‘Doggin’

One day after school, Billy found an empty kennel.

“Doggin!” Billy called. He had to find Doggin before Granny did.

Billy ran to Mrs. Fixie’s house.

“That hound of yours was here,” Mrs. Fixie said. “Look at my flower garden!”

Billy’s stomach hurt. “Please don’t tell Granny. I’ll plant some flowers.”

“My leather gloves are missing, too. I bet Doggin took them!”

“I’m sorry, but do you know where Doggin went?”

“He headed for the Sanchezes’.”

“Oh, Doggin!” Billy called. If Granny found out that Doggin got out, there would be trouble.

“Billy! Doggin was here!” yelled Mr. Sanchez. “Look what he did to my chair.”

“Please don’t tell Granny. I’ll fix your chair.”

“I think he took my wallet, too,” Mr. Sanchez said.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sanchez. But do you know where Doggin went?”

“I saw him run to the Chens’.”

“Oh, Doggin!” Billy called.

Doggin had dug up flowers, broken a chair, chewed up gloves, and taken a wallet! Billy shivered thinking about it.

“Billy! Doggin was here!” Mrs. Chen said. “Look at my sheets.”

Billy’s stomach flipped.

“I’m sorry,” Billy said. “I’ll wash your sheets.”

“Billy, Doggin took off with my purse,” Mrs. Chen said.

Billy was worried about how mad Granny would be. He worried that Doggin was lost.

“Mrs. Chen, please don’t tell Granny. I have to find Doggin first.”

“Billy, we have to talk to your Granny.”

Billy ran back to his house in tears, with Mrs. Fixie, Mr. Sanchez, and Mrs. Chen following.

“What’s going on?” Granny asked.

“Doggin dug up my flowers,” Mrs. Fixie said. “And stole my gloves.”

“Doggin chewed up my chair,” Mr. Sanchez said. “And took my wallet.”

“Doggin broke my clothesline and dragged my sheets through mud,” said Mrs. Chen, “and took my purse.”

“Billy,” Granny said. “I told you that if there more trouble, we’d have to give Doggin away.”

“Granny, I don’t know where Doggin is. I think he’s lost for good.”

Clang! Crash! Boom! came from Mr. Funk’s house next door.

“G-r-o-w-l!”

Everyone raced to Mr. Funk’s house. Granny tripped over a garbage can.

“Doggin has to go,” Granny said.

“Where’s Doggin?” Billy asked as he raced into Mr. Funk’s backyard.

“Oh, my!” Mrs. Fixie said.

“Doggin, stay!” Billy yelled.

“I called the police,” Mr. Funk said.

Doggin obeyed. He stayed just as he was told. He stayed on top of a burglar’s chest!

“Who owns this dog?” the policeman asked.

“I do,” Billy said. “His name is Doggin.”

“That’s one brave dog. We’ve been after this cat burglar for weeks.”

The burglar wore Mrs. Fixie’s leather gloves. Next to the burglar was Mr. Sanchez’s wallet and Mrs. Chen’s purse.

As the policeman took the burglar away, a photographer took Billy and Doggin’s picture.

The next day, the headline of the newspaper read: “Hero Dog Catches Cat Burglar.”

After that, the neighbors said only marvelous things about Doggin.

Best of all was what Granny said — “Doggin can stay!”

Special thanks to Jennifer Olson for her illustration. To see more of her work, visit jennifergrayolson.com.

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Next week: A new Carrie and Carl mystery.