Rocky Read Online Free PDF Page B

right,” she said. She reached out to pet Rocky’s smooth coat. “He’s the perfect dog for somebody .”
    “And all we have to do is figure out who that somebody is,” Lizzie said thoughtfully.
    Bing! The computer made a noise that made both girls jump. Lizzie spun back around on the chair and stared at the screen. Allyson’s name had popped up. “She wrote back already!” Lizzie said. “She must have been online and read my letter right away.” She sat down in the office chair and clicked on Allyson’s note.
    “What did she say?” Maria asked.
    Lizzie laughed. “You’re not going to believe this,” she said. “Allyson lied, too!”
    “You’re kidding,” said Maria.
    “No, listen to this. She says she couldn’t stand to tell me the real truth about her boring life after she read my exciting letter. So she made a few things up.” Lizzie spun around in the chair. “My pen pal and I seem to have a lot in common, too!” she said, grinning at Maria.
    Maria giggled. “So, what did she make up?” she asked. “Does she really live on a ranch?”
    “She does.” Lizzie read as quickly as she could. “But it’s only a few acres, and they just have one cow. She does have two brothers, but they’re not twins and their names are Steven and Jason. She doesn’t have a pony. She never saw a grizzly bear, although some people around there have seen them up in the mountains. And instead of four dogs and three cats, they have one kitten and an old hound dog.”
    Lizzie swallowed. Allyson was not quite as exciting as she’d first seemed. She didn’t even know how to ride and rope like a real cowgirl, though she said she wanted to learn.
    By now, Maria was reading over her shoulder. “She sounds really, really nice,” she said. “And she said she’d write you another letter to bring to school.”
    Lizzie nodded. She still felt disappointed. It wasn’t really fair to feel that way, since she had made up stuff about herself, too. But she had been hoping for an extra-cool pen pal. Now she just had a regular one, sort of like Maria’s pen pal, Becky. At least Allyson lived in Montana. That counted for something, didn’t it?
    Rocky ambled over in his bowlegged way and put his paw up on Lizzie’s knee.
     
    Things are getting kind of serious in here. What’s the big deal? How about some smiles?
     
    Lizzie grinned at him and scratched his head. “Well, Rocky. I guess you and I — and Allyson — aren’t the most exciting folks in the world. But that’s okay. We’re still pretty cool, once you get to know us. Right?”
    Rocky looked up at her and panted a happy huff. He wagged his little stub of a tail and blinked his big, sparkly eyes.
    Then Mom walked in. “Okay, girls, time to finish up here. I need the computer so I can get my last article done. I promised Judge Thayer he could read his interview before I sent it in to my editor.” She looked at Lizzie. “Maybe you and Maria could drop it off at his place tomorrow when you’re out walking Ginger and Rocky. He lives just a few blocks from Ginger’s home.”
    Lizzie nodded. “Sure,” she said. Then she remembered the way the judge had smiled when he looked at Rocky. She poked Maria. “Hey,” she said. “I think I have an idea.”

The next morning at school, Lizzie stood near the bulletin board, waiting her turn to pin up her pen-pal letter. Nobody but Maria would ever know that it was not the first letter she had gotten from Allyson. Since she and Allyson had some of the exact same dog stickers, Lizzie had put a few of her own onto the e-mail she had printed out — so it even looked like a real letter.
    She was proud to pin it up. Allyson sounded funny and cool, and her life in Montana was definitely different from Lizzie’s life. When it was her turn, Lizzie took four red pushpins and stuck her letter right in the middle of the board. She turned to see Maria watching her, and she grinned at her friend. Maria smiled back. Lizzie felt