Dunc and Amos Go to the Dogs

47 Pages·2016·0.56 MB·English

by  Paulsen Gary

: , Gary Paulsen
OTHER YEARLING BOOKS YOU WILL ENJOY THE WINTER ROOM
, Gary Paulsen
THE HAYMEADOW
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THE COOKCAMP
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THE VOYAGE OF THE FROG
, Gary Paulsen
THE BOY WHO OWNED THE SCHOOL
, Gary Paulsen
THE RIVER
, Gary Paulsen
THE MONUMENT
, Thomas Rockwell
HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
, Robert Kimmel Smith
CHOCOLATE FEVER
, Robert Kimmel Smith
BOBBY BASEBALL
are designed especially to entertain and enlighten young
YEARLING BOOKS
people. Patricia Reilly Giff, consultant to this series, received her
bachelor’s degree from Marymount College and a master’s degree in
history from St. John’s University. She holds a Professional Diploma in
Reading and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Hofstra University. She
was a teacher and reading consultant for many years, and is the author
of numerous books for young readers.
For a complete listing of all Yearling titles,
write to Dell Readers Service,
P.O. Box 1045, South Holland, IL 60473.

Published by
Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers
a division of
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
Copyright © 1996 by Gary Paulsen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the
written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
The trademarks Yearlinge® and Dell® are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
and in other countries.
eISBN: 978-0-30780397-9
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Other Yearling Books You Will Enjoy
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
“I don’t mean to be critical or anything, but this place smells worse than
my uncle Alfred when he takes off his shoes.”
Amos was standing by the window holding his nose and trying to
wave some fresh air into the room. Duncan—Dunc—Culpepper, his best
friend for life, was changing the paper in the cage of a new litter of
kittens. “That’s one of the disadvantages of doing volunteer work at the
city pound.”
“You’d think they’d get some spray or something. This is really bad.”
“It could be a lot worse. You’re lucky you only have to work here for a
week. That’s all Judge Simmons gave you for creaming him in the park
that day.”
Amos sighed. “Some people take things too seriously. It’s not like he
had broken bones or anything.”
“He had to go to the emergency room.”
“Big deal. The doctor said it was only a slight concussion. The way he
carried on, you’d have thought he was really hurt.”
Dunc closed the cage. “He said you were a menace to society and
should be locked up. By the way, you never did tell me exactly how you
managed to run him down.”
“It wasn’t all my fault. I was taking Scruff for a walk in the park—”
“I thought that was your sister’s job.”
“It is. But Amy knows how much I hate to do it. Somehow she always
makes sure she’s not around when Scruff needs to go for a walk.
Anyway, we were walking along minding our own business when I heard
the phone ring. It was that pay phone in the corner of the park, near the
snow-cone stand?”
Dunc nodded. “I know the one.”
“I was pretty sure it was Melissa calling to see if she could meet me
someplace. Before I left home, I told everybody to let Melissa know I
would be in the park when she called.”
Dunc nodded again. Amos had it bad for a girl named Melissa Hansen.
He had been in love with her ever since Dunc could remember. The
problem was, Melissa didn’t share those feelings. Whenever Amos was
around, she had a way of looking at him as if he weren’t really there—
sort of the way you look through a window.
Amos continued, “You know how she likes me to get it on that all-
important first ring?” He didn’t wait for Dunc to answer. “I started
moving on the first beat. My form was great. Head up, arms pumping. I
looked better than one of those marathon runners.”
Dunc waited.
“The only problem was, I forgot that I had tied Scruff’s leash to my
belt loop, on account of he likes me about as much as I like him, and
he’s always trying to get away. When I started for the phone, I dragged
him a few feet, but then he saw his chance and decided to start running
too. Only he kept going after I reached the phone.”
“Did you answer it?”
“Not quite. Judge Simmons chose that exact moment to step out onto
the sidewalk with Brutus, his Great Dane. My border collie ran
underneath Brutus and wrapped his leash around the dog’s hind legs and
then around the judge. I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose. It still might
have worked out okay if that park bench hadn’t been in the way. Did
you know they cement those things into the ground?”
“Was that when the judge fell over and bashed his head on the
sidewalk?”
Amos nodded. “When I hit that bench, Scruff hit the end of his leash.
The judge didn’t have a chance. Right before he passed out, he told me
he would send me to the electric chair if it was the last thing he ever
did.”
“Then I guess it’s lucky he only gave you a week of volunteer work
here at the pound.”
