“Wake up, sleepyhead. Time to get ready for the walk-a-thon!”
Janey opened her eyes. Her mother was smiling down at her.
“What time is it?” Janey asked with a yawn. Her head felt fuzzy and her eyes so heavy she could hardly keep them open.
“Six o’clock. You told me to wake you, remember? You wanted to have plenty of time to get ready for your dog walk-a-thon.”
That made Janey wake up. “Oh, right,” she exclaimed, sitting up in bed. “I can’t believe it’s finally here!”
Twenty minutes later, she was dressed and shoveling cereal into her mouth. Twenty minutes after that, her dad was driving her to the animal shelter.
“Are you sure you have everything you need?” he asked as he pulled to the curb. “If you forgot anything, just call me and I’ll run it over to the park. And of course your mom and I will come by later to cheer you on.”
“And to pay the money you promised to sponsor me, right?” Janey said.
Her dad chuckled. “Of course!”
The shelter normally didn’t open until nine on Saturdays. But today Kitty was already there. So were Dr. Goldman, Zach, and Adam.
“She’s going straight to the park with Roscoe, remember?” Adam said. “We’ll meet her there.”
“Oh, right.” There were so many details to remember that Janey had trouble keeping track of them all. She looked at Kitty. “Should we get our dogs now?”
“They’re ready and waiting,” Kitty responded. “I even took Ace for a quick run in the courtyard when I first got here.”
“Uh-oh,” Zach joked. “I hope you didn’t wear him out so he can’t walk very far!”
Kitty laughed. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Ace could do this walk-a-thon twice over and still have plenty of energy.”
Soon they were all piling into the shelter’s van with their dogs. Adam had chosen a terrier mix named Duke, and Zach was going to walk a small dog that looked like a mix of so many different breeds that the shelter had named her Misha, short for Mishmash.
Ace was so excited that he almost pulled the leash out of Janey’s hand as he leaped into the van. “Hang on, boy,” she said with a laugh. “Wait for me!”
“Be careful not to let him get loose,” Kitty told her. “If he does, we might never catch him.”
“I’ll be careful,” Janey promised. She held onto the leash tightly with both hands.
When they reached the park, the work began. Lolli was waiting for them with Roscoe. Her parents were there, too, since they’d offered to help set up for the fundraiser. Lolli’s dad watched all the dogs while the others got to work.
There was a lot to do! Before long Janey was out of breath and sweating a little. But it was fun, too. They laid out a course, marking the way with colorful flags. They set up a finish line with bright tape and balloons. Lolli’s parents had brought a folding table where people could sign in, and Janey taped the poster she’d made to the front and then carefully set out piles of sign-up sheets and instructions.
By the time everything was ready, people were starting to arrive. A pair of young women walking a pair of pugs hurried over. “Where do we sign up?” one of the women asked.
“Right here,” Janey said. “Your dogs are supercute!”
More people were already hurrying over. Janey barely had time to give the pugs a quick pat before she had to get back to work.
“Wow,” Lolli said. “I can’t believe how many people are here!”
“And how many dogs.” Janey glanced around. She and Kitty and Lolli had just started the course with Ace and Roscoe. Lolli’s parents and Zach’s mom had taken over at the sign-in table so the kids could participate in the walk-a-thon.
“Easy, Ace,” Lolli said as the Lab mix leaped up at Roscoe. “Roscoe doesn’t want to play right now.”
Janey tugged on Ace’s leash. The cute black dog was more excited than ever. He kept trying to dash over to say hi to every dog he saw. And that was a LOT of dogs!
But Janey kept a tight hold on his leash. Kitty walked by her side. Janey also kept a lookout for Mrs. Reed.
“Let me know if you see Mrs. Reed and Pepper,” Janey said. “I want to be sure they get to meet Ace.”
“Okay.” Lolli glanced at Ace, who was straining against his leash and barking at a passing greyhound. “Do you think she’ll like him?”
“Of course!” Janey said. “She’ll love him. He’s medium-sized, right?”
“True,” Lolli said. “That part is a perfect match. But like Kitty was saying…”
“Look, there they are!” Janey interrupted. “Hey, Mrs. Reed! Wait up!”
She hurried to catch up to the woman. Kitty followed them. Pepper saw them coming first and wagged his tail.
Then Ace barked and leaped toward the smaller dog. Pepper jumped back, looking alarmed.
“It’s okay, baby.” Mrs. Reed scooped up the Chihuahua and smiled at the girls. “Well, hello there! I understand you kids put this whole fundraiser together to help one of Dr. Goldman’s patients. What a wonderful idea!”
“Thanks,” Lolli said. “Maxi’s owner can’t afford surgery, and we wanted to help.”
