Chapter Eleven
Free Puppies
The day had finally come; it was time to give away Seti's puppies. The day before, Evelyn had posted a flier that read "Free Puppies to be given away Sunday" and listed their address, where she had found the flier that advertised the missing Golden Retriever that had been mistaken for Seti.
Sunday morning, the entire O'Connell household was awake early, each of its residents showed signs of little sleep. By 11:00 am (the time advertised on the flier), the O'Connells had been up for what seemed like an eternity.
In the backyard, near the garden, Rick had built a makeshift pin to hold the puppies in. Carefully, Evelyn and her son placed the puppies inside the pin; Alex put a few of the puppies' toys inside the pin as well. A chewed up ball, an old hole-filled sock and a chew toy. All that was left to do now was wait.
Alex silently prayed that no one would come to see the puppies but he thoughts were interrupted when one of the O'Connells maids showed the first potential puppy "stealer" into the garden. This person was a girl who looked no older then twenty; she had black hair with red highlights in it and wore a shirt that revealed her midriff.
Rick went to greet the girl, who said her name was Maggie.
"Well, Maggie, thanks for coming to look at the puppies," Rick began, though he secretly didn't mean any of what he said, "they're right there." Rick pointed to the pin with the puppies.
Maggie walked over to the puppy holding pin and looked down at the dogs; the golden puppies were wrestling with each other and playing their toys. Maggie reached down and picked up one of the puppies: Caramel. Maggie studied Caramel and stroked her fur.
"This one. I'll name her Turtledove." Maggie said to Rick.
Alex ran over to Maggie, his father and Caramel. "Her name is Caramel and you'd better call her that!" Alex cried.
Evelyn ran over to silence her son. "Alex, behave yourself." Evelyn snapped.
Alex apologized to Maggie, though he silently wished Caramel would bite Maggie's fingers off.
Maggie left, taking Caramel with her; leaving only six puppies left.
Soon after Maggie left another potential puppy owner was shown into the garden. This person was a man in his later forties; very well to do who looked like a "Duke" of some kind. He introduced himself as Sir. Timothy. Rick showed Sir. Timothy the puppies, just as he had with Maggie but took the time to introduce his wife and son.
Sir. Timothy stooped and picked up one of the puppies; Evelyn recognized the puppy as Julia. Sir. Timothy stroked the puppies back and behind her ears; Julia wagged her tail and licked Sir. Timothy's fingers.
Alex spoke up again, not having learned his lesson from Maggie, and said, "Her name is Julia and you better.."
Evelyn quickly silenced her son, once again, though she was silently happy that Alex had said something.
Sir. Timothy didn't seem offended by Alex's outburst. "Julia huh? That's a lady-like name. Well Miss. Julia would you like to come home with me?" Sir. Timothy asked.
Julia yipped and licked Sir. Timothy's fingers. The man laughed. "It's settled then. Thank you very much Mr. O'Connell." Sir. Timothy said and with that, left with Julia.
Evelyn frowned as she watched the man take away her Julia. Though many things were buzzing around inside her head, Evelyn kept her mouth shut.
After the adoption of Julia, two more people came to see the puppies. It was a middle-aged couple, not unlike Rick and Evelyn, and the wife looked about eight months pregnant. The man introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Jackson.
Mr. Jackson and his wife walked over to the puppy pin; Mrs. Jackson began the say how cute the puppies were.
"You see, we used to have a cat but all the cleaning of the litter pan wasn't good for my wife so we had to get rid of our little Angel. That was our cat's name, Angel. And we wanted our baby to grow up around animals so he would have a respect for them and we thought 'what better animal then a dog for a little child?' My wife and I saw the free puppy flier and decided to come here." Mr. Jackson was explaining to Rick.
Evelyn was helping Mrs. Jackson decide what puppy she wanted to get. "We want a puppy that's easy to train." Mrs. Jackson was saying.
"Well, they've all been house-trained." Evelyn put in.
"We need a puppy that will be good around a baby, one that won't bite a child if he accidentally grabs the puppy's tail." Mrs. Jackson continued, almost oblivious to what Evelyn had said.
"All the puppies are very good around my son…" Evelyn began again but once again Mrs. Jackson cut her off.
"Yes, but your son understands how to handle a puppy. We need a puppy who won't bite a little child who can't understand not to hit or pull on the puppy's ears." Mrs. Jackson said.
She stooped down and picked up Hieroglyph; Hieroglyph stayed perfectly still in Mrs. Jackson's arms. She looked the puppy up and down. "Are you sure this one is healthy?" She asked, noticing the puppy's almost sedated behavior.
