The Three Basketeers: The Legend Begins 2e4o2k

For My Lovely Grandchildren Julia, Jack, Hugh, Grace, and Catherine

Copyright © 2014 . Anne David.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-0831-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-0833-1 (e)

Archway Publishing rev. date: 07/08/2014

Contents

1 The Worst Day Ever 2 The Nightmare 3 The New Bed 4 Mandoo 5 A Surprise for Ollie and Mollie 6 Mandoo Amazes Ollie and Mollie 7 Mandoo Explains 8 Mandoo Leaves a Message 9 Flight School 10 The Joy of Flight 11 RED 12 Mollie Has a Plan 13 The Outfit 14 Mr. Grumpus 15 Mandoo Writes a Letter 16 The Three Basketeers Visit Mr. Grumpus 17 Mollie Gets Her Hat Epilogue

Acknowledgments Ollie’s Word List

1 The Worst Day Ever

This was turning out to be the worst day of their doggie lives. Ollie and Mollie couldn’t believe it! A cat was moving in! The two dachshunds stared in wideeyed disbelief at the large Siamese cat that had just been plopped down in the middle of the kitchen floor by their family. The cat took one look at them and split out of the room to the back of the house. “Well,” said Mr. Cornhopper to his wife. “I hope it wasn’t a mistake to take the cat when we bought the dogs’ bed.” “They’ll get used to each other,” answered Mrs. Cornhopper, “and that basket certainly looks better than that tattered old blanket they were using.” “I hope you’re right,” said her husband, but he didn’t sound hopeful. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the cat will hide under a bed all day and these two will crawl back into bed for a nap. But they’ll be friends in no time.” Mrs. Cornhopper did sound hopeful. “We better get going or we’ll be late to work and the children will be late for school.” She stooped to give Ollie and Mollie a pat. “Now be good,” she said and then the family left for the day. “This is a mistake, alright!” exclaimed Ollie. “We’ve got a cat in the house and we’re supposed to be good?” “Now, Ollie,” cautioned his sister. “It won’t help to get so worked up.” Ollie was so excitable. But she could sympathize with him. They had just lived through an awful week and now this! A cat. It was the worst day ever.

2 The Nightmare

This whole mess had started a week ago. “Get up, sleepyheads!” said Mrs. Cornhopper. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.” She was talking to her two sleeping dachshunds snuggled in their raggedy old blanket under the kitchen table. Two sleepy heads poked out from under the blanket. This was much earlier than Ollie and Mollie were used to getting up. They crawled slowly out of their warm bed yawning and stretching and then they gave themselves a good shake. “What’s up?” Ollie asked his sister. “Beats me,” said Mollie. She was already pushing her way through the pet flap in the kitchen door to go out to the backyard. The two dogs took their time making their usual morning rounds of the backyard. Mollie always paid particular attention to the flowerbeds and Ollie liked to patrol the fence line. “Hey Mollie! I think there was a raccoon in the yard last night!” He was sniffing excitedly back and forth from the fence to the big oak tree. “Well I certainly hope you don’t run into it. You’ll get your nose bitten for sure! Let’s go eat breakfast.” She headed back to the house. Breakfast used to be Ollie’s favorite word, next to dinner. But that was before he chewed all of the fur off of his tail. The vet said he had a food allergy and had to have a bland diet from now on. Ollie guessed ‘bland’ meant dull because now all they got to eat was dry dog food pellets made out of fishmeal. Boring! But he followed Mollie back to the kitchen. Boy! What a surprise was waiting for them. The whole family was busy taking everything out of the kitchen and putting it into the dining room. Pots, pans, furniture, everything was moving. Where was their blanket!

“Come on, you two,” said Mrs. Cornhopper. She was carrying their food and water dishes into the dining room where she put them down on a spread out newspaper. They followed her into the very cluttered room and looked around. Ollie was not happy to see their blanket pushed in between the meat slicer and the roasting pan. “You have to stay in here today. The carpenter is coming. Now be good little dogs,” she said as she spread out more newspaper. “You won’t be able to get to the pet door to get outside, so I hope, if you have to, you’ll use these papers.” She gave them each a pat and a quick scratch behind the ears then left closing the swinging door to the kitchen. “What’s going on!” declared Ollie. “Are we going to have to stay in the dining room from now on?” He didn’t like this whole thing one bit! “Oh, it’s probably just for today,” said Mollie. She was exploring a stack of pots and pans that were on the floor and was disappointed to find that they were clean. “It’s just while the carpenter is here.” “What’s a carpenter?” asked Ollie from under the dish cabinet. It helped being short to explore in tight places. “I think it’s someone who puts in carpets,” answered Mollie. “They’re going to put a carpet in the kitchen?” He was staring at his food dish but nothing had changed. Same old dull food. He decided to take a nap. “A carpet will make it much quieter in there,” and she thought a nap sounded like a good idea, too, so she ed Ollie on their blanket. They managed to get it all ruffled up just like they liked it and they settled down for the morning.

• • • • • • • • •

SCREEEEEEEECH! BANG! BANG! BANG! Both dogs shot up from under the blanket, barking!

“WOW, WOW, WOW!” yelled Ollie. “WHO’S THERE? WHO’S THERE?” “WHOOOO IS IT? WHOOOO IS IT?” howled Mollie. Then they looked at each other. They were both shaking. They had never heard so much noise in the house before. The racquet was coming from behind the closed door to the kitchen and it didn’t stop. “I thought you said the carpenter would be quiet. This isn’t quiet!” exclaimed Ollie. “What should we do?” asked Mollie nervously. “KEEP BARKING! KEEP BARKING!” Ollie said in his loudest voice. They did keep barking and howling for the longest time, but finally their voices were all used up and it hadn’t helped the situation. The noise from the kitchen went on. “It’s no use,” croaked Mollie. “It’s not stopping.” “We’ll just keep an eye on that door. If it opens, attack!’ said Ollie as he rested his head on his paws and slowly closed his eyes. He was exhausted from all of his efforts to be a good watchdog. Mollie settled down next to him and hoped it was all just a nightmare.

• • • • • • • • •

It turned out that it wasn’t a nightmare. It was real all right, and it went on for the rest of the week. And, just when they thought things might be getting better because the noise stopped, it got worse! Now it began to smell terrible. “My eyes are watering!” complained Ollie “Stick your head under here with me,” said Mollie from underneath the blanket. “It’s not so bad under here.”

Would this ordeal never end? But it did end.

3 The New Bed

At the end of that awful week they were invited back into the kitchen and they were quite surprised by what they found. The kitchen was the same size, but everything seemed to be in a different place. Things were shinier and smelled of fresh paint. They began to sniff around to get the lay of the land and right away they could see that their blanket was nowhere to be found. “Where’s our blanket,” asked Ollie under his breath. He loved that blanket. Mollie shook her head. “I don’t see it. Where are we supposed to sleep?” “Look there,” said Ollie. “I think they want us to get into that big basket in the corner.” They were indeed being urged over to a wicker basket with a big cushion in it. “Come on. Here’s your new bed,” said Mr. Cornhopper. “You won’t have to sleep on that smelly old blanket anymore.” The family seemed happy about this. “Pewie! Talk about smelly!” said Ollie. “This smells like the hamster’s cage,” but he crawled in through the dip in the front of the basket and turned around in a circle trying to get the cedar chip cushion to ruffle up.” “Here, let me try,” said Mollie as she crawled in behind him. She was doing her best to make a cozy nest for the two of them but the cushion just stayed as smooth as ever. They finally just curled up next to each other wishing that their old blanket with its good smells would magically reappear. “Well, at least this bed is soft,” said Mollie. “I guess things could be worse.” “I don’t see how,” mumbled Ollie. But that’s just when things did get worse! The children came into the kitchen and they were carrying a large Siamese cat between them. Mary had the front part and Sam had the back. The cat looked mad.

