Jasper John Dooley, Left Behind by Caroline Adderson, Ben Clanton Read Free Book Online Page A

night?”
    Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
    He said, “Hammy! Pipe down!”
    Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
    Jasper got out of bed and took the wheel out of the cage.

    When Jasper woke the next morning, he was worried. He was worried that there was a terrible disease you could get from looking at a black thumb. And he was worried that Hammy would be hammier on Tuesday because he had taken the exercise wheel out of Hammy’s cage. Jasper was so so worried that he forgot to check if his Band-Aids had come off in the night.
    He got up and put the wheel back. Hammy was sleeping in a ball in the corner of the cage. “There you go, Hammy,” Jasper told him. “You can run all you want now.”
    Hammy kept on sleeping.
    Jasper reached into the cage and put Hammy on the wheel. Hammy looked sleepily around. He wiggled his nose. When Jasper turned the wheel, Hammy climbed right off and went back to his little nest of wood shavings in the corner.
    Jasper got an idea. He found some string and made a little leash, then lifted Hammy out of the cage and tied it around his tummy. Jasper didn’t tie it very tightly. He didn’t want to hurt Hammy. Then Jasper took Hammy to the kitchen where Mom was and set him on the floor.
    â€œWhat are you doing with Hammy?” Mom asked.
    â€œHe’s getting some exercise,” Jasper told her at exactly the moment Hammy slipped out of the leash and took off faster than he had ever run in his whole hammy life.
    â€œHammy!” Jasper screamed.
    Mom and Dad and Jasper looked everywhere. They crawled on their hands and knees through the house, looking under the furniture and in every cupboard and closet. Jasper even checked his drawers.
    â€œHammy!” Mom called.
    â€œHammy!” Dad called.
    â€œCome on, Hammy!” Jasper called. “Come on, boy!”
    Dad found two sets of car keys that he had lost. Jasper found an armless action figure and some hockey cards. Mom found an earring and a lot of dirt. But they didn’t find Hammy.

    Hammy was really, truly gone.
    â€œDon’t worry,” Dad told Jasper. “He’s around here somewhere.”
    Mom said, “Let’s lure him back with food. What special food do hamsters like to eat?”
    â€œMacaroni?” Jasper said.
    Mom said, “Let’s start with cheese.”
    She went to the fridge for some cheese, which she cut into tiny pieces. They made a cheese trail through the house. The trail started in the kitchen and went all the way to Jasper’s room, ending right at Hammy’s cage on the floor.
    â€œGood,” Dad said. “Now I think we should get out of the kitchen. If we’re here, Hammy won’t leave his hiding place.”
    Mom wanted to go to the garden center. She told Jasper, “Why don’t you go over to Ori’s and work on the ship?”
    â€œNo!” Jasper cried.
    â€œYou can come with me if you want. Or you can stay here and watch golf with Dad.”
    Jasper went down to the den with Dad, but the little ball rolling across the grass and ducking in the hole reminded him of Hammy escaping. Where had Hammy gone? There wasn’t a hole in the kitchen.
    He pressed both hands over his Band-Aids. “I’m
pthththing
again. I need more Band-Aids.”
    â€œYou need to take those Band-Aids off,” Dad said.
    â€œNever!” Jasper wailed.
    â€œShhh,” Dad said. “You’ll scare Hammy.”
    â€œIf we don’t get out of the house,” Jasper said, “Hammy will never come back.”
    So Jasper and Dad went out for a walk. All their neighbors were outside enjoying the sunny Saturday. Dad waved and called to each of them, “Hamster on the loose!”
    â€œI wish Nan was here,” Jasper said. “She would know what to do.”
    â€œNan would
not
know what to do,” Dad said. “Nan would run screaming as fast as she could.”
    â€œWhat if Nan doesn’t come back, either?” Jasper