Follow That Furball

by Nancy Krulik

  Bernardo has led me to a big, round stone building with lots of arches. It looks like a giant food bowl. But food bowls are filled with kibble. Not with cats.

  There are a lot of cats here. Black cats running up and down the stairs. Brown cats lying on stone benches. Striped cats hiding in doorways. Orange cats sleeping on the grass. Cats. Cats. Cats.

  “This is the Colosseum,” Bernardo tells me. “Two-legs once used this place to play games.”

  “I like games!” I bark excitedly. “Like fetch. And tag. Did they play games like that?”

  “No. These were more fighting games. Two-legs called gladiators fought big cats called lions,” Bernardo explains.

  I don’t know what a lion is, but I know I don’t like big cats. And I’m sure those two-legs didn’t, either.

  “It was a long time ago,” Bernardo continues. “Two-legs don’t play games here anymore, they just come to visit. I think they actually like this place.”

  There are a lot of two-legs walking around the Colosseum. And they do seem to like it. But Bernardo sure doesn’t.

  “I hate it here,” he grumbles. “The cats have taken over.”

  That’s for sure. There are rotten cats all over the place. How will I ever be able to find Marco and Paolo in this crowd?

  Suddenly, my nose smells something yummy, like chicken, beef, and sausage all rolled into one.

  My bone!

  “There they are!” I shout to Bernardo. I point toward the steps with my snout. Paolo is sitting there, waving my bone in the air. Marco is laughing. They’re teasing me. Again. I’m tired of being teased.

  “Look out, cats! Here I come!” I bark at Marco and Paolo. I run off in their direction.

  Marco and Paolo take off. Boy, are they fast. But I’m pretty fast, too. And I have Bernardo helping me. He’s climbing to the top of the Colosseum. He can see everything up there—including where Marco and Paolo are going with my bone!

  “Go to the left, Sparky!” Bernardo barks. “Paolo has your bone. He’s on that seat over there!”

  I zoom toward Paolo.

  An orange cat jumps out in front of me and blocks my path.

  “AAAAAHHHH!” I bark. That cat scared me. I leap backward. Bam. I slam into a black cat.

  “MEOW!” The black cat isn’t happy to see me.

  “To the right, Sparky!” Bernardo shouts. “Jump over that pile of rocks. Hurry. Marco grabbed your bone and took it there!”

  My paws leap over the rocks. I’m like a flying bird-dog! I spot Marco with my bone.

  “MEOW! MEOW!”

  Uh-oh. Paolo saw me coming. He warned Marco. They both run away. But I’m right behind them.

  Marco and Paolo run straight ahead. I run straight ahead.

  A group of two-legs leap out of my way.

  “Sorry!” I bark to them.

  Marco and Paolo jump over a low brick wall. I jump over the low brick wall.

  They go left. I go left.

  They run down some stairs. I run down some stairs.

  I run so fast, my fur flies into my eyes. I can’t see Marco and Paolo anymore. I can’t see anything!

  My paws stop running. I push my fur out of my eyes, but I still can’t see. My eyes keep blinking, trying to adjust to the darkness. But it’s too dark to see.

  It’s scary and cold and wet. I’m all alone. There aren’t even any cats in here. “GET ME OUT!” I wail.

  No one answers. At least not at first. Then, faintly, I hear Bernardo. “This way, Sparky,” he barks. “Come on out of the tunnel.”

  My ears perk up. I follow the sound of my friend’s voice.

  And then I begin to see the light. My eyes blink. My tail wags. It’s happy to see the sunshine, too. Which is kind of weird since my tail can’t see. It doesn’t have eyes.

  But I don’t have time to think about that right now. I have to find Marco and Paolo. Because they’ve disappeared. Again. And they’ve taken my bone with them. Again.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Okay, Sparky, we’re here!” Bernardo barks excitedly a little while later.

  I guess I should be excited, too. We’ve been walking through the streets of Rome looking for this place. And now we’re here. But I don’t know where here is. All I know is we’re somewhere where there are lots of cats. Again.

  “Where are we?” I ask Bernardo.

