Jingle Bell Bark by Laurien Berenson Read Free Book Online Page A

on them a couple of times. You know, filling the water bowl and putting out some food. I’m not much of a dog person myself, and those two are living proof why. They’re making a god-awful mess of that house.”
    â€œOf course - they’re making a mess,” I sputtered. “If they’ve been cooped up alone in there for two days, what choice do they have? You mean nobody has walked them or let them outside at all?”
    â€œJohnny thought about doing something like that, but I told him to leave well enough alone. Those are big, rambunctious animals. What if he let them out and they ran away? Then it would be our fault that they were missing. When Henry’s daughters show up, they’ll have to make their own arrangements.”
    All well and good, assuming that they arrived quickly. But already two days had passed without any sign of Henry’s relatives. Who knew how long it might be before someone appeared? Pepper and Remington couldn’t stay cooped up in that house all by themselves. If Henry had cared about those dogs, he would have been outraged by the very idea. I knew I was.
    I stood up and looked at Betty. “Do you have a key to the house?”
    â€œOh no,” Alice said from behind me.
    Determinedly, I ignored her. “I assume you must, since you’ve been going in and out.”
    Betty nodded. “After Johnny and I got Henry into the ambulance and on his way to the hospital, we went over there and made sure everything was locked up tight. Of course, at the time we hoped he’d be coming back. It wasn’t until later that we realized he wouldn’t. Henry kept his keys on a hook by the door. I’ve got the whole key ring here.”
    â€œI know what you’re thinking,” said Alice. “And it’s a crazy idea.”
    â€œThose dogs are all but abandoned. What choice do we have?”
    â€œNot we. You. If I ever showed up at home with one of those giant dogs, Joe would kill me.”
    I stared at her, perplexed. “Haven’t we been talking about the fact that you’re planning to get your kids a puppy? Well, this is what cute little puppies look like when they grow up. Or hadn’t you thought that far ahead?”
    â€œOf course I’ve thought about it. But I figured we’d ease into this dog-ownership thing gradually. That’s why we’re starting with a puppy.”
    Her logic made no sense at all, not that I had time to debate the point. Puppies, though smaller, were much more work than adult dogs. I supposed Alice would be finding that out soon enough. But if she didn’t think she could handle one of Henry’s dogs, what made her think she could handle one of her own?
    â€œThen I’ll take them both,” I said.
    These were, perhaps, not the sanest words ever to pass through my lips.
    â€œYou will?” Betty asked, sounding surprised. “What are you going to do with them?”
    â€œFor the time being, I’ll give them a place to stay where they’ll at least be well cared for. Then we’ll see what happens when Henry’s relatives show up. Maybe his daughters will want them.”
    â€œI can’t imagine why,” said Betty. “Like I said, they don’t come and visit much. They’ve probably never even seen those two.”
    â€œI guess I’ll have to find homes for them, then.”
    Brave words considering I had no idea how hard it would be to do something like that. All I knew for sure was that I couldn’t walk away and leave Remington and Pepper to an uncertain and possibly neglectful fate.
    â€œThat seems like a fine idea to me.” Betty sounded delighted to abdicate responsibility. “Leave me your phone number, and if anyone shows up and wants to know where those dogs have gone off to, I’ll have them call you.”
    I wrote down my information while Betty went and got the key to Henry’s back door. She pressed it