Princess (4 page)

Back at home, after Reading With Rover, Charles was too busy taking care of Princess all afternoon to think about anything else. But that night, lying in his bed with Princess snoring softly in her palace nearby, he remembered the look on Nathaniel’s face when the little boy first spotted the Yorkie. Nathaniel’s big smile had said it all.

Nathaniel had played with Princess for a while — right there on the library lawn. He had tossed her miniature pink tennis ball, and she had scampered after it, over and over. Nathaniel had laughed and laughed! Charles thought Nathaniel was like a different kid when he was around Princess. He didn’t seem shy at all.

And Princess loved Nathaniel, too. She had jumped right into his lap and licked his face, paying special attention to his nose.

Charles almost felt jealous as he watched Nathaniel and Princess play together. They seemed like they had been friends forever.

Now, in bed, Charles thought about it. And, all of a sudden, he had not just one but
two
really big, really great ideas. Charles’s first idea was: Maybe Nathaniel wasn’t afraid of dogs after all. Maybe it was just
big
dogs he was afraid of, like Zeke and Bowser. Maybe he would be happier reading to Princess.

And the second, really great idea was: Charles had heard Harry say that his aunt Maggie, Nathaniel’s mother, loved Yorkies. Maybe, just maybe, Nathaniel and his mom would turn out to be Princess’s perfect forever family!

As soon as he got up on Sunday morning, Charles called Aunt Amanda and told her both ideas. “Well,” she said, “as for the first part, I’ll
have to make a call to find out if it would be all right to bring Princess instead of Bowser next week. After all, she hasn’t been through the Reading With Rover training program. But since
I
have, and since Princess actually behaves pretty well as long as someone’s holding her and giving her attention, they’ll probably say it’s okay.”

“Great,” said Charles. “Then, when Nathaniel gets to know Princess a little better, maybe he and his mom will want to adopt her!” He still thought his second idea was the best one of all.

“I can’t help with that part,” Aunt Amanda said. “But maybe you should call Harry and ask if he thinks that Nathaniel’s mother might want to adopt a dog, before you get too carried away.”

Aunt Amanda found Harry’s phone number on a Reading With Rover contact list, and Charles called him right up. Charles explained about
bringing Princess for Nathaniel to read to, and Harry thought it was a great idea. “Excellent! I have a feeling Natty will really love that,” he said.

Then Charles took a deep breath and brought up his other great idea. He explained that he and his family were only fostering Princess, and that they were hoping to find her a forever home soon. If it worked out for Nathaniel to read to her, maybe Nathaniel’s mom would adopt the puppy! Then Nathaniel would have his very own dog at home, to read to whenever he wanted.

Also, Princess would be out of the Petersons’ hair. Which would be a good thing, considering how everybody in the family was very, very tired of Princess’s List. (Of course, Charles didn’t say any of that last part out loud to Harry.)

“Wait, Princess is up for adoption? Why didn’t you tell me earlier, when we were playing with her?” Harry sounded surprised.

“I didn’t really think of it until later,” Charles confessed. “But even if I had, I wouldn’t have said anything in front of Nathaniel. We have a rule in my family about our foster puppies. Mom says it’s not fair to ask kids if they’d like to adopt them — because they’ll get disappointed later if their parents say no. We always ask the parents first.” Charles took a breath. “So anyway, what about your aunt?”

“I don’t know,” said Harry. “It’s a great idea, but to tell you the truth I don’t think it’s likely to happen.” He sighed. “Did I ever tell you what my aunt does for a living? She’s a dog groomer! She works with dogs all day long, so she always says she doesn’t want one at home, too.” He paused. “But let me think about it. I might be able to come up with a way to convince her. I’ll call you back later if I do.”

Charles hung up, feeling frustrated. He looked down at Princess, who had been napping in his lap while he made the phone calls. “What are we
going to do with you?” he asked. Charles knew that Princess couldn’t really understand him, but she looked up at him with her black button eyes and he could guess just how she would answer:

Well, that’s a no-brainer! You’ll pat me! And feed me delicious things! And, naturally, give me lots and lots of attention.

For the next few hours, Charles tried to forget about the Princess problem. Hopefully, Harry would come up with an idea. But meanwhile, Charles just wanted to have a little fun with Princess, instead of worrying about finding her a home.

Right after breakfast, Charles lay on the living room floor and read the Sunday funnies to Buddy and Princess. Buddy lay quietly and listened, his eyes on Charles’s face. But Princess kept barking and putting her paw on the newspaper.