  “Right near the butcher shop,” Bernardo explains.

  “Oh, good!” I exclaim. Then I look at him. “Um . . . What’s a butcher shop?”

  “A place with lots of meat, fish, and bones,” Bernardo says. “Cats come here all the time. They like to eat the scraps. And after all that running at the Colosseum, I bet Paolo and Marco are hungry.”

  I’m sure he’s right, because I’m hungry.

  “Dogs like scraps, too,” I say. “Don’t the two-legs understand that?”

  “Maybe,” Bernardo answers. “But it’s the cats who run this city. Cats are very sneaky. They steal food from the butcher and climb to high places so the two-legs can’t see them, leaving the dogs standing there helpless. Then we get in trouble while the cats get the food. So most of the time we stay away from restaurants and butcher shops. No dog likes getting in trouble.”

  That’s true. I hate when Josh is angry with me.

  “Why haven’t the two-legs figured out that it’s the cats who are stealing the food?” I ask.

  “Good question,” Bernardo answers. “I guess two-legs aren’t as smart as dogs.”

  “We have a cat in our neigh-borhood,” I say. “She doesn’t get any scraps. At least I’ve never seen her get any.”

  “Wow!” Bernardo says. “I bet she would love to live in Rome.”

  I think about how Queenie laughs at me. I would love for her to live in Rome, too. If only she could switch places with Bernardo.

  Wait a minute! That’s a wiggle, waggle, wonderful idea!

  “Bernardo! You should come home with me!” I bark excitedly. “I don’t get scraps. But I get lots of kibble. I would share my kibble with you. All you have to do is bite into my magic bone at the exact same time I do. Then we can kaboom back home together.”

  Bernardo smiles at me. “You’re a good friend,” he tells me. “But I don’t want to leave Rome. This is my home. Rome is one of the greatest cities in the world.” He stops for a minute and frowns. “I just wish the two-legs would throw us dogs a bone once in a while.”

  I’m wishing for a bone, too. My magic bone.

  I look into the crowd of cats. They are all sitting there, waiting for scraps to come their way. But the two-legs walking in and out of the butcher shop aren’t sharing today.

  “Mee-hee-hee-ow!”

  I hear a cat laughing. I look up into a nearby tree. There’s Paolo, waving my magic bone in the air. Marco’s right next to him, laughing! Mean old cats!

  My paws are buzz, buzz, buzzing. They’re ready to run after Marco and Paolo.

  But I’m not ready to run. I’m hot. And tired. And besides, I can’t catch those cats. They’re faster than me.

  Still, dogs are smarter than cats. A lot smarter. So the only way to get my magic bone back is to outsmart them. But how?

  Thinkety, think, think.

  “That’s it!” I bark out suddenly. My tail starts to wag.

  Bernardo gives me a funny look. “What is it?” he asks me.

  “I know how to get my bone back!” I answer. “We’re going to make a trade.”

  Bernardo cocks his head and looks at me funny.

  “My magic bone smells like meat. But it doesn’t have any meat on it,” I explain. “I bet those cats would rather have a real meaty bone than my bone.”

  Bernardo nods. “That makes sense,” he agrees.

  “So all we have to do is get a meaty bone from the
butcher shop and trade it for my bone,” I tell him.

  Bernardo smiles. “And the best part is, when the butcher sees the cats with the meaty bone, he will know that the cats are the real bad guys in Rome,” he says. Then he stops smiling. “Only one problem. How are we supposed to sneak a bone out of the butcher shop?”

  Hmmm. That is the hard part. But there has to be a way. All I have to do is thinkety, think, think. Because dogs are smarter. We go to school. Cats don’t. We can do tricks. Cats can’t. Dogs are smarter . . . Dogs are smarter . . .

  “That’s it!” I bark out suddenly. “Bernardo, I’ve got a wiggle, waggle, wonderful idea!”

  CHAPTER 10

  Sit. Lie down. Roll over. Stand up. Dance.

  That’s a lot of tricks to remember. But I know that they always make two-legs laugh. So I do them all.

  Sit. Lie down. Roll over. Stand up. Dance.

