Lost and Found Read Online Free PDF

her best friend, either.
    Someone asked Aimee to help out in the bookstore, so she had to get off the telephone, but it turned out to be good timing because at that exact moment Mom came downstairs.
    “Let’s hit the road!” she said.
    Madison grabbed her rainbow hat and green gloves.
    The roads were busier than they’d been earlier that morning, but there were still fewer cars than on a nonsnowy, ordinary day. Mom drove slowly so the car wouldn’t slip and slide all over the wet, slushy streets. By the time they pulled into the parking lot near the Far Hills Shoppes, the wind had picked up a little. The sky turned ashen white, like all the color had been sucked right out.
    They stopped in at the Tool Box hardware store first. Mom picked up a box of extra-large candles, three new flashlights and extra batteries, and a new shovel. Their old shovel had gotten a big dent in it when Mom tried shoveling that morning and hit a slab of ice.
    Afterward they circled over to Stationery Barn, an office-supply outlet. Mom was a sucker for gold paper clips and neon-colored pens. She loved jazzy office accessories so much that whenever she took Madison shopping, they came home with armfuls of notebooks and files and folders they didn’t need. Today Mom used “cleaning out the attic boxes” as her excuse to buy new cartons, folders, and special labels for the folders. Madison benefited from the shopping spree. She got a cool pen with a squishy-soft, orange gel grip.
    The shops were bustling. Everyone was either standing in line for caffè latte at The Coffee Mill or buying supplies for the storm that was coming their way. All anyone could talk about was the weather. Madison began to fear the worst. What if they were covered with fifteen feet of snow and frozen for an eternity until some future civilization dug them out of the ice?
    Across the mall, Madison thought she spied Poison Ivy and Rose Thorn, shopping for clothes, but they disappeared before Madison could find out for sure. She bumped into Dan Ginsburg for real, however. He was looking over the stand that sold baseball hats. Madison was friends with Dan from seventh grade and from the Far Hills Animal Shelter, where she was a volunteer.
    “Hey, Maddie!” Dan said, giving her a high five. He was always in a good mood. “My mom was just talking about you this morning. She wants to know if you’re coming in next week for the massive winter cleaning.”
    Dan’s mom, Eileen, was a nurse at the animal clinic.
    “Yeah, sure, I’m all for cleaning,” Madison giggled. “My mom has me cleaning junk out of the attic today.”
    “Sorry for you!” Dan said.
    “Actually, I’m the one who’s sorry, Dan. I haven’t been around that much. How are all the animals?”
    Madison had begun her volunteer stint at the clinic by going three times a week, but now she only went once every other week. She wanted very much to get back to more regular visits.
    “Maddie, the animals miss you. And that dachshund you liked was adopted, by the way. Did I tell you that?” Dan asked.
    Madison had grown attached to many dogs at the clinic, including a miniature dachshund named Rosebud. Now Rosebud had found a new family. Madison felt so happy about that. She wanted all the dogs to find happy homes.
    “Any new animals?” she asked Dan.
    He nodded. They were now boarding a runaway golden retriever, a scruffy beagle, two parrots, and a litter of tabby kittens. He said they’d also fixed up a German shepherd that had gotten hit by a car.
    Madison turned away for just a moment to see her mother walking toward them. She waved and wrapped up the conversation with Dan.
    It was time to head home again through the snow and ice. One stop at the supermarket for food and they’d be fully armed and ready for the arrival of the next storm.
    Later that afternoon, Madison had helped Mom shovel the front steps and sidewalk, and had taken Phin for a stroll around the block. But she felt lost without her