“Leave that alone, Roscoe.” Lolli tugged on her dog’s leash as he stopped to sniff at a pinecone on the sidewalk. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
Janey stopped to let them catch up. It was Tuesday afternoon, and she and Lolli had decided to take Roscoe to the town park.
“Hey, look who’s here!” Lolli said as they entered the park. “It’s Ms. Tanaka and Truman!”
Janey looked where she was pointing. Their teacher was halfway across the park in a grassy area shaded by some huge old oak trees. Truman was there, too, chasing a ball his new owner was throwing for him.
“I still can’t believe how great everything turned out.” Lolli smiled as she watched the pair playing. “It’s like it was meant to be!”
“I know, right?” Janey nodded. “Ms. Tanaka told me she can’t imagine her life without Truman. Isn’t that fab?”
“Totally fab,” Lolli agreed. “Should we go over and say hi?”
Before she could answer, Janey heard a flurry of barking from the opposite direction. Turning to look, she saw Adam coming with one of his doggy clients, a pretty collie mix. Zach was with him, pushing himself along on his skateboard.
Roscoe’s whole hind end wagged along with his tail as he greeted the other dog. The collie mix barked, then came forward to sniff Roscoe’s nose.
“It’s okay,” Adam told Lolli. “This guy is friendly with other dogs. And I know Roscoe is, too.”
Zach was peering across the park. “Hey, there’s Ms. T and Truman,” he said.
“Yeah, we just saw them, too,” Janey said. “We were about to go say hi. Want to come?”
“In a minute.” Adam glanced at Zach. “Actually, it’s good that we ran into you. Zach has an idea he wants to tell you about.”
“An idea?” Janey looked at Zach. “What kind of idea?”
Zach flipped his skateboard and tried to jump back on, but he missed and staggered off a few steps. “It’s an idea about breaking my leg,” he joked. “I’m working on it now.”
Adam smiled. “No, seriously, tell them, dude,” he said. “I think they’ll like it.”
“What is it, Zach?” Lolli asked.
Zach patted Roscoe as the big dog came over to sniff at him. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “Just something I was thinking about, you know? After what happened with Truman, and everything….”
Janey sighed. “Just spit it out already,” she said. “We don’t have all day.”
Zach smirked. “Why not? Do you have an appointment with the President of the United States or something?”
“Just tell them,” Adam said.
Zach shrugged. “Okay. See, we did such a great job getting Truman the perfect home, right? All of us helped.”
Janey nodded. She had to admit that Zach’s tricks had probably won over Ms. Tanaka just as much as the training she, Lolli, and Adam had done.
“So.” Zach paused, glancing over toward Truman again. “I was thinking we should, you know, do more of that.”
“You mean we should volunteer at the shelter?” Janey said. “We’re already planning to.”
“Not just that,” Adam said. “He thinks we should form, like, a club or something.”
“Yeah.” Zach sounded excited now. “I was thinking we could call it the Pet Rescue Club! I bet there are lots of other animals right here in our town who need our help. We could use your blog to find them, and then to help find them homes—just like with Truman. And, well, like I said the four of us make a pretty good team…”
Lolli smiled. “What a super idea!” she exclaimed.
But, Janey hesitated. She wasn’t so sure. For one thing, Zach was pretty annoying sometimes. Did she really want to be in a club with him?
“What do you think, Janey?” Adam asked.
“I don’t know,” Janey said slowly. “My blog is supposed to be for sharing cute pet photos, not for stuff like that. Seeing that first picture of Truman pop up was really upsetting.”
“I know, but it could be for both things, couldn’t it?” Lolli said, stroking the collie mix’s sleek head. “We’ll be able to help other dogs like Truman. And cats and other animals, too, of course.”
“Isn’t that worth being upset a little bit?” Adam added.
Zach didn’t say anything. He was watching Janey carefully, not cracking jokes or messing with his skateboard for once. Janey stared back at him. Would he really take something like this seriously?
She wasn’t sure, but she realized something else. It didn’t matter. She took helping animals seriously. So did Lolli and Adam, and probably Zach. Working together, she was sure they could make it work.
“I guess you’re right,” she said with a cautious smile. “Helping Truman made it all worthwhile. And my blog has been getting tons of hits. Everyone loved hearing about Truman’s happy ending. It really is the perfect way to reach animals in need.”
“Cool!” Zach exclaimed with a grin. “So we’re going to do this?”
He raised his hand. Lolli high-fived him. Adam switched the leash he was holding to his other hand and did the same. Then Janey stepped forward and high-fived Zach, too. At least she tried to—at the last second, he pulled his hand away.
“Psych!” he cried with a grin.
Janey frowned. “Very funny.”
“Sorry.” Zach grabbed her hand and high-fived it. “So it’s official—we’re the Pet Rescue Club?”
“Yeah.” Janey’s mind was already filling with ideas for how to make the club work. It was going to be great! She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it herself. “It’s official. I can’t wait to get started!”