  Some two-legs come over to see me do the tricks I learned in school. They are laughing and clapping their front paws together. They are not paying any attention to the cats. They are watching me—a dog—do tricks. Because dogs can do tricks. Dogs are smarter than cats.

  Just then a roly-poly two-leg walks out of the butcher shop. He wants to see why so many other two-legs are staring, laughing, and clapping.

  I know why. It’s because I know how to sit, lie down, roll over, stand up, and dance.

  “Now, Bernardo. Now!” I bark happily. The two-legs and the cats don’t know what I’m saying. They don’t speak dog. But Bernardo does.

  So while the two-legs are busy watching me, Bernardo slips into the butcher shop unnoticed. A few cats meow, but the two-legs don’t pay any attention. I don’t blame them. Cats are always meowing in Rome.

  Sit. Lie down. Roll over. Stand up. Dance.

  I sure hope Bernardo hurries up. I’m getting wiggle, waggle, dizzy from all this rolling over.

  “I’ve got it, Sparky! I’ve got it!” Bernardo barks finally. “Meet me in the alley.”

  That’s my cue. I stop dancing and run. Fast. Faster. Fastest. Around the corner I go!

  “Over here, over here,” Bernardo barks.

  I look around the alleyway. There’s Bernardo standing in the corner, holding a bone. “That’s a really meaty one,” I tell him.

  “It smells amazing.” Bernardo drops the bone and licks his chops. “It’s making me hungry.”

  Uh-oh. Bernardo sounds like he wants to eat the meat on that bone. Not that I blame him. It does smell yummy. But he can’t eat it. Not until I use it to get my magic bone back.

  “We have to go show the cats what we’ve got,” I remind him.

  Bernardo looks at the meaty bone. He looks at me. He looks back at the bone. “This is the first bone I’ve been close to in three weeks.”

  My heart is thumpety, thump, thumping. Bernardo isn’t sure what to do. He’s a dog with a bone. And he wants to chew it.

  But Bernardo is also a dog with a friend. “Come on, Sparky,” he says. “Let’s get your magic bone back.” He walks to the end of the alleyway. Just around the corner is the butcher shop.

  “Yoo-hoo, cats!” I bark out. “Look what we have!”

  The cats can’t understand what I am saying. But they do understand the meaty bone Bernardo is waving in the air. They see it right away.

  Marco and Paolo are right in front of the pack of cats. They’re staring at the meaty bone and licking their little cat lips.

  Come on, cats. Come and get it!

  But they don’t come. They just stand there, still holding my bone.

  Thumpety, thump, thump. What if my plan doesn’t work? What if they want to keep my bone instead?

  Paolo takes a bite of my bone. But nothing happens. He gives me a funny look.

  I can tell Paolo thinks I’m crazy. He doesn’t understand why I want my bone back so badly. No cat will ever understand. Dogs are smarter than cats.

  Marco and Paolo take a step toward Bernardo. They want that meaty bone. But they can’t have it. Not until I get my magic bone back.

  Bernardo shakes the bone around. The smell of meat fills the air.

  Now the cats really want it.

  Bernardo lowers the bone.

  Paolo steps toward him.

  The cats lick their little cat lips.

  “MEEEOOOOOWWWW!” Marco and Paolo take a flying leap toward Bernardo. They are so excited to get the meaty bone that they forget all about my magic bone. They drop it on the ground.

  I race over and grab my bone. “I’ve got it!” I bark to Bernardo.

  That’s all Bernardo has to hear. He runs away, leaving the meaty bone behind.

  A whole crowd of hungry cats pounces on the meaty bone.

  Bernardo and I start barking loudly. Really loudly. So loudly that the butcher comes outside to see what’s going on.

  And that’s when he spots the cats licking his meaty bone.

  The butcher raises his arms high in the air. He starts to shout—but not at Bernardo and me. The butcher is shouting at the cats. For once, he thinks they’re the ones who stole his bone. And, boy, is he mad!

  The cats scat! They leave the meaty bone right there on the ground. Scaredy-cats!

