Jack Read Online Free PDF Page B

writing back to me! That is so cool. Wait till I tell my friend Maria!
    I do like the pictures in your books and they do seem very real. I drew you a great picture of Sunny, from
Mountain Girl,
but Jack ate it. He eats everything. He even ate my
Mountain Girl
book. I know it is not really his fault. But I’m still kind of mad. And sad. That was my best book. Did your dog Jasper ever used to eat things?
    Your best reader,
    Lizzie Peterson
    Lizzie clicked “send” just as her mom came back into the room. “Mom!” she said without turning around. “Kit Smithers wrote me the best letter! And I already wrote her back. She had a dog named Jasper. He snored, and —” Lizzie spun around in the chair. Why was Mom so quiet? And why did she look so mad? “Oh.” Lizzie stopped talking when she saw what her mother was staring at.
    Jack sat in the corner, munching quietly on a wad of paper. “Those are my notes!” Mom yelled. She ran over to Jack and grabbed the soggy, shredded mess out of his mouth. “No, Jack. No! Bad dog! Leave it!”
    Jack looked up at her, wrinkling his forehead.
    Oh, no! I messed up again.
    Lizzie put her hands over her eyes. She could hardly bear to watch.
    Mom plopped down on the floor and began to poke at the ruined notes. “I don’t believe this,” she muttered. “How am I ever going to write my article now?”
    Lizzie felt awful. “It’s all my fault!” She jumped up to help her mom. “I was supposed to be keeping an eye on Jack.” She stared in dismay at the pile of pulp in her mother’s hands. “I’m really sorry.”
    Mom sighed. “It’s okay, Lizzie. I guess it’s not the end of the world, any more than it was when he ate your letter.” But she frowned down at Jack. “To tell you the truth, at this rate I’m not sure we’ll even make it through two days with this puppy.”

CHAPTER NINE
    Lizzie stuck to Jack like glue for the rest of the day, making sure he did not put anything in his mouth that did not belong there. She played with him, worked on his sit pretty trick, gave him treats, and patted him.
    At bedtime, Charles took Buddy into his room to sleep, and Dad helped Lizzie bring Jack’s crate upstairs. She got the puppy all settled in, then climbed into her own bed. Jack was much quieter now that he wasn’t all alone down in the kitchen. He whimpered a little bit at first, but when Lizzie told him to hush, he settled down with a sigh and soon he was snoring.
    Nice for Jack — but Lizzie could not sleep a wink.
    Jack sure was a handful. Where on earth was the perfect forever home for a dog who chewed and ate everything he could get his teeth into? It was only good luck that so far Jack had not eaten anything in the Petersons’ house that would make him really sick. Mom and Dad would not be happy if they had to take him to the vet.
    Lizzie knew she did not have long to find this puppy a home, but she was still sure she could do it — somehow. She believed that there was a perfect home for every puppy. She could not let Jack be the exception to that rule! She lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. She thought and thought. Jack needed attention all the time. Eileen had said that the perfect owner for Jack would live in the country and work at home. Lizzie knew that the person also had to be somebody who really loved dogs and would have the patience to train Jack. He was so smart. He could learn how to behave.
    Suddenly, Lizzie sat straight up in bed. Sheknew
just
the person! She looked at her clock. It was eleven-thirty at night — way too late to make a phone call. She would have to wait until morning. “I’ve got it, Jack!” She leaned over the bed to whisper to the snoozing pup. Then Lizzie lay back down and finally went to sleep.
    Lizzie slept late the next morning, until almost ten o’clock. When she woke up, Jack’s crate was empty. Lizzie couldn’t believe it. How had he escaped? And how much trouble was he already in? Her heart pounded — until she spotted a