Pickle Puss Read online

  She could see her four fish. Two tan ones, a red one, and that blue one.

  She looked at Dawn's name.

  Dawn still had only three fish.

  She had lost.

  Emily could take the cat home.

  She took a deep breath.

  Stacy danced over to them. She waved a paper around.

  “I have to write my name,” she said. “Small and dark. Right?”

  “Right,” Emily said.

  She leaned over Stacy. She watched her make the S.

  She looked at Dawn. Dawn's face was red.

  “Where's the cat?” Emily asked.

  “He's home.” Dawn had tears in her eyes. “On my bed. I told him it was the last time.”

  “Oh,” said Emily. She watched Stacy make the a.

  “Very nice. Right, Emily?” Stacy asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I worked hard on this,” Stacy told Dawn.

  “That's good,” Dawn said.

  “Are you crying?” Stacy asked.

  “No,” Dawn said.

  Stacy finished her name. She went to the front.

  Emily looked at the chart again.

  Freddie had a bunch of fish. So did Edward.

  Beast's sister, Holly, had the most.

  Emily looked at her own fish.

  She thought about the cat. Maybe he would miss Dawn.

  Dawn wasn't a mongoose.

  She wasn't a cheater either.

  She read big fat books.

  Emily reached up.

  She dug under the thumbtack. She pulled off the blue fish.

  It left a space in the middle of the other fish.

  She turned to Dawn. “We both have three fish. We're even Steven.”

  Dawn's mouth opened. She still had tears in her eyes. “How come?”

  “It was a mistake,” Emily said. “Someone put it up by mistake.”

  Dawn wiped at her eyes. “Who gets the cat?”

  “We could choose,” Emily said slowly.

  Stacy came to the back.

  She had a blue library card. “I'm going to get a book,” she said. “One with lots of pictures.”

  “All right,” Emily said.

  “Do we get the cat?” asked Stacy.

  Emily didn't answer for a minute. Then she shook her head. “No. Dawn gets Pickle Puss.”

  “Powder Puff,” said Dawn.

  “I think we need a dog anyway,” said Stacy. “I'm going to find a book about one.”

  “You saved my life,” Dawn said.

  “Let's get some juice,” said Emily.

  They went over to Mrs. Baker.

  “You helped Stacy with her name,” Mrs. Baker said. “You're a neat kid.”

  Dawn squeezed Emily's arm. “You are.”

  Emily felt wonderful.

  She wasn't a mongoose.

  “I wanted to ask you,” Mrs. Baker began. “I know you like snakes …”

  “And cats,” said Stacy. She had a book under her arm.

  “My neighbor is moving” said Mrs. Baker. “She wants someone to take her gerbil.”

  “That's us,” said Stacy.

  Emily smiled. “Right.”

  “I'll bring it tomorrow,” said Mrs. Baker.

  Emily nodded. She went over to the shelves. She had to get two books.

  One about gerbils.

  The other one was a fat one. It was the one Freddie had told her about.

  She was going to read like crazy all year.

  Next summer she'd be able to fish better than anyone.

  Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers

  a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

  1540 Broadway New York, New York 10036.

  Copyright © 1986 by Patricia Reilly Giff Illustrations copyright © 1986 by Blanche Sims

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

  in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

  photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval

  system, without the written permission of the Publisher.

  The trademarks Yearling¯ and Dell¯ are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-54199-4

  v3.0