Patches Read Online Free PDF Page A

that his whole body seemed to wag. He licked Charles’s face and Sammy’s hand and Lizzie’s toes. Then he tried to climb into Lizzie’s lap, even though she was standing up!
    Lizzie giggled. “He’s adorable.”
    “He’s smart, too,” Charles told her. “I already taught him how to sit. Watch!” He turned to Patches. “Patches, sit!”
    Hooraaay! hooooray! You came to playyyyy!
    Instead of sitting, Patches spun around in a circle, howling joyfully.
    “Well, we’re working on it,” said Charles, shrugging.
    They played with Patches until they heard a car coming up the street. “Uh-oh! That might be the owners coming home!” Charles said. He quickly kissed Patches good-bye, and he, Sammy, and Lizzie ran back to get their bikes.
    “Hey, you guys!” It turned out that it wasNoelle’s truck they had heard. She was just unloading some cans of paint onto the porch. She pointed at Charles. “Hug your dog!” she said. “That was your letter, right?” She held out her hand for a high five. “Great job!”
    “Thanks,” said Charles. “This is my sister, Lizzie. She came to meet Patches.”
    “Isn’t he the sweetest?” Noelle asked. She peered through the vines at Patches and shook her head. “I wish I could just untie him and have him keep me company while I work. I’d love to have a partner like him.”
    “Did Charles tell you that our family fosters puppies?” Lizzie asked. “Maybe someday we can find the perfect puppy for you, just like we did for your cousin Sammy.”
    “I’ll keep my fingers crossed!” Noelle held up two twined fingers.
    Charles thought he would keep
his
fingers crossed, too — in hopes that someday Patches’s owners would give him the attention he deserved.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Sammy always said it was Charles’s idea.
    Charles always said it was Sammy’s.
    But they both agreed, when they talked about it later on, that it was probably a pretty
bad
idea. Even though everything worked out okay in the end.
    The idea was this: Patches was so lonely. Maybe what he
really
needed was a doggy friend. And who was a better friend than Buddy? He got along with
all
dogs. And it was safe to let Buddy and Patches play together, because Charles knew Buddy had been to the vet recently and all his shots were up to date. That would protect him
and
Patches from passing around any bad germs. It wasimportant to be careful about things like that with puppies. Charles had learned that from Lizzie.
    “Hey, Buddy!” Charles said, the next afternoon. “What do you say? Want to go for a nice long walk?”
    Buddy had been taking a nap under the kitchen table while Charles and Sammy ate cheese and crackers. Charles knew the puppy liked to nap there because sometimes he got to eat scraps of food that fell to the floor. Some fell accidentally — like a piece of Charles’s hot dog at dinner last night. Some fell on purpose — like a few of Charles’s string beans. But Buddy didn’t care how the food got there. He gobbled up everything that came his way.
    Now, when he heard the word “walk,” Buddy jumped to his feet and scrambled out from under the table, knocking his head on the bottom of a chair.
    Ouch! That hurt. But who cares? We’re going for a walk! We’re going for a walk!We’re going for a walk walk walk! Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
    Mom came into the kitchen just in time to see Buddy spinning around and barking while Charles tried to snap his leash onto his collar. She sighed and shook her head, but she was smiling. “You would think this puppy had never been outside before.” She knelt down to give Buddy a pat. “Have a nice walk!”
    Charles was glad she didn’t ask where they were going. She had not actually
told
him not to go visit Patches. Maybe it was better not to give her the chance. For a second, Charles got a funny feeling in his stomach. Did that mean that maybe it
wasn’t
such a good idea to take Buddy over there? But Buddy tugged on the leash, and Charles let the