Cody Read Online Free PDF Page B

many, many times a day ever since Cody had come tostay. It took a lot of work to train a puppy! She knew how frustrating it could be.
    “But the uppy won’t sit!” the Bean wailed.
    “Here’s what you have to do,” Lizzie said, setting the Bean back down on his feet. “Cody,” she said, turning to the spotted pup. “Sit!” She touched Cody’s back lightly, just enough to remind him of what it was she wanted him to do.
    Oh, I get it! You want me to sit! That’s easy!
    Cody plopped his little butt down and grinned up at Lizzie. “Good boy!” she said, laughing. “See, he’s just starting to learn what that word means,” she told her little brother. “Sometimes he needs a little help remembering.”
    The Bean threw his arms around Cody and hugged him. “I love you, Tody,” he said.
    Lizzie knew her whole family was going to miss having Cody around.
    Suddenly, Dad slapped his forehead. “I almostforgot!” He went to rummage in the pocket of the jacket he’d been wearing that day and came back carrying a little red rubber fire hydrant. “Chief sent this chew toy home with me, to give to Cody,” he said. “It used to be Gunnar’s.” He gave the toy to Cody, who immediately lay down and started chewing on it. When Buddy tried to steal it, Cody picked it up and ran behind Mom’s easy chair.
    Then Charles went upstairs and came back with a play firefighter’s helmet. He and Lizzie put it on Cody’s head, adjusting the elastic strap under his jaw.
    “Oh, he is
so
cute!” said Lizzie. “Quick! Quick! Somebody get the camera!” Lizzie couldn’t believe how sweet Cody looked in his fire hat, one big spotted paw holding the squeaking fire hydrant down so he could gnaw on it with his sharp white puppy teeth. Mom ran for the camera, and they snapped picture after picture. Everybody laughed when Buddy tried to stealthe fire hydrant again. This time he managed to grab it, and the two puppies zoomed around the room wrestling and growling and tugging over the new toy. Cody’s fire hat got knocked sideways, making him look cuter than ever.
    A few moments later, the puppies were all tired out. Cody was snoozing on the rug, all curled up with Buddy. Lizzie could not help sighing as she looked at their cute, sleepy faces. Cody’s fire hat had finally fallen all the way off and Buddy was lying on it. One part of Cody’s lip was tucked up over a tooth, giving him a goofy look. They were so adorable together. Lizzie wished Cody could just stay with the Petersons, but she knew he would be happy with the chief. Being a firehouse dog was really something special.
    Mom had put the Bean to bed. Now she came back into the room and saw that the puppies were sleeping. “How about a game of Scrabble?” she asked.
    “But Scrabble is so —” Lizzie slapped a hand over her own mouth, before the rest of the sentence could come out. “Boring!” was the word she swallowed. Scrabble
was
boring, at least in Lizzie’s opinion. It was almost as boring as Candy Land, which the Bean liked to play over and over and over. But she had to admit it was just her opinion. She knew that not everybody agreed with her about Scrabble — although she was pretty sure Charles did, from the look on his face.
    Just then, the phone rang. “I’ll get it!” Lizzie sprang to her feet, happy to have something else to do. Cody jumped up, too, and started to bark. “Quiet!” Lizzie said. Cody stopped for a second, just long enough for Lizzie to say, “Good boy!” and give him a pat. Then he barked a few more times as he padded after her into the kitchen, where she picked up the phone.
    “Hello?”
    “Hello, is this — is this the little girl I saw today, with the Dalmatian?”
    Lizzie frowned. Right away, she recognized the voice of the pinched-face woman. “This is Lizzie Peterson,” she said.
    “Lizzie Peterson,” the woman repeated. “And your family fosters puppies, right?”
    “That’s right.”
    “And somebody gave you that