Noodle by Ellen Miles Page A

the Bean was doing something that was not quite so cute. He had been wearing his “Fur” — a brown, fuzzy fleece sweater that Mom had found on sale — all day long, every single day. He even slept in it! The only time he took it off was when he took a bath, and then he insisted that it had to be hanging on a hook in the bathroom where he could see it.
    Mom had tried to take the Fur away to wash it, but the Bean got pretty upset about that. Mom believed in “picking her battles” with a toddler, and she didn’t think the Fur was worth arguingabout. She had promised to let the Bean be the one to decide when and if to wash his Fur — even if it took forever.
    That was fine for Mom, but Lizzie was really getting sick of seeing the Bean in his Fur. By now it was kind of smelly and crusty, with blotches of grape juice and bits of mud and oatmeal stuck to it.
    But there was nothing Lizzie could do about it. The Bean was not about to give up his Fur. Anyway, that wasn’t the point right now. The point was, Lizzie was freezing. And so was the Petersons’
real
puppy. “Look at poor Buddy. He’s shaking!”
    All the Petersons looked down at their puppy, Buddy. He looked back up at them with his big, chocolate-brown eyes. Then he held up one little tan paw.
    My feet are cold! Why are we just standing around? Maybe we’d warm up if we ran around or had something to eat.
    “Aww!” said Dad. “He
is
cold, the poor little guy.”
    “Don’t worry, Buddy,” Mom said. “We’ll get a fire going right away.” She bent down to give him a kiss and stroke the little white heart-shaped area on his chest. Then she straightened up and looked at Dad. “The place by the docks sounds fine,” she said.
    Charles grinned at Lizzie and gave her a thumbs-up. “Good thinking,” he whispered. Like her, he knew that everybody in the family could always agree about one thing: Taking good care of Buddy was very important.
    They all loved Buddy so much. He was the smartest, cutest, sweetest puppy
ever.
The Petersons had met lots and lots of puppies. As a foster family, their job was to take care of puppies who needed homes. They gave the puppies a safe place to live while they looked for the perfect forever family for each one. But when they met Buddy, they knew exactly where hisperfect home was: It was right there with them. Now he was part of their family.
    One of the best things about the winter picnic was that Buddy could come. Dogs weren’t allowed at Loon Lake Park in the summertime. Lizzie understood that the crowded, hot beach was not a great place for dogs — but still, she always hated leaving Buddy home alone while the rest of the family was having fun. On summer days she had sometimes seen a black dog diving off a long dock by her favorite little cabin across the lake. Buddy would have
loved
to do that!
    Lizzie knew she was lucky to be able to go to Loon Lake Park. But sometimes she could not help envying the people — and dogs! — who had their own places on the lake.
    “Can I let Buddy off the leash to run around?” Lizzie asked her dad now.
    Dad looked out at the lake. “Better not,” hesaid. “That ice looks a little thin. It’s been warmer the last few days, and the ice is starting to melt in places. We wouldn’t want Buddy to fall in. The water would be very cold and dangerous for a dog.”
    Lizzie knew her dad was probably right. “Sorry, Buddy,” she said. She was sure he would have loved to run along the lakeshore, his ears flapping in the chilly breeze. “How about if you help me find some sticks?”
    Sticks? I love sticks! Let’s go!
    Buddy tugged at his leash, pulling Lizzie toward a patch of woods near a little curve in the lakeshore. “Look! He can’t wait to help!” Lizzie said. She trotted after the strong little puppy, laughing whenever he picked up a stick and carried it proudly, his tail waving like a flag.
    Buddy only took a few steps with each stickbefore he got bored and dropped it so he