"Yes, all the puppies are healthy and have had their shots." Evelyn answered. Mrs. Jackson handed Evelyn Hieroglyph and picked up another puppy.
Mrs. Jackson took Tiger into her arms and began looking him over. Tiger wiggled around in her arms and licked her fingers. "This one is nice. Walter, what do you think about this one?" Mrs. Jackson asked.
Her husband -Walter- turned around to face his wife. "That one looks spunky. Whichever one you want." Walter said and then began talking with Rick again.
Mrs. Jackson studied Tiger over some more and then said, "Yes, this one is prefect."
Mr. Jackson took the puppy from his wife and began checking him over. "Now, you were saying Mrs. O'Connell that all the puppies have had their shots?" Mrs. Jackson said.
Evelyn nodded. "Yes, but every few months they should have a set appointment at the veterinarians' office." Evelyn said.
As the Jacksons were walking away, they could be overheard discussing a name for their puppy. Before they entered the house, they had settled on the name "Gum" because it would be cute to her their child calling out the name "Gum" for the dog to come.
Alex grimaced at the name. "What a stupid name." The boy muttered as he turned around to face the remaining puppies. All that were left were Nibbler, Powdered Sugar, Bobbi, and Hieroglyph.
Alex wanted to take the puppies out to play with them but his parents said no.
Soon, another puppy "stealer" came to view the puppies. It was the old woman who had lost her dog Sugar; the O'Connells promptly greeted her. Even Alex said hello, even though he was sure that they were going to lose another puppy.
"Sugar still hasn't come back yet so I figured that I should get another dog. Though they will never be another Sugar, it would do me some good to get another dog." The woman said.
Since no introductions were made the first time they met, the old woman introduced herself now. "My name is Angela Lawrence." The old woman said.
The O'Connells introduced themselves as well. Evelyn led Mrs. Lawrence over to see the puppies; they all crowded around to see her, as they did with every person.
"Oh they're so darling." Mrs. Lawrence said and tickled the puppies through the pin. Seti got up from her spot near the puppies and walked over to Mrs. Lawrence. Seti sniffed Mrs. Lawrence and studied the old woman.
"You must be their mother. You have adorable puppies." Mrs. Lawrence said and scratched Seti behind the ears. Seti politely licked Mrs. Lawrence's hand but she seemed to know that she was going to lose another one of her children.
Mrs. Lawrence turned away from Seti and back to the puppies; she picked one up and cradled it in her arms. The puppy she had picked was Bobbi; she wagged her tail and licked Mrs. Lawrence's fingers. Mrs. Lawrence laughed and held the puppy close to her. "I do believe I'll take this one; I'll name her Tanya. Do you like that name girl?" Mrs. Lawrence asked.
Bobbi wagged her tail and wiggled around in Mrs. Lawrence's arms. After saying her good-byes to the O'Connells, Mrs. Lawrence left with Bobbi, er Tanya.
Alex once again grimaced. "Tanya is a stupid name for a dog. Tanya is a person's name." Alex muttered, leaving out the fact that Julia was a human's name as well.
Evelyn walked over to the puppy pin where Hieroglyph, Powdered Sugar and Nibbler still played. By now, the puppies were beginning to miss their brothers and sisters; the whined and whimpered and crawled over each other.
Within a few minutes of Bobbi's adoption, another man was lead into the garden. This man was dressed as an explorer; the O'Connells could tell by his beige outfit and rucksack slung over his shoulder.
"I heard that there were puppies here and I was looking for a dog to keep my company on my 'adventures' if you could call them that. My name is Tyler Edwards." The man said and shook hands with Rick.
Rick introduced himself and his family and then showed Mr. Edwards to where the remaining three puppies were. Alex called Seti over to the puppy pin. "See this dog, she's their mummy. Her name is Seti and she's mean, she doesn't want anyone to take her puppies." Alex said, looking Mr. Edwards right in the eyes.
"Alex, don't make up such stories." Evelyn commanded.
Mr. Edwards just laughed at Alex's lie; he bent down to scratch Seti behind the ears. "Seti huh? A real Egyptian name." He said and then turned his attention back to the puppies.
Mr. Edwards picked up Hieroglyph and studied the puppy. "This one has interesting markings, what do you call him?" Mr. Edwards asked.
"Hieroglyph." Alex answered, daring the man to call the puppy anything else.
