The Aldens stared as the strange man hurried away.
“Do you think he was trying to steal that dog?” asked Violet.
Jessie put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know. It sure looked like it. But how could he, in the middle of a dog show with so many people around?”
“With so many people, it might be easier,” suggested Henry. “Everybody is busy with their own dog and not paying attention to other people’s dogs. And there are so many people and so many dogs, no one really knows which person goes with which dog.”
“I never thought about that,” Jessie said thoughtfully. Violet and Benny nodded in agreement.
Just then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker: “Attention! The First Annual Greenfield Dog Show is about to begin!”
“We’d better hurry!” exclaimed Henry. The children walked hastily back through the benching area and went to join their grandfather. Mrs. Teague was already there with Grandfather Alden. Through binoculars, she was watching all the different breeds of dogs that were to be shown being led first into the arena and then to their show rings.
“Just in time,” Grandfather said.
“Aren’t you supposed to be with Sunny?” Violet asked as they all took their seats.
Mrs. Teague lowered her binoculars and leaned back. “I’ll go to ringside when her breed, the golden retrievers, is about to be judged. Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy the dog show from here, with all of you!”
Although they had already seen many, many kinds of dogs in the benching area, the Aldens were amazed to see even more breeds of dogs being led into the rings. Mrs. Teague explained about all the different breeds and told them stories about some of the dogs she knew. One dog had saved her master’s life by waking him up when a fire started in the hotel where he was staying. Another dog made visits to children who were sick in the hospital.
The Aldens watched and listened and applauded. At last it was time for the golden retrievers. Mrs. Teague hurried down to the ring as the beautiful golden dogs were being led in.
“Look, there’s Caryn!” cried Jessica.
Caryn was wearing pants and a jacket that exactly matched Sunny’s coat. She had on flat black shoes and a soft white blouse, and her golden hair was pulled back with a red bow.
“Caryn’s all dressed up,” Benny said. “She’s as pretty as Sunny!”
The other Aldens laughed and Benny laughed, too, although he wasn’t sure why everyone was laughing.
The judge made a motion, and the handlers led their dogs in a circle around the ring. Then they all stopped at one side.
When the judge signaled, each handler and dog came forward, one pair at a time. The judge looked in each dog’s mouth and ears and ran her hands over the dog’s body. Afterwards, the handler walked the dog around the ring while the judge studied the way the dog moved and acted.
When Sunny’s turn came, she stood proudly, her tail wagging slightly while the judge examined her. As Caryn led her in a circle around the ring, the Aldens clapped and cheered.
“I hope she wins,” said Henry.
“She’s the best dog, no matter what,” said Violet loyally.
One by one the judge eliminated all the dogs except Sunny and a male golden retriever.
“He’s a champion, too,” said Jessie, studying her program.
The other dog finished his circle of the ring. Now the two dogs stood at attention at the side of the ring. The judge rubbed her chin. She walked back and forth between the two dogs. Then she made a motion for the dogs to walk around the ring again.
The two handlers led their dogs in a circle once more. As they passed the judge, she held up one finger to signal number 1, and pointed to Sunny, then two fingers and pointed to the other dog.
“Sunny won!” cried Henry.
“Hooray, hooray!” Benny shouted. They applauded as the judge handed a big blue ribbon to Caryn. Photographers took pictures of the new Greenfield Dog Show Champion Golden Retriever from every angle.
The Aldens watched as Caryn led Sunny out of the ring. Mrs. Teague hugged Caryn first, and then Sunny.
“Let’s go down and meet the Teagues and Sunny in the benching area,” suggested Grandfather Alden.
“Oh, boy,” said Benny. Hopping up and down with excitement, he led the way out of the viewing stands and back to the benching area where the golden retrievers were staying.
On their way, they saw two familiar faces. “Woof,” said a friendly dog voice.
“Oh, it’s Plum,” said Violet, reaching out to pat the eager sheepdog’s head.
“Congratulations,” said an icy voice that didn’t sound as if it meant the word at all.
At the other end of Plum’s leash stood Lawrence Burger. “I see your little friend Sunny won,” he said.
“Thank you,” said Jessie politely.
“I hope Plum wins, too,” said Benny.
Lawrence Burger smiled a cold smile. “Do you? Somehow, I doubt that. Come along, Plum.”
The two walked away.
“What a strange man,” said Henry. “Come on, let’s go find Sunny — ”
Just then, there was a horrible shriek. Everyone stopped and turned to stare in the direction of the sound.
A man came running by, leading a big white poodle on a leash. “Look! Look what someone has done to my beautiful Curly!” he shrieked.
“Oh, look,” gasped Violet. “Poor dog!”
Curly’s beautiful, curly white coat had been shaved into ragged stripes.
