The Pup Who Cried Wolf Read Online Free Page A

bone-building snoozes in between rest breaks before Mona finally stops the car at a motel. After we get Hector and Glory and Mona’s suitcase stashed away in the room, it’s still light out. So Mona and I go off to find the nearest park in this small town.
    I charge against the leash all the way to the park. I’m not going to miss a single opportunity to increase my strength. Mona yanks my leash back a hundred times, but I’m unstoppable. I barkand growl at all the cats. We meet up with a few dogs.
    There is a ridiculous-looking pretty boy with long hair. Afghan hound, I think they call his breed. He tries to sniff me up under the tail, and I spin around on him so quick he bumps his little walnut brain against his paper skull.
    The boxer and the yellow Lab we cross paths with get a taste of some serious practice—barking and growling. Their owners give Mona dirty looks, and they pass us on the other edge of the sidewalk. After that, Mona keeps me on a pretty short tether, which is too bad because we meet a puffy little white cutie, and I don’t get a chance to even touch noses. I can tell she wanted to, though.
    As soon as we arrive at the park, Mona unclips my leash and I begin some serious training. My extrasensitive nose picks up the scent of a wild creature. Possibly large. Possibly very dangerous. Possibly with a great big rack of horns, and giant hooves.
    Who knows what kind of critters they let run around in these small-town parks? I’m thinkingthere could be a water buffalo loose in the park. Luckily I’m just the dog to handle the situation.
    I finally track him down, and when he sees me on his trail, he jumps into the branches of an oak tree. It turns out to be a squirrel. What a trickster! I put the fear of dog into him for impersonating a buffalo. He won’t be trying that again for a while.
    Now that I’ve made sure the park is safe for Mona, it’s time for my strength and endurance training. Everyone knows that wolves hunt by running their prey into the ground, and I’m determined to be in tip-top shape when I’m called on to lead the pack. Of course, I’ll be respectful of the leader, but it won’t take long for the pack to think maybe they should consider me for the job of top banana.
    I gallop in a large circle around Mona. I figure fifteen laps will track down the most stubborn elk.
    Five laps and I’m not one bit tired.
    Seven laps and still running strong.
    Seven and a half laps … whew!
    I sink down in a heap. Time to refigure my calculations. Six laps’ worth of running should be all I need to catch even the most stubborn elk. Mona comes and picks me up. I snuggle into her arms and give her a grateful lick.

    She says some very nice things to me. It seems she was very impressed. She carries me for a block or so on the way back to the motel. Even wolves in tip-top shape need some recovery time after a long, hard run.

7
The Call of the Pizza
    Back at the motel, as soon as Mona steps into the shower, Glory starts complaining. “I can’t understand why people want to go camping.” She fluffs up her feathers. “Somebody tell me why you would go and build a nice big city with air-conditioning and bright lights and flavors from all over the world, and then choose to drive thousands of miles to sleep on the ground and have pine needles in your oatmeal.”
    â€œIt’s the call of the wild,” I tell her. “Of all the creatures that live in this family, you shouldunderstand the best. You’re the only one who has ever been wild.”
    â€œWhat about the call of the pizza? What about the call of the warm bed?” Glory steps up on the top bar of her cage and swings upside down, hanging by her toes. “Tell me what is so great about not knowing where your next meal is going to come from.” She starts swinging back and forth, still upside down. “And tell me what’s so great about shivering in