The House Across The Street: Part 11 of the Muttley Crew Series
Duke
By Trish Hubschman
July 2008
“Okay, ladies, listen up,” I say, marching up and down in front of the three small dogs. “The humans are selling our house. People will be coming in here to see it, so we have to be on our best behavior.”
“We’re always on our best behavior,” Gracie pipes up. “We’re the nicest puppies in town.”
I point to myself, then to them. “I know that, and you know that, but we have to make sure they know that.” I point to the door of the kitchen.
“What do you want us to do?’ Bailey asks. She’s in the middle.
“Good question,” I reply. “Are you all listening?” Bailey and Gracie sit up straighter. Daisy plops down on the floor, her head on her paws, looking sad. “What’s wrong, Daisy?” I ask.
she raises her sad eyes to me. “If the humans sell our house, that means we have to move, right?”
I nod. “That’s the idea.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t want to move. This is our house. We have friends around here to play with. Where would we live? Where are Darren and Lisa going to go to school? What if the four of us aren’t together?”
Gracie and Bailey nod in agreement.
Now that’s a lot for me to think about. I have to pick my words carefully because I don’t know for sure either. “I’m sure the humans will pick a nice place to live. It’ll have a backyard for us and there’ll be good schools for the children, maybe even a park for us to go for walks in,” I add, hoping to win them over. “And of course, the four of us will be together. We always have been. Nobody’s going to break us up.”
Daisy thinks about it. Finally, sighing heavily, she gets to her feet and stands beside Bailey. “All right, if you say everything will be okay, it will be.”
I nod my head. I had all of their attention now. “Here’s what we have to do to help out. No peeing in the house.”
“Then they’ll have to let us out more,” Gracie pipes up. “I can’t hold it in forever.”
“You can and you will if you have to,” I tell her. “It’s only until they sell, and we move to our new house.”
“Then you can pee anywhere you want,” Bailey tells her. Daisy, who’s very clean, makes a face at that. I almost laugh.
“Second, we’ve got to cut down on shedding.”
“But how can we do that?” Daisy asks. “I don’t know when my hair is going to fall off. or where.”
“Good point,” I agree. “So, keep a closer eye on it.”
“What else is there?” Gracie demands.
“Just one more thing,” I add. “No biting.”
Now I had Bailey mad. “We don’t bite.”
“No, you don’t” I agree. “But there’ll be a lot of strangers in the house. People coming to see it. We might get nervous…”
“And either pee, shed or bite,” Gracie puts in. “I think this is going too far, Duke, don’t you?”
She has a point, but I can’t be too soft, even if I want to. “We’re the pets, they’re the ones who make the decisions. If we want to keep things nice and pretty and stay together forever, we have to do things nice and pretty.”
Gracie swallows hard and steps back, thinking for a moment. “Well, girls, what do you say?” There’s silence. Finally, the other two nod.
It isn’t long before the humans are packing up their things, putting Darren’s bike into the back of a truck, Lisa’s computer, and boxes and boxes of books and clothes. The furniture will be brought out to the new house be professional movers. The four of us are put into two large cages and slid into the back seat. “I still don’t like this,” Daisy says. “Being in a cage and leaving the city.” She sniffles.
I reach out and pat her shoulder. “It’s easier to move us when we’re in cages, with all the junk that’s in back, and look at this as an adventure.”
She cries softly as we drive away and still is two hours later when we pull up in front of a big white house with a front lawn with bushes and flowers on it. Her head pops up and there’s interest in her eyes.
“That’s pretty,” she whispers.
“That’s our new home?” Bailey asks.
“Just let me out of here and find me a tree to pee on,” Gracie says. “I’ve been in this too long.”
“See?” I say to Daisy, winking. “That’s why it was a good idea to travel like this, especially for Gracie.”
We all laugh. “Everybody out,” Darren calls out, sliding both cages out of the back seat and letting them land with a thump on the driveway.
We all say ouch.
“Who do you think lives across the street?” Daisy asks curiously. I like the sound of her voice.
I shrug. “Don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
The End
Trish Hubschman is the author of the Tracy Gayle mystery series: Tidalwave, Stiff Competition and Ratings Game. Tracy is a Long Island private detective. Her sidekick, Danny Tide, is the leader of the rock band, Tidalweav. Tracy is hired to find out who set fire to Danny’s tour bus. While doing this, more dangerous things develop.
Trish is a graduate of Long Island University’s Southampton Campus and has a bachelor’s degree in English-Writing. She is deafblind and lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, author Kevin Hubschman, and their dog, henry.
Her website is www.dldbooks.com/Hubschman/