After breakfast the next morning, Shelley’s mom got out some baskets.
“Who wants to go raspberry picking?” asked Aunt Joan.
“Not me,” said Kyle. “I’m going fishing with Dad and Uncle Ken.”
“I don’t like fishing,” said Marcus. “But I like picking berries.”
“I pay good berry pickers a dollar a pail,” said Aunt Joan.
“All right!” said Marcus.
Mom turned to Shelley. “You’ll have to come raspberry picking too,” she said. “We can’t leave you home alone.”
Shelley groaned. She wanted to stay home alone. Then she could really search for her fossil rock. Everywhere. Especially in Marcus’s bedroom.
“Can’t I stay by myself?” Shelley pleaded. “There are things I want to do here.”
“We won’t be leaving for an hour or so,” said Mom. “Maybe you can get your things done before then. But when we go, I want you to come with us.”
Shelley felt restless. She wanted to look for her fossil rock. She went to her room. Topper followed her.
Shelley picked up a book. Topper paced around the room. She was restless too.
“If your ball wasn’t lost, we could play fetch,” Shelley said to her.
The minute Topper heard “play fetch,” her ears perked up. She barked a happy “Woof!” and raced out of the room.
Had Topper found her ball? Shelley hurried after her.
Topper headed for the back porch. She went right to her doggie bed and shoved her nose under the mattress. When she looked back at Shelley, she had something in her mouth.
“Topper, you found your ball!” Shelley cheered.
Topper’s tail wagged back and forth. She dropped the object at Shelley’s feet.
Shelley picked it up. Her heart jumped, and she let out a shriek of delight.