"Hieroglyph huh? That's a good name, suits him well. Well then, I do believe I'll take this one. Thank you very much, Mr. O'Connell. And good day to you Mrs. O'Connell." Mr. Edwards said and left.
Powdered Sugar and Nibbler began to whine and pressed against the sides of the puppy pin. Seti pressed her nose against the sides of the pin and whimpered.
Evelyn scratched Seti's ears and comforted her. Alex and Rick petted the puppies and comforted them as well.
For around ten minutes, no else came to see the other puppies and Alex thought that maybe they would get to keep the other puppies; Rick was beginning to think the same thing, he had to admit to himself that having two puppies wouldn't be too bad. Three dogs weren't too many and after all, every boy should have at least one dog, three would probably be better.
However, before Rick could suggest keeping the puppies, another person was shown into the garden. Another person wanting to take Seti's puppies away.
A woman, who looked in her mid-thirties and dressed in a posh business like suit, entered the garden and introduced herself as Nurse Chase Hill, or just Nurse Hill.
"I saw the flier advertising free puppies and I decided to come see what kind of puppies you had. At the hospital where I work, the head doctors and trying a new 'experiment' where we bring animals to the hospital to see how the patients respond to the animal contact. However, the hospital has no money to spend on the project so it was like a Godsend to see your flier. I hope you have some puppies left." Nurse Hill said.
"Yes, two in fact." Evelyn said and pointed to the puppy pin. Alex and Seti were still by the pin; Alex was talking to the puppies.
"Golden Retrievers I see, an excellent breed." Nurse Hill said and picked up Nibbler.
Nibbler looked at Nurse Hill and licked her face; the nurse laughed and began petting Nibbler.
"This one is a nice one, I think he will be prefect for the 'experiment', he responds well with strangers." Nurse Hill said.
Alex was confused by all the 'expert' talk, weren't puppies supposed to be friendly to strangers?
Nurse Chase Hill took Nibbler away without asking about his name or anything else.
The only puppy left was Powdered Sugar; she whined and cried about the loss of her brothers and sisters.
As the day was nearing an end, one last person came to take the last puppy. The man's name Robert and he was looking for a birthday present for his fiancé, Kellie. Not disappointed by the last puppy, Robert took her and bid the O'Connells a fare well.
Now, all the puppies were gone and the O'Connell house was quiet.
Free Puppies
The day had finally come; it was time to give away Seti's puppies. The day before, Evelyn had posted a flier that read "Free Puppies to be given away Sunday" and listed their address, where she had found the flier that advertised the missing Golden Retriever that had been mistaken for Seti.
Sunday morning, the entire O'Connell household was awake early, each of its residents showed signs of little sleep. By 11:00 am (the time advertised on the flier), the O'Connells had been up for what seemed like an eternity.
In the backyard, near the garden, Rick had built a makeshift pin to hold the puppies in. Carefully, Evelyn and her son placed the puppies inside the pin; Alex put a few of the puppies' toys inside the pin as well. A chewed up ball, an old hole-filled sock and a chew toy. All that was left to do now was wait.
Alex silently prayed that no one would come to see the puppies but he thoughts were interrupted when one of the O'Connells maids showed the first potential puppy "stealer" into the garden. This person was a girl who looked no older then twenty; she had black hair with red highlights in it and wore a shirt that revealed her midriff.
Rick went to greet the girl, who said her name was Maggie.
"Well, Maggie, thanks for coming to look at the puppies," Rick began, though he secretly didn't mean any of what he said, "they're right there." Rick pointed to the pin with the puppies.
Maggie walked over to the puppy holding pin and looked down at the dogs; the golden puppies were wrestling with each other and playing their toys. Maggie reached down and picked up one of the puppies: Caramel. Maggie studied Caramel and stroked her fur.
"This one. I'll name her Turtledove." Maggie said to Rick.
Alex ran over to Maggie, his father and Caramel. "Her name is Caramel and you'd better call her that!" Alex cried.
Evelyn ran over to silence her son. "Alex, behave yourself." Evelyn snapped.
Alex apologized to Maggie, though he silently wished Caramel would bite Maggie's fingers off.
Maggie left, taking Caramel with her; leaving only six puppies left.
Soon after Maggie left another potential puppy owner was shown into the garden. This person was a man in his later forties; very well to do who looked like a "Duke" of some kind. He introduced himself as Sir. Timothy. Rick showed Sir. Timothy the puppies, just as he had with Maggie but took the time to introduce his wife and son.