A dog show official came hurrying up with a security guard. The security guard began to ask the man questions while the official tried to calm him down.
“I don’t know when it happened,” the man said. “I took Curly to have a little touch-up grooming, just after he won the poodle competition. Then I got a message that I had a phone call. But when I got to the information booth, there was no one on the phone. I was on my way back when I met my groomer going to the information booth. He said he’d gotten an urgent message to meet me there. I told him I never sent such a message. When we got back, we found Curly on the grooming table — like this!”
“Have you noticed any suspicious characters hanging around your dog?” asked the security guard.
“There’s a suspicious character!” Henry nudged Jessie. Sure enough, there was the man they had seen near the basset hound’s kennel. As they watched, the man disappeared into the crowd.
“No,” moaned Curly’s owner. “I didn’t notice anyone suspicious. “Oh, this is awful. Now Curly’s chances of winning the Best in Show are ruined. Ruined!”
“Look, Mrs. DeCicco,” cried Benny, as Mrs. DeCicco passed nearby. “Look at Curly!”
But Mrs. DeCicco didn’t seem to hear Benny or notice the poodle. She walked right by, as if she didn’t want to be connected to the incident in any way.
“That’s odd,” said Jessie. But before she could say anything else, Grandfather said, “We’d better go find the Teagues and Sunny.”
By the time the Aldens joined them, the Teagues had already heard about what had happened. Sunny was lying in her kennel, which had a big blue ribbon fastened to it, eating a dog biscuit and looking unconcerned. But Mrs. Teague and Caryn were plainly shocked.
“Who would do such an awful thing?” asked Caryn.
“And why?” asked Henry.
“Maybe it was a joke,” Benny suggested. He added, “A bad joke.”
“Whoever did it was a bad person, Benny,” said Jessie. “But I don’t think it was a joke.”
“Maybe someone did it to eliminate the competition. You know, if Curly can’t compete, maybe someone else has a better chance of winning,” said Violet.
Henry nodded. “Yes! Maybe the person whose poodle came in second did it. That makes them first now, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not sure.” Caryn frowned. “But the poodle who came in second, the reserve champion, is owned by a very honest woman. I’m sure she would never do something like that. She’s a good person, and she loves dogs.”
“That’s true,” Mrs. Teague said. She shook her head and sighed. “Oh, well. I suppose on the bright side of things, Curly will get a little vacation now while his coat grows back. He’s been a show dog for a long time and has won almost everything a dog can win. Maybe he’ll like getting to stay at home and enjoy a different life.”
The Alden children exchanged glances. They were all remembering the couple they had overheard arguing the first day of the show. And they were all wondering if shaving Curly was the sort of thing someone would do because they believed dogs shouldn’t be in dog shows.
“Could it have been that woman who was arguing that her dog Zonker should be allowed to quit being a show dog?” asked Jessie aloud.
“Or Mr. Burger?” suggested Violet. “He’s such a mean man.”
“He can’t be all mean, can he?” asked Henry. “Or how could he have a dog as nice as Plum?”
Jessie lowered her voice. “What if it was Mrs. DeCicco? She really needs to win badly. And she was right there.”
“I can’t believe Mrs. DeCicco would do something like that!” exclaimed Violet.
“Time to go,” said Grandfather Alden. He turned to Mrs. Teague. “But we’ll be back tomorrow to see Sunny win again!”
“Is the Best Dog in Show contest tomorrow, Grandfather?” asked Benny as they left the Greenfield Center.
“No, that’s the night after tomorrow, Benny,” Grandfather explained. “Remember when Caryn said that all the breeds of dogs are divided into seven different groups?”
Benny looked puzzled.
“Sunny is in the Sporting Dog group, remember?” Jessie said.
“Y-yes.” Benny still looked as puzzled as he sounded.
“Well, tomorrow Sunny will compete against the other sporting dogs to see who is the very best sporting dog.”
“Oh,” said Benny. “I think I see … when Sunny wins tomorrow, will she be the best sporting dog at the dog show?”
“Yes, Benny!” Henry said. “Then, the next night, the best dog in each group — Herding, Sporting, Working, Terrier, Hound, Non-sporting and Toy — will compete to see who is the best dog in the whole show.”
“Okay,” said Benny. He gave a little skip. “Can we come see Sunny win tomorrow night and the next night, too?”
Grandfather Alden laughed, but before he could answer, they saw Plum and his owner again.
“Oh, look,” said Violet. “Plum won the blue ribbon!”
Sure enough, Mr. Burger was holding a blue ribbon and looking very pleased.
“Congratulations!” called Jessie.
“Thank you!” said Mr. Burger. Then he saw who had said it, and his smile froze. He turned on his heel and marched Plum in the other direction.
Watching them go, Violet shook her head. “I don’t like Mr. Burger very much. But Plum is a nice dog.” |