Murphy Read online

Page 2


  “Bella had long ears,” said Grace. “Her hair was a mix of several colors: gold, white, black, and brown. What color are Lhasa apsos?”

  “Lhasa apsos remind me of a doll I had when I was little,” Maya continued. “She had hair that puffed out of the top of her head. You could pull on it, make it long, and then brush it or style it. Once, I even cut my doll’s hair!”

  That’s weird, thought Kat. Is Maya ignoring Grace? It’s like she’s having a conversation with herself!

  Maya moved up to walk beside Kat, leaving Grace behind. She linked arms with Kat. “Murphy is doing so well on the leash!” she said. “He’s such a cute little guy. It will be so great to add him to our Puppy Collection!”

  Kat felt awkward. Grace was being left out. And they hadn’t really told her about the Puppy Collection. It was a special scrapbook they were creating. Kat and Maya drew pictures and wrote about each breed of puppy that they liked. They were going to include all the puppies they helped look after at Tails Up! too.

  Why had Maya mentioned the scrapbook? Kat wondered miserably. Was she trying to make Grace feel left out on purpose? Grace had probably seen them looking at it at school, but they hadn’t really told her about it. Should Kat explain to Grace what the Puppy Collection was or would Maya be angry?

  “Maya,” Kat said in a low voice. “Listen, about the Puppy Collection…”

  Just then they reached the park. Murphy stuck his nose in the air and sniffed. He began pulling on the leash excitedly. Maya cried out, “Yahoo! Here we are. Let’s run!”

  “Yes, come on, Grace!” Kat cried, making a point of including her new friend. “Let’s go!”

  The three girls took off across the wide open field. Kat laughed as the puppy bounded happily alongside her on his dainty paws.

  When they reached the playground on the other side, the girls stopped, panting and laughing. Grace bent down and patted the puppy.

  “Good boy, Murphy!” said Grace. The puppy looked up at her with his brown eyes and wagged his tail.

  “Doggy! Doggy!” A little girl was standing in the sandbox with several other toddlers, looking at Murphy. There were also several children on the slide and the swing set.

  The little girl waved her red plastic shovel. She began to run toward them. “Doggy! Doggy!”

  Murphy saw her coming and immediately crouched between Kat’s legs.

  “Want pet doggy! Want pet doggy!” the little girl cried.

  Before she could get too close, the little girl’s mother caught up to her and scooped her up. “No, honey. We have to ask before we pet a dog,” the mother said firmly. “Is it all right?” she asked Kat. “Can my daughter pet your dog?”

  “Murphy is nervous of new people,” said Kat. “But it’s okay to pet him. Just slowly put out your hand,” she told the little girl, “and let him sniff it. Then you can stroke him gently.”

  “Like this,” said the mother. She showed her daughter what to do, and then the little girl put out her hand for Murphy to sniff. Murphy was nervous at first. He put his head down low and cowered. But then, as the little girl waited patiently, he lifted his head and smelled her hand. He wagged his tail. But when she reached out to pet him, he pulled back, startled. His whole body was tense.

  “It’s okay, Murphy,” said Kat. “They aren’t going to hurt you.”

  The mother crouched down beside her daughter. She encouraged the little girl to hold out her hand again. Once more, Murphy sniffed the girl’s hand. This time, when she slowly reached out to pet his back, Murphy wagged his tail happily.

  “Tank you!” said the little girl. She gave a wave as she ran off back to the playground.

  “Yes, thank you.” The mother smiled and strode after her.

  “Why are shelties so afraid of people?” Grace wondered.

  “Don’t worry. Einstein will tell us.” Maya was teasing Kat. “Kat-Nip spends hours reading about dogs on the Internet. Her favorite book is Dog Breeds of the World. You’ve read it—what?—about twenty times?”

  Kat shrugged. “I know. I’m hopeless,” she admitted. Then she explained, “Some dogs are just a little more shy than others. Most shelties start out that way as puppies. They can be upset by noise or strangers. When they are shy or nervous, they might bark or run away. It’s important to socialize shelties when they’re still young. We need to help this little guy get to know lots of strangers. He’ll learn who he can trust and who is safe. He’ll be happier!” said Kat.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Maya said. “What if we take turns holding Murphy’s leash each afternoon? Then he’ll get used to all of us. He’ll learn to trust people.”

