Harriet Beamer Takes the Bus Read Online Free PDF Page A

he’ll settle in quickly. I just hope Sandra Day will accept him.”
    “Oh, your cat will get over it.” Henry unlatched the crate. Humphrey barely moved.
    “That must be his leash.” Prudence pointed to the coiled canvas lead in the crate.
    “Okay, just a second, old man,” Henry said. He reached inside and grabbed the hydrant and rawhide bone. He dropped them into a plastic Ziploc bag he pulled out of his pants pocket and handed it to Prudence. She held the Ziploc like she was holding plutonium. “Dog slobber. I hate dog slobber. And please leave the towel — Lord knows what he did on that.”
    “You’d slobber too,” Henry said, “if you just traveled 2,500 miles in the cargo hold of a jet with no windows and —” he looked at the crate next to Humphrey’s —“a snooty-looking show dog.”
    Humphrey perked up.
    “Look at that,” Henry said. “I think he understands me. My mother said he had an uncanny ability to understand things.”
    “He’s a dog, Henry.”
    Humphrey didn’t respond.
    Henry grabbed the leash, and when he did a piece of yellow paper floated to the floor.
    “What’s that?” Prudence asked.
    “I don’t know.” Henry picked up the sheet and unfolded it. “A note. From my mother.”
    “Oh, geeze, leave it to your mother to hide a note in his cage.”
    “ ‘Dearest Henry and Prudence,’ “ Henry read.
    I know you will take good care of Humphrey. I will see you soon. Please be sure to scratch behind his ears. He likes sardines and glazed donuts, but make sure they’re fresh.
    Love,
    Mother
    P.S. Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.
    Henry repeated the P.S.: “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
    He looked at Prudence. “I am going to worry about her. I still can’t figure out what made her want to take the bus.”
    “I know. I know,” Prudence said. “I just wish she had told you which bus. And when. All we can do is assume she’s taking Greyhound.”
    Humphrey yowled.
    Henry clicked the leash onto Humphrey’s collar. “Maybe she got nervous about flying. She’s never flown that I know of.”
    “Really? How is that possible?”
    “She and my dad never traveled much — just to the Jersey shore every summer, and that’s only an hour and a half car ride.”
    Humphrey walked next to Henry.
    When they made their way out of the terminal Prudence spotted a grassy area near the parking lot. “Maybe you should let him … relieve himself. Over there.” She pointed.
    “Yeah, his bladder must be as big as a football by now.”
    Humphrey lifted his leg near a light pole but was forced to stop midstream when a security guard approached. Humphrey never liked uniforms. He let go a very loud bark.
    “Hey, you can’t let your dog do that here. Get him out of the airport first.”
    “It’s just —”
    The guard interrupted Prudence. “I don’t care if it’s Chardonnay, you can’t let your dog pee on airport grounds.”
    “Fine,” she said. “Come on, Henry.”
    They walked a little farther before Henry signaled his car. The red SUV beeped and the lights flashed a second or two.
    “I love remote entry,” Henry said. “Makes it easier to find your car in a crowded parking lot.”
    “You say that every time,” Prudence said.
    “It’s true. The wonders of technology. My dad would have loved this. He was forever forgetting where he parked his car.” Henry opened the lift gate.
    “Come on, boy, hop in.”
    Humphrey tried. He made three or four concerted efforts to jump into the vehicle, but his short legs belied his good efforts. He gave Henry a look.
    “Pick him up, Henry,” Prudence said. “My goodness, his legs are the size of link sausages.”
    Henry reached under the dog and gently lifted him into the car. Humphrey gave him an appreciative lick on the cheek, which Henry promptly wiped.
    “Ewww,” Prudence said, “dog kisses.”
    Humphrey stretched out in the back on an old blanket and whimpered.
    “Well, what should we do, Henry?”