Thanks for Nothing (From the Files of Madison Finn, 5) (13 page)

“Special delivery for Madison Finn,” he said.

Madison squealed. “That’s me!”

Mom helped Madison grab the balloon bunch from the man and signed for them. Madison laughed when she saw what the deliveryman looked like. He was wearing a turkey costume!

Phin loved the balloons even more than Madison. He started running around the house. He even slammed into the side of the chairs as he skidded down the hallway. He was that excited.

“Rowrooooo!” he yelped.

“Read the card,” Mom said, pulling the small blue envelope from the bunch of balloon strings.

Madison opened the card so fast it almost ripped.

For Maddie With love and drumsticks From Dad and Stephanie

“Isn’t that nice,” Mom said.

Madison nodded. “This whole Thanksgiving is nice, Mom.”

Mom disappeared into the kitchen and brought out a big tray with Gramma Helen’s sweet potato pie, milk, tea, and some cookies, too.

“The pie looks a little crispy,” Madison said. It was scorched around the edges.

“Well, I’m not a super cook yet, but I’m working on it, honey bear,” Mom said. “We can cut around the burned parts.”

Madison smiled. She had made the right decision about Thanksgiving. She
could
have her turkey and pie
and
eat it, too. And surprises never seemed to end….

T
HE NEXT MORNING MADISON
was so hungry, she took a bite of cold sweet potato pie before she even had breakfast.

She could barely wait to tell Aimee about everything that had happened, but Aimee and her brothers weren’t around, so she left a voice message to call back. Aimee was probably over at her father’s bookstore, Book Web.

Madison got ready for the clinic. Mom said that she could spend the day there.

Sugar the schnoodle was waiting!

Eileen was busy working on some files and paperwork at the front of the clinic when Madison walked in with a spring in her step.

“Hiya!” She waved. Eileen just nodded back a silent hello. Today her T-shirt said
HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR DOG TODAY?

Hugging Phin was one of Madison’s favorite things. And she’d been thinking about hugging Sugar all morning long, too.

Dan wasn’t around today. Madison remembered that he had gone for the weekend to his cousin’s place in Connecticut. He wouldn’t be back until after school break was over.

The only person in the back was Dr. Wing. He was standing in front of the cages.

“Hi!” Madison said as she bounced into the room.

Dr. Wing smiled. “Happy day-after-Thanksgiving. Aren’t we chipper?”

“TOTALLY!” Madison said. She went immediately to Sugar’s cage. “Is it okay if I walk—hey—wait a minute—”

Madison looked into every cage.

“Sugar? Where’s the schnoodle? Oh no, please don’t tell me she’s sick again!”

Dr. Wing shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”

“Where is she?” Madison asked. “Where’s Sugar?”

“A nice family from the east side of Far Hills came in and adopted her,” the doctor explained. “They’d been considering it, and I guess they made a final decision over the holiday. Isn’t that great?”

Madison froze.

All the giddiness that had been swirling inside turned to pure defeat.

Sugar was gone?

“Madison,” Dr. Wing said. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I just didn’t expect this. Not today.”

“Well, it’s a great thing. Sugar was a very sad puppy, and now she has a loving, caring family. If that isn’t the Thanksgiving spirit, I don’t know what is,” he said.

“I know, but—” Madison wanted to cry, but she took a deep breath. “It’s a surprise, that’s all.”

“I’m sure Sugar will be very happy with her new family arrangements, Madison. Don’t worry.”

She had to admit that Sugar being adopted was a good thing. Many times abused and neglected dogs with scars and personality problems had hard times finding new homes. That’s what Eileen and Dan had said. Madison wanted Sugar to have a happy home forever.

But it was still hard looking at Sugar’s empty cage.

She hadn’t even had a chance to say good-bye.

“She is gone now,” Mr. Wollensky said. He was there to volunteer today, too. “You look very sad, Madison.”

Madison sighed. “I just didn’t expect to come here and find her gone like this.”

“Is hard to let go, yes?” Mr. Wollensky asked. Madison watched as he opened up the cage and took out the messy newspapers that were lying across the bottom. Madison watched as Mr. Wollensky cleaned away the only things that were left from Sugar’s stay at Far Hills Clinic. Bit by bit, all traces of her were taken away.

Now Madison
really
wanted to cry.

“You feel Sugar in
here,
yes?” Mr. Wollensky pointed to his heart. Madison felt a lump in her throat. She did feel Sugar. She missed the schnoodle so much that she couldn’t even find the words to describe it. It was an ache—inside.

“Once I had a dog here I wanted to adopt for my own.”

“Like Sugar?” Madison said. She had wished that the schnoodle could have been her dog. “What happened?” Madison asked.

“It was not meant to be. This dog ended up with family who could take good care of him. Family’s very important.”

Madison nodded. She understood. Sugar had a family now, and family, no matter how big or small, was important. Madison thanked Mr. Wollensky and grabbed her coat.

Madison decided to walk home, even though it was a very long walk. A woman across the road was walking a dog that looked familiar. She approached the woman and bent down to pet the dog.

“He’s a pug,” the woman said. “I hate it when kids call him Squashed-Up Nose and things like that.”

Madison smiled. “I know. I have a pug, too.”

Suddenly it hit her: she had a pug, too. She already had a dog who she loved more than anything in the whole wide world. And he wasn’t going
anywhere.
Madison realized that she hadn’t walked Phin in days.

