Scout Read Online Free Page B

cabinet and pulled out a bag of flour and a box of sugar. Last year her mom had taught Charles and Lizzie her secret cookie recipe, and Lizzie had permission to bake all by herself. Charles was allowed to mix dough, but he was still too young to turn on the oven if Mom wasn’t around. “Who cares what Daphne Drake thinks?”
    “I sure don’t. Scout!” said Maria, laughing as she pulled the puppy out of the cabinet where the cookie sheets were stored. “She’s so curious. She just wants to learn about
everything
.”
    Scout wriggled in Maria’s arms. She
was
curious. Of course she was! It was a big world, and she was only a little puppy. But that wasn’t going to keep her from exploring.
    Meanwhile, Buddy was chasing a crumpled-up piece of paper around the kitchen. He would bat it away, then run after it, tumbling over his ownpaws. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper in his mouth and shook it — so hard that he fell over. He rolled onto his back and chewed on his prize until Lizzie took it away and threw it in the trash can.
    “No eating paper, Buddy!” Lizzie said patiently. These days, Buddy seemed to want to taste everything he came across. Maybe it was because he had lost some baby teeth and his adult teeth were coming in.
    Buddy looked up at Lizzie. He knew she wasn’t really mad at him — but he also knew she wasn’t going to give him back the paper. He scrambled to his feet and ran off to find something else to chew on.
    “Okay, I think we have all the ingredients. Let’s check the recipe and make sure.” Lizzie looked over the things they had laid out on the kitchen counter: flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract,chocolate chips, cookie sheets, a mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons.
    “Where is the recipe?” Maria asked.
    Lizzie looked around for the handwritten sheet her mother had left out. It was nowhere to be seen. Then she remembered the paper Buddy had been playing with. “Buddy!” she said. “Was that our recipe?”
    Buddy looked up at her with a guilty expression on his face. His tail wagged uncertainly. He plopped down on his pudgy behind and held up one paw.
    Lizzie sounded mad. Had he done something wrong?
    She went back to the trash can and pulled out the crumpled, chewed-up piece of paper. She smoothed it out. Sure enough, it was the cookie recipe. “You silly!” Lizzie shook a finger at Buddy,but she was laughing. Baking cookies was fun. Baking cookies with two puppies in the house was even
more
fun.
    Yay! Buddy knew everything was okay now. Lizzie was laughing again.
    Lizzie read the recipe over. “I think the only thing we forgot is baking soda.” She went over to the cabinet to find some. Scout jumped up to follow her. “Baking powder — no, that’s not it,” Lizzie muttered as she checked the labels. “Here it is!” She pulled out a small yellow box.
    Maria had been checking the recipe. “What about extra butter for greasing the pan?” she asked.
    Buddy was busy with something under the table, but now his head popped up. Had he heard his name?
    “I said
butter,”
Maria said, laughing. “Not Buddy.”
    Buddy went back to whatever it was he was playing with. Lizzie got some more butter out of the fridge, and the girls began to measure ingredients.
    “Okay, last thing we add is the chips.” Lizzie shook out her arm. Stirring the stiff batter was hard work. “Where are they?” She looked over the counter, which was now a big mess. Used measuring cups, dabs of butter, and spilled flour and sugar were all in a jumble.
    Maria looked, too. “I don’t see them.”
    Just then, Scout began to bark. She ran under the table and pulled something away from Buddy. It was the bag of chocolate chips!
    “Oh, no!” Lizzie said. “Chocolate can make dogs really, really sick!” She reached down and gently took the package out of Scout’s mouth. “Phew,” Lizzie said after she’d taken a good look. “He didn’t get it open yet. It’s just a little