Fabulous Five 013 - The Christmas Countdown Read Free Page B

Melanie was born. She baked cakes and pies a lot, and the house
always smelled yummy when Melanie came in from school. Today, she and Jeffy
were decorating freshly baked Christmas cookies.
    "Hi," Melanie said, putting her books on the
kitchen counter and snitching a warm cookie off the platter where they were
cooling.
    "Hi," her mother responded cheerfully. Then her
expression clouded and she added with a sigh, "Honey, please don't walk
off and leave your books there. You know how much trouble I have keeping this
counter cleared off."
    "And Santa's watching," said Jeffy, shaking a
finger at her.
    "I won't." Melanie sat on a stool at the counter
and munched on the cookie. "Mrs. Miller just told me that Duchess ran away."
    "Oh? When did that happen?" her mother asked.
    "She doesn't know. She put her out back, and when she
went to let her in, she was gone. Mrs. Miller says there aren't any holes under
the fence."
    "I bet she'll show up at her front door wanting to come
in any minute now."
    "That's what I told her. I hope so, anyway. It would be
terrible if she lost Duchess right at Christmastime."
    Melanie was quiet for a moment, choosing her words
carefully. "Uh, Mom."
    "Yes."
    "After school yesterday, The Fabulous Five all went to
the animal shelter."
    "Oh? I think I know what's coming, and no, you can't
have a puppy. They're a lot of trouble to take care of, and I would be the one
who would have to do it."
    "But the animals at the shelter are going to die if
someone doesn't take them. A man who works there told us that they have to put
some of them to sleep because they don't have enough room, and they're going to
do it on Christmas Eve. "
    Her mother turned to look at her and wiped her hands on her
apron. "Look, sweetheart. There are a lot of animals in this world that
need taking care of, I don't deny that. But there's no way we can take care of
all of them."
    "Not even one?" Melanie asked softly.
    Her mother shook her head.
    "What if it were a grown-up dog? It wouldn't be much
trouble, not like a puppy."
    "Melanie, please. I've got enough work to do. Any kind
of a dog needs to be let in and out, fed, watered, and walked. I just don't
have enough time for it."
    Melanie sighed. This certainly wasn't the time to tell her
mother about the plan to save the animals.
     
    Later in her room, Melanie looked out her window, watching
the snow fall softly. Under the streetlight in front of her house she could see
Mrs. Miller. The older woman was walking toward one end of the block, calling
out her dog's name. At the corner she turned around and walked in the other
direction and called again. Melanie pressed her face to the window. She could
see Mrs. Miller's footprints in the new snow, but no tiny paw prints were
anywhere to be seen.
    Oh, no, thought Melanie, Duchess must still be missing. She
vowed to call Mrs. Miller in the morning. If Duchess still hadn't shown up,
Melanie would look for her on the way to school. Maybe she'd also suggest that
Mrs. Miller put an ad in the lost-and-found section of the newspaper.
    With a sigh Melanie sat down on her bed and opened her
notebook to a clean sheet. Before she started her homework she wanted to work
out the schedule for kids to sit at the cafeteria table and collect money. I'm
glad it was my idea to make up the schedule, she thought gleefully, so now I
can pair myself up with Shane.
    Melanie smiled to herself as a new and even better idea
occurred to her. Why not call Shane right now and ask him to help her work up
the schedule? She jumped up from her desk and headed for the phone. Working on
the pet project could even turn out to be fun.

CHAPTER 4
    "There are Randy and Keith," said Melanie, waving
to the two boys as they parked their bicycles at the bike rack. She and the
rest of The Fabulous Five were waiting at the school fence along with Mona,
Shane, Tony, Jon, Scott, and Matt.
    "What took you guys so long?" asked Beth.
    "Randy had an extra bowl of dog biscuits for breakfast,
and I