Lucy's Tricks and Treats (2 page)

“L
ucy’s in the doghouse,” Mr. Quinn told Bobby.

“We don’t have a doghouse,” Bobby said.

“It’s just a saying,” Mr. Quinn replied. “It means Lucy’s in trouble. I’m in the doghouse, too,” he added. “Your mom kept reminding me to keep the office door closed.”

The night before, Bobby’s mother hadn’t said much during dinner. Then she told them
she had a headache and went to bed early.

Now, late on Saturday morning, she was still asleep.

“Let’s do something nice for Mom,” Mr. Quinn said.

“What?” Bobby asked.

“We’ll do the Saturday errands, so she can relax,” he answered.

“Can we take Lucy with us?” Bobby wanted to know.

Lucy heard her name. She came bounding into the living room, where Bobby and his father were sitting. She didn’t seem to know she was in the doghouse.

“Oh, definitely,” Mr. Quinn said. He looked around for Lucy’s leash. “I think your mother would be disappointed if we didn’t.”

Bobby and his dad got in the car. Lucy got in the backseat. She started making soft
little growling noises. Bobby and his father knew that meant
Open the window!

“Hold on, Lucy,” Mr. Quinn said. “I have to start the car.”

“Where are we going first?” Bobby asked once they were on their way.

His father reached into the pocket of his jean jacket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “Here’s the list.”

Bobby unfolded it. “Bank,” he read, “library, and Pet-O-Rama.”

Great!
he thought. Pet-O-Rama was where his surprise was.

They parked in front of the bank and got out of the car. Mr. Quinn said, “Bobby, you’ll have to stay outside with Lucy. Don’t go too far.”

Mr. Quinn had just gone into the bank when Lucy noticed someone coming out.
Lucy tugged at her leash. It was someone she knew.

Their neighbor Mr. Davis was walking slowly out of the bank.

“Hello, Bobby. Hello, Lucy.” Mr. Davis lifted his cane a bit off the sidewalk and waved it at them.

“Hi, Mr. D.,” Bobby answered. Even though Mr. Davis was old, older than Bobby’s grandparents, Bobby liked talking to him. He had interesting stories to tell.

“Have a moment to sit, Bobby?” asked Mr. Davis. He pointed to a nearby bench.

“Sure,” Bobby said, joining him. “I’m waiting for my dad.”

Lucy could be wild sometimes, but she seemed to know that she had to be calm with Mr. Davis. She jumped on the bench and put her head on his knee.

“So, Bobby,” Mr. Davis said, “Halloween’s right around the corner. Do you know what you’re going to be?”

Bobby nodded. “Yep. A pirate.”

Mr. Davis patted Lucy’s head. “A pirate, huh? Say, I have a black patch from when I had eye problems a while back. Would you like to borrow it for your costume?”

“An eye patch would be perfect,” Bobby said. He would look like a real pirate!

“Well, it’s all yours.” Mr. Davis nodded. “Have you ever heard of the book
Treasure Island
?”

Bobby shook his head.

“It’s about a fierce pirate, a fellow named Long John Silver,” Mr. Davis told him. “And Jim, the ship’s cabin boy. Not much older than you. There’s a dangerous search for a hidden treasure.…”

Mr. Quinn came up to them. “Hi, Mr. Davis. What are you guys talking about?” he asked.

Mr. Davis smiled. “I was about to ask Bobby if he wanted to borrow my copy of
Treasure Island
.”

Mr. Quinn smiled. “Bobby and I can read it together. I loved that book when I was a boy.”

“I’ll come by to pick it up,” Bobby said, getting up from the bench, with Lucy right behind him. “And the eye patch!”

“They’ll be waiting for you, Bobby,” Mr. Davis said with a smile.

Next, Bobby and his father took a quick trip to the library. They weren’t going in today, just returning books in the metal book drop. Lucy gave a small yip each time a book went down the chute.

Then it was time for Pet-O-Rama. Now Bobby was getting excited.

Lucy was getting excited, too. She loved Pet-O-Rama! Maybe it was because it had all her favorite treats. Maybe it was because it was one of the few stores where dogs were welcome. Or maybe it was because Lucy had happy memories of being in a pet contest there. Whatever it was, Lucy always seemed to know they were heading toward Pet-O-Rama before the parking lot even came into sight.

Her nose started quivering, and her ears pressed flat against her head. And although Lucy couldn’t exactly smile, the look on her face might have been taken for a grin.

“What are we buying here?” Bobby asked as they all got out of the car. He knew what he
hoped
they’d be buying, but he didn’t
want to tell his dad about it—he wanted to show him.

“Mom forgot the chewy bones Lucy likes so much when you were here the other day.” Mr. Quinn snapped Lucy’s leash on her collar. “When Lucy doesn’t have her chewy bones …”

Mr. Quinn didn’t have to finish. When Lucy didn’t have her chewy bones, she found plenty of other things to chew.