Amos sniffed the air. “You call this lucky?”
Dunc patted a basset hound. “It’s not so bad. You’ll get used to it after
a while. Besides, there are a lot of neat animals down here. Take Roger
over there.” Dunc moved to the large cage on the end of the row and
stroked the German shepherd. “He’s big but lovable.” The dog licked
Dunc’s hand and barked as if he understood.
A smaller terrier in the middle of the second row of cages started
yelping.
“Look, Amos, Martha’s jealous.”
“Tell her not to worry herself. In a week we’re out of here. Then she
can be jealous of some other suckers.”
The big metal door that led to the animal compound opened. A short
stout woman with streaked gray hair and a sharp pointed nose looked in
over the top of her glasses. “You boys are supposed to be cleaning those
cages, not playing with the dogs. Hop to.”
“Yes, Ms. Craig.” Dunc opened one of the cages and pulled out the old
paper. “We’ll be through in a few minutes.”
“Well, see to it that you are. I won’t have any lollygagging on my
shift.” She turned and slammed the door.
“Real friendly lady.” Amos filled the water bowl and set it inside the
cage. “She kind of reminds me of someone.”
“Who?”
“The wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz.”
Dunc grinned. “She does seem to have a problem with us working
here. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she didn’t want our help.”
“Hold still, Amos. How am I ever going to get a good look at it if you
keep wiggling like that?”
“You’d wiggle too if you’d just been attacked by a vicious animal.”
Dunc looked at him. “The kitten in row three hardly qualifies as a
vicious animal.” He examined Amos’s finger. “I don’t see any blood. I
think you’re going to live.”
“Go ahead. Make fun. When I die from rabies, I’ll say I told you so.”
Amos slid off the office desk and started searching through the cabinets.
“What are you looking for? Ms. Craig told us specifically to stay out of
those cabinets.”
“She told us to stay out of the main office, too, but here we are.”
Dunc frowned. “That’s different. I came in here because I thought you
were really hurt.”
Amos reached for a roll of gauze bandages. “I am really hurt—you just
can’t see it. I probably have internal bleeding.”
Dunc moved toward the door. “We’d better get out of here before she
gets back. She doesn’t seem like the understanding type.”
He reached for the doorknob. It turned in his hand. The door opened,
and a tall distinguished-looking man wearing an expensive suit and
carrying a black bag stepped in.
Amos looked up to see who it was and hit the cabinet door dead
center with his head. Small bottles of vaccine, syringes, and bandages
spilled off some of the shelves and fell out onto the table below.
“Are you all right, young man?” The tall stranger stepped over to help
him.
“He won’t be if we don’t get this mess picked up before Ms. Craig gets
back.” Dunc grabbed some of the bottles and started shoving them back
on the shelf.
“Why don’t you let me handle this?” The man smiled. “I’m the new
veterinarian, Dr. Keene. I know how it should be arranged, and no one
will be the wiser.”
“Gee thanks, doc.” Amos rubbed his head. “That’s awful nice of you.”
“Not at all. You boys go on back to whatever you were doing. I’ll be
happy to straighten up in here.”
Dunc pulled the door shut behind him. “So that’s the new vet. From
the way he’s dressed, I’d say he does a pretty good business. I wonder
what brings him down here today? I don’t remember there being any
vaccinations scheduled or anything.”
“Judge Simmons probably got him on some phony charge too.” Amos
sat down on a bench in the hall and held his aching head. “Are we
through yet?”
“Almost. Why?”
“I forgot to give my mom the number down here. Melissa’s probably
been trying to reach me all afternoon.”
Dunc thought about telling him that Melissa wouldn’t call him even if
someone held the phone and dialed the number for her. But he decided
not to. Instead he patted Amos on the shoulder. “You wait here. I’ll go
make one last check to make sure everybody has food and water.”
Amos leaned against the wall and looked around. Everything was
painted white. The door, the cinder-block walls, the shelves—everything.
“This place could use an interior decorator.”
“What was that?” Dunc was just coming through the door carrying a
soiled newspaper from one of the dog cages.
“Nothing. I was just saying—ooohh, gross! You’re supposed to throw
the used ones in the trash. That’s disgusting.”
“I was changing the paper in Martha’s cage when I noticed this article.
Listen to this headline: ‘Police are still baffled by dog-nappings.’ ”
“Why would the police care about a few sleepy dogs?”
“No, Amos. Not napping dogs. Dog-nappings. It means someone is
going around stealing dogs. The article says the thief only goes for
purebreds. So far he’s taken a Saint Bernard puppy, a beagle, a couple of
Dobermans, a shepherd, and a cocker spaniel.”
“Hey, I wonder if the thief would be interested in a border collie. I just
happen to have one up for grabs.”
“This isn’t funny, Amos. Someone is taking people’s pets. The lady
who lost the spaniel is offering a big reward.”
“How big is big?”