“Look! We brought you a friend!” they exclaimed. They put the cat down in the middle of the kitchen floor. The cat took one look at the dogs and immediately shot out of the room. By this time both Ollie and Mollie had jumped out of the basket and had started to bark. The fur down the middle of Ollie’s back stood straight up.

4 Mandoo

“I’m not getting used to a cat!” declared Ollie now that the family had left for the day. “I chase cats! I don’t get used to them!” “I should say not!” agreed Mollie. “We’ve never had to get used to a cat before. I don’t see why we have to now!” Mollie didn’t actually know any cats but she’d heard stories. “Well, the feeling is mutual!” said a quiet voice. Mollie and Ollie almost jumped out of their skin! Here was the cat! Right behind them! They had not heard him come back into the kitchen. “Hey, you shouldn’t creep up on people!” cried Ollie. “You don’t look like people to me.” “Well, dogs then. You shouldn’t creep up on dogs.” “I don’t creep,” said the cat. “I walk softly.” He proceeded to walk softly to the middle of the room and sit down, very neatly, with just the tip of his tail moving back and forth. “It looks like we’ve all got the same problem,” he took a minute to smooth down the fur on his chest with his rough tongue. “We have all been thrust into a living situation not of our liking.” “If you mean we don’t want to live with a cat, then you’re right,” said Ollie. “And I’m not keen on the idea of sharing an abode with dogs, but we may have to be practical about this.” “Oh yes, let’s be practical!” said Mollie. She hated bickering and this sounded like bickering to her. “You can’t just leave this house because you don’t like it here anymore,” the cat went on. “Dogs don’t usually do that. So you’re stuck. I’m not stuck, because

cats can leave anytime that they want to. But I don’t want to.” “Why not?” asked Ollie. “If you don’t want to live with us, why don’t you just leave?” “Because you’ve got my bed,” declared the cat. “It’s a very unusual bed and I don’t wish to part with it so I go where it goes.” “How do we know it’s your bed?” asked Mollie. “It’s got my name on it,” said the cat. “My name is Mandoo. If you look closely you’ll see a nametag on the basket.” Sure enough, there it was. A brass plate was attached to the basket and it plainly said ‘Mandoo.’” “What kind of a name is Mandoo,” muttered Ollie under his breath. “Quite a famous name in some circles.” The cat had very good hearing. “And while we’re at it, what kind of names are Ollie and Mollie? You sound like a dancing duo.” “For your information,” Mollie declared, “our names are ed because we have papers!” Ollie rolled his eyes. Mollie could really get huffy when she got on her high horse. “And,” Mollie went on, “you can have your bed. We don’t like it anyway. We’ll just go find our blanket.” “Hmmm,” said Mandoo. “I wonder if that’s the blanket I saw going into the trash bin at the curb.” “Oh no! Not our blanket!” cried Ollie and Mollie together. “It looks like you’ll just have to use my bed for now.” The cat paused for a minute. “I’m actually interested to see what happens.” “What do you mean by that?” asked Ollie. “It’s too complicated to talk about now and besides I need to catch up on my sleep.” The cat got up to leave the room. “I found a soft chair in a room down the hall and there is a computer that they seem to leave on so I’ll be comfortable.

I’ll be back after awhile and we can talk about what to do next. We probably will have a lot to talk about.” He padded quietly out of the kitchen. “Have a lot to talk about!” exclaimed Mollie. “What could we possibly have to talk about with a cat? Especially one we’ve never laid eyes on before?” “We could start by asking him why it’s a nice thing to have a computer that’s left on,” said Ollie. “And we can ask him how come his basket ended up being our bed!” He was already back at the business of trying to get comfortable in their new bed without much luck. “This is the worst bed we’ve ever had!” “It certainly is!” Mollie agreed. She, too, was trying to settle into a comfortable position for their morning nap. But it looked like they were just going to have to rough it. They curled up, back to back, with their noses tucked under their paws and went to sleep.

5 A Surprise for Ollie and Mollie

“Ollie! Stop squirming around!” complained Mollie. She had been awakened from her nap because Ollie was making such a commotion. “I’m not squirming! I’m flopping!” yelped Ollie. He was upside down and pawing at the air and trying to turn himself right side up. “Help!” Mollie tried to turn around to see what Ollie was doing but she began spinning around instead. “What’s going on!” she cried. The dogs were tumbling around a few inches above the cushion in the basket. The more they struggled, the more they tumbled and they were getting a little panicky. “Try to relax,” said a soft purring voice. “You’ll find it helps to settle you down.” The voice startled both dogs and they began to bark, which only made matters worse. Now they were spinning faster and faster! “Quiet!” demanded the cat. And they were. The spinning stopped. “Barking is what accelerates your speed. You’ll have to learn how to control that or you’ll hurt yourselves. Now, try to relax.” Mollie and Ollie were so startled by all of this that they did stay perfectly still. And it worked! They stopped rolling around, but they were still floating. “Now,” said the cat, “just exert a small amount of pressure with your feet and you should settle back onto the cushion.” Ollie wondered how he was going to exert pressure with his feet when he was upside down, but he tried and he slowly rolled over and came to rest in the bed. Mollie had already settled back to earth. They just stared at the cat and said nothing. “How are you feeling?” asked the cat. He went on without waiting for an answer,

“I started to tell you that this might happen, but we had just met and I didn’t want you to think I was a kook.” “Too late!” exclaimed Ollie. “I think you’re a kook!” Mollie didn’t want to offend the cat. “We don’t know you well enough to know if you are a kook or not. But you’ll certainly have to agree that this situation is kooky.” “Oh, I do it that this is all off the charts, so to speak. I thought about warning you that you might experience something unusual, but I wasn’t sure the basket would have the same effect on you as it has on me. But I see that it does, so I will explain everything, but it’s a long story. Where can we go to be comfortable?” “How about the backyard,” suggested Ollie. He desperately needed to find a bush. “Good idea! Lead the way.” The three animals pushed through the pet flap entrance in the back door and went out into the sunny backyard.

