Free Honey by Ellen Miles Page B

snuffling and wagging their puppy tails. Skipper came over and joined in, pawing at Charles’s arm for attention and touching noses with each of her puppies in turn.
    “Puppy pile!” yelled Sammy, throwing himself down next to Charles. Soon he was covered in puppies, too.
    Mary and Jerry laughed. “I think they’re all happy to be together,” said Jerry.
    “Nothing like a puppy reunion,” said Mary.
    Finally, Charles sat up and caught his breath. He threw his arms around Honey and kissed the top of her soft, golden head. “Does this puppy really need a home?” he asked.
    Mary nodded. “Honey belonged to a friend of mine. The whole family loved her, but now they have the chance of a lifetime — to move to London,England! If they wanted to bring Honey, she would have to be in quarantine for six months.”
    “Quar-what?” asked Sammy.
    “Quarantine. That means she would have to be kept away from any other dogs, in case she had some sort of illness. She would have to live in a kennel, away from her family.”
    “But she looks like such a healthy dog!” said Charles.
    “She is, but that doesn’t matter,” Mary told him. “It’s just the rule. And my friend couldn’t stand the idea of putting Honey in a kennel for that long. She thought
I
should adopt Honey. She said Honey belonged with my puppies, because they all have ‘food’ names.”
    Mary shook her head. “I tried it for three days. Honey is a good girl. She’s been to puppy kindergarten and obedience classes. Her family taught her excellent manners and socialized her well with other dogs and people. She’s nearly full-grown. But she is still definitely a puppy. Andthere is absolutely no way I can handle three rambunctious puppies. Cinnamon and Cocoa keep me busy enough.”
    Charles could understand that. As his mom said, even one puppy was a real handful sometimes. “Well,” he said, “maybe we could foster her. I mean, my family.” He gave Honey a squeeze. It would be so much fun to have her come to stay at his house.
    Mary lit up. “That was just what I was hoping you would say!” Then she smiled nervously. “Um, in fact, do you think you could possibly take her today? I have company coming over for dinner and I just can’t imagine how I’ll get everything done with three puppies underfoot.”
    Charles bit his lip. “I don’t know … I’d have to call my mom.”
    But Sammy was shaking his head. “Forget about calling!” he said. “Take her! You know your mom won’t be able to say no once she sees this puppy.”
    Charles rolled his eyes. Sammy was always full of wild ideas. Like when he thought they should hypnotize Charles’s mom into agreeing to keep Goldie, when she first arrived. Or when he wanted to go ghost hunting at an old abandoned house.
    But the truth was that some of Sammy’s ideas were good, too. And Charles had a feeling his friend was right this time. After all, who in the world could look at a puppy as cute as Honey and not want to keep her around, at least for a little while? At least until they found her the perfect home.
    He nodded. “Okay,” he told Mary. “We’ll take her.”
    Mary looked relieved. “Really? That’s wonderful!”
    Jerry Small seemed concerned. “Are you sure, Charles?” he asked. “I’d be happy to let you use the phone if you want to call home.”
    But Charles wasn’t even listening anymore. He had his nose buried in Honey’s soft,sweet-smelling fur and he was hugging her close. There was no way he would let Mom say no to this puppy. They just
had
to foster her. In fact, maybe they could even keep Honey forever! She would be the perfect pal for Buddy.
    “Right, Buddy?” Charles asked, reaching out to pull his own puppy into his lap. The two puppies touched noses and snuffled at each other happily. Charles could tell they would get along beautifully.
    Cocoa and Cinnamon wanted to be part of the fun. They climbed into Charles’s lap, too. Then all four puppies clambered down