September 12, 2012 

The Continuing Adventures of a Very Lucky Black and White Dog

By Penny L. Hunt   

Wham!  Bill kicked the ball hard shooting it like a bullet over the pitcher’s head and into the outfield where it whizzed past Rhett and smacked against the chain-link fence!  Rhett followed the ball, grabbed it and heaved it toward third base! The catch was good but a split-second later than Bill’s arrival.

Next up was the new girl, Maddie,.  She was almost a year older than everyone else in sixth grade and taller than all the boys.  “Doesn’t matter”, Rhett thought, “She’s probably like all the other girls and can’t kick worth a hoot.”  He was wrong.  This time the ball didn’t hit the fence, it cleared it!  Then it bounced twice along the road and landed in the drainage ditch!

Miss Lynn pointed and called across the field , “Rhett! Go get it!” He rounded the fence as Bill and Maddie gave each other a high-five and was just about to pluck the ball from the ditch when a movement in the grass caught his eye. He jumped, thinking it might be a snake and was relieved to see a puppy instead.  He reached out to touch it but it quickly ran between his legs and disappeared inside the pipe at the end of the ditch.

“Come on, Rhett!” Miss Lynn called.  He looked into the pipe, saw nothing, grabbed the ball and hurried back just as the bell rang ending recess.  During History Rhett slipped Bill a note:  “Want to catch a puppy?” Bill wrote back:  “Sure.  Where is it?”

Rhett finished the note and was hurrying to pass it to Bill when Miss Lynn turned back around from writing on the white board. “Rhett”, she said coolly, “You can bring that note to me now.” “What note?” Rhett incredulously asked, raising his empty hands. “The note you and Bill have been passing back and forth during our discussion of the major battles of the American Revolution.  Bill, please give Rhett the note”.

Bill handed it over and, with his face turning as red as his hair, Rhett bowed his head and walked to the front of the class. Miss Lynn unfolded the paper, read the note, looked at Rhett and then did what the class had previously agreed would happen as punishment for passing notes in class. She read it aloud.

For a moment everyone was quiet and then someone said, “You can’t just leave it there!” Suddenly pandemonium broke out with everyone talking at once!  Things only settled down when Miss Lynn raised her yellow card of warning, while holding the red one right behind it.  A red card meant extra homework for everyone.

“Class!” Miss Lynn began, “Does you know anything about a puppy being in the ditch outside the school?  When no one answered she continued.  “Rhett, I know how you and Bill can catch the puppy but you will have to do exactly as I tell you.  OK?”  Both the boys nodded, yes.  Then she turned to the class and exclaimed, “Alright then. Does anyone here have a cat and a coon trap?”… (To be continued next week)

This week’s Piper Tale was brought to you by:

Johnston Animal Hospital and Dr. G.W. Rauton
626 Lee Street/Saluda Hwy, Johnston, SC 29832 ~ (803) 275-4652

Email Miss Penny:  MissPenny@pipertales.com
Visit Piper and Miss Penny @ www.misspennysplace.com
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Last week:  Three abandoned puppies found refuge in a drainage pipe near Whitman Academy, a small rural school for grades K-12.

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