10. Ellie’s Surprise

Chapter 10 Ellie's Surprise A lot of things happened at once: Pal barked at the puppy. Bradley grabbed the puppy. The door slammed shut. The puppy licked Bradley's face.

Whispering came from behind Dink's bedroom door. Then the door opened again. "Come on in," Dink said. Bradley, Brian, Nate, Lucy, and Pal walked into Dink's room. Josh was sprawled on Dink's bed. Ruth Rose sat on the other. Dink went and sat on the floor under a cage. Dink's guinea pig, Loretta, was in the cage, standing on her hind legs. "Um, I took the puppy from your room," Ruth Rose said. "And I helped her," Dink said. "We snuck upstairs while all you guys were in the living room." "We know," Brian said. "I found some snow from Ruth Rose's boot." "Why did you take our puppy?" Bradley asked. The puppy licked his chin. "He's not your puppy," Ruth Rose said. "He's mine. I got him from Mrs. Wong two days ago." "You adopted a puppy?" Nate asked his sister. "But you already have a cat!" Ruth Rose grinned at Nate. "The puppy is for you," she said. "Merry Christmas, little bro."

Nate blinked. "You got me a puppy?" Ruth Rose nodded. She had a big grin on her face. Nate ran across the room and gave Ruth Rose a hug. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were smiling. Bradley handed the puppy to Nate. "But we found him in the snow, in front of Furry Feet," Bradley said. "How did he get there?"

Ruth Rose made room for Nate and the puppy next to her on the bed. "Dink and Josh and I went into Mrs. Wong's store to find you a puppy," she said. "Officer Fallon and Jimmy were there, looking at the ferrets." "They knew you got a puppy?" Brian asked. Ruth Rose nodded. "I picked this one because of his feet looking like socks. I always give Nate socks for Christmas! But I knew if I brought the puppy home, Nate would find out," she said. "I asked Mrs. Wong if I could leave the puppy in her store until Christmas morning. But she said no— she was going to Florida." "We tried to call her," Bradley said. "Anyway, Officer Fallon said he'd keep the puppy and bring it to our house on Christmas morning," Ruth Rose went on. "But then Officer Fallon called us and said the puppy ran away," Dink said. "He and Jimmy went out looking for it. So did Josh and Ruth Rose and I." "But how did you know we found the puppy?" Lucy asked.

Ruth Rose laughed. "Nate told us," she said. "He came home when Dink and Josh and I were getting ready to go out searching again." "Oh my gosh, you're right!" Nate said. "I just ran in and said, 'We found a puppy outside Mrs. Wong's and it's at Bradley and Brian's house!'" Ruth Rose nudged her brother. "I almost told you the truth about the puppy right then," she said. "But I decided to wait till Christmas." "Then we called Officer Fallon so he wouldn't worry," Josh said. "And we made a plan to have Dink and me sneak up to Bradley and Brian's room and get the puppy," Ruth Rose said to her brother. "I wanted to give him to you on Christmas morning." "So when we heard the door slam, that was you and Dink leaving with the puppy?" Bradley asked. Ruth Rose nodded. "My job was keeping the family busy downstairs," Josh said. "And it worked!" Pal put his big paws on Nate's knees and licked the puppy's foot. Nate set the puppy on the floor, and the two dogs sniffed each other.

"This is the best present I ever got for Christmas," he said. "I'm naming him Socks!" Lucy jumped up. "Oh, I just remembered something!" She hurried out of the room, and they could hear her running down the stairs. A minute later, she ran back up the stairs. She came into the room holding a paper bag tied with a red ribbon. "It's a present from Ellie, remember?"