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"ARF! ARF! ARF! It looks
like Harry McFarlane is building an addition onto his house," Mussels
said. A soft breeze blew his white fur about like dancing feathers. "Say,
Cockles, would you like to get a closer look?"
"ARF! ARF! ARF! Aye," he
answered, his long, stiff tail wagged with excitement. "Maybe one of the
workers has left a sandwich lying around. Maybe its smoked haddock." His
drooping ears bounced up and down as he ran to the mulberry bush. "Let me
grab my ball first." He picked it up in his mouth and ran back to Mussels.
"You and that blue ball.
Can’t we just go one place without it?" Mussels asked.
Cockles shook his head back
and forth. "Well then, come on."
They ran towards Harry’s.
"There’s a lot of banging and hammering. What’s he building?" Cockles
asked, mumbling because of the ball being held in his teeth.
"How would I know? It does
look like an extra bedroom or living room. Let’s go around the front
garden, so the workers don’t see us," Mussels suggested. There were large
cement pipes, pieces of wood, bags of nails and power tools lying all over
the grass. Mussels went around sniffing everything, searching for
something to eat, while Cockles tossed his ball high into the air and then
ran to catch it.
While Mussels was examining
a nail gun, Cockles ran about, pushing the blue ball with his wet nose.
"Oops," Cockles said. "My ball’s gone and rolled into one of those pipes.
Mussels!" he shouted. "Come and help me get my ball!"
Mussels trotted over to
Cockles. "Will you keep it down. If the workers see us, they’ll chase us
away. I know I smelled mince ‘n tatties. I wonder if Harry’s fixing that
for supper. Oh, sorry," Mussels said, noticing Cockles staring at him,
"what’s the problem?"
"My ball. It’s rolled into
the pipe. I can’t reach it. Your legs are longer. You try, will you?"
Cockles begged.
Mussels lay on his tummy
and stretched his front leg into the pipe. He tried to put his head in but
it was too big. "Och, I can’t reach it. Why don’t you just crawl in and
get it?" Mussels asked.
"What? Crawl in there?"
Cockles said, acting shocked at the thought.
"Well, Cockles, if I get
the ball, I’m keeping it. If you want it, you go in and get it!" Mussels
threatened.
"You can’t have my ball.
It’s mine. I’ll go in after it. Don’t wander too far though, in case I get
stuck," Cockles said. He lay on his tummy. The grass poked into his face
and tickled him. He brushed it out of the way and put his front legs out
in front and slithered into the cement pipe. "Och, this is a tight
squeeze. I can hardly breathe."
Mussels ran off to do some
more exploring. He headed for the pile of wooden beams lying stacked up,
near the front door.
"I can almost reach.
There…there….there. I’ve got it. I’ve got the ball, Mussels!" Cockles
shouted, but Mussels didn’t hear. "Och, how am I going to get out of this
pipe?" He tightened and contracted his body and inched his way forward
slowly. "I’m almost there," he sighed. It took a lot of effort to move. "Och
no," he pouted as the ball rolled out of his paw and out of the pipe.
"Mussels! Mussels! My ball! Get it, will you?"
Mussels saw the ball roll
out. "Hee hee. He’s lost his ball. I’ll just have to have a wee go at it
while he’s still in there." Mussels ran and got the ball and held it in
his mouth. He stuck his face in the end of the pipe and saw Cockles all
squished inside. "Hee hee. I’ve got the ball now. I’m going to play with
it. Good luck."
Cockles shouted, "My ball!
You bring that back. When I get out of here, I’ll get you, Mussels!" He
began to squirm and wriggle about. Finally his front paws were out of the
pipe. He grabbed onto the grass and pulled, and tugged, and pulled, and
tugged, and finally squeezed out of the pipe. "Whew, that was not fun!" He
shook himself, trying to un-squish his body and then jumped up and down a
few times to get feeling back in his legs. "There! That’s much better.
Now, where’s Mussels."
"Hee hee. I’m over here,
Cockles and I’ve got your blue ball. Come and get it," Mussels teased.
"I want my ball," Cockles
shouted and ran towards the white dog barking. "ARF! ARF! ARF! Give it to
me," he called.
Mussels grabbed it in his
mouth and ran around the pile of wood, tossing the ball into the air. He
then ran into the back garden. "Hey! It’s a dog. Get out of here. Go
home!" one of the workers shouted. Mussels ran away, heading towards home.
Cockles searched all over
for Mussels. He looked behind the woodpile, around the bag of nails and
next to the power tools, but couldn’t see Mussels anywhere. He ran into
the back garden. "What’s this? It’s another dog and it looks like an
undercooked sausage." The worker laughed, "Ha ha ha ha ha," and then
shouted, " Go home. Go away. Shoo!" Cockles saw the worker pick up a
stone. He tossed it at him. "Go away!"
Cockles ran as fast as his
short legs could take him and didn’t stop until he was home. Cockles stood
panting. "Where’s Mussels? I want my ball back." He slowly crept into the
back garden. Mussels wasn’t there. He climbed in through the flap on the
wooden back door of the house and found himself in the back room, where
their baskets were. There lay Mussels. He was curled up sleeping. The blue
ball lay near his mouth. "Aha," Cockles smiled. He slowly walked over to
the basket, grabbed the ball, climbed back out through the doggie door and
ran into the back garden. "I’ve got my ball. I’ve got my ball. I’ve got my
ball," he giggled and spent the rest of the day tossing it into the air
and rolling it around the flowerbed. |
