2. Where Is Mrs. Wong

Chapter 2 Where Is Mrs. Wong? "Oh my gosh!" Bradley said. He picked up the puppy. It shivered in his arms. "How did you get here?" The puppy was golden brown all over except for its feet. They were white, as if the puppy were wearing four little socks.

Brian, Nate, and Lucy petted the puppy's head. It licked their fingers. The puppy had a red ribbon tied around its neck. "Look, there's a tag on it!" Lucy said. She got closer and tried to read what was written on the tag. "It just says TO and FROM," she said. "The rest is missing." "Somebody ripped it in half," Brian said. "Maybe the puppy chewed off the bottom half," Nate suggested. The puppy was trembling in Bradley's arms. "It's shivering," Bradley said. "Let's take it to my house." He stuck the puppy inside his jacket and zipped it up. Nate took another look through the window. "I wonder who feeds the animals when Mrs. Wong is on vacation," he said. "Good question," Lucy said. She rubbed some snow from a corner of the window. A note had been taped to the inside of the glass. The note said: AWAY UNTIL JAN. 1. FOR EMERGENCIES, CALL 860-555-0505. —MARY WONG

"We should call her," Bradley said. "If someone bought this puppy from Furry Feet, she can tell us who it is!" "Come on. We can use Ellie's phone," Brian suggested. "We should write the number down," Nate said.

"No problem," Brian said. He tapped the side of his head. "I have it locked inside my incredible memory." Brian took Pal's leash from his brother, and they all trooped over to Ellie's Diner. "Hey, kids," Ellie said when she saw them. "What are you doing out and about on Christmas Eve?" "Look what we found in front of Furry Feet!" Bradley said. He unzipped his jacket, and the puppy's head popped out. "It was just curled up there, outside the door." "For goodness' sake!" Ellie exclaimed. She took the puppy and hugged it against her chest. "Are you hungry, sweetie?" "Yes," Nate said. Everyone laughed. "I meant the puppy," Ellie said. She read the tag. "Gracious, this little guy is supposed to be a Christmas present!" "That's what we think, too," Lucy said. Ellie set the puppy on the floor and put a little chopped meat in a dish. The puppy gobbled it up in three seconds.

"I'll give it some of Pal's food when we get home," Bradley said. "But can we borrow a quarter to use your pay phone? Mrs. Wong left a phone number for emergencies. We want to ask her if she knows who adopted the puppy." "Do you think it was one of the puppies from her store?" Ellie asked. "We don't know," Brian said. "But that's where it was." Ellie handed Brian a quarter, and he stepped inside the phone booth. He plunked the quarter into the coin slot and dialed the number he had memorized. The other kids waited outside the booth, watching Brian talk. He hung up and stepped outside the booth. "It's Mrs. Wong's nephew, Leonard," he said. "He's watching the store while she's on vacation. He's coming over."

Ellie poured four mugs of hot chocolate and set them on a table. "Put something warm inside your tummies while you're waiting," she said. The kids thanked Ellie and sat down. They sipped the chocolate and warmed their hands on the mugs. "I wonder who's supposed to get the puppy for Christmas," Lucy said. "Some kid, probably," Nate said. He looked at the clock over Ellie's counter. "And Christmas