6 Mandoo Amazes Ollie and Mollie

“OK, what’s going on,” demanded Ollie. “You better sit down,” Mandoo said to the two dogs, “because you may find this hard to believe.” “We are sitting down,” said Mollie. “It’s just hard to tell.” It wasn’t easy being short. “Hmmm. Well so you are,” remarked the cat. “Well brace yourselves!” He paused to let the drama build. “Well? Go on!” said Ollie. What was the matter with this cat! “The basket gives you the ability to fly!” announced Mandoo. “Fly?” gasped Mollie. “Fly!” Now Ollie had heard everything! “That does it. You’ve been into the catnip!” “Ha! That’s a good one!” said Mandoo. “Why don’t I just show you what I’m talking about. Actions speak louder than words. I will just demonstrate the whole procedure,” he purred, “take-off, flight, and landing. You’ll see that it’s not hard at all.” Ollie and Mollie looked at each other nervously. “Maybe we should get out of here,” Ollie whispered to Mollie. “Ok, where shall we go?” Mollie was looking around for a getaway route. But before the two dogs could make a move the cat strolled confidently to the top of the slight incline in the yard, faced into the wind, crouched slightly, began a deep rumbling purr, then pushed off into the air. The dogs’ mouths dropped open in awe as they watched the sleek Siamese glide

up and around the yard weaving between the trees. They noticed that his ears twitched slightly and his tail, streaming out behind him, moved slightly from side to side. After a few minutes he glided in for a smooth landing right in front of them. “You might want to close your mouths before a bug flies in,” he said, smiling.

7 Mandoo Explains

Well, that did it! Ollie and Mollie were believers now! They settled down to listen to the Siamese cat’s most amazing story. “It began in my third life when I was born in a hat,” Mandoo began. “What!” both dogs exclaimed. Mandoo made one outlandish statement after another. Third life? Born in a hat? “As you know, cats have nine lives. Most cats just waste this incredible benefit by u their nine lives all at once on things like escaping from a dog, or falling off of a roof. I determined early on that I would use mine one at a time. Right now I am actually in my fourth life.” The dogs couldn’t think of anything to say to this so they just settled back down in the grass and waited for the story to go on. “As I was saying, I was born in a hat, but not just any hat. It was a magician’s hat. It was a surprise to me, of course, but the magician was just as surprised. He was so used to finding rabbits in his hat that it took him a little while to get used to me. But it turned out that I was a perfect magician’s assistant. For one thing, I never pooped in his hat and the rabbits were always doing that. We traveled around the world entertaining anyone who had the price of a ticket. I learned to appear and disappear in a poof of smoke. I could turn back and forth from a cat to a teapot to a bird and back to a cat, without eating the bird, I might add. And I was especially good at levitating.” “What’s ‘levitating’?” asked Mollie. “Levitating is basically floating,” answered Mandoo. “But once you can levitate you can quickly learn to fly. You will be flying soon.” The dogs just stared at the cat. They couldn’t imagine flying. They were so short that they had never been able to jump up any higher than the steps to the back porch. They both looked up at the sky, then at each other, then back at the cat.

“We’re going to fly?” asked Ollie. He was so amazed he forgot to close his mouth again and this time a bug did fly in and he had a quick morning snack. “What does the basket have to do with flying?” asked Mollie. “I was just getting to that,” said Mandoo. “The actual power to fly comes from the magician’s wand. The wand was always stored in the basket, which used to be my bed, and the wicker soaked up the magic from the wand. So anyone spending any time in the basket must soak up the power to fly. Really, it’s quite simple when you think about it.” It’s actually thinking about it that’s hard thought Ollie. “So how did we get your bed?” asked Mollie. “Ah, yes,” said Mandoo softly. “Not long ago the Magician ed away and all of his possessions were put up for sale. Your family purchased my basket. I can see that your kitchen has been remodeled, so I suppose they wanted a better looking bed for the two of you.” “Were you in the basket when they bought it?” “Well, I wasn’t actually in the basket, but they agreed to give me a home if they could buy it. So, here I am.” The three of them sat quietly for a while thinking about all of this. Finally Mandoo spoke. “We can start with flying lessons tomorrow. You need to spend more time in the bed to get up enough steam to get off the ground and into the air. And you’ll need your strength. Flying is a strenuous activity. So eat a good dinner and get a good night’s rest and we’ll get started in the morning.” “I don’t think this plan is going to work,” said Ollie sadly. “Why ever not?’ inquired Mandoo. “The food they serve here is pretty awful,” complained Ollie. “It’ll be dry dog food pellets, and they aren’t good.” “Really?” said the cat. “Dog food pellets. Well. We’ll just have to see about that,

won’t we?” Mandoo had noticed that he had only been served dry cat food kibble, but thought that the family must surely still plan to include canned cat food! “Just eat what they give you tonight. It will suffice* for the moment.” Ollie thought about the word ‘suffice.’ He was going to have to get to the dictionary soon because this cat was always using such big words.

8 Mandoo Leaves a Message

The cat padded quietly down the hall to the room where the woman kept her computer. The room was open, the LED light was blinking, and the woman was nowhere in sight. Mandoo made a graceful leap up onto the desk and tapped the finger pad. The screen came to life and he began trolling through the Internet until he found what he was looking for. He had learned to use the computer at his last home and had become quite good at it. Once he learned how to use the finger pad it was a breeze. At first he had used the mouse because he rather liked the idea of pushing a mouse around. But it was really simpler to use the pad. Now he scrolled down through the list of websites that his search had brought up. He clicked on one that looked promising. He liked it right away. The headline was perfect – “Is Dry Pet Food Killing Your Dog?” And your cat, Mandoo thought to himself. It said that a steady diet of dry kibble was definitely not good for dogs or cats. It was made of ground up meat ‘by-products’ (which undoubtedly meant chicken beaks and chicken feet, pig snouts and pig tails!), pulverized grains and second and third choice vegetables, then the whole mess was steamed and dehydrated. Finally, it was rolled into BB and marble sized pellets and packaged up for sale. Mandoo thought it was not only unhealthy but also unappetizing, and a marvel that any creature would eat it. Dogs, of course, gobbled up anything that was offered. Cats, on the other hand, were much pickier and could go without eating until they were given something more to their liking. He took one more look at the article and, pleased with its’ message, left the website up. He might have to leave several more articles before the message was received, but he believed that soon they would all have a healthier and tastier diet.

• • • • • • • • •

At first Mandoo had been unhappy that he had to share his secret about flying,

especially with dogs. He had a plan in mind for himself and wasn’t sure that he wanted to include anyone else, certainly not dogs that were so roly-poly that their stomachs wagged when they ran! But perhaps when they got a better diet and began doing some body shaping exercises they might turn out to be quite accomplished flyers. For one thing their short legs worked in their favor. They could tuck them up against their body and be more aerodynamic*. (If Ollie had heard Mandoo say ‘aerodynamic’ he would have added it to his word book.) Mandoo knew from experience that long legs made flying more difficult.

9 Flight School

After dinner, when they were too tired to be afraid, Ollie and Mollie crawled cautiously back into the basket. “You know,” said Ollie “When I first woke up this morning I thought I had gas. I thought that’s why I was floating.” Mollie laughed. “That would be some case of gas!” “Yah, too bad it wasn’t,” he laughed. “Maybe I could have shot around the kitchen like those birthday balloons do. Boy, that would have surprised the family!” “I think they will be pretty surprised when we fly around the room.” She was quiet for a minute and then asked, “Ollie, are you scared?” “Naw, this kind of stuff doesn’t scare me.” But he wondered why he had butterflies in his stomach. He hoped it was gas.

• • • • • • • • •

The next morning they began flight school with their instructor, Mandoo. “The first thing you need to learn is how you will use your body to attain* flight,” he said. Ollie added ‘attain’ to his list of words to look up. “It’s not complicated, as you will see.” He unrolled a chart and spread it out in front of them.

