Dunc and Amos Go to the Dogs Read Online Free PDF Page A

gave him a blank look. “Whatever I came up with probably wouldn’t work, and then you’d be worse off than before.”
    “Man, I can’t believe this! The king of conspiracy, the prince of planning, the sultan of strategy has given up because for once in his life—well, maybe twice—he guessed wrong.”
    Amos joined him on the bench. “I guess I could tell them Scruff ran away and joined the circus. Nah.” He snapped his fingers. “I know. I’ll tell them he decided toget on the truck and go off with the rest of them to doggy never-never land.”
    Dunc inched up. First a little. Then all the way. Then the frowning and the chin-tapping started.
    He jumped to his feet.
    “I’ve got it.”

“Are you ready, Amos?”
    “Ready.” Amos was holding a large tiger-striped cat in his arms. “But Herman here is getting a little restless. Don’t you think we could turn the light on?”
    Dunc shook his head and looked out the back window of the pound. “They should be here soon. Doc Woods said the truck would come around midnight.” He looked over at Amos. “Remember, don’t release our secret weapon until you’re sure they’re in the door.”
    Amos stroked the big cat. “We’re counting on you, Herman.”
    “They’re here!” Dunc dropped to the floor and crept over to the back door. “The truck is backing up. Get ready.”
    Amos moved to the other side of the door. He was still holding the big cat. Then the door opened, and two figures stepped into the dark room. Amos tossed Herman a little way into the air. He landed smack in the middle of the row of dog cages.
    The dogs went crazy.
    One of the men yelled at the other, “Find the light switch—quick! Something’s loose in here!”
    Amos and Dunc ran for the truck.
    Herman played his part perfectly. He jumped from one cage to the next, tantalizing the dogs with the fact that he was free and they weren’t. Every dog in the place was trying to get at him.
    By the time the two men caught Herman and calmed the dogs down, Amos and Dunc were safely hidden behind some boxes in the back of the panel truck.
    While the two men were loading the dog cages into the truck, Dunc recognized one of their voices. It was the phony Dr. Keene’s.
    “Never mind how that cat got in there. Let’s get the rest of the dogs and get out of here. The judge is expecting us.”
    “Did you hear that, Amos?” Dunc whispered. “I told you this was big. Even the judge is in on it.”
    “I coulda guessed,” Amos whispered back.
    The two men stacked the cages of the remaining dogs in the truck and bolted the door with a grinding clang.
    The truck started moving.

It was completely dark in the back of the truck. Amos held his hand up close to his face. He couldn’t see it.
    “Dunc.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Nothing. I was just making sure you were still here.”
    “Where else would I be?”
    “Dunc.”
    “What is it this time?”
    “How long do you think we’ve been riding around back here?”
    “About an hour or so.”
    Amos took in that information and sat quietly in the darkness for a few moments.
    “Dunc.”
    “What?!”
    “What if they don’t stop? I mean, what if they decide to keep driving—say, to Mexico?”
    Dunc stretched his legs as far as he could in the small space they had. “They won’t. We turned onto a gravel road about fifteen minutes ago. That means we’re headed for the country.”
    The truck bounced along on the bumpy dirt road. It hit a pothole, and all of the boxes and cages slid over to Amos’s side.
    “What’s in these boxes? I can’t move them.”
    Dunc felt around on the top of one. He found a loose board and pulled. A soft wet nose found his hand.
    “Dogs. It’s more dogs. They must have brought the ones from Doc Woods’s house too.”
    “You don’t suppose …” Amos feltaround the other crates until he reached a loose board. The dog inside snarled and snapped at his hand.
    “Just my luck. It’s Scruff.”
    The truck lurched to a