She needed to see Phin—now. She needed to pet his coarse fur, hear his little snuffle; and watch his curlicue tail wiggle.

Soon she was running down the block, running toward home. She’d left her gloves in her orange bag, so her fingertips were like icicles. But she ran faster until she reached the porch at home.

“Phinnie!” Madison gasped a little as she walked back into the house. “Phinnie, where are you?”

Mom appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on? I thought you were over at the clinic. You were going to call me to come pick you up….”

Madison was looking all over the front hall. “Mom, where’s Phin? Have you seen him? I need to see Phin.”

“Hold it, hold it. Shhhhh. Follow me.” Mom tiptoed into the den. There, on the den couch, Phin had curled into the tightest ball and was snoring away.

Madison watched him quietly for a few moments, but then she couldn’t contain herself. “Phinnie!” Madison yelled.

He awoke with a snort, and she threw herself over his little pug body.

“Roowwrorooooo!” he yelped right back at her.

Madison lifted Phin into her arms like a baby and carried him upstairs into her bedroom.

“I missed you sooooo much,” she cooed in Phin’s ears. He licked the tip of her nose and panted. Madison didn’t even mind his doggy breath.

With Phin still in her lap, Madison logged on to her laptop computer. She had a special destination in mind, a place she’d discovered a long time ago. Madison plugged a few words into the TweenBlurt search engine, and up popped the address she was looking for.

Dog
of the Day
—Sign Yours Up Now
Tell us about your special
dog.
Is your bichon frise funny? Does your weimaraner whine? Winners daily!


She accessed her photo files and pulled up her favorite shot of Phin. She’d taken it last summer in the backyard. He was standing in tall grass, and the sunlight was hitting his back in just the right places.

“Rowwwroooo!” Phin pushed his snorty nose into her side and wiggled back and forth. He knew how cute he looked.

Madison filled in the Web site form with her dog’s full name, Phineas T. Finn, and a few lines about why she loved him.

Phin doesn’t mind my messy room. He loves me when I’m sad or happy. And he gives the best hugs in the world. Some people say he looks funny, but I don’t think so. Phin is a true member of my family.


Almost immediately, Madison got a return e-mail to inform her that the Dog of the Day submission had been received and would be processed.

“You’re my family, Phinnie!” Madison kissed his little ears, and he squirmed. Sooner than soon, he would be making his big Web debut.

Madison opened a blank e-mail and started to write a note to Gramma. She wondered if their Thanksgiving dinner had turned out as nicely as hers had turned out with Mom.

From: MadFinn


To: GoGramma


Subject: I MISS YOU!!!


Date: Fri 24 Nov 1:13 PM


Your sweet potato pie recipe was awesome, Gramma, even if we did burn it a little. Thank you for that. Of course I missed you more than anything. I had no one to play Crazy Eights with me.


I got a good extra-credit grade in social studies. The teacher gave me and Egg both an A+. She said that we were great partners. I was so nervous, but it’s funny how things work out.


I was afraid that if Thanksgiving wasn’t the way it always had been that I would be so sad. But change was okay. In the end it was A-okay. Our family is still here. I’m still here, too.


I hope I do get to visit you soon. Mom says maybe she’ll let me go to Chicago next summer. I will keep my fingers crossed so I can go.


Thanks for being the best Gramma in the universe. Thanks for listening. Thanks for
everything.


Yours till the pumpkin pies,


Maddie


xoxox


Madison hit SEND. The message went
poof.
As Madison logged off the laptop, Phin jumped off her lap and onto her bed.

“I’ll be right back, Phinnie,” Madison said, getting up and tiptoeing out of the room. She found Mom downstairs at her own computer.

“Mom?” Madison said as she came into the room. She assumed Mom was doing something work related.

“Come take a look at this, Maddie,” Mom said with a big grin.

Madison went over to the desk, and without even thinking, she sat right in Mom’s lap. She hadn’t sat there in years. It felt good to sit there again.

On the monitor, Madison saw that Mom had made a collage of different photographs from their family. There was a picture of Madison as a little baby. There was a shot of Madison, Mom, and Dad holding a stuffed turkey. There was a close-up shot of Gramma and Madison making a pie together.

“Oh, wow! That’s the first sweet potato pie she ever showed me how to make!” Madison said.

“See?” Mom said. “Everyone’s still here. Our family isn’t going
anywhere,
honey bear.”

“I love you,” Madison said.

“I love you more,” Mom said, winking.

Madison sighed. She knew no family was perfect, but she couldn’t help but think that
her
family came about as close as a person could get.

It was perfect for
her.
That’s what mattered most.

The Internet can be so helpful with school projects. I search the Web for information on subjects like my Thanksgiving presentation with Egg. The only problem with getting information online, however, is that I need to make sure my facts come from the right places. Double-check any information you might get online, because not all Web sites have accurate facts. I usually go to Web sites like museums, libraries, or other big organizations when I look up information for school reports.

Visit Madison at the author’s web site
www.lauradower.com

Turn the page to continue reading from Laura Dower’s From the Files of Madison Finn series

N
O MATTER HOW HARD SHE
shoved, Madison couldn’t squeeze all her stuff into the teeny green gym locker. She had hated gym class from the moment seventh grade started. Before the winter holidays, Madison’s gym class was scheduled in the afternoon. Now, gym was in the morning, first period on Mondays.