“You’ll notice that your entire body is used in the process.” Mandoo used a stick to point to the chart as he explained. “You’ll use your nose to steer. Simple, really. Point your nose up, you go up, to the left, you go left, and so on. Just , ‘follow your nose’ and you will do well.” The dogs were paying careful attention. While it might seem simple to Mandoo, they weren’t sure it was going to be so simple to do. For one thing, what about crashing! That hadn’t been mentioned! The cat went on with the chart. “Your tail is also part of the steering mechanism. You’ll use it like a rudder*. It will help steady you on your course, rather like a boat’s rudder.” Ollie thought he better look up ‘rudder.’ “Your ears work like flaps,” said Mandoo, pointing to the chart. “Do we have to flap them?” asked Mollie. She had always been envious of the birds that could just flap their wings and soar up into the sky. But she wasn’t sure she would be able to flap her ears fast enough to fly. “No. They won’t actually flap. You will use them to help give you lift when you take off and help slow you down when you land,” he answered. “It’s harder to explain it than it will be to do it. It’s a skill that will get better the more that you use it.” He paused. “It will lend a lot of finesse* to your aviation ability.” “Good,” said Ollie. He hoped ‘finesse’ meant raw t-bone steak, but he doubted it. He added it to his word list. “And, of course, your legs and feet are your take-off and landing gear, and your voices will control your speed,” finished Mandoo. “Any questions?” he asked brightly. “What about crashing?” Mollie asked anxiously. “I haven’t heard anything about that. We aren’t going to be perfect at this from the start are we?” “Not to worry,” assured the cat. “We will work on that part first. It’s called ‘Tuck and Roll.’

“Tukken Roll?” asked Ollie. “Is that something we eat?” Ollie obsessed about food.

10 The Joy of Flight

If anyone had been watching their backyard that day, they would have seen some amazing sights. For one thing, the ‘tuck and roll’ maneuver was a real showstopper. The dogs had to stretch out full length, tuck their legs up against their body, and roll downhill toward the bottom of the yard. In order to get started, Mandoo had to give them a push. At first they rolled in a zig-zag pattern because they kept looking all around to see where they were going. When they learned to keep their nose pointed parallel to their body, they could roll in a straight line. The real breakthrough came when they learned how to extend their legs to stop the roll smoothly instead of just crashing into the bushes. “How do we take off?” asked Ollie. He felt like he knew enough about crashing and he didn’t plan to do much of it anyway. “That’s easy, too,” answered Mandoo. “You apply a little pressure to the pads of your feet, squat slightly, and push off.” “I don’t squat!” Ollie prided himself on his leg lifts. He could lift a leg in either direction, whatever the occasion demanded. “Well, I do squat so I should be good at this,” said Mollie brightly.

• • • • • • • • •

It took some time and a lot of practice to learn to fly without bouncing off of the trees or getting snagged in a bush, but they became more graceful in their takeoffs and landings as they learned to control their ears. Their tails were another matter. They had to overcome their natural doggie tendency to wag their tails at the sight of anything pleasing whenever they were in flight. Wagging really threw them into a tailspin! Literally.

But they did get it right and the joy of flight was exhilarating. Ollie took unnatural delight in scaring the daylights out of the squirrels in the backyard. He would sit patiently at the base of a tree until one of the unsuspecting squirrels came edging down the trunk ready to tease him. Then he would rise up barking and follow the terrified creature back up into the lower branches of the tree. “Mollie!” he yelled. “Look! Look at that beady-eyed rodent run!” “Ollie! Don’t call names! It’s not nice,” Mollie said, rather prissily. But Ollie didn’t care. It was satisfying to see their tails puffed out and their ears laid back as they made a mad dash to safety. It wasn’t long before their yard was free from squirrels.

• • • • • • • • •

One sunny morning when Ollie was happily chasing the squirrels up into the treetops, he felt sprinkles of water falling on his head, and then the sprinkles turned to a downpour. “This can’t be rain!” he thought. “The sun is shinning!” When he circled back down he saw that Mr. Grumpus, their nextdoor neighbor, was aiming the garden hose right at him! He was getting soaked! “Hey!” he called out. “What are you doing?” Mr. Grumpus was a crotchety old man who lived by himself and didn’t like noisy children or barking dogs. He had the bad luck to live next door to a family with noisy children and barking dogs. He couldn’t do anything about the noisy children, but he could give that infernal barking dog a good squirt with the hose! That would teach him a thing or two! He was surprised to see the dog fly up in the air and worried that he had turned the water on too hard. He didn’t want to really harm him, just give him a scare. But he could see that the squirting water wasn’t doing any good. The dog was still barking, confound him! So Mr. Grumpus turned off the hose and went inside.

Ollie gave himself a good shake to try to dry out. What had gotten into that old grump, anyway? He pushed his way into the kitchen through the pet flap and bumped into Mollie. “Gosh, Ollie, you’re all wet,” she said. “What happened?” “That crabby old Mr. Grumpus next door kept squirting me with the hose!” Ollie was indignant. Just then Mandoo walked into the kitchen. “Good heavens!” the cat exclaimed. “What happened to you? Did it start raining?” But they could all see that the sun was shining brightly. “Our next door neighbor gave Ollie a shower bath,” Mollie explained. “Whatever for?” Mandoo didn’t like the idea of getting wet. “I think it was because I was barking at the squirrels,” said Ollie. “He threw a tomato at me once when I was barking, but he must have been out of them today so he just squirted me with water.” “What a peculiar man.” Mandoo was frequently surprised by the things that humans did. “Yah, he’s peculiar alright,” agreed Ollie. “And that’s why he doesn’t have any friends. He’s too peculiar.” Mollie just shook her head. Poor man. Imagine, no friends.

11 RED

On a warm summer morning a very dirty, shaggy stray dog was nosing around in the bushes behind the Cornhopper’s backyard looking for something to eat when he got the shock of his life! A cat came zooming through the air and nearly startled him out of his wits! The next thing he knew two dogs shot by right after the cat. What was going on! He hadn’t had anything to eat for quite awhile. Maybe he was having hallucinations! Maybe he should just take a nap. Maybe he was already taking a nap! That’s it! It was all a dream. He should just close his eyes and go back to sleep.

• • • • • • • • •

Ollie, Mollie and Mandoo were playing tag in and out of the trees when Mollie spotted the dog behind the bushes. She swooped down to take a closer look and then flew back to Ollie and Mandoo who had landed in the grass. “Hey, guys! Come see what I found in the bushes!” “I hope it’s something to eat,” said Ollie. “No,” answered Mollie, “but it looks like it could use something to eat. Come see.” They all flew to the end of the yard and sat down in front of the bushes. They could just make out a big dog that looked like he was sleeping. “Wow!” said Ollie. “He sure is dirty!” “Skinny, too,” added Mollie. “I would say that he is a stray,” said Mandoo.