  CHAPTER 11

  “Go get it,” I tell Bernardo. “That meaty bone is all yours.”

  The butcher has gone into his shop and left the bone right in the street. No two-leg wants to touch a bone with cat slobber all over it.

  But Bernardo doesn’t mind a little cat slobber on a bone. Not when there’s all that meat.

  Bernardo runs and picks up the bone the cats left behind. Then he and I hurry away from the butcher shop. Bernardo holds the meaty bone while he runs. I hold my magic bone.

  “We can stop here,” Bernardo tells me finally. “I haven’t seen any cats for a few streets now.”

  We have been running a really long time. We are far from the butcher shop and close to one of those places where two-legs sit outside and eat.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come home with me?” I ask Bernardo.

  Bernardo shakes his head. “Rome is home. Besides, I think things are going to be a lot better now. That butcher is sure to tell the other two-legs about the cats and that meaty bone. They’re not going to trust the cats so much anymore.”

  “Which means more scraps for you and the other dogs,” I add happily.

  “Exactly,” Bernardo says. He smiles. “Do you want a bite of my meaty bone before you go home?”

  I shake my head. “No thanks,” I say.

  Just then, I smell something yummy, yum, yum. A sausage! And it’s lying on the ground. That means it’s mine.

  I run over and grab that yummy sausage. But I don’t eat it. This sausage isn’t for me. It’s for Josh. To make up for the cheesy, chewy, tomatoey treat I swiped.

  Now I am ready to go home. “Good-bye, Bernardo,” I say.

  “Good-bye, Sparky,” Bernardo barks back. “And thanks for this meaty bone. You’re one smart puppy!”

  I smile. I’m glad I could help Bernardo as much as he helped me. Now it is time for me to leave. I put my paws on the sausage. And then . . . chomp. I bite down on my bone.

  Wiggle, waggle, whew. 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! All around me I smell food—fried chicken, salmon, roast beef. But there isn’t any food in sight.

  Kaboom!

  A minute later, the kabooming stops.

  I look around. There’s my tree. My fence. My house. I’m home!

  I know I’d better hide my bone before Queenie sees it. I don’t want another cat touching my bone. Quickly I start diggety, dig, digging in the dirt near the flower bed. I drop my bone in the deep hole and bury it. No cat will be able to
get my bone now!

  Just then, I hear something outside the yard. It’s a big metal machine—the kind with four round paws. Josh is home!

  Josh! Josh! Josh! My paws race to him. Fast. Faster. Fastest!

  My fur falls down and covers my eyes. I can’t see where I’m running. But my paws keep going. Fast. Faster. Boom!

  I slam right into Josh! But he doesn’t get mad. He just smiles and scratches my ears.

  Then Josh spots something near his foot. He stops scratching, and picks up the sausage I brought him. Josh looks at the sausage. Then he looks at me.

  I wish I could tell Josh all about the mean cats, the statues that look like two-legs, the horses that feel like trees, and the Colosseum that looks like a giant kibble bowl. But I can’t. So I just follow him into our house.

  Josh doesn’t eat the sausage I brought home from Rome. Instead, he feeds it to the round can with the lid on top. Some things never change.

  Josh pours some kibble into my bowl. Sniff, sniff, sniff. My kibble doesn’t smell as good as the food in Rome. But at least the kibble is all mine, and there are no cats here to steal it from me.

  And that’s wiggle, waggle, wonderful!

  Fun Facts about Sparky’s Adventures in Rome

  The Torre Argentina Cat Shelter:

  Right in the middle of one of the busiest areas of Rome, you can find this large square of ancient Roman buildings. Two thousand years ago, the Torre Argentina was filled with people who were praying in Roman temples. Today, the square is filled with 250 cats, all of whom call the Torre Argentina home. The cats who roam the Torre Argentina are fed and cared for by volunteers.

  The Trevi Fountain

  This fountain is one of the most popular attractions in Rome. The main statue in the fountain is of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, surrounded by his horses. Visitors like to turn their backs to the Trevi Fountain and toss a coin over their shoulders. It is said that if the coin lands in the water, the person who threw it will return to Rome someday.