1. It’s a Puppy!

Calendar Mysteries December Dog by Ron Roy

Chapter 1 It's a Puppy! "Let's go see the puppies," Nate said. "And the Christmas decorations," Lucy added. It was the afternoon before Christmas. Nate, Lucy, Bradley, and his twin, Brian, were in the twins' yard playing with their basset hound, Pal. "I can't believe tomorrow morning is Christmas!" Brian said. Pal barked at Brian.

"Do you think dogs know it's Christmas?" Nate asked. "He just wants to go for a walk," Brian said. "Come on, Pal. Want to go see some puppies?" Bradley asked. He snapped Pal's leash on, and the kids started walking toward Main Street in Green Lawn. The four kids were best friends. Nate's older sister, Ruth Rose, was friends with Lucy's cousin Dink. Bradley and Brian's older brother, Josh, was also pals with Dink and Ruth Rose. The sun was behind some dark clouds. Snowflakes were falling, beginning to cover last week's snow. "Yippee, we can have a Christmas snowball fight later!" Brian said. He stuck out his tongue and caught a snowflake. Main Street was busy. It was Christmas Eve, and some people were still shopping. The parking lot behind the supermarket was crowded. Light poles were decorated with shiny red balls. Christmas carols played from speakers. A plastic Santa sat on top of Ellie's Diner.

"Maybe Mrs. Wong will let us hold the puppies," Nate said. Mrs. Wong owned Furry Feet, the pet store on Main Street. The kids knew she had puppies up for adoption. But when they got to Furry Feet, the store window was dark. The sign was turned off. "Furry Feet is closed," Lucy said. The kids put their faces against the cold glass. Pal stood on his hind legs and sniffed the window. A wooden box stood behind the glass. A few dog toys were scattered around in the box. Food and water bowls sat empty. A big sign on the box said: THE PUPPIES HAVE GONE TO GOOD HOMES. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Inside the shop were cages of mice, rats, ferrets, and parakeets, and tanks of fish. No puppies. "Mrs. Wong has found homes for all of them," Nate said. Bradley thought Nate looked sad. "Maybe you'll get one for Christmas," he said, smiling. He knew that Nate really wanted a puppy. "No way," Nate said. "Tiger is the only pet my parents will let us have. It's so not fair." The other three kids knew all about Tiger, Ruth Rose's cat. She was big and sassy and had long, sharp claws. "I bought Ruth Rose one of those little mechanical mice," Nate went on. "It has a remote so she can make it go all over the house. Tiger will go crazy chasing it!" "Cool," Bradley said. "Maybe your sister will give you a mechanical dog," he joked. Nate shook his head. "Probably more socks," he said. "Every year it's socks or mittens." Just then, Pal barked. He tugged on his leash and pulled Bradley toward the shop door. "It's closed, Pal," Bradley said. "Mrs. Wong isn't here."