The Case of the Mixed-Up Mutts (8 page)

Grandma adjusts her glasses and takes a closer look at each dog. “I’m sorry,” she says. “They look the same to me.”

Humans are so limited by what they can see. It’s true that Muffin and Jazzy look a lot alike. But they don’t smell anything alike.

Finally Kathy says, “I think I know how we can settle this. Is your dog by any chance microchipped?”

“Yes.” Owen nods.

“I am?” Jazzy asks. “I don’t remember getting ‘microchipped.’”

“It probably happened when you were young,” Muffin says.

“My dog is microchipped, too,” Kathy says. “All we have to do is find someone to scan the chips.”

“What chips?” Connor asks. “What does microchipped mean?”

“It means both our dogs have little computer chips in their shoulders,” Owen explains. “A vet can scan a chip and find out whose dog it is. You’ll be glad you did it if your dog ever gets lost. Almost any vet can do it.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Grandma asks. “Let’s get in the car and go see your vet.”

“This dog’s name is Muffin,” the vet says. He holds up Muffin’s leash. “She’s owned by a Kathy Turner, who lives at 308 Park Drive.”

Technically, Kathy Turner is owned by a dog named Muffin, but humans never get that right.

“I knew this was my Muffin,” Kathy says. She takes the leash from the vet.

“And this is Jazzy,” the vet says, handing Jazzy over to Owen and his grandma.

“Jazzy is
my
dog!” Owen says happily.

I LOVE happy endings. But I
don’t
love vets. “Let’s go,” I tell Mom as I pull toward the door.

But Mom isn’t in any hurry to leave. “I wonder if we should have Buddy microchipped,” she says out of the blue. “We’ve had some problems with him running away from us.”

I swallow hard.
You want to have me microchipped?

“Don’t worry, Buddy,” Jazzy says. “It doesn’t hurt a bit.”

I’m not worried about pain. A microchip proves who belongs to you when there are no tags. The microchips inside of Muffin and Jazzy proved that Kathy belongs to Muffin and Owen belongs to Jazzy.

If I get a microchip, who will it say belongs to me? Kayla and her mom and dad? Connor and his mom?

I think I know the answer to that question.

“Yeah, let’s get Buddy microchipped,” Connor says.

“We recommend microchipping for every dog and cat,” the vet says.

“Okay, then let’s do it!” Mom says.

“Wait a minute! Don’t I get a say in this?” I ask.

“Don’t you want to be microchipped?” Muffin asks. “Your people seem like really good people. And they must love you a lot if they want to do this. That means they don’t want ever to lose you.”

“But what about Kayla and her mom and dad?” I say.

“What about them?” Jazzy asks.

I don’t answer out loud. But inside, I’m wondering why didn’t
they
have me microchipped.

Will I ever know? Will I ever see Kayla, Mom, and Dad again?

I can’t leave Connor and his mom. Not unless I find another dog to take care of them. And I wouldn’t leave them with just any dog. It would have to be the right dog. One who would take extra good care of them.

If Sarge goes back to Springtown, he will have to go without me.

I’m pretty lucky to have found Connor and mom. They’re good people. Just because you have a second family doesn’t necessarily mean you forget your first family. And it doesn’t mean you love them any less.

I still don’t know whether a dog can
have
two families or not. But a dog can definitely
love
two families.

“All right,” I say. “You can microchip me.”

The vet takes my leash and leads me down the hall.

“Hey!” Connor calls after us. “Is it going to hurt him when you put the microchip in?”

The vet stops and turns. “No. But you can come along if you want. It won’t take very long.”

Connor grins and hurries after us.

“Now you’ll never get lost, Buddy,” Connor says, patting my ribs.

Buddy.
That name is really starting to grow on me.

I lick his leg. It’s nice to love and to be loved.

We go into another room and the vet closes the door behind us.

Jazzy is right. It doesn’t hurt when the vet puts this chip inside me. I just feel a little pinch, and then it’s over.

Now it’s official. I belong to Connor and his mom.

Forever?

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 2010 by Dori Hillestad Butler

Illustrations copyright © 2010 Jeremy Tugeau

978-1-4532-1948-5

This 2011 edition distributed by Open Road Integrated Media

180 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com