  “That makes sense,” Kat agreed. She turned to Grace. “Here you go, Grace. It’s your turn,” Kat said.

  Then she saw Maya frown.

  Grace’s face lit up as she took the leash. “Okay, come here, Murphy,” she said to the sheltie. She took a few steps. “Come with me.”

  But the puppy wouldn’t budge. He stared up at her with sad eyes. He wouldn’t move from between Kat’s legs.

  “Here’s a stick. Let’s throw it for Murphy to distract him,” Maya suggested. “And we can use it to teach him to fetch and to come when we call.” She waved the stick, showing it to Murphy. “Here we go! Ready, Murphy? Go get the stick!” She threw it a short distance.

  Instantly the puppy sprang forward and ran to the stick. The leash was a retractable one so he could run far and still be safe. Murphy grabbed the stick between his teeth. He growled and wrestled with it. Then he tossed it in the air.

  The girls laughed. “Such a fierce puppy!” teased Grace. “Okay, now come, Murphy,” she called. “Come to me!”

  Murphy looked at her, but he stayed where he was, chewing happily on the stick.

  “Murphy, come!” Grace called again. “Come here!”

  Now Murphy got up. But instead of coming to Grace, he grabbed the stick between his teeth and headed toward Kat. Grace pulled gently on the leash. “Here, Murphy!” she said again firmly. “Come to me, boy!”

  When Murphy felt the pull on his collar, he stopped. He sat and looked at Grace. He looked back at Kat, and then at Grace again.

  Maya clapped her hands together. “Oh, he is so adorable!”

  “Come, Murphy. Good pup, come here!” Grace called encouragingly. She slapped her hand on her knees.

  Murphy looked one more time at Kat, but then he headed toward Grace. When he reached the girl, he dropped onto her feet and resumed chewing the stick.

  “Good boy, Murphy!” Grace said, patting Murphy’s head.

  “Way to go, Grace,” said Maya, nodding.

  Grace threw the stick for Murphy four more times. On the third and fourth try, the puppy came back to her without even glancing at Kat.

  Then it was Maya’s turn to hold the leash. Murphy was uncertain at first. He looked at Kat, at Grace, and then at Maya. But this time he adapted more quickly. On the second throw, he came straight to Maya when she called. He even wagged his tail when she praised him.

  “Time for a break?” Kat asked. She pointed to the edge of the park. There was a hill with grassy slopes and a grove of trees on top. “Want to climb? There’s a great view from there.”

  The hilltop was one of Kat’s favorite places in the neighborhood. She liked to go there on weekends. Sometimes she sat looking out over the park and the town. Sometimes she walked around the woods on the top of the hill to the other side. She sat and looked out over the countryside. Wherever she was on the hilltop, she would dream about having her own puppy one day.

  Maya handed the leash to Kat. “Your turn.”

  “Murphy? What about you, boy? Think you can make it all the way to that hill and up to the top?” Kat asked.

  Murphy cocked his head. He wagged his tail. He smiled at Kat.

  Kat laughed. “That’s another trait of shelt
ies,” she pointed out. “I’ve read about it, and now I’ve seen it for myself. They really do smile!”

  Grace laughed. “Yes, he’s smiling!” she agreed.

  “Okay, here we go!” Kat cried. “Come on, Murphy!”

  The sheltie bounded forward and the girls followed. They ran all the way across the field to the hill. Then up they went, higher and higher.

  When they reached the top, the girls flopped down in the shade of the woods. Murphy lay beside Kat, panting. He licked her hand once, twice. She stroked his round belly.

  “I like it up here,” said Grace happily.

  “Me too,” agreed Maya.

  “Grace, I can see your house from here,” said Kat. “Maya, that’s where Grace lives.” She pointed to the street that bordered the park. “Grace, you’re so lucky to live right beside the park.”

  “I wish we’d been able to stay on our farm,” said Grace softly. “But since we couldn’t, it is nice to live beside a park. Bella would have liked it.”