Ollie and Mollie had heard about strays, although they had never seen one. It was every dog’s bad dream to end up as a stray. Right then the ragged dog opened his eyes. He stared at the three animals sitting in front of him. He must have been dreaming when he thought they were flying around. They weren’t flying now. They were sitting still. He sat up slowly and wagged his tail a little. “Hello,” said the cat. “Hi,” said the big dog. Ok, well maybe he was dreaming. Here he was talking to a cat! “You look lost.” “I am. I’ve been out on my own for a long time now and I don’t know how to find my way back home.” “Oh, I’m so sorry about that!” said Mollie. “You must be very lonely.” “I’ll bet you’re hungry, too,” said Ollie who was always very practical when it came to eating. “I am. I haven’t found anything good to eat for a couple of days. Just some old hamburger wrappers and a few dried up French fries.” The dog looked like he was going to cry. “Well, I can get you some of our food,” said Ollie, “but it probably won’t taste as good as the wrappers.” “Yes, we’ll get you something to eat right now,” said Mollie. “Come on Ollie. I’ll help you.” The two dogs turned and flew up into the air and directly over to the back door. That did it! He was definitely dead. This must be heaven. “I’m dead!” he declared. “Good heavens, no!” said Mandoo. “You aren’t dead, even though you look like you could be!’ “You mean you’re not an angel?” asked the confused dog.

“Ha! That’s a good one,” laughed Mandoo. But he could see that the dog was serious. “Don’t worry, you’ll feel better when you’ve had something to eat.” Just then Ollie and Mollie flew back with a bag of their food. They dumped it out in front of the dog and he didn’t waste any time gobbling it up. “Sorry,” the stray said when he finally stopped eating. “I used to have better manners.” “”That’s ok,” said Mollie although she was very surprised at how fast the dog could eat. “How did you get lost?” “Crawled under the fence,” said the woebegone dog. “Did you run away?” Ollie asked. “Well, I didn’t mean to run away. I was just getting out to see what it looked like on the other side of the fence, and then I wandered too far away. I never could find my way back.” “Weren’t you wearing your dog tags?” asked Mollie. “No, I only wore those when I went for a walk on my leash.” “Oh my,” said Mollie sadly. “But won’t your family be looking for you? Won’t they be putting up Lost Dog posters with your picture?” “I don’t think so,” said the dejected dog. “My owner was an older lady and I don’t think she would know how to do all of that.” He paused for a minute to scratch ferociously at his ear. “Sorry. Fleas!” Scratch, scratch, scratccch! “They sure know how to make a dog nuts!” “Have you thought of turning yourself in to the authorities?” asked Mollie. “Well, you must be nuts!” exclaimed the dog. “That’s the last thing I want to do! I’ve been told by every other stray that I’ve met to stay away from the dog catcher. They say that that’s a sure way to a quick end, if you get my drift.” The dog laid down and put his nose between his paws. “I thought they found families to adopt stray animals.”

“Don’t kid yourself, sister,” declared the skinny dog. “It’s only the cute ones that get adopted. Do I look cute?” Mollie shook her head. “I hate to say it, but you don’t look so good.” The dog was dirty and there were patches of fur missing where he had scratched it away. Mollie could see that he would have a hard time finding a home. “I’m a mess and I know it. No one would want to adopt me.” He closed his eyes and a big tear rolled down his cheek. It was quiet for a minute and the three wondered if he had gone back to sleep. “Do you have a name?” Mandoo asked. “Red,” the dog whispered. “Red? Well, Mr. Red, I feel sure we can help you.” The dog didn’t say anything so they thought he must be asleep. They turned back toward the house and quietly flew away. They didn’t see Red open his eyes and watch them go. He gave his head a shake and mumbled to himself, “I must be on my last leg. I’m seeing things. It won’t be long before I’ll be seeing the Pearly Gates!” He closed his eyes and he really did go to sleep.

12 Mollie Has a Plan

“Ok guys, what are we going to do to help Red,” asked Ollie as soon as they were back at the house. “We’ll have to find him a good home, of course,” said Mandoo with a positive tone. “I wonder who’s going to want him. He looks terrible.” Ollie could see Red’s point about being hard to adopt. Skinny, dirty, and missing patches of fur didn’t make a very pretty picture. “Maybe our family will take him in,” he said halfheartedly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to share his bed with Red after watching him scratching at the fleas, but he didn’t say that out loud. “Our family probably would take him,” said Mollie, “ but I have a better idea.” “What?” said Ollie and Mandoo at the same time. “I think he would make a great companion for Mr. Grumpus next door.” “You’re kidding!” said Ollie. “Mr. Grumpus, the neighborhood grouch!” He complained about everything! He didn’t like dogs barking. He didn’t like the sound of kids having fun. He didn’t even like music, loud or soft. What was Mollie thinking! “No, I’m not kidding,” said Mollie brightly. “I think it would kill two birds with one stone. A home for Red and a dog to keep Mr. Grumpus company. I think that would make him a lot less grouchy.” “I think that’s a very good idea Mollie!” exclaimed Mandoo. Mollie smiled at Mandoo’s praise. “I think once we explain things to Mr. Grumpus he’ll see the light.” Mollie was very enthusiastic about her idea. “It might be the best idea in the world, but how are we going to convince Mr. Grumpus to give Red a home,” worried Ollie. “Wait until he sees him. He won’t like him.”

“We’ll just have to convince him that he does like him!” Mollie declared. “Really? How?” Ollie was not sure that anyone could convince Mr. Grumpus of anything, let alone taking in a mangy looking dog. “What if we just sit down and have a nice chat with him?” “Well, say! There’s a brilliant plan!” Ollie was being very sarcastic. “We can just knock on the door and invite Mr. Grumpus to us for tea!” “Oh, Ollie,” sighed Mollie, “don’t be such a party pooper. Of course we won’t go over there looking like a pack of dogs!” “Don’t forget the cat!” said Ollie. “We will have to look special so that Mr. Grumpus can’t ignore us. We’ll have to have special outfits!” Mollie was practically skipping around when she said this. “Oh, brother, I knew something like this was going to happen.” Ollie just shook his head. “Girls! Mandoo can’t you do something?” Ollie pleaded. Mandoo didn’t want to say it out loud but he wasn’t sure what was happening. What could Mollie mean by special outfits? He decided to be diplomatic*. (Another word that Ollie would have added to his word list if he could read Mandoo’s mind). “Mollie, why don’t you explain what you are thinking?” “Well, from everything I read, all of the heros and heroines wear special outfits so that they don’t just look like everyone else. So I think we need special outfits, because if we can find a good home for Red, we will certainly be heros and heroines.” “Heroine,” said Mandoo. “There’s just one of you.” “You’re right,” said Mollie. “Where are you doing all of this reading?” asked Ollie. “There’s a lot of reading material underneath the children’s beds, mostly comic books. Guys! Just leave this to me. I’ll take care of everything!”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” muttered Ollie. Mollie was already running back to the house.

