Cocoa Read Free Page B

had played ball with her in the backyard for a long time that morning, so she wasn’t quite aswild. It did not take long at all to teach her how to wait when they came to a door, to pause to let him go first instead of pushing her way through ahead of him. He practiced in the doorway between the hall and the living room.
    When Charles held up a hand and said, “Wait,” Cocoa sat — well, not quite, but she crouched — until he went through and said, “Okay!” Then she raced through the door to where he stood holding a treat. True, she usually raced past him, or into him, but so far she had not knocked him over. As soon as she’d gobbled each treat she spun around in circles, barking at Charles.
     
    This is fun! Let’s do it again.
     
    “Okay, okay, calm down, Cocoa. Ready to try one more time?” Charles asked. But just as he was getting set for another round, he heard a knock at the door. Cocoa scrambled wildly over the woodfloors, galloping to the door and screeching to a halt in front of it. She barked loudly.
     
    Hurry up! Open the door! Open the door! Let’s see who it is!
     
    Charles peeked through the window. It was Harry! He had a girl with him, a tall, thin girl Charles did not know. Charles flung the door open. “Hey,” he said happily.
    Then he remembered.
    He was still wearing the antlers.

Charles put his hand up to the antlers, ready to pull them off. His face was hot with embarrassment. What would Harry and this girl think? Who went around wearing antlers?
    Harry burst into laughter, and the girl next to him giggled.
    Charles wanted to crawl under the hall table.
    “Those are awesome,” Harry said. “What a great idea!”
    “Idea?” Charles could not quite believe his ears. Had Harry called the antlers “awesome”? “What do you mean?” He turned to Cocoa, who was dancing around happily, sniffing at first Harry’s legs,then the girl’s. “Easy, Cocoa,” Charles said. “Take it easy.”
    “For part of our team costume,” said Harry, reaching down to pet Cocoa. “They’re perfect. Rudolph’s Revenge, remember? That’s our name. Of course we have to wear antlers.” He stepped over to pluck the antlers off Charles’s head. “May I?” he asked. He went over to the hall mirror and adjusted the headband so that the antlers stood tall and proud on his own head. “Oh, yeah!” he crowed. “Like I said. Perfect.” He pulled them off and handed them to the girl. “Try them, Dawna.”
    But the girl had knelt down on the floor to say hello to Cocoa. The big brown pup wriggled with pleasure as the girl stroked her ears and scratched her head. “This dog is adorable,” she said. “And she’s so, so sweet. What a darling.” Cocoa gave Dawna several huge licks, her tail wagging so hard that it banged the wall beside her.
    “Oh!” said Harry. “I forgot to introduce you. Charles, this is Dawna. She’s the other member of our team. We’re really lucky to have her, too. Dawna is an Ironman athlete. Do you know what that means?”
    Charles shook his head.
    “It’s nothing,” said Dawna, rising to her feet. She smiled at Charles. “Good to meet you,” she said, sticking out a hand. Cocoa barked a few times, then sat down and panted, putting a paw on Dawna’s knee and whining for more attention.
    Charles shook her hand, noticing that she had a very firm grip. “What’s an Ironman?” he asked.
    “It’s just a race,” said Dawna. She reached down to pet Cocoa. “Shh, girl,” she said. “It’s okay.”
    “Just a race!” Harry laughed. “Listen to this, Charles. It’s a race where you have to swim almost two and a half miles, then ride your bike for a hundred and twelve miles, then run twenty-sixmiles. All in one day! It takes place in Hawaii every year. And last year Dawna was the world champion in her age group. She’s amazing.”
    Dawna shrugged. “I got lucky,” she said. “Some of the other top competitors had the flu.”
    Harry rolled his eyes.
    “How do