The 12 Dogs of Christmas by Emma Kragen Read Free Book Online

that night worrying about it and did not fall asleep until the wee hours. Unfortunately it was in the wee hours that bug-face Melvin took a pair of wire cutters and cut a hole in her dog-yard fence.
    The next morning, before leaving for school, Mike said good-bye to Yeti, and Emma said good-bye to the puppy, both expecting not to see their dogs again until after school. But it was not to be. The new hole in the fence, which no one had noticed, allowed Yeti and the puppy to happily run after Mrs. Stevens’s truck, eventually making it into town and to the school.
    Class started that morning with spelling, which Mrs. Walsh, who had reluctantly taken over Mrs. Clancy’s class, was testing the students on. She called first on Miranda, the smartest kid in the school, and asked her to spell discipline , Mrs. Walsh’s favorite word.
    Miranda, who was happy to have been called upon, stood up quickly and said, “Discipline, D-I-S-C-I-P-L-IN-E.” After defining the word she sat down pertly, for she knew she had spelled the word correctly.
    â€œGood, very good,” Mrs. Walsh said as she looked for her next “volunteer.” It did not take her long to decide, turning to Emma and asking her to spell prevarication . Emma stood up and was about to do so when Yeti casually walked into the classroom, just as if she belonged there, followed by the puppy, leaping and bouncing about, eventually leaping into Emma’s arms. This canine invasion shocked Mrs. Walsh, but delighted the kids. Mrs. Walsh got over her shock quickly, though, and, disgusted, grabbed Yeti by the collar and escorted her out of the classroom. “Out-out-out!”
    Mike and Emma ran to the window and soon saw Mrs. Walsh dragging Yeti across the snow-covered schoolyard in her high-heeled shoes, then shooing her away. They couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Then they heard an awful noise. It was the warped putt-putt and occasional rude backfire of the Fearsome Machine, which could be seen coming around the corner. Bug-face Melvin was driving, and Norman Doyle was standing up in his seat vigilantly looking for criminal dogs, like Captain Ahab searching for Moby Dick. Mike and Emma knew they quickly had to go out and find Yeti and take her and the puppy, which was still in Emma’s arms, and hide them. They grabbed their hats and coats and were just running out of the classroom when Mrs. Walsh returned. Mike dashed around her, but she blocked Emma’s way, giving her a look that would have melted her like wax, had Emma not been an adventure hero.
    â€œPrevarication, P-R-E-V—uh, it’s a deviation from the truth,” Emma said as she attempted to move past the principal, but Mrs. Walsh grabbed her by the arm. “Did you bring that dog to school?” she demanded to know.
    â€œWhat dog?” Emma said with innocent eyes while holding the puppy close. Mrs. Walsh was so taken aback by this prevarication, she let go of Emma, who then ran from the classroom.
    Mike and Emma had exactly the same idea, and they took the dogs to the large storage shack at the rear of the school, hiding themselves deep in the darkness. But it was too obvious a choice, for bug-face Melvin and Norman soon rode up on the Fearsome Machine, stopping right in front of the shack’s door.
    Emma turned to Mike. “You hide; I’ll distract Norman.” Just as Norman, with old dog-sniffing Scratch in his arms, came into the shack, Emma bolted out of the shadows and headed deeper into the shack, into a back room where she found a stack of long corrugated metal culverts of various sizes, including one that was just right for a girl and her dog to hide in.
    Emma put the puppy into the big tube and was just climbing in after him, when she heard the door of the room slam, then Norman thumping around, and then old Scratch letting out a threatening yowl. “You caused me a lot of trouble, but you’re not getting out of this one,”