  Grace’s family had recently moved to town so they could be closer to Grace’s grandparents. Just before they moved, Grace’s dog, Bella, had died.

  Kat wanted to hear more about Bella, but Murphy jumped up. He turned toward the trees and barked. His puppy voice didn’t sound very fierce, but he barked again and again.

  “What’s wrong, Murphy?” Kat stood up, holding tightly to Murphy’s leash. He pulled hard. He kept barking. “Do you hear someone? Is someone there?”

  “I don’t see anyone,” said Maya casually. She rolled onto her stomach. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “Murphy, calm down,” said Kat firmly. She couldn’t tell if the puppy was scared or excited. Maybe both.

  “What should we do?” Grace had scrambled to her feet. She looked nervously into the woods. Her arms were straight at her sides. Her hands were tight fists. “What if someone’s there? Once, when Bella and I were out…”

  “Seriously, Grace?” Maya said. She laughed. “You’re scared just because this sweet little guy is barking? Just calm down.”

  “First of all, I am calm.” Grace frowned at Maya. “Second, sometimes dogs sense things we can’t. They know when there’s danger.”

  “Oh, you’re the dog expert now, are you?” Maya said.

  “No, but I did actually own a dog,” Grace said defensively. “Did you?”

  Maya glared at Grace. Then she shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Kat’s heart was pounding. Her friends were fighting! Murphy was barking! What was going on?

  “Well, if this is such a big deal, let’s not just sit here,” said Maya. “Come on. Let’s find out what Murphy is worried about.”

  “Well, I’m not going in those woods,” said Grace firmly. She crossed her arms.

  “No kidding. I am so surprised,” Maya said dryly. “Kat?”

  Kat hesitated. She looked at Maya, and she looked at Grace. She felt caught in the middle.

  But when Murphy whined and looked up at her, Kat made up her mind. “We’ll be right back, Grace,” she said. “We’ll be okay.”

  Kat let Murphy lead the way. She held the leash tightly, and she and Maya followed the puppy into the forest. There wasn’t a path. They had to push their way through the tangled bushes and pine branches. It was difficult to walk. It was difficult to see.

  But Murphy seemed to know where he was going. He was still pulling, but he had stopped barking. He was wagging his tail.

  “What is it, Murphy?” Kat asked him again. “What are we looking for?”

  They were almost through the small woods and out the other side.

  Suddenly, the sheltie puppy stopped. He lay down, putting his chin on his paws.

  “Puppies sometimes do that when they meet an older dog,” said Kat. “But…”

  “Look! Right under that tree!” cried Maya, pointing.

  Kat looked at the pile of leaves and there, curled up tightly in a ball, was a tan cocker spaniel. She was whimpering sadly.

  “It’s a dog! Maybe it’s lost,” breathed Maya.

  “Well done, Murphy! Good boy. You’re a hero!” said Kat, giving Murphy a quick pat on the back.

  As the girls and Murphy hurried closer, the spaniel heard them. It sat up and faced them, wagging its tail. Its silky coat was long on its legs and body, almost touching the ground.

  “Oh, look. It’s an elderly dog. Its face is gray,” said Kat. “You poor thing. How did you get lost?”

  The spaniel looked at them with sad brown eyes. Its wide ears drooped.

  “It’s so sweet! I wonder how long it’s been here,” Maya exclaimed.

  Slowly the spaniel got to its feet. It trotted stiffly straight up to Murphy and gave the puppy a friendly “thank you” lick on the nose. Murphy wagged his tail happily.

  Maya crouched down. She put out her hand. “Come, come and say hi to me,” Maya invited.

  The spaniel smelled Maya’s hand. Then it leaned against her leg while Maya gently rubbed its neck. “It’s a cocker spaniel, right, Kat?”

  “I think so,” said Kat. “I think it’s an American cocker spaniel, not an English cocker spaniel. American cockers are a little smaller. Their skulls are rounder and their muzzles are shorter.”

  “I wonder who it belongs to,” Maya said. “It’s not even wearing a collar! No tags, no address, no phone number.” She looked into the cocker spaniel’s brown eyes. “What’s your name?” she asked. “Where did you come from?”

