Patches Read Online Free PDF

feeling go.
    It took much longer to walk to Ferndale Drive than it did to bike there. Especially becauseBuddy was in the kind of mood where he had to sniff every single blade of grass they passed.
    Gee! Who’s been
here?
That smells like Kirby, the big brown dog down the street. Or maybe it was Lucy, that cute little spotted one. No — I think it might be a squirrel! Yes! A squirrel!!! Or was it a cat? I better smell it again.
    “Buddy! Come
on
!” Charles didn’t mean to be impatient, and he hated to tug on Buddy’s leash. He knew that Buddy really,
really
enjoyed sniffing things. But still, they were on a mission. Operation Make-a-Friend. So Charles tugged.
    The haunted house was quiet. “I guess Noelle is working on one of her other houses today,” said Charles as he and Sammy walked around to the back of the house.
    Patches must have heard his voice, because he started howling right away.
    It’s yoouuuuu! Hooraaay! Come and plaaaaay!!
    Buddy’s ears went up.
    Who’s that? He sounds kind of sad!
    Buddy pulled on his leash so hard that Charles had to trot to keep up with him. Buddy was small, but he was strong! He dragged Charles right across the neighbor’s driveway before Charles could even check to see if anyone was home. Luckily, it seemed like everyone was away.
    Buddy ran right up to Patches. The dogs sniffed each other’s noses. Both their tails were wagging hard.
    Hey! Hey! Hey! Quit that crying! I’ll be your friend. Want to play?
    Buddy stuck out his front paws and stretched his butt up in the air. His eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief as he invited Patches to play.
    Whooooo are youuuuu?
    Patches howled one last time. Then he seemed to decide that Buddy was okay. He quit howling. He gave his whole body a shake, and his long ears went flying. Then he did a play-bow back at Buddy. A second later, the two puppies started to tear around the garage. And
two
seconds later, Patches’s rope was
completely
tangled with Buddy’s leash.
    Charles and Sammy were laughing. The puppies were having so much fun together! It was great to see Patches so happy. He jumped up, put his paws on Buddy’s neck, and pretended to bite him. Then he dashed away and let Buddy chase him. Then Buddy put his paws on Patches’s neck and pretended to bite
him.
Then the two of them rolled and tumbled all over the floor, wrestling. The garage was full of puppy yips and growls.
    “Go, Patches! Get him!” Sammy yelled.
    “That’s it, Buddy! Teach him a lesson!” Charlesknew the puppies were just playing. It was amazing how dogs could wrestle and snap at each other without anybody getting hurt. Their fighting was all in play.
    Buddy jumped up when he heard his name. He cocked his head at Charles. Patches rolled over on his back and stared at Sammy, upside down. Then both puppies jumped on each other and the wrestling match started all over again.
    “Hey! What’s going on here?”
    Charles whirled around.
    His knees went weak and his stomach flip-flopped.
    It was the big man. The dad. Patches’s owner.

CHAPTER NINE
    “I said, what are you doing here?” The man was frowning. “And who’s that dog? Why are you letting him beat on Patches?”
    He stepped forward into the garage. He seemed bigger than ever as he gazed down at Charles and Sammy, who were sitting on the concrete floor.
    Charles scrambled to his feet. “We — uh —” He could not think of a single thing to say.
    “We were just playing with him.” Sammy had jumped up, too. “That’s Buddy. He belongs to Charles.” He jerked a thumb at Charles.
    The man squinted at Charles. “Your name’s Charles?” he asked. “As in, Charles Peterson?”
    Charles gasped. How did this man know his name?
    “Well?”
    Charles nodded. “I’m Charles Peterson,” he admitted.
    “The one who wrote the letter, right? Hug your dog?”
    Charles groaned. So
that’s
how he knew. Oh, man, was he in trouble now. He looked down at his shoes. “Yes, I wrote it.”
    Sammy took