Flash Read Online Free Page A

four children ran toward the dog. Flash ran even faster. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground.
    Then Becky remembered the way Charles had gotten the dog to follow them. “He’ll
never
come if we chase him,” she said. “We have to run the
other
way, so he’s chasing us.”
    “Herding
us, you mean!” said Lizzie, her eyes gleaming. “That’s what border collies do on farms! They just know how to keep a bunch of sheep together. Farmers use them to move sheep from one place to another.” Lizzie jogged away from Flash and toward the barn, waving the others along with her. Sure enough, Flash stopped in histracks for a moment, then turned and began to chase them.
    They were all laughing so hard that they didn’t hear the back door open. “Charles! Lizzie!” called Mom. “What on earth are you all doing?” Mom was standing on the back porch, holding the Bean in her arms.
    “Oops,” said Charles.

CHAPTER SIX
    “Let us handle this!” Stephanie hissed to Becky as they headed toward the house to face the grown-ups. Flash trotted behind them, herding them right up to the doorstep.
    “She’s right,” Lizzie whispered to Charles. “They’ll listen to us. We’re older.”
    Charles and Becky looked at each other with raised eyebrows. “What did I tell you?” Charles was saying, without any words. Becky nodded. The big sisters had taken over.
    Now Aunt Abigail had joined Mom. “Stephanie, what’s going on?” she asked. “Where did that dog come from?” Flash was poking his nose into the kitchen.
    Flash was curious. There were good smells in here!
    “Can he come in?” Stephanie asked. “This is Flash. Somebody just left him here!”
    Charles saw Aunt Abigail’s face soften. “You mean, he was abandoned? How awful! I’ve heard that sometimes people leave dogs near farms when they don’t want them anymore.”
    “Abandoned” meant that a dog’s owners left it all alone, so the dog had to take care of itself. That wasn’t
exactly
what had happened, but nobody corrected Aunt Abigail. “He must be hungry,” she went on.
    Charles thought of all the leftovers Flash had eaten, plus the puppy food. “Well …” he began. Then Lizzie pinched him. Hard. He closed his mouth.
    Aunt Abigail sighed. “All right,” she said. “Let him in. But — will he get along with Buddy and the Bean?”
    Charles happened to know that Buddy couldn’t
wait
to play with Flash. And now that Flash felt more at home, he’d probably enjoy Buddy, too.
    “I think Buddy and Flash will be fine together,” Lizzie said. “But maybe you should keep holding the Bean for now. We don’t know how Flash will behave around little kids.”
    They brought Flash into the kitchen, closing the doors to keep him from running through the house.
    “Well, well, well,” said Dad, getting up from the table with a big smile. “Who’s this?” He knelt down to say hello to Flash.
    Uncle Stephen didn’t seem as excited. He looked over his glasses at Flash, frowning. “And who does it belong to?” he asked.
    “We don’t know,” Charles said honestly. “But we think he needs a home.”
    “What do you think, Dad?” Stephanie asked. “Could we keep him? Please?” She had her armsaround Flash’s neck. Charles could tell that she had really fallen in love with the black-and-white pup. And Flash seemed to like her, too.
    This girl was so nice! Flash thought he could sit here next to her forever — especially in this warm, cozy room. As long as he also got to run and chase and play, that is.
    “Out of the question,” said Uncle Stephen, turning back to his newspaper. “We’re just getting settled here.”
    Stephanie turned to Aunt Abigail. “Mom?” she asked.
    Aunt Abigail was shaking her head. “I don’t know, Steph. This dog has a
lot
of energy. I saw him zooming around the backyard, chasing after you all. I’m not sure we can keep him busy enough.”
    Uncle Stephen was nodding. “A dog like this belongs on a real farm, like