Not that one! This one!

Charles laughed and patted Princess’s little silky head. “Okay, I guess you don’t like
Blondie.
How about
Buckles?
He’s a funny dog.”

Later, Charles and the Bean ran around in the backyard with both puppies, teaching Buddy and Princess how to play tag. Princess was
great
at being “it.” She dashed around, chasing the others into every corner of the backyard.

Finally, when both puppies were tuckered out, Charles sat down to let them both take a nap on his lap. The Bean leaned against Charles, too, drowsily patting first Princess, then Buddy.

A little while later, Mom called from inside, “Charles, you have a phone call!”

Charles nudged the Bean awake but the puppies stayed sound asleep. He carried sleepy Princess and sleepy Buddy into the kitchen with him. Princess was light as a feather, but Buddy
was almost getting too big to carry easily. Charles handed both puppies to his mother and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Charles, it’s Harry,” said the voice on the other end. “I think I have a plan!”

Harry’s plan was this: He thought that if his aunt could just see how much Nathaniel and Princess already loved each other, she would be happy to adopt the puppy. Or, as Harry put it, “It would be a done deal!” All they had to do, said Harry, was get his aunt to show up at the library for that week’s Reading With Rover session. There, she would see Princess and Nathaniel in action. The rest would “totally be history!”

Charles thought the plan sounded good. He always loved having a plan. Especially a plan that involved some secrecy and plotting, like this one would. “But how will we get your aunt to come to the library?” Charles asked. “I thought she was busy on Saturdays.”

“I’ve got an idea for that, too,” Harry said. “Did you know that the Reading With Rover program is having a special day this Saturday? They want parents to come and see their child reading to a dog. They’ll watch from that balcony above the children’s room, so they don’t disrupt the program. You know the place I mean?”

“Sure.” Charles had leaned over that balcony many times, looking down on the people below. It was always fun to watch people when they didn’t know they were being watched.

“So I’ll make sure Aunt Maggie comes. Then, afterwards, she can come down and say hello to Nathaniel and Princess,” Harry said. “What do you think?”

“Sounds great,” said Charles. “There’s just one thing I should tell you —” He was about to explain to Harry about the List, and about how spoiled Princess was. What if Harry’s aunt Maggie
did
think Princess was wonderful, and
did
want to adopt her? He had to be honest about the List.

But before Charles could bring up the subject, Harry interrupted. “Okay, then. I gotta run!” he said. “See you Saturday!”

Saturday took a long, long time to arrive. In fact, Charles could not remember a week that seemed to last as long as that one.

Taking care of Princess was a full-time job, and Charles had to do most of the work, except for when he was at school. Mom and Dad agreed to help out during those hours. But Lizzie flat-out refused to follow the List, so Charles was on his own the rest of the time. This foster puppy was Charles’s responsibility and Charles’s alone.

By the time Saturday rolled around again, Princess was just as demanding as ever. In fact, she refused to eat her breakfast until Charles had mashed her Marvelous Morsels three times — even though he could not see a single lump after the
first
time he’d mashed the stinky stuff. Charles loved Princess, he really did. But he was really
hoping that Harry’s aunt Maggie would adopt her. And he was really starting to worry that she wouldn’t — at least, not once she found out how spoiled Princess was.

But then Saturday finally arrived, and Charles forgot his worries when he and Aunt Amanda arrived at the library. Harry and Nathaniel drove up just as Charles was getting Princess out of the back of the van. Nathaniel unbuckled his seat belt and practically jumped out of Harry’s car. “Wow! You brought her!” he yelled, slamming the door behind him. “Yay!” He ran over to Charles. “Harry said you were going to, but I thought he might be teasing.”

Nathaniel was smiling and talking fast. This was a different kid from the shy boy Charles had met a couple weeks ago. He wasn’t hiding behind Harry’s leg
now!
“Nope, not teasing!” he said. “We brought her just for you to read to. How about that?” He took Princess out of her pink palace and gave her a little hug. Then he put her down on
the ground and handed her leash to Nathaniel. “Want to walk her inside?”

Princess stood on her hind legs, put her little paws on Nathaniel’s leg, and gave a little bark.

Hurray, it’s you again! The one who knows how special I am. Excellent! I hope you’re ready to give me lots of attention!

