticktock toy in my mouth and run through my doggie door. Wow! There’s my food bowl. And my couch. And my table. And my…
Josh!
Josh! Josh! Jos
h! I bark as he walks in the door. My tail goes crazy with excitement. Josh! Josh! Josh!
Boom! I’m jumping so hard, I knock Josh right to the floor. But he’s not mad. He’s laughing and petting my head.
Then he notices the ticktock toy I’m holding in my mouth. He reaches between my teeth and pulls it out. It’s slimy with spit, but it’s still ticktock ing. I stand there, looking at him proudly.
Josh stares at the ticktock toy. Then he stares at me. I wish I could tell him where I found the toy. I wish I could tell him about London, and Watson, and the Bulldog Boys. But Josh doesn’t speak dog. And I don’t speak two-leg.
So for now, all I can do is let Josh know how happy I am to be home. I don’t need words for that. All I have to do is give Josh a couple of good licks to the face.
Slurpity. Slurp. Slurp.
Fun Facts
about Sparky’s
Adventures in
London:
Big Ben
Big Ben is the nickname for the bell in the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster. The clock has been telling time in London since 1859. There are four quarter bells in the tower that ring every fifteen minutes, but Big Ben chimes only once an hour. Big Ben weighs thirteen and a half tons, which is about the weight of a small elephant.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official home of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. There are 775 rooms in the palace, including fifty-two royal and guest bedrooms and seventy-eight bath-rooms. It also has its own post office, movie theater, doctor’s office, and swimming pool!
Covent Garden
In 1762, the Earl of Sandwich put a slab of meat between two pieces of bread and ate it in Covent Garden. Today you can get all kinds of sandwiches, sweets, and drinks in this area of London, which is known for its market stalls, restaurants, and street-performing musicians, jugglers, and puppeteers.
The Queen’s Guard
When the queen is staying at Buckingham Palace, four guards stand outside the front of the building. When she is not home, there are two. Traditionally, the queen’s guards do not move. They are required to stand perfectly still for ten minutes at a time, and then march up and down in front of their small sentry boxes. The furry black hats worn by the guards are made of bearskins and stand eighteen inches tall!
About the Author
Nancy Krulik is the author of more than 200 books for children and young adults, including three New York Times Best Sellers. She is best known for being the author and creator of several successful book series for children, including Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo; How I Survived Middle School; and George Brown, Class Clown. Nancy lives in Manhattan with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, and her crazy beagle mix, Josie, who manages to drag her along on many exciting adventures without ever leaving Central Park.
About the Illustrator
You could fill a whole attic with Seb’s drawings! His collection includes some very early pieces made when he was four—there is even a series of drawings he did at the movies in the dark! When he isn’t doodling, he likes to make toys and sculptures, as well as bows and arrows for his two boys, Oscar and Leo, and their numerous friends. Seb is French and lives in England. His website is www.sebastienbraun.com.