  The elderly dog only wagged its tail.

  “If it had come up the hill from the park side, we would have seen it,” said Kat. “It must have climbed the hill on this side. Let’s go right there, to the edge of the woods. Maybe we’ll see someone at the bottom of the hill searching for the poor thing.”

  “Okay,” said Maya. Then she spoke to the dog. “Would you mind if I picked you up?” Cautiously, Maya lifted the spaniel. It snuggled into her chest.

  The girls walked the short distance and came out of the woods. There were only three streets at the bottom of the hill. Beyond, the town ended and the countryside began.

  Right away, the spaniel gave a little woof. Murphy’s ears tilted forward.

  From far away came a woman’s voice. “Tawny! Tawny! Where are you, Tawny?”

  The spaniel gave a happy whine.

  There, at the bottom of the hill, was a tall, thin elderly woman leaning on a cane. She peered around her, looking here and there.

  “Are you Tawny?” Maya asked the dog. “Is that your owner?”

  The cocker spaniel wiggled excitedly and yipped again.

  “Tawny! Tawny!” the woman called, cupping her hand around her mouth. “Where are you, girl?”

  “Should I set her down?” Maya asked Kat.

  “Yes, I think so,” Kat replied. “The dog seems to know this woman. She must belong to her.”

  Maya set down the squirming dog. It trotted down the hill as fast as it could go. “Yip! Yip!” it barked.

  “Tawny, is that you?” the woman called. “You naughty girl! You come right here.”

  A few moments later, Tawny reached the bottom of the hill. She pressed herself against her owner’s legs. She yipped again.

  The girls waited for the woman to look up to see where Tawny had come from. They waited for the woman to wave a thank-you to them.

  But she didn’t.

  Instead she reached into her pocket. Tawny sat down nicely, and the woman gave her a treat.

  Still, the woman didn’t look up the hill. She bent down and slipped a collar around Tawny’s neck. She clipped on a leash. Then she slowly straightened up.

  Now, finally, she looked up, right at Kat and Maya. Kat smiled and waved.

  But the woman didn’t wave. She didn’t call out. She and the cocker spaniel headed away across the grass. Only Tawny looked back up
the hill and gave a last good-bye wag of her tail.

  Kat frowned. “That wasn’t very nice. We found that woman’s dog and returned it to her. And she didn’t say anything.”

  “Not even a wave,” said Maya.

  “Oh well.” Kat shrugged it off. “At least Tawny is safe and sound now.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost five thirty. Already time to take Murphy back to Tails Up!”

  Suddenly Kat remembered Grace, waiting for them on the other side of the woods. She glanced at Maya.

  “Maya, what’s going on with you and Grace? I know you don’t know her very well, but you said you’d try to be her friend.”

  Maya shrugged. “I said I’d try, and I have. I didn’t say it would work.”

  “Maya,” Kat complained. “How can you say you’ve tried? You’ve hardly spent any time with her!”

  Maya shrugged again. “No, but sometimes…you just know about a person.” She gave a little shake. “She just rubs me the wrong way.”

  Kat didn’t know what to say, so the girls made their way back through the woods in silence. When they reached the other side, Kat stopped short. She looked around. She couldn’t see Grace anywhere.

  “Where is she? Where’s Grace?” she asked. She shot Maya an angry look.

  But just then Grace stood up. “I’m right here,” she called out. She’d been sitting under a tree, waiting. “So what happened?”

  Kat was relieved that Grace was still there and was being friendly.

  She explained about Tawny as the three girls headed back to Tails Up! with Murphy. It was awkward. Maya didn’t say a word to Grace the whole way. Grace didn’t say a word to Maya.

  “Good-bye, sweet little Murphy. And thanks again for helping us find the lost cocker spaniel!” Kat told the sheltie pup. She put him in his kennel and promised him that they’d be back tomorrow.

  The girls walked together to Kat’s house, which was just up the street from Tails Up! But before they went in, Grace took Kat aside. “Are you sure you still want me to come for dinner?” she asked.