Nathaniel picked Princess up and gave her a hug and a kiss. Then he carefully put her down, wrapped her leash around his fist, and started walking toward the library. Harry, Zeke, Aunt Amanda, and Charles followed him. “All right!” Harry said to Charles, slapping him five as they walked. “Princess is here. Step one is completed!”

“What about step two? Is your aunt coming?” Charles asked.

Harry nodded. “She’ll be here!”

“There’s just one thing I didn’t tell you yet,” Charles began.

But they had arrived at the library door. Harry ran ahead to pull it open for Nathaniel and Princess before Charles got to mention the List.

Inside, Nathaniel headed straight for a quiet corner, away from all the other readers and their dogs. He settled right in with Princess on his lap, and Aunt Amanda handed him a book.
“Three Stories to Read to Your Dog,”
Nathaniel said, reading the title slowly. “Perfect!” He opened the book.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry caught Charles’s eye from across the room and pointed to the balcony. “She’s here!” he mouthed.

Charles looked up to see a pretty black-haired woman who looked a lot like Nathaniel. She was leaning on the railing near some other parents, watching Nathaniel read to Princess. And she was smiling.

When it was time for the day’s session to end, Nathaniel didn’t want to quit. But Harry went over and whispered something in Nathaniel’s ear. Nathaniel looked up toward the balcony. “Mom! Mom!” he yelled. “Did you see? Did you see me reading to Princess?”

That night at home, Charles had just finished feeding Princess her dinner when the phone rang. It was Nathaniel’s mother, calling to say how much she’d enjoyed watching Nathaniel read to Princess. “Seeing that dog and Nathaniel together was amazing!” she said to Charles. “Where did my shy little boy go? She’s
great
for him.”

“So —” Charles was almost afraid to ask. “Did Harry tell you Princess is available for adoption?”

“He did — and I’m definitely thinking about making Princess a part of our family,” said Maggie. “I know Nathaniel would love that, but I need a little more time to decide if I really have the energy to take care of my own dog after
dealing with everybody else’s spoiled darlings all day at my grooming shop.”

Charles winced. Maybe this was not the best moment to bring up the List. But Maggie kept talking.

“Anyway, I have some thinking to do. But if you bring her to the shop tomorrow, I’ll make a decision by then.”

She was talking so fast and so excitedly that Charles could not get one single word in. Otherwise, he
definitely
would have gotten around to telling her about the List. At least, he
probably
would have. Wouldn’t he?

A bell jingled as Charles and Harry walked through the door and into the front room of Maggie’s Wash and Wag the next morning. Harry’s aunt’s grooming shop was directly behind her house, connected by a walkway. When Harry and Charles arrived, a lot of dogs started barking — all different barks, from high, quick barks to deep, low woofs.

Charles looked around and took a deep breath of sweet, warm air. “It smells great in here!” he said. “Just like Hair To —” He stopped himself. Maybe he didn’t want Harry to know that he got his hair cut at a beauty salon.

“Just like Hair Today, right?” Harry grinned. “That’s exactly what I always think!”

“You mean, you get your hair cut there?” Charles asked.

Harry nodded. “By Danielle. She’s the best! I’ve been going to her for years.”

“Me, too!” Charles said. He couldn’t believe it.

“Wasn’t it a bummer when she moved out of Littleton?” Harry asked. “But it’s worth driving all the way to Springfield for her. Hey! Maybe next time we should make our appointments at the same time, and you can drive over with me!”

Charles laughed. “That would be awesome!” Charles loved riding in Harry’s red convertible. That morning’s ten-minute drive from his house to Maggie’s grooming shop had not been nearly long enough.

Charles hitched Princess’s pink palace higher up in his arms. “So, this is your aunt’s shop,” he said, looking around. They were in the waiting room, which was decorated with pictures of dogs of every breed. Lizzie would have loved it. “It’s a cool place.”

“It sure is,” Harry agreed. “I’ve spent many, many Saturdays and after-school hours here helping my aunt.” He opened a door marked
EMPLOYEES ONLY
and called, “Aunt Maggie! We’re here!”

“Come on in!” called Harry’s aunt. “I’m in the middle of a poodle!”

Charles giggled. That was a funny picture. But he knew what she meant: that she was in the middle of
grooming
a poodle.

