Zombie Dog by Clare Hutton Read Free Book Online

needed her.
    Going down the stairs, Becky stepped as lightly as she could and didn’t turn on any lights. It seemed important not to draw attention to the fact that she was awake, or to where she was in the house. She tried to breathe slowly and evenly; her heart was pounding hard.
    Down in the front hall, she stopped and listened. Was that a faint scraping noise at the front door? Could the creature have gotten under the fence so fast?
    â€œBear?” she whispered, padding quickly and quietly toward the kitchen. “Where are you, boy?” She could hear that her voice was shaking a little.
    The faint scraping noise came again. It definitely was not her imagination. What if Bear’s outside? she thought suddenly. She didn’t know how he could have gotten out, but he was an escape artist, after all. He’d gotten out of the yard loads of times. Reluctantly, Becky moved toward the door. She was going to have to look outside.
    The hall light suddenly flicked on, and Becky screamed.
    Her mother was standing in the hall in her pajamas, one hand on the light switch. She blinked at Becky in confusion. “Beck? What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night!”
    â€œI … uh.” Becky swallowed nervously and said, “I heard a weird noise outside.” As she spoke, she heard the scraping against the door again, louder this time.
    Her mom walked over and opened the front door wide. A gust of wind blew in, blowing Becky’s hair back and strengthening the thick rotting smell. But there was nothing unusual outside, no creature on the doorstep.
    â€œUgh, what is that?” Becky’s mom coughed and covered her mouth and nose. “Did something die out there?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Becky said, straining to see past her into the yard. Was there something moving out in the shadows?
    Her mom closed the door. “Let’s get back to bed,” she said firmly. “We’ll figure out the smell in the morning, if it’s still there.”
    Bear chose that moment to wander into the hall, the tags on his collar clinking against each other and his toenails clicking on the floor. When he saw Becky, he sped up and ran toward her, a happy doggy grin stretching his mouth wide.
    â€œBear!” Becky’s mom shouted.
    Startled, Bear lost his balance, his paws skidding on the hardwood floor, and lurched into Becky, who sat down hard. Immediately, she found herself with a lap full of concerned dog. Bear pushed his cold, wet nose into her face and, realizing she was fine, licked her with his warm, even wetter tongue.
    â€œCrazy dog,” Becky said affectionately, putting her arms around him. Looking up, she saw her mom frowning.
    â€œWhat is Bear doing out of his cage?” her mom asked. Her voice was angry.
    â€œUh …” Becky said, the scraping outside and the gross smell forgotten.
    â€œBecky, you know Bear’s supposed to sleep in his crate,” her mom told her. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line, and she ran her hands through her hair distractedly. “If you keep encouraging him to break the rules, he’s never going to learn to behave.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Mom,” Becky said. She pushed Bear off her lap and got up. Sensing the tension in the air, Bear looked worriedly from Becky to her mother and whined softly.
    Becky’s mother sighed. “Put Bear in his crate and go to bed,” she said, more gently. “But we’re going to have a talk about this tomorrow.”
    Becky nodded and led Bear into the kitchen. He gave a small woof of discontent when she steered him into the crate, but he didn’t fight her. He settled down on his cushion and rested his head on his big paws.
    â€œGood night, my good boy,” Becky said, stroking his ears through the bars. “Sweet dreams.” Bear, his eyes already drifting closed, nuzzled her fingers, then thumped his tail once against the