Bandit Read Online Free PDF Page B

morning, and Bandit would have his operation first thing Monday.
    Neither of the girls wanted to talk about that. It was easier to talk about silly Ginger. “She sat down in the middle of the block and refused to go one step farther,” Lizzie told her friend.
    “What did you do?” Maria asked.
    “Finally, I gave up and let her turn around. She headed straight for home, dragging me along.” Lizzie shook her head. Ginger was frustrating, but she was a sweet old girl and Lizzie never yelled at her. Lizzie never yelled at any of the dogs. How could you be mad at a dog because she was acting like a dog?
    Lizzie reached over to pet Bandit. “He’s so sweet,” she said. “Mrs. Kenyon was right. Everybody who meets this dog falls in love with him.”
    “Except for Uncle Teo.” Maria laughed. “He’s the only one who can resist.” She held Bandit up and rubbed noses with him, making kissy noises. “What a good little boy. What a sweetie.” She turned to Lizzie. “I can’t believe we haven’t found Bandit a home yet. Somebody must want to adopt this smoochie-pie.”
    Bandit licked her cheek and wagged his fluffy tail.
    That’s right. Who wouldn’t love me? I’m a sweetheart.
    “I know,” said Lizzie. She picked up one of the flyers she’d made about Bandit.
Adorable Shih Tzu seeks Loving Family
,it said. Under theheadline was an incredibly cute picture of Bandit, staring back at the camera with his shiny black button eyes. And underneath that, there was some more information about Bandit, including the fact that he would soon be having major surgery.
    “What’s that?” Lizzie asked now, jumping up to run to the window. She could have sworn she heard the rumble of a truck, but when she looked outside, the street was empty. When would Uncle Teo get there?
    Lizzie sat back down and looked at the flyer again. She could guess why none of her dog-walking clients, or any of the other people who had seen the flyer, wanted to adopt Bandit. “It’s probably the surgery thing,” she said. “Everybody’s afraid to get too attached to a dog who might not make it.”
    “Don’t say that.” Maria put her hands overBandit’s ears, as if he could understand what Lizzie was saying.
    Lizzie shook her head. “But Dr. Gibson told us—”
    “I don’t care what she told you,” said Maria, hugging the black-and-white puppy to her chest. “Bandit is going to make it. Not only that, he’ll be better than ever. The operation is going to work perfectly.” Lizzie saw tears in Maria’s eyes. She knew that Maria would have loved to have adopt Bandit, but Simba was the only pet in the Santiago family and always would be.
    “Okay, okay,” Lizzie said, holding up her hands. “You’re right. He’s going to be just fine.” She felt tears prickling at the back of her own eyes. Bandit just
had
to pull through. She didn’t know what she would do if she never got to hug him again, or watch him trot through a room with his sweet little head held high. She was just as attached asMaria was, and it wasn’t going to be easy to say good-bye to Bandit when Uncle Teo arrived.
    Maria sighed and lay back on her bed. “I’m tired,” she said. “It’s hard work, walking dogs every day.”
    “I know,” Lizzie said. “You wouldn’t believe what happened at Caring Paws yesterday.” That was the animal shelter where Lizzie volunteered every Saturday afternoon. “I was hoping to work at the front desk, or even clean out litter boxes in the cat room. Anything but walk dogs. But guess what? The person who usually exercises the dogs didn’t show up, and I had to walk twelve of them.”
    Maria laughed, but Lizzie groaned, remembering. Yes, she thought, she had learned a lot that week. The only thing she hadn’t learned was how to tell Maria the truth about how many dogs she was walking. She had only told her about Ginger,Scruffy, and Maxx, not about the three other dogs over in the Sunset neighborhood.
    Maria had begged her not to