Live and Let Growl Read Online Free PDF

would have been entirely superfluous.
    â€œThen what are you waiting for?” Miss Ellie demanded. “Get her out of there and bring her inside. What’s the matter with you, wanting to leave that poor dog sitting in a car?”
    â€œI was trying to be polite,” I muttered under my breath. It didn’t make the slightest bit of difference. No one was listening to me.
    â€œPeg Turnbull, it’s been entirely too long!” Miss Ellie came down the steps and pulled her old friend close for a hug. “Why haven’t you come to visit me sooner?”
    â€œWhy haven’t you invited me?” Aunt Peg retorted.
    Miss Ellie sighed. “Life,” she said. “It just gets in the way.”
    I slid the door back once again. Immediately the two terriers nearest the opening hopped their front feet up onto the ledge and had a look inside. Faith, ready to disembark, tipped her head downward. The three dogs touched noses. Tails wagged all the way around.
    I took that as a good sign and hopped her out.
    â€œOh my,” said Miss Ellie. “That’s a pretty Standard. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Poodle as nice as that one. One of yours?” she asked Peg.
    â€œAunt Peg bred her,” I said, cutting in smoothly. “But Faith has been mine since she was a puppy.”
    The pack of Jack Russells finished introducing themselves to Faith and took off across the yard. Faith hesitated for the briefest moment—looking to me for permission, which was quickly granted—then went flying after them.
    â€œThat’s a champion,” Miss Ellie said. It was a statement, not a question.
    â€œAnd a champion producer,” I told her proudly.
    Finally the woman wrested her gaze away from Faith long enough to acknowledge my presence. Miss Ellie looked me up and down briefly, then stuck out her hand. Her skin was worn and leathered. She had a grip like iron.
    â€œYou must be the niece,” she said.
    â€œI am. Melanie Travis. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    â€œOh?” She cocked a brow. “Why is that?”
    A forthright question. Miss Ellie looked like a tough cookie; even so, I hadn’t expected to be put on the spot quite so quickly. It occurred to me that Aunt Peg and Ellie Wanamaker might have more than a little in common.
    â€œI’ve read about you and your dogs in Poodle Variety, ” I said. “You had wonderful Standard Poodles.”
    Miss Ellie lifted a hand and waved it dismissively. “That was a long time ago.”
    â€œNot that long,” said Aunt Peg. “I have fond memories of showing against you when you came to the East Coast for PCA and Westminster.”
    â€œNot just showing against me,” Miss Ellie pointed out, “but also beating me every chance you got.”
    â€œOf course.” Aunt Peg just laughed. “That goes without saying. Although it didn’t happen nearly as often as I would have liked.”
    â€œIt’s been over a decade since I lost my last Poodle,” Miss Ellie told us. “And now, as you can see, I find myself surrounded by a band of little terrorists.”
    The terriers in question had led Faith on a great swooping tour of the front yard and were currently busy sniffing beneath the bushes on the side of the house. I hadn’t seen another car pass by in the five minutes we’d been there but I was keeping a wary eye out just in case. Faith knew better than to cross a road, but if those JRTs flushed a rabbit, I was betting they’d be long gone before any of us even had time to react.
    Miss Ellie must have been thinking along the same lines. “Let’s gather up that bunch and head inside,” she said starting up the front steps and whistling for the dogs to follow. “Otherwise the neighbors will start sticking their heads out and wondering what all the fuss is about. I try to convince myself that living in town is easier at my age