13 The Outfit

Mollie returned dragging a bag that was kept at the back of a closet. She tugged at the drawstrings, got it open, and dumped the contents out before them. “There’s bound to be something good in this pile,” she said brightly and she began sorting it out. There was so much! Headgear meant to make them look like other animal species; all kinds of collars, dressy, sporty and every day; body suits; coats and sweaters; hats; raincoats; and a sort of bootie contraption to wear on their feet on icy sidewalks. “Don’t tell me this all belongs to you!” Mandoo was shocked. “Not only does it belong to us,” said Ollie morosely, “but we’ve worn all of it. Sometimes even outside the house.” “Really!” Mandoo had never worn outfits even in the magic shows. But then this was just another example of the difference between dogs and cats. “Well, Mollie, I do think you’re right about the two of you needing an outfit. It will impress anyone who meets us, and make our work easier I think.” Mollie felt herself blush with Mandoo’s praise. “Oh good. Shall we start looking through these things to see what works?” Ollie could see that he was outnumbered. Maybe he should help out so that he didn’t get stuck wearing something too ridiculous. They spent the afternoon trying on lots of combinations. The bunny ears were a ‘no’ right away, the wrong image. The reindeer antlers were a ‘no’ also. “We can’t wear those,” said Ollie. “They keep flopping over and they make us look tipsy!” Besides, he really favored the hot dog bun suit.

“I’m not wearing that!” declared Mollie. “It makes me look fat!” “More importantly,” said Mandoo, “you’ll never get off the ground in that bun.” Mollie liked the angel wings and halo. But Ollie said if Red saw them in that outfit he would think he was dead for sure. Finally they settled on yellow body suits, which they had to turn inside out. When they first put them on Mandoo had fallen over laughing. When he was able to catch his breath, he explained what was written on them in black. On one it said SPEED, and on the other it said BUMP. They had never noticed the words before. They thought the black markings were meant to make them look like bumble bees. “Oh, I’m so embarrassed!” said Mollie. “It just proves that you should read what you’re wearing before you put it on!” “Yes,” said Mandoo, “good idea. But they look just fine when you turn the words to the inside.” He liked them because they fit tightly and kept the dogs’ stomachs from wagging so much. They completed the outfit with a yellow and red plaid rain cape. It looked fabulous streaming out behind them when they flew. “I’m sorry there are only two of everything,” Ollie said to Mandoo when they had finished cleaning up. “I feel like we’ve left you out.” “Not to worry, old man,” said the cat graciously. “I’m perfectly happy letting the two of you shine. I’ll just stay in the shadows.” “These outfits are going to work out just fine,” said Mollie. She was taking off and landing and watching the cape stream out behind her out of the corner of her eye. “But we need hats,” she added. “Hats?” Ollie was beginning to think Mollie was losing her marbles. “Yes, hats!” declared Mollie. “Headwear! Whatever you want to call it. Look at all of the great hero figures! Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Superman! They all had headwear.”

“I don’t think Superman had any headwear,” said Mandoo. “Just great hair.” ‘Oh, well,” sighed Mollie. “You know what I mean.” She considered herself something of a fashionista and their outfit didn’t feel finished. And, she felt sure that they were going to be famous. “Yes, I think you’re right about hats,” said Mandoo. “I’ll take a look around the house and see what I can find in the way of headgear. Why don’t you two go take a nap,” purred Mandoo. “We have a lot of work ahead and you need to get your batteries recharged.” The basket worked like a recharging station. The longer you spent in it the longer you could stay aloft. Mandoo had spent so much time in it in the past that he was permanently charged. “Good idea,” they both answered and headed for their basket. Mandoo headed back to the bush where Red was sleeping. He wanted to let him know that they were working out a plan for him to have a home again.

14 Mr. Grumpus

Mr. Grumpus knew that everyone in the neighborhood called him an ‘old curmudgeon.’ Well, he was an old curmudgeon! He liked being an old curmudgeon! He didn’t like all the noise that the children made: the pesky boys that ran sticks along his picket fence every time they went past; the giggly girls that talked too loud on their way to and from school. And he most certainly did not like the barking dogs that lived next door! Every time a squirrel came down out of a tree or the postman delivered the mail, those two dogs set up a rumpus that would wake the dead. And let a fire engine go by and the howling and baying was just too much! No sir, he didn’t like noise: not the noise that children made; not the noise that barking dogs made; not the noise that the fire engines made; and sometimes not even the noise that the birds made with all of their infernal chirping! Yes sir, he had a right to be a curmudgeon and he was glad of it! Of course, one drawback of being a curmudgeon was that you didn’t have any friends. But Mr. Grumpus didn’t want friends. Friends were just a nuisance. They were always coming over or calling up on the telephone. He didn’t have time for that nonsense! No sir, Mr. Grumpus didn’t want any friends. He liked living all by himself. Today Mr. Grumpus was feeling particularly curmudgeonly. It was Halloween and that meant that all kinds of children would come knocking on his door wanting a treat. A long time ago he had stopped leaving his porch light on so that he wouldn’t be bothered by the noisy little goblins and spooks. But every year one or two of them would try knocking anyway. He supposed this year wouldn’t be any different.

15 Mandoo Writes a Letter

When Ollie and Mollie woke up from their nap, Mandoo was sitting in front of their basket. Not only had he found hats for them in the garage, but he had also been busy on the computer. He had a letter that he had printed out. “Come outside in the backyard,” he said. “I think I found some really great headwear, and I have come up with a plan that I think will work to get a home for Red with Mr. Grumpus.” Ollie was yawning and stretching as he got out of the basket, but Mollie had already pushed through the flap in the door to the backyard. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was staring at the ‘really great headwear!’ “What are those?” she demanded as Ollie and Mandoo ed her. She was looking at the worst idea of headwear that she could imagine. “They’re bicycle helmets,” said Mandoo. He was surprised that she seemed upset. “What’s the matter with them?” “Well, if that isn’t just like a guy,” exclaimed Mollie. “You can’t see that they are really ugly and do not go with our outfits?” “Hey, I think they’re great!” exclaimed Ollie. He already had one on and was prancing around the yard. “How do I look?” “Dumb!” said Mollie. “Well, maybe they can do for a start,” said Mandoo. “I didn’t see anything else and we need to get started with the plan for Red.” “What’s the plan?” asked Ollie. He was sitting down, ready to listen, and he still had the bicycle helmet on his head. He really liked it. “We are going over to talk to Mr. Grumpus this evening.” “Why do we have to go so soon?” asked Mollie. She felt that if she had more

time she would be able to find a better-looking hat. “The longer we wait,” said Mandoo solemnly, “the more likely that Red may get picked up by the dog catcher.” He thought it was interesting that he had never heard of a ‘cat catcher.’ Probably because cats rarely let themselves get caught. “Ok,” said Mollie. “I don’t want that to happen to Red. I suppose that I can wear this thing one time.” “Mandoo,” said Ollie, “did you say that we are going to talk to Mr. Grumpus? Can people understand us?” “Not usually,” said the cat. “Sometimes children do, but most adult humans have lost the ability to listen to animals. I’ll bet that Mr. Grumpus is in that category*.” Another word for the list thought Ollie and then he said out loud, “So how are we going to talk to him?” “That’s why I wrote a letter,” said Mandoo pushing the typed page toward the two dogs. “I believe that I have explained in a very succinct way how Mr. Grumpus and Red can help each other.” “How do you spell ‘succinct’*?” asked Ollie, already planning on looking it up. His vocabulary book was getting pretty thick. Mollie was already reading the letter. She looked up, “Do you think this will work?” “What does it say? What’s the plan?” Ollie was frisking around trying to see what Mandoo had written. “Listen to this,” said Mollie, and she began reading Mandoo’s letter.

