Stick Dog peeked out from the edge of the doorway. He could see Mike the meat man behind the counter. He was cutting something with that big rectangular knife again. Lucy walked right behind him and around the corner of the glass case on the farthest side of the store. Stick Dog couldn’t see her any longer. He could only see her human.
Mike the meat man must have heard Lucy pad behind him.
“How are you doing, Lucy-girl?” he asked without looking.
Lucy barked a friendly bark.
“Glad to hear it,” he said, and chuckled a bit.
Stick Dog waited. He didn’t know what Lucy was going to do. He just knew that when Mike the meat man crouched down, he’d need to move fast. He knew exactly what he was going to try to snatch.
Stick Dog waited.
Mike the meat man slammed that huge knife into something.
Whack!
Stick Dog waited.
Whack!
Stick Dog waited.
Whack!
Stick Dog waited.
And then Lucy started to whimper. It was a soft and pitiful sound. It sounded so sad.
Mike the meat man put that giant knife down and turned around. He wiped his hands on his apron.
“What is it, Lucy-girl?” he called. He walked toward where Lucy was—and turned the corner where Lucy had disappeared behind the glass case.
Stick Dog couldn’t see Lucy, of course. But he could see Mike the meat man.
“What is it?” Mike repeated.
Lucy whined some more.
“Is there something under there, Lucy-girl? Did you lose something?” he asked.
And then he crouched down.
Stick Dog moved—and moved fast. As he listened to what was happening, he hustled to the nearest glass case and propped himself up. He saw what he was after.
Lucy whined.
“How in the world did your rope get under this case?!” Mike the meat man said. “That’s why you’re upset. Your favorite thing is out of reach. Poor thing. I’ll get it for you. It’s really far back there.”
As Mike the meat man grunted, groaned, and stretched to reach the rope that Lucy had deliberately pushed under the case, Stick Dog reached for the foot-long hot dogs with his mouth.
He grabbed as many as he could, ducked his head out of the case, and dropped quietly back to all fours. He padded softly and quickly toward the back room. He tucked himself back into that dark corner, dropping the hot dogs at his paws.
Lucy yelped a happy bark.
“There you go, Lucy-girl!” Mike the meat man said. “Run along now. I need to get back to work.”
Lucy barked again.
“You’re welcome.”
Stick Dog smiled.
He could hear Lucy coming back.