A Dog Whistle
It was Louie!
He was curled up on his bed inside the hot dog cart’s storage area. There was even a red chew toy in front of him, filled with peanut butter. While Mike and Kate stared at him, Louie tried to lick the peanut butter out of the chew toy.
“Well, he’s not in a rush to get out,” Mike said. “I guess he’s comfortable.”
Kate nodded. She pointed to the far side of the compartment. “That’s good. At least there’s a bowl of water in there for him,” she said.
“And peanut butter in the chew toy!” Mike said. “I’ll bet Harry used the peanut butter to lure Louie into the cart when no one was looking. He probably dropped some on the floor. The groundskeeper we saw with the jar of peanut butter didn’t have anything to do with it!”
“I think you’re right,” Kate said. She glanced around. There was no sign of Harry. “We need to get Louie out of here and tell Red that we found him!”
Kate leaned over again and gently pulled on Louie’s collar. He gave his peanut butter chew toy one more lick and then hopped out of the hot dog cart. Kate closed the door and held on tight to Louie’s collar while Mike went to look for something to use as a leash.
A few moments later, Mike was back. “I couldn’t find a leash,” he said. “So I made one!”
He held up a leash made from two shoelaces tied together. He was holding his sneakers in the other hand, since they wouldn’t stay on his feet without the laces.
“Great idea!” Kate said.
They tied the shoelaces to Louie’s collar.
“Okay, come on, boy!” Kate said. “We’ve got to get a message to Red right away!”
“And we’ve got to get away from this hot dog cart before Harry returns!” Mike said.
Mike, Kate, and Louie jogged through the stadium toward the seats near the Cardinals’ dugout. The first Cardinals batter of the inning was at the plate. Red would be up next!
They had to slow down to a walk as they got closer. On the field, the St. Louis batter hit a double! The game was still tied. The crowd went wild with cheers. The fans started clapping and chanting Red’s name. A good hit by Red would send that runner home and put the Cardinals ahead to win the game!
“Come on!” Kate said to Mike. She pointed to an aisle leading to the field. “We’ll bring Louie to the fence near the on-deck circle so Red can see him!”
Red took a few practice swings while the runner dusted himself off.
Mike and Kate started down the aisle.
“Stop! Hold it right there!” said a voice.
Mike, Kate, and Louie stopped and turned. A security guard stood at the top of the aisle. In their hurry, they hadn’t seen him.
“You can’t go to those seats unless you have tickets,” the security guard said. “And you definitely can’t bring a dog!”
Kate pointed to the batting circle. “But we’re friends with Red!” she said. “We have to show him something before he bats! Otherwise he might not keep his hitting streak alive!”
The guard looked at Red and then back at Mike and Kate. He shook his head.
“No! I don’t care who you are friends with,” he said. “Stadium rules do not allow a dog in the stands.”
Kate stepped closer to the guard. “But we have to get a message to Red!”
The guard shrugged. “Not with that dog, you’re not,” he said. “And not without tickets. Sorry! Move along. You can’t block the aisle.”
Mike looked at the field. Red was headed for home plate!
“Red’s going to bat! And he doesn’t know we found Louie!” Mike cried. “We’ve got to do something!”
Red stopped just outside the batter’s box. It looked like he was thinking.
Mike tried to push past the security guard. But the guard stood his ground.
“Back! Now!” the guard ordered. “Or I’ll have you removed from the stadium!”
Red wiped his cleats in the dirt outside the batter’s box. He was just about to step inside when Kate put two fingers in her mouth and blew with all her might.
A shrill whistle pierced the air.
Red looked up from the field.
“I knew that learning to whistle really loudly would pay off!” Kate said. She nudged Mike. “Quick! Yell with me!”
Mike and Kate moved to the side of the security guard and yelled together at the top of their lungs, “RED! RED! RED!”
Kate gave another long, loud whistle.
Red looked directly at them. Mike bent down and picked Louie up, then lifted him as high as he could!
A huge smile spread across Red’s face! He clapped his hands together, then thumped his heart with one hand and pointed at Louie. His smile couldn’t have been bigger.
Red stepped into the batter’s box to hit.