“My Dear Mr. Grumpus, It has come to our attention that you have been denied one of life’s greatest pleasures: a good friend. There is nothing like a good friend to cheer you up

when you are sad, laugh at your jokes when you are happy, and sit quietly by you to just keep you company. It is a known fact that people who do not have a friend are grouchy. We don’t want you to always feel grouchy so we have brought you a friend. His name is Red and he is sitting on your front porch. Please take good care of him and he will take good care of you. Sincerely, The Two Basketeers and The Cat, Mandoo”

Ollie looked puzzled. “What are ‘basketeers’?” “That’s you and Mollie!” said the cat. “I had to sign the letter and we needed a name. That’s when I thought of the basket. We all get our flying ability from the basket, so I thought it would be a good name.” “Then it should be ‘The Three Basketeers’,” said Mollie. “I suppose you are right,” agreed Mandoo. “It’s just that I’ve always wanted to introduce myself as ‘The Cat, Mandoo’.” “I don’t get it,” said Ollie. It had never occurred to him to introduce himself as ‘The Dog, Ollie’. Maybe he would try it. “Oh, I’m just being silly,” said a rather embarrassed Mandoo. “I’ll go back and change the signature to ‘The Three Basketeers’ and print off another copy of the letter. Then we need to get ready to visit Mr. Grumpus.” “Ok,” said Mollie. “We’ll go put on our outfits!” This was so exciting! Ollie looked worried. “What if our family sees us all dressed up? What are they going to think?” “I don’t think we have to worry,” said Mollie. “Today is Halloween and the children are dres in costumes to go out trick-or-treating. I don’t think anyone will pay any attention to us.” She paused for a minute. “But maybe we

should put on our outfits outside, just in case.” Ollie liked that idea. Better safe than sorry. They couldn’t be sure how their family would react if they knew that they could fly, so they always waited until they were away at work and school to take off into the air. Ollie and Mollie went back into the house to get their body suits and capes and Mandoo went to get Red.

16 The Three Basketeers Visit Mr. Grumpus

When Red saw Ollie and Mollie he was astonished. The two dachshunds were wiggling into their yellow suits and arranging their capes. Ollie had already strapped on his bicycle helmet. “What’s going on!” Red felt more confused than ever. He couldn’t tell anymore when he was asleep or awake. This was just getting to be too much for him. Mandoo could see that Red was upset. “Don’t worry,” he reassured the dog. This was no time for Red to take off for parts unknown. If things worked out, the dog would have a home tonight. “I know this looks odd. But if you can just see your way clear to stay with us for a little longer, we may have all of your problems solved.” Red nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, odd is a certainly a good word for everything that has been going on today. But it’s been more interesting than my life as a stray.” He shuddered when he ed all of the bad days and nights he had been through lately. “I’m with you, whatever that means.” “That’s the spirit!” exclaimed Mandoo. “You follow us and we’ll tell you what to do.” By this time Ollie and Mollie were ready so Mandoo flew up to the latch on the gate and flipped it open. He motioned to the other three to follow him. Ollie and Mollie rose up and hovered quietly in the air next to Mandoo. Red nosed his way through the gate and they all proceeded to the front of Mr. Grumpus’s house. Mandoo whispered to Red to stay hidden in the bushes until they called him and then Mandoo, Ollie and Mollie flew up to the front door. “Now what?” asked Ollie, pushing his helmet up out of his eyes. “We ring the doorbell,” said Mandoo and he stretched up and pushed the button with his paw. They could hear it buzz.

Nothing happened. “You better try again,” said Mollie. This time Mandoo pressed the doorbell several times making the buzzer go on and off. All of a sudden the porch light came on and the door was yanked open by a gray haired man wearing a ratty bathrobe. “Go away! I don’t have any candy!” and he slammed the door and turned off the light. “What does he mean by that?” asked Ollie “He thinks that we are children dressed up in costumes,” said Mollie. She had noticed groups of witches and goblins going along the sidewalk when they had landed on the porch. “, it’s Halloween!” Just then a small group of aliens ing by called out to them, “Don’t bother with that house. He never gives out treats.” “He’s not going to let us in the front door so we’ll have to look for another way in,” said the cat. “Let’s not use doors at all,” said Ollie. “He’ll pay more attention to us if we come in through a window anyway.” They took off from the porch and circled the house. Sure enough, there was an open window on the second floor. They flew in one at a time and landed in a hallway. There was a light coming from under a door and they went toward it. “Are you going to knock?” Mollie whispered to the cat.

“No. We’ll be more of surprise if we just appear before him.” “We’ll be a surprise, alright,” said Ollie and he was glad he was wearing the bicycle helmet. They pushed the door open and walked in. The man was sitting in a chair reading a book but looked up when he heard the door creak. “What in tarnation!” he cried jumping up. “How did you get in here? I thought I told you that I didn’t have any candy!” “Don’t worry,” purred Mandoo. “We don’t require any candy. We just want to have a word with you.” The man sat back down very slowly. His eyes were getting bigger and bigger. “I thought you were little kids. You’re not little kids, are you? Who are you?” “Sir, we are the Three Basketeers!” said Mandoo with a flourish and he bowed gracefully in front of Mr. Grumpus. By this time Mr. Grumpus was rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. “I’ve been living by myself too long,” he said out loud. “I’m going batty!” “Mr. Grumpus,” said Ollie, “We have just the cure for that!” “That’s right,” chimed in Mollie as she pulled out the letter that Mandoo had typed. They had tucked it inside Mollie’s yellow bodysuit for safekeeping when they left their backyard. “Just read this letter and you’ll see that everything will be ok.” She flew over and dropped the paper in his lap. By this time Mr. Grumpus was totally wide-eyed and his mouth had dropped open. “You better close your mouth, Mr. Grumpus,” advised Ollie. “I left mine open too long once and a fly flew in.” Ollie paused a few seconds, “Come to think of it though, it made a good snack,” and he smiled brightly. “Bonkers. Bonkers,” muttered Mr. Grumpus. “I’m not batty, I’m bonkers.” Mandoo could see that it was time for them to leave. “Just follow the directions in the letter, Mr. Grumpus.”

The Three Basketeers all made a quick bow and then rose up in the air and flew out of the door, down the hall, and out the window. They went around to the front of the house and called to Red. He came out from under bushes next to the front porch. “Now, Mr. Red,” whispered Mandoo. “It’s your turn. Just go up and sit in front of the door and when Mr. Grumpus opens it, wag your tail.” Red looked uncertain. “What if he doesn’t open the door?” “I feel sure that he will,” said Mandoo. “It might take a little while, but I think he will be very curious to see if the letter is real. When he sees you, he’ll know that it is.” “Don’t worry Mr. Red,” said Mollie. “Mr. Grumpus needs you as much as you need him.” “We’ll be waiting right here to make sure everything goes ok,” added Ollie. “Hey, Red, if this doesn’t work out, you can come live with us.” Ollie surprised himself when he said that, but now that he thought about it, he knew that he really meant it. Red could live with them, fleas and all. “Thanks, Ollie,” said Red. “You’re a real pal.” He glanced up at the house and then added, “But if this works out here, I could be doing a real favor for someone else.” He paused for a minute. “I haven’t had a chance to do that for a long time.” He climbed the steps and sat down in front of the closed door to wait.

