Animal Tales“Ofcourse,”Parkerresponded.“Doyouhaveany
ideawherehewouldhavegone?”
“I’mnotsure.He’s neverdonethisbefore.”
“It’ssoweird thathesuddenlyranaway,” Maddie
commented.
“Ithastobebecauseofthewalker,”Mrs.Feeny
sighed.“I’vehadtouseit fora fewmonthsnow,andI
justcan’twalkhimlikeI usedto.”
MaddieandParkergavetheirneighbora reassuring
hugbeforeheadingoff tofindBarkley.
“Sowheredoyouthinkheis?”Parkerasked.
“Let’s trytothinkofalltheplacesin the
neighborhoodwe’veseenMrs.FeenywithBarkley,”
Maddiesuggested.
“Well,there’sthedoggiebakery. Wheneverweseethemthere,Barkleyseemstolovesittingoutsidethe
front of the shopwithoneofthosefancydogcookies,”
Parker remembered.
“And then there’s the pet store. I’ve seen him there
with Mrs. Feeny a few times when we were buying
Goldy’s food. Or what about the ice cream parlor? He
really seemed to like ice cream that one time Mom had
us pet sit him for the weekend.”
Parker couldn’t help but feel like they were
forgetting something, but then it came to him. “I know,
let’s go to the park first!”
Maddie started jumping up and down with
excitement. “Duh! You’re right. Whenever we go to the
playground, I’m always on the lookout for Mrs. FeenyandBarkley.Theyloveit there!”
“AndsinceMrs.FeenythinksBarkley’stiredofnot
gettingtogoonwalks,it makesperfectsensethat
he’dgotothedogpark.Whata greatideabyme,”
Parkerjoked.
“Ok,smarty-pants,whydon’twemakesure he’s
therebefore youstartcongratulatingyourself?”
Maddieshookherhead.
Thesiblingshurriedovertothepark,hopingtheir
hunchwasright.Whentheyarrivedat thedogpark,
theyspotteda smalldogrunningaround.
Maddiegotexcited.“IsthatBarkley?”
Parker’sshouldersslumpedwhenhegota closer
look.“No,it’sa dachshundbutit isn’t Barkley.”
Thensuddenly,MaddieandParkerheard a quietlittlebark.“Barkley?”Parkerraisedhisvoice.
AfterMaddiejoinedin calling, it wasn’t long before
Barkley came rushing out of one of the bushes. Parker
quickly crouched to pick him up.
“We really did it — we found him!” Parker cheered
as Barkley gave him wet doggie kisses.
“Can you hold him still for a sec?” Maddie asked.
“I need to get this leash on him so we make sure he
doesn’t run away from us.”
Once they’d successfully attached Barkley’s collar
to his leash, they began the walk home, feeling happy
they’d get to reunite Mrs. Feeny with her dog.
As they walked through the neighborhood, Maddie
got an idea. “Parker, I know what we should do! WeStory We ❤
“We really did it — we found him!” Parker
cheered as Barkley gave him wet doggie kisses.