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Lizzie announced. She rubbed Scout’s fuzzy, floppy ears and kissed the top of her head.
    “Ap-
what
?” Charles asked.
    “Aptitude,” Lizzie said again. “It means she has some natural talents that show she could be a good search-and-rescue dog.”
    “What about Buddy?” Charles asked. He picked up Buddy’s paw and waved it in the air. “I want to be a search-and-rescue dog, too!” Charles said, in a squeaky voice that was supposed to be Buddy’s.
    Lizzie reached over to pet Buddy. “Maybe someday,” she said. “But I think you’re best just as our sweet Buddy-boy.”
    “If you ask me, police dogs are cooler,” Sammy said. “I thought Thor was awesome. Did you see the teeth on that dog? I bet the bad guys are really scared of him!”
    Lizzie shrugged. “I think Casey’s job is more fun,” she said. “Thor spends his whole day in the police car, but Casey gets to go all over the country when somebody needs her help.”
    “True,” Maria agreed. “She’s a real hero.”
    “That’s why I want our class to sponsor her! She can be
our
class mascot,” Lizzie said. “That was my
other
great idea.”
    “You mean, the way that class at the high school sponsors Thor?” Maria asked.
    “Exactly!” said Lizzie. “And when Scout grows up and becomes a search-and-rescue dog, maybe our class can sponsor her, too!” She put Scout downand jumped to her feet. “I have it all figured out,” she said, pacing up and down the deck. Scout followed behind her, padding along on her too-big puppy feet.
    “We can write e-mails to Casey, so it’ll be like a language arts project. Mrs. Abeson will love that. And instead of just buying her treats and toys, like that class does for Thor, we’ll raise money to buy Casey things she really
needs,
like, I don’t know, maybe booties for her paws. Plus, we can get advice from Meg and Casey on how to train Scout.” Lizzie stopped for a breath.
    “Maybe we can have a bake sale at school,” said Maria, getting into the idea. “That’s a great way to raise money.”
    Lizzie and Maria talked about their idea for the rest of the weekend as they played with the puppies. And at morning meeting on Monday, they had no trouble convincing the rest of the class to sponsor Casey. Lizzie had gotten Meg’se-mail address from her dad, and she and Maria wrote a note during recess that very day. The note really went to Meg, but it was fun to pretend to write to Casey.
    To: Casey
    From: Mrs. Abeson’s class
    Re: Sponsoring you!
    Dear Casey,
    Thank you for visiting our school last week. We think you are the greatest! We would like you to be our class mascot and help us with Scout’s training. Will you send us a picture of yourself? Also, tell us if there is anything you need, and we will raise the money to get it for you.
    Your friends,
    Mrs. Abeson’s class
    They heard back the very same day!
    To: Mrs. Abeson’s class
    From: Casey
    Re: Wow!
    Dear Class,
    I would be honored to be your mascot and happy to help with Scout’s training. Attached is a picture of me in my vest. I hope you like it! If you really want to get me something I need, maybe you could buy me a flotation vest for water rescues. Lots of my SAR (search-and-rescue) friends have them, and they are really cool. Thanks a million!
    Love and arfs from your mascot,
    Casey

CHAPTER SEVEN
    During recess the next day, Lizzie and Maria made posters for the bake sale. At lunchtime, they went around sticking them up. By the end of the day, every kid in school knew that Mrs. Abeson’s class had a new mascot.
    Lizzie was putting up a poster near the nurse’s office when Daphne’s class passed on their way to the library. “Copycats,” Daphne said. “You got that idea from my uncle.”
    Lizzie just shrugged.
    “So what if Daphne thinks we copied?” she asked Maria later that afternoon. They were in the kitchen at Lizzie’s house, getting ready to make chocolate chip cookies for the bake sale.
    Lizzie rummaged around in a