Doggone It! Read Online Free Page B

always yelling at him.”
    “But not like this,” Katie explained. “She said if she ever caught Pepper on her lawn again, she would call the dog catcher!”
    “Wow,” Suzanne said. “That is really bad.”
    “I know,” Katie agreed. “Mrs. Derkman told my mother to build a fence around our yard. That way, she could be sure Pepper would never get into her garden again.”
    “What did your mom say?”
    “She told Mrs. Derkman we couldn’t afford to do that,” Katie said. “But Mrs. Derkman didn’t care.”
    “So what are you going to do?” Suzanne asked. “Can you keep Pepper from eating her vegetables?”
    Katie frowned. Even her best friend believed Pepper was the veggie thief. “It isn’t Pepper.”
    Suzanne sighed. “Katie, I know you love Pepper and all, but maybe he is eating them. You said Mrs. Derkman caught him right in the yard. And he did break her troll.”

    “That wasn’t his fault,” Katie said. “He was chasing this really mean squirrel.”
    Suzanne laughed. “Come on, Katie, are you saying it was the squirrel’s fault?”
    “Yes!” Katie exclaimed. “You don’t know this squirrel. He’s a tease. He laughs at Pepper and throws acorns at him, and ... ” Katie stopped in the middle of her sentence. She knew she was telling the truth.
    She also knew Suzanne would never believe her.
    “Anyway, Pepper isn’t the one eating her vegetables,” Katie continued. “It’s this little white puppy. I saw her.”
    “Did someone on your block get a puppy?” Suzanne asked excitedly.
    “No. I think she’s a stray. And you can bet if Mrs. Derkman sees the puppy on her lawn, she’s going to call the dog catcher.”
    “Oh, the poor puppy,” Suzanne said.

    “I’m telling you, Suzanne, I’ve never known anyone who hates dogs so much,” Katie added. “Mrs. Derkman hates all animals,” Suzanne said. “She doesn’t go near Speedy’s cage since he got loose that time.” Katie giggled to herself. She knew all about that. After all, she’d been Speedy that morning. Katie would never forget the look of fear in Mrs. Derkman’s eyes when she saw the class hamster running across the floor.
    “I’ll bet Mrs. Derkman never had a pet when she was growing up,” Suzanne continued. “No one who ever had a pet could hate animals this much.”
    “Suzanne, you’re a genius!” Katie exclaimed suddenly.
    “I know,” Suzanne agreed. Then she stopped for a minute. “Why am I genius?” she asked curiously.
    “You’ve just solved Pepper’s problem.”
    “I have?” Suzanne asked.
    “Yes,” Katie said. “But it’s going to take a lot of work. Will you help me?”
    “Sure,” Suzanne agreed. “What do you want me to do?”
    “The first thing you need to do is talk your mom into letting us use your basement for a few days.” Katie told her. “We need to get started right away.”

Chapter 12
    “Hi, girls,” Mrs. Carew said, as Katie and Suzanne ran into Katie’s house after school the next day. “Do you want a snack?”
    “No thanks, Mom. We’ve got too much to do,” Katie answered.
    Mrs. Carew shrugged. “Okay, I have some bills to pay anyway. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
    Katie waited until her mother was all the way upstairs before she started executing her plan.
    “Get the peanut butter from the refrigerator, Suzanne?” Katie asked, finally.
    “I thought we didn’t have time for a snack,” Suzanne answered.
    “It’s not for us.” Katie bent down and picked up one of Pepper’s toy bones.
    Pepper sat up tall, waiting. He thought Katie was going to play fetch with him.
    No such luck.
    “Sorry, boy,” Katie told him. “I need to borrow this for someone else.”
    Katie covered both ends of the bone with peanut butter. Then she stuffed a few of Pepper’s treats in her pocket. “Okay, let’s go in the backyard,” she told Suzanne.
    “What are we going to do out there?” Suzanne asked.
    Katie smiled. “You’ll see.”
    Katie walked outside and