âNice doggie!â Carly cried when she spied Honey.
âEllen, meet my sister and brother, Carly and Jimmy,â said Abby.
âHi, Ellen, whatâs your doggieâs name?â Carly asked.
âHi, Carly.â Ellen laughed. âI call my dog Honey.â
âI like puppy dogs,â said Jimmy, petting Honey.
Eric Hagel came running, too. âBetter hurry, or weâll be late for school,â he said.
âRelax, Eric,â said Dunkum. âGive Jason a chance to catch up.â
Jason Birchall ran along behind Eric.
Soon, Abbyâs Korean brother Shawn came down Blossom Hill Lane. âI am very sorry to be late.â It sounded like velly sorry.
âNobodyâs late,â Dunkum said, shooting one more basket.
But Dunkumâs mom dashed across the lawn. â Iâm late! I must enroll Ellen before she can attend school.â
âOops, I almost forgot,â Dunkum said.
The girls covered their mouths, giggling.
âWhatâs so funny?â Dunkum asked.
Abby swallowed another giggle. âOh, nothing,â she said.
Eric tossed the basketball to Jason.
Jason bounced the ball slowly. He stared at Ellen and Honey. âWhoâs the new girl?â he asked.
Dunkum sounded like he was making a speech. âEverybody, meet my cousin Ellen. Ellen, meet Eric Hagel, Shawn Hunter, and Jason Birchall.â
âNow we are gonna be late!â Eric complained.
The kids turned and hurried down the walk.
Jason watched Honey guide Ellen forward. âHow will the dog know when to cross the street?â he asked.
âSheâs trained to listen for cars,â Dunkum said. âJust watch when we get to the curb.â
Abbyâs sister, Carly, suddenly dropped her show-and-tell. It was a giant green lizard puppet with a long tail.
Honey began barking loudly.
Ellen frowned and stopped walking.âWhatâs wrong with Honey?â She tightened her hold on the harness.
âItâs OK, Ellen,â said Dunkum. âItâs just Carlyâs ugly puppet.â
âSheâs not ugly!â shouted Carly.
Dunkum chuckled. âItâs a she ?â
âGod made girl lizards, too,â Carly said, grinning.
âYouâre right,â said Dunkum. âI forgot.â He circled the girls, bouncing the ball.
The Cul-de-sac Kids laughed as they reached the end of the block.
Honey led Ellen to the curb. They waited for a moment. A car passed by slowly, and Honey stepped back. Ellen did, too.
Soon it was safe. The dog guided Ellen across the street to school.
âWow,â said Carly and Dee Dee.
âHoneyâs cool,â said Eric.
Dunkumâs mother took Ellen and her dog to the school office. The kids yelled their good-byes. They promised to meet at recess.
âTwo things will be exciting this week,âAbby said. âOne is School Spirit Day. The second thing is having a dog for a classmate.â
âNo kidding,â said Stacy. Her eyes were bright.
Abby could hardly wait for school to start!
TWO
Miss Hershey was seating a girl with red pigtails.
âLooks like we have another new girl,â Abby said. She tried not to stare.
Stacy opened her desk behind Abbyâs.
Abby watched her friend dig through her desk. âWhat are you looking for?â she asked.
âA piece of paper,â Stacy muttered. She closed her desk quickly.
Abby ripped a page from her notebook. âHere.â She gave the paper to Stacy.
Stacy began to draw a secret message for the new girl. The letters and numbersspelled out something special.
Well + come 2 R Class
âWill you take this to the new girl?â she asked.
â You take it. Donât be shy,â Abby said. She pushed the note back into Stacyâs hand.
Stacy wrinkled her face. Then she crept across the room. She slid the note onto the new girlâs desk. And she hurried back to her own desk.
Abby and Stacy watched the
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