“This is Ace,” Janey blurted out as Ace jumped up on Mrs. Reed’s legs. “He’s the one in the photos we sent. He’s, um, a little excited today.”
“I can see that.” The woman chuckled and let Ace sniff her hand. “Hello there, Ace. Aren’t you a lively fellow!”
“Yes, he has lots of energy,” Janey said. “That means he could be a good therapy dog, right?”
“A therapy dog? Hmm.” Mrs. Reed looked at Kitty. “Maybe if he settles down a bit.”
“What do you mean?” Janey said. “I thought he’d need energy to go visit lots of places with you.”
“Yes, but many of the people we visit are sick or elderly or both,” Mrs. Reed explained. “A dog that’s too energetic can be too much for them.” She patted Ace. “He’s a cute fellow, though. I’m sure he could do lots of things. Maybe dog agility or something like that?”
Janey wasn’t sure what to say. This wasn’t turning out the way she’d planned at all! How was she going to convince Mrs. Reed that Ace really was the perfect match for her?
“Look! There’s Matthew,” Adam said.
Zach saw him, too. “Hey, he brought Maxi,” he said. “I hope he’s not making her run. Or even walk.”
“Doesn’t look like it,” Adam said. “They’re just hanging out in the shade talking to people.”
The two boys hurried over. “Hi,” Zach said. “I thought you weren’t going to bring Maxi.”
“I couldn’t stand to leave her home,” Matthew said. “After all, this is all for her! Besides, we haven’t been spending enough time together since she had to stop running. I don’t want her to be lonely.” He gave her a pat. “Anyway, my sister offered to walk with her dog in our place so we could just hang out.”
“That’s good,” Zach said. “Look, I think Maxi likes Misha and Duke!”
The three dogs were circling one another, wagging their tails.
“Oh, Maxi gets along with everybody,” Matthew said with a chuckle. “Even tiny dogs can boss her around and she doesn’t mind a bit.”
Zach nodded, remembering how calm Maxi had been with Toby the cat in the clinic waiting room. “She’s pretty chill,” he agreed.
“Look,” Adam said. “There are Janey and Lolli.”
“And Mrs. Reed,” Zach added. He waved. “Guys! Over here!”
The girls and Mrs. Reed came toward them. Mrs. Reed was holding Pepper in her arms, while Ace frisked around and barked at Roscoe. Zach noticed that Janey looked kind of grumpy. But she looked that way a lot, so he didn’t worry about it.
“This is Maxi,” he told Mrs. Reed. “She’s the one who’s getting the surgery.”
“Lovely to meet you, Maxi,” Mrs. Reed said. As she leaned down to give the big dog a pat, Pepper wriggled in her arms, sniffing curiously at Maxi.
“You can put Pepper down,” Zach said. “Maxi won’t hurt him.”
“Don’t worry,” Janey added. “I’ll keep Ace away.”
“Thank you, dear.” Mrs. Reed set the Chihuahua on the ground. Pepper trotted over and sniffed noses with Maxi. Both dogs wagged their tails.
“Oh, and this is Matthew,” Lolli added.
“I know.” Mrs. Reed smiled. “Good to see you again, Matthew.”
“You too, Prof,” Matthew said. Glancing at the kids, he grinned. “Dr. Reed was my professor in college.”
“Really?” Zach was surprised. “You’re a doctor?”
“A doctor of history,” Mrs. Reed said with a chuckle. “Matthew was one of my best students.”
As Matthew and Mrs. Reed chatted, Zach wandered over to Janey, who had taken Ace a short distance away. Adam and Lolli came, too. Kitty was sitting on a bench near them, talking to the shelter to see how things were going there.
“What’s with you?” Zach asked Janey. “Aren’t you having fun?”
Janey shrugged, staring at Ace as he jumped around playfully with Duke. “I thought Mrs. Reed and Ace were a perfect match,” she said. “But Pepper doesn’t seem to like him much. And Mrs. Reed thinks he’s too energetic to be a good therapy dog.”
“Bummer,” Zach said. “But don’t worry, there are lots of other medium-sized dogs at the shelter. Maybe she’ll like one of them better.”
He glanced over at Adam to see what he thought. But Adam was staring back toward Mrs. Reed and Matthew. “Do you see that?” he said.
“See what?” Zach looked where Adam was looking. Pepper was sitting between Maxi’s front legs. Maxi was peering down at the little dog, staying very still. Her tail thumped against the ground as she wagged it. Mrs. Reed’s hand was resting on the big dog’s head, her fingers idly scratching at Maxi’s ears as she talked to Matthew.
Zach looked at Adam, who was smiling. “I just had an idea,” Adam whispered to him. “Let’s go find your mom!”