Touchdown for Tommy Read Online Free Page A

Mr. Powell arrived home each night about six-thirty. Tonight, the
     minutes just dragged.
    Finally the car drove into the garage. Mr. Powell was home! And then the door opened, and Mr. Powell came into the house.
    Both Betty and Tommy looked at him, and he looked at them. But he had nothing with him. His hands were empty.

8
    T ommy turned to Mrs. Powell. Her eyes met his. They had just a touch of a smile in them.
    “Mom said you had a surprise for Tommy,” said Betty softly.
    Mr. Powell’s brows arched. “She did? Well, now —”
    Suddenly a soft whimper sounded just outside of the door. The room was silent for a long second. The sound came again.
    Tommy rushed to the door and opened it. He caught his breath. Right on the top stepwas the cutest little black-and-white cocker spaniel he had ever seen!
    “A puppy!” cried Tommy. “A little cocker spaniel puppy!”
    The pup’s large brown eyes rolled up sadly at Tommy. His long, curly-furred ears quivered. Tommy picked the pup up in his
     arms and brought him into the house.
    Betty screamed with surprise. “Let me hold him!” she cried, stretching out her arms. “Let me hold him! Ple-e-ase!”
    “Wait a minute,” said Tommy. “I just got him.”
    The pup was soft and warm against him. He licked Tommy’s cheek. Tommy laughed. Boy! A dog! He had never had a pet before.
     And this one was his. His!
    “Oh, please!” Betty pleaded again. “Let me hold him! Or is it a ‘her,’ Daddy?”
    “It’s a ‘he,’” said Mr. Powell, chuckling.
    “Betty,” said Mrs. Powell gently, “I’m surprised.You always said that you didn’t care for dogs. We wanted to get you one a long time ago.”
    Betty blinked a few times and clasped her hands together in front of her. “I guess I never knew they were so cute,” she said.
    Tommy grinned. He held the puppy out to her. “Here. Hold him,” he said.
    Betty took him and held him close. The pup looked around with his big sad eyes and blinked.
    Mr. Powell pulled thoughtfully on his ear. “I probably should have brought home two dogs,” he said.
    “No. One is enough,” said Tommy, smiling. “This one could belong to both of us — Betty and me.”
    “That’s right!” cried Betty. “We both can have him!”
    Tommy smiled. “We can take turns feeding him.”
    “Sure we can,” exclaimed Betty happily. “We’ll have to buy him puppy food and make a bed for him to sleep on.”
    “You’ll have to name him, too,” said Mrs. Powell.
    “That’s right!” said Betty. “Let’s call him — let’s see — Wag!”
    “How about letting Tommy suggest a name for him?” said Mr. Powell.
    Tommy thought a while. He looked at the pup’s stubby tail. It was wagging back and forth furiously. Tommy grinned. “I think
     Wag is perfect for him!” he said.
    “Okay. We’ll name him Wag,” said Mr. Powell.
    Wag wiggled his long ears and turned his sad-looking eyes on Tommy.
    Tommy smiled and hugged him very hard.

9
    M r. Powell found a box in the basement. Mrs. Powell folded an old quilt, placed it inside the box, and put the box in a corner
     of the kitchen.
    “During these fall and winter months we’ll keep Wag inside,” she said. You could tell by the warmth in her voice that she
     loved the little fellow, too.
    The words echoed and re-echoed in Tommy’s ears. These fall and winter months? What did she mean by that?
    Was
he
going to stay with them? Maybethe Powells knew. Maybe Mrs. Kilbourne knew. But
he
didn’t know.
    If he could only make the Powells like him. Really like him, so they wouldn’t want him to go away.
    “Mom,” Betty said after she came home from school that following Monday, “can I stop at Kathy’s house tomorrow after school?”
    “Did she ask you?” asked Mrs. Powell.
    “Of course! She said that her mother said it was all right. She wants me to stay for supper, and then her mother will drive
     me home later.
She
suggested it. Oh, can I go, Mom? I mean
may
I?”
    Mrs. Powell shrugged.