Inside, a wide aisle divided the brightly lit store in two. On one side were mostly pet supplies. On the other side were the animals you could buy—turtles, birds, fish. Shawn had bought his mouse, Twitch, here.

Lucy was definitely interested in looking at the animals. She tugged on her leash. She wanted to watch the parakeets fluttering around in their big glass cage.

“Not today, Lucy,” Mr. Quinn said. “We’ll just pick up the chewy bones and then go.” He looked around. Pet-O-Rama was large and filled with many things to buy. “Do you know where those bones are, Bobby?”

Now was the moment Bobby had been waiting for.

“Sure, Dad,” Bobby said. “But can I show you something first? It’s right over here.”

Before Mr. Quinn could answer, Bobby led his father and Lucy to a rack of Halloween items. Catnip treats in the shapes of witches and ghosts sat next to dog bones striped black and orange. Behind them was a whole rack of costumes for pets. A dog or cat could be anything from a bee to a zebra.

Bobby riffled through the rack. There it was! “Dad, look, a pet pirate costume. See, isn’t it great?”

A small black-and-white-striped T-shirt and a plastic bag with four tiny black boots were on a hanger. The best part of the costume was pinned to the T-shirt—a black pirate hat painted with a white skull and crossbones!

“Let me get this straight,” Mr. Quinn said. “You think Lucy will let you dress her in a pirate costume?”

Bobby hadn’t thought about whether Lucy would wear the costume. He had just thought about how good she would look in it.

Mr. Quinn shook his head. “Lucy is way too squirmy.”

“But, Dad …”

“I admit, this costume is neat,” Mr. Quinn said. He took it out of Bobby’s hands and looked it over.

Bobby felt hopeful. His father liked the
outfit. “See, I thought we could both be pirates,” Bobby explained.

“I just don’t think she’d wear it,” Mr. Quinn said, handing the costume back to Bobby.

Bobby didn’t know what he could do to change his father’s mind.

Lucy had been sitting quietly on her haunches. Now she gave a sharp bark.

Both Bobby and Mr. Quinn turned to look at Lucy. Her nose was quivering. Her tail was, too.

Bobby held the costume next to Lucy’s face. He hoped she wouldn’t start to chew it.

Lucy did not chew it. She did sniff it. She sniffed the little striped shirt, and she sniffed the pirate hat. She licked the bag with the boots.

“Do you like it, Lucy?” Bobby asked.

Did she ever! She closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against the shirt. It looked as if the costume was making Lucy very happy indeed.

“Dad, can we get it?” Bobby asked.

“All right,” Mr. Quinn said with a sigh. “We’ll give it a try. Captain Lucy, the most dangerous pirate on the seven seas.”

Lucy opened one eye.
“Arf.”

“S
he’ll never wear it.” That was the first thing Mrs. Quinn said when she saw Lucy’s pirate costume.

“She seems to like it,” Mr. Quinn said.

“It smells good to her,” Bobby added helpfully.

Mrs. Quinn shrugged. “Well, I suppose we can try to put it on.”

Lucy was staring at the pirate costume.
She seemed to be smelling it, too. Her nose was twitching.

Bobby brought the costume closer. Lucy’s tail wagged hard. She gave an excited bark.

“Okay, I see what you mean.” Mrs. Quinn laughed. “But that doesn’t mean she’ll actually wear it.”

Bobby thought that might be true. To the surprise of all of them, though, Lucy couldn’t wait to put it on.

Bobby slipped the striped shirt over her head. She hardly wriggled at all.

He put the pirate hat on her head, and Lucy gave a happy howl.

She looked confused when Bobby put the little black boots on her paws, but she didn’t try to get them off.

“Let me take a picture of this,” Mr. Quinn said, whipping his phone out of his pocket.

“She looks adorable,” Mrs. Quinn agreed.

Mr. Quinn took a quick shot of Lucy. “Bobby, get in the picture,” he directed.

Lucy, however, was bored with posing.
She flopped down on the rug and sniffed at her shirt.

“You’d better take the costume off,” Mrs. Quinn said. “We want it to be in good shape for Halloween.”

Bobby started to take off Lucy’s costume. She wasn’t happy about it. She scampered away when Bobby tried to remove the hat. He was so busy chasing her, he barely heard the doorbell ring.

“Oh, hello, Candy,” Mrs. Quinn said. “And you have Butch with you.” His mother didn’t sound too happy about that.

“Hi, Mrs. Q.,” Candy said, stepping into the hall. “Did you know the high school is selling pumpkins in the park? They are. It’s to raise money, I guess. I’m not sure what for. We thought maybe Bobby and Lucy would like to check it out. It’s only two blocks away.
We could go to Shawn’s and see if he wants to come with. Of course, he probably can’t bring Twitch. Because Twitch is a mouse, after all—”

“Yes, I know, Candy,” Mrs. Quinn said. “Why don’t you come in?”

Bobby carried Lucy into the hallway. He had gotten her boots off, but she still wore her hat and shirt.