Charles followed Harry into the grooming room. The good smell was even stronger in there, and the air was damp. Charles saw high tables where dogs could stand for their haircuts. He saw rolling carts full of different types of scissors, buzzers, and trimmers. He saw spools of ribbon in every color, for putting the finishing touch on dogs that were ready to go home. And he saw Harry’s aunt Maggie, standing at a waist-high tub, working a thick lather of white suds through the brown curls of a very wet dog.

“Almost done!” Maggie said. “One quick rinse” — she aimed a sprayer at the dog’s side — “and Hershey here will be ready to go under the dryers.” She rinsed all the lather out of the dog’s coat. Then she helped him climb out of the tub, toweled him off, led him down a ramp, and — standing back for a moment while the poodle shook off, spraying everything in sight with water — finally helped him into a metal dog crate that had a big blue blower attached to it. She flipped a switch and the blower went on with a whoosh. “See you in a few hours, Hershey!” she said, blowing him a kiss. “Good boy!”

She turned to Charles and Harry, wiping some suds off the end of her nose. “Hey!” she said. “You brought her! Great.” She came over and bent down to peer into the palace. “Hello there, little one! You sure are adorable.”

Inside the palace, Princess wagged her little tail as fast as it could go. She sniffed the air excitedly.

Yes, you’re right — I am adorable! It smells just like home in here. And look at all those ribbons! I like it already.

Maggie straightened up. “I’ve given it a lot of thought,” she said. “And I’ve talked it over with Nathaniel. We’ve decided that we would definitely like to make Princess a part of our family.”

Charles gulped. He had been dreading this moment for twenty-four hours now, including many hours in the middle of the night when he was too worried to sleep. He really was going to have to tell Harry’s aunt Maggie about the List. Actually, he was going to have to
show
it to her. He dug into his pocket for the folded, crumpled stack of paper. “The thing is,” he began.

“I am so excited!” Maggie interrupted. “It’s been ages since I owned a dog. Did I tell you that I had a Yorkie when I was a little girl? Her name was Bitsy, and she was
so
cute and
so
much fun. Even though I have resisted getting a dog for
years, I guess I’ve always really wanted another Yorkie.”

“Was Bitsy sp —” Charles wondered if Bitsy was the kind of dog who had a List.

But Maggie was still talking. “And Nathaniel — well, he’s beside himself, of course. He has fallen head over heels for that puppy. Last night he went through his whole bookshelf, picking out books to read to her.”

“That’s great,” said Charles. “But —”

“I was thinking that, for today,” Maggie said, turning away to pull a rolling table toward herself, “I’d get Princess used to the shop a little, since she’ll be spending her days here with me. And since Yorkies need to be groomed regularly, I thought I’d get her used to
that
idea, too. She’s too young for a real grooming, but I’ll stand her up on the table and give her a tiny trim. Dogs do much better at the groomers if they’re used to the routine.” She patted the table. “So, let’s get her out of her carrier!”

But Charles put the pink palace down. “Wait! I have to tell you something!” he burst out in a rush, before Maggie could say another word.

Harry and Maggie froze. They stared at Charles.

“Oh,” said Maggie. “Okay.” She raised her eyebrows. “What is it?”

Charles gulped again. He held up a crumpled wad of paper: Princess’s List. “See this?” he said. “It’s the List, like, with a capital L.” He closed his eyes and opened them again. “A list of all the special ways you have to take care of Princess.”

Maggie laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first List I’ve seen,” she said. “Lots of people give me Lists when they drop off their dogs. What Popsy
must
have for lunch, or why Topsy
must
have a certain kind of music playing in the shop.”

“But Princess’s List is really long,” said Charles. “The thing is, she’s really, really spoiled.” There. He’d said it. Now Maggie would say she didn’t
have time for a spoiled dog, and that would be that.

Maggie’s face got serious for a moment. “I don’t have time for a spoiled dog,” Maggie said. Then she saw Charles’s worried expression, and she laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll still take her. I know
exactly
how to get spoiled dogs
un
spoiled. I’ve had plenty of practice at it in this job. It just takes a little time and training. And I’m happy to do it, for Nathaniel, and for Princess — and for me.”

“Nathaniel!” she called through the door that led to the house. “Princess is here!” She reached down to open the door to Princess’s pink palace. “Come on out, little girl!” she said. “You’re home!”

Nathaniel came running in just as Princess bounced out of her palace. The tiny puppy ran right into the little boy’s arms, and Maggie smiled down at both of them. Charles smiled, too. The tiny Yorkie had definitely found her perfect forever family.