• • • • • • • • •

Back upstairs Mr. Grumpus sat quietly in his chair staring at the letter in his lap. Finally he picked it up and began to read it. “Well, I’ll be dagnabbed! If this doesn’t hit the nail on the head! I am an old grouch but I never knew what to do about it!” He read the letter again and

scratched his head. “I would think I was dreaming all of this except this paper feels real!” He crinkled the paper in his hands, “I guess maybe I do need a friend after all. I sure hope this isn’t a dream.”

He got up and went downstairs to the front door. When he opened it he was looking at a big dirty dog sitting there wagging his tail. They looked at each other for a few minutes. Then Mr. Grumpus opened the door wide. “Well, you might as well come on in,” he said and the big dog walked into the house. “That went rather well!” said Mandoo. “Mollie, I’ve got to it that you had a swell idea about getting Red a home with Mr. Grumpus,” said Ollie. Mollie just smiled.

17 Mollie Gets Her Hat

The next morning Mandoo and Ollie were sitting in the back yard enjoying the morning sun. “I’ve got to hand it to you Mandoo,” said Ollie. “You certainly came up with a good plan. That whole operation was really smooth.” “Well, thanks Ollie.” He was glad that the plan had worked and he was even happier that Ollie thought he had done a good job.” “Say, Mandoo, I just realized that Mr. Grumpus understood us when we talked to him. I thought you said that most adults had lost the ability to listen to animals.” “Yes, most of them have, so it is curious that Mr. Grumpus wasn’t in that category after all.” “Do you think that maybe being grouchy all of the time was just a cover up for Mr. Grumpus?” Ollie thought about that for a minute then added, “If he was a grouch then people wouldn’t laugh at him for not having any friends.” “I think you’re right, Ollie,” said Mandoo. “And I think Mr. Grumpus needed our help as much as Red.” Mandoo was quiet for a minuet, and then he said, “I’ve always thought that maybe I could be a help to animals in distress. It would be too bad to let all of this flying ability go to waste. But maybe humans need just as much help as animals.” At that moment Mollie glided into the yard and made a soft landing right in front of them. “Guess what!” she was so excited that she forgot herself and jumped up and down. It made her take off again, straight up! “Oh, sorry,” she said when she had landed once more. “I forgot myself.” “Ok, I’ll bite,” said Ollie. “What?” “I just flew over Mr. Grumpus’s yard and he is outside giving Red a bath! Would

you believe that his fur is actually red?” “Oh, good show!” purred Mandoo. He had hoped that the plan would work, but then you never knew when you were dealing with humans. “Alright!” exclaimed Ollie. “We really rock!” He ed when he had thought that there wasn’t anything they could do to help Red. That was sure wrong! And now, they had helped Mr. Grumpus! When you put your mind to it anything was possible. “I think I would say it was all magic, if I hadn’t been a part of it myself.” He thought a minute and then added, “I wouldn’t mind a little magic taking place in the dog food area. Got any ideas there, Mandoo?” Mandoo smiled. “I saw the groceries being unpacked this morning. I think you are in for a magical treat for dinner.” “You sly cat! What have you been up to?” asked Ollie. “Oh, you’ll see,” answered Mandoo. “Speaking of ‘seeing something,’” said Mollie. “I have something to show the two of you. I found something in the living room this morning right next to a big bowl of candy. Which I did not touch! I might add.” “What?” they both said together. “The children went out trick-or-treating last night.” “And?” “They dressed up as pirates! Real swashbuckling pirates!” “So?” “Just wait a minute and I’ll show you,” exclaimed Mollie as she ran back to the house. The next thing Ollie and Mandoo knew there were two big black hats with big white ostrich feathers being pushed through the pet flap in the back door, followed by a large sword that dropped onto the porch with a clang.

“Sorry, Mandoo,” said Mollie as she put on one of the hats. “There were only two of these fancy hats, but I thought you might like to have this sword to carry. It will certainly make a statement!” “I should say it will!” exclaimed Mandoo. He was dancing around, brandishing the sword while Mollie was prancing around in her wonderful hat. Ollie just rolled his eyes. None of them noticed Mr. Grumpus and Red leaning on the fence watching them and grinning from ear to ear.

The End

Epilogue

(A few more words from the author)

Every year thousands of stray animals are picked up by animal control. Most of them are not as lucky as Red to find good friends like Ollie, Mollie, and Mandoo, nor such a good home with someone like Mr. Grumpus. If your family is thinking about adopting a pet, perhaps you can suggest visiting an animal shelter nearby. Who knows, you might find your BFF there! And don’t forget to check out the scruffy animals, the ones who aren’t too cute. They need a best friend, too. You’ll be a Super Hero (or Heroine), too.

Acknowledgments

Thanking everyone who encouraged me to write this book would take a chapter of its’ own. Family and friends, you know who you are. But I do want to thank Lin Oliver and her organization, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I learned so much from everyone there from “just put the words on the page” to “you need to rewrite it” - again. And a special thank you to Grace Foley who made the smartest suggestion of all.

Ollie’s Word List

Ollie and Mandoo worked on this list together. Ollie looked up the words in the dictionary and Mandoo typed the list. They both agreed that the words should be in alphabetical order so that they would be easy to find. They also decided that they would put the page number where the word could be found. Just in case. There were two words that I felt sure Ollie would have added to this list if he could have read Mandoo’s mind, so I put them in the list for him.

Aerodynamic – designed with rounded edges so that it can move through the air more efficiently. Ollie thought that described him to a T. He was pretty much round on all of his edges and once he knew how to fly he was sure that he would move through the air easily.

Attain – to succeed at reaching a goal, such as getting off of the ground and flying, and not falling out of the sky.

Category – a way to group things, for instance pets. Dogs, cats, goldfish, and hamsters are pets, so they could be in the Pet Category. Another category could be Dogs. Dachshunds, Beagles, German Shepherds, and Irish Setters are dogs so they could be in the dog category. Mandoo said that there had to be a cat category. He made a very long list of kinds of cats, but Ollie cut it down to just these four: Siamese, Manx, Tuxedo, and Tabby. He said everyone would get the idea.

Diplomatic – not causing bad feelings, dealing with people politely. That definition fits Mandoo to a ‘T’. He is Mr. Politeness himself!

Finesse – the dictionary said, ‘delicacy of execution,’ which both Ollie and Mandoo thought sounded scary, and besides they didn’t know what that meant! So Mandoo explained that it meant a really smooth way to do something. Ollie still wished it meant T-bone steak.

Rudder – a vertical board hitched at the back end of a boat that can be moved back and forth to help steer it through the water. Ollie said that was a perfect description of his tail. It’s hitched to the back end of him, it can move back and forth and it helps him steer through the air.

Succinct – to say something in a few words. Ollie thought that while Mandoo’s letter to Mr. Grumpus might be succinct, Mandoo didn’t usually say things in a succinct way. In fact Ollie thought Mandoo was sometimes verbose! (Ollie was excited when he found this word in the dictionary all by himself!).

Suffice – to be enough for a need. Ollie hoped that his boring dog food wasn’t going to have to suffice for very long because he really needed to eat tastier food!

Verbose – using too many words. (See ‘Succinct’.)