Sir. Timothy stooped and picked up one of the puppies; Evelyn recognized the puppy as Julia. Sir. Timothy stroked the puppies back and behind her ears; Julia wagged her tail and licked Sir. Timothy's fingers.
Alex spoke up again, not having learned his lesson from Maggie, and said, "Her name is Julia and you better.."
Evelyn quickly silenced her son, once again, though she was silently happy that Alex had said something.
Sir. Timothy didn't seem offended by Alex's outburst. "Julia huh? That's a lady-like name. Well Miss. Julia would you like to come home with me?" Sir. Timothy asked.
Julia yipped and licked Sir. Timothy's fingers. The man laughed. "It's settled then. Thank you very much Mr. O'Connell." Sir. Timothy said and with that, left with Julia.
Evelyn frowned as she watched the man take away her Julia. Though many things were buzzing around inside her head, Evelyn kept her mouth shut.
After the adoption of Julia, two more people came to see the puppies. It was a middle-aged couple, not unlike Rick and Evelyn, and the wife looked about eight months pregnant. The man introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Jackson.
Mr. Jackson and his wife walked over to the puppy pin; Mrs. Jackson began the say how cute the puppies were.
"You see, we used to have a cat but all the cleaning of the litter pan wasn't good for my wife so we had to get rid of our little Angel. That was our cat's name, Angel. And we wanted our baby to grow up around animals so he would have a respect for them and we thought 'what better animal then a dog for a little child?' My wife and I saw the free puppy flier and decided to come here." Mr. Jackson was explaining to Rick.
Evelyn was helping Mrs. Jackson decide what puppy she wanted to get. "We want a puppy that's easy to train." Mrs. Jackson was saying.
"Well, they've all been house-trained." Evelyn put in.
"We need a puppy that will be good around a baby, one that won't bite a child if he accidentally grabs the puppy's tail." Mrs. Jackson continued, almost oblivious to what Evelyn had said.
"All the puppies are very good around my son…" Evelyn began again but once again Mrs. Jackson cut her off.
"Yes, but your son understands how to handle a puppy. We need a puppy who won't bite a little child who can't understand not to hit or pull on the puppy's ears." Mrs. Jackson said.
She stooped down and picked up Hieroglyph; Hieroglyph stayed perfectly still in Mrs. Jackson's arms. She looked the puppy up and down. "Are you sure this one is healthy?" She asked, noticing the puppy's almost sedated behavior.
"Yes, all the puppies are healthy and have had their shots." Evelyn answered. Mrs. Jackson handed Evelyn Hieroglyph and picked up another puppy.
Mrs. Jackson took Tiger into her arms and began looking him over. Tiger wiggled around in her arms and licked her fingers. "This one is nice. Walter, what do you think about this one?" Mrs. Jackson asked.
Her husband -Walter- turned around to face his wife. "That one looks spunky. Whichever one you want." Walter said and then began talking with Rick again.
Mrs. Jackson studied Tiger over some more and then said, "Yes, this one is prefect."
Mr. Jackson took the puppy from his wife and began checking him over. "Now, you were saying Mrs. O'Connell that all the puppies have had their shots?" Mrs. Jackson said.
Evelyn nodded. "Yes, but every few months they should have a set appointment at the veterinarians' office." Evelyn said.
As the Jacksons were walking away, they could be overheard discussing a name for their puppy. Before they entered the house, they had settled on the name "Gum" because it would be cute to her their child calling out the name "Gum" for the dog to come.
Alex grimaced at the name. "What a stupid name." The boy muttered as he turned around to face the remaining puppies. All that were left were Nibbler, Powdered Sugar, Bobbi, and Hieroglyph.
Alex wanted to take the puppies out to play with them but his parents said no.
Soon, another puppy "stealer" came to view the puppies. It was the old woman who had lost her dog Sugar; the O'Connells promptly greeted her. Even Alex said hello, even though he was sure that they were going to lose another puppy.
"Sugar still hasn't come back yet so I figured that I should get another dog. Though they will never be another Sugar, it would do me some good to get another dog." The woman said.
Since no introductions were made the first time they met, the old woman introduced herself now. "My name is Angela Lawrence." The old woman said.
The O'Connells introduced themselves as well. Evelyn led Mrs. Lawrence over to see the puppies; they all crowded around to see her, as they did with every person.
"Oh they're so darling." Mrs. Lawrence said and tickled the puppies through the pin. Seti got up from her spot near the puppies and walked over to Mrs. Lawrence. Seti sniffed Mrs. Lawrence and studied the old woman.
"You must be their mother. You have adorable puppies." Mrs. Lawrence said and scratched Seti behind the ears. Seti politely licked Mrs. Lawrence's hand but she seemed to know that she was going to lose another one of her children.
Mrs. Lawrence turned away from Seti and back to the puppies; she picked one up and cradled it in her arms. The puppy she had picked was Bobbi; she wagged her tail and licked Mrs. Lawrence's fingers. Mrs. Lawrence laughed and held the puppy close to her. "I do believe I'll take this one; I'll name her Tanya. Do you like that name girl?" Mrs. Lawrence asked.
Bobbi wagged her tail and wiggled around in Mrs. Lawrence's arms. After saying her good-byes to the O'Connells, Mrs. Lawrence left with Bobbi, er Tanya.
Alex once again grimaced. "Tanya is a stupid name for a dog. Tanya is a person's name." Alex muttered, leaving out the fact that Julia was a human's name as well.
Evelyn walked over to the puppy pin where Hieroglyph, Powdered Sugar and Nibbler still played. By now, the puppies were beginning to miss their brothers and sisters; the whined and whimpered and crawled over each other.
Within a few minutes of Bobbi's adoption, another man was lead into the garden. This man was dressed as an explorer; the O'Connells could tell by his beige outfit and rucksack slung over his shoulder.
"I heard that there were puppies here and I was looking for a dog to keep my company on my 'adventures' if you could call them that. My name is Tyler Edwards." The man said and shook hands with Rick.
Rick introduced himself and his family and then showed Mr. Edwards to where the remaining three puppies were. Alex called Seti over to the puppy pin. "See this dog, she's their mummy. Her name is Seti and she's mean, she doesn't want anyone to take her puppies." Alex said, looking Mr. Edwards right in the eyes.
"Alex, don't make up such stories." Evelyn commanded.
Mr. Edwards just laughed at Alex's lie; he bent down to scratch Seti behind the ears. "Seti huh? A real Egyptian name." He said and then turned his attention back to the puppies.
Mr. Edwards picked up Hieroglyph and studied the puppy. "This one has interesting markings, what do you call him?" Mr. Edwards asked.
"Hieroglyph." Alex answered, daring the man to call the puppy anything else.
"Hieroglyph huh? That's a good name, suits him well. Well then, I do believe I'll take this one. Thank you very much, Mr. O'Connell. And good day to you Mrs. O'Connell." Mr. Edwards said and left.
Powdered Sugar and Nibbler began to whine and pressed against the sides of the puppy pin. Seti pressed her nose against the sides of the pin and whimpered.
Evelyn scratched Seti's ears and comforted her. Alex and Rick petted the puppies and comforted them as well.
For around ten minutes, no else came to see the other puppies and Alex thought that maybe they would get to keep the other puppies; Rick was beginning to think the same thing, he had to admit to himself that having two puppies wouldn't be too bad. Three dogs weren't too many and after all, every boy should have at least one dog, three would probably be better.
However, before Rick could suggest keeping the puppies, another person was shown into the garden. Another person wanting to take Seti's puppies away.
A woman, who looked in her mid-thirties and dressed in a posh business like suit, entered the garden and introduced herself as Nurse Chase Hill, or just Nurse Hill.
"I saw the flier advertising free puppies and I decided to come see what kind of puppies you had. At the hospital where I work, the head doctors and trying a new 'experiment' where we bring animals to the hospital to see how the patients respond to the animal contact. However, the hospital has no money to spend on the project so it was like a Godsend to see your flier. I hope you have some puppies left." Nurse Hill said.
"Yes, two in fact." Evelyn said and pointed to the puppy pin. Alex and Seti were still by the pin; Alex was talking to the puppies.
"Golden Retrievers I see, an excellent breed." Nurse Hill said and picked up Nibbler.
Nibbler looked at Nurse Hill and licked her face; the nurse laughed and began petting Nibbler.
"This one is a nice one, I think he will be prefect for the 'experiment', he responds well with strangers." Nurse Hill said.
Alex was confused by all the 'expert' talk, weren't puppies supposed to be friendly to strangers?
Nurse Chase Hill took Nibbler away without asking about his name or anything else.
The only puppy left was Powdered Sugar; she whined and cried about the loss of her brothers and sisters.
As the day was nearing an end, one last person came to take the last puppy. The man's name Robert and he was looking for a birthday present for his fiancé, Kellie. Not disappointed by the last puppy, Robert took her and bid the O'Connells a fare well.
Now, all the puppies were gone and the O'Connell house was quiet.