“Plum?” repeated Mrs. Teague. “Well, yes, I do. That’s the name of a rather famous Old English sheepdog that is often at the same dog shows we attend.”
“Yes. From Burger Kennels,” said Caryn. “He’s a lovely dog, friendly and gentle. A beautiful sheepdog.”
“Why do you ask, Jessie?” Mrs. Teague inquired.
“We met Plum today while we were walking Mrs. DeCicco’s beagles,” explained Jessie.
Benny blurted out, “I liked Plum a lot. But I didn’t like his owner.”
“Oh, you must mean Lawrence Burger!” exclaimed Caryn.
“Mr. Burger didn’t seem to like us very much,” said Violet.
“At first he was nice,” Henry put in. “But all of a sudden, he just turned and walked away.”
“Yes. We were telling him about Sunny being in the dog show and he looked really upset,” said Violet.
Caryn shook her head. “Plum is a lovely, wonderful dog, but I’m afraid Lawrence Burger is just the opposite.”
“What do you mean?” asked Henry.
“He only wants to win. He’s jealous of anybody else who wins. He’s particularly jealous of Sunny because Sunny and Plum are often finalists for the Best of Show.”
“Does Sunny win?” asked Benny.
“Sometimes Sunny wins,” answered Caryn. “Sometimes Plum does. Sometimes other dogs do. But you know what’s sad? Even when Plum wins, Lawrence never seems to enjoy it.”
“It is too bad,” said Mrs. Teague. “But some dog show people are like that, unfortunately.”
“They think winning is everything?” asked Grandfather Alden.
“Exactly,” said Mrs. Teague.
Caryn laughed softly. “I like winning, and so does Sunny. But I think Sunny likes other things, also.”
“Like bones,” guessed Benny.
“And playing,” said Violet.
“And sleeping in the sun,” suggested Jessie.
“Yes, all of those things — things I bet Plum likes, too. I hope someday Lawrence learns to enjoy life with Plum, instead of always worrying about winning,” Mrs. Teague said.
“I hope so, too,” said Benny.
Caryn smiled. “Well, it’s time for Sunny to go to bed. It’s a big day tomorrow and she needs her rest. And so do I!”
“So do we all,” said Grandfather Alden, standing up. “Time for bed.”
“I hope tomorrow hurries up and gets here,” said Violet.
“It will be here soon, Violet,” promised Grandfather Alden.
The next day, everyone in the Alden house was up early. The Teagues and Sunny left first. “We have to get to the benching area by eight-thirty,” explained Caryn as they loaded Sunny and her equipment for the dog show into the car.
“We’ll see you there very soon,” Benny promised.
The Alden children hurried through breakfast. Then Grandfather drove them all to the Greenfield Center.
The center was even busier and more full of dogs than it had been the day before. The sound of barking filled the air. The loudspeaker boomed overhead. People hurried by in all kinds of clothes — some in aprons with pockets that held scissors and brushes, others in suits.
“The people in the aprons must be groomers,” said Henry. “Caryn was explaining that they often work on combing and clipping the dogs to make them look as good as possible, right up to the moment they go in the ring!”
“That’s a lot of work,” Jessie said.
Henry explained more as they walked through the center. “There are rules about how dogs can be cut for the shows, too.”
“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Violet gave a little skip. “Dogs get haircuts just like people do!”
Grandfather said, “Here are your ticket stubs. Our seats are in the middle over there. I’m going to buy a program for us and sit down. After you’ve looked around a little, why don’t you come join me?”
“Okay, Grandfather,” said Henry. “I’ll put the tickets in my pocket where I can’t lose them.”
Grandfather went to find their seats around the show ring, while Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny walked toward the benching area.
“Look, there’s Mrs. DeCicco,” said Henry. “Let’s go say hello and wish her luck.”
But as the Aldens got closer, they saw that Mrs. DeCicco was talking to three people wearing suits.
“Maybe we can wish her luck another time,” said Violet shyly. Before the Aldens could leave, however, Mrs. DeCicco saw them and motioned them to come over.
“These are the Alden children, who helped me with my beagles last night when Ruth didn’t show up. And these” — Mrs. DeCicco clasped her hands and almost bowed — “are some of the judges! They are some of the most important people at a dog show.”
“Oh, now, I wouldn’t say that,” the tallest judge put in with a little shake of her head. “I’d say the owners and the handlers — and the dogs themselves — are the most important part of the show.”
Mrs. DeCicco unclasped her hands and wagged her finger. “No, no! Don’t you believe it, children. These are wonderful judges. You know, I’ve been at shows where I’ve felt that the judges just didn’t understand what a good beagle is. And of course my babies are perfect examples!” Mrs. DeCicco laughed and patted the tall judge’s arm. The judge, looking uncomfortable, took a step backward as Mrs. DeCicco went on. “I know I can rely on you to choose the best dog.”
All of the judges looked a little embarrassed at Mrs. DeCicco’s gushing words. The tall judge cleared her throat and said, “We do our best.” She turned to the Aldens. “Are you enjoying the dog show?”
The Alden children all smiled politely. “It’s our first dog show,” said Jessie. “We’re having a lot of fun!”
The judges all smiled. “I’m glad,” said the tall judge.
“Good luck to you, Mrs. DeCicco,” said another judge, and the three judges moved away down the benching aisle.
As the judges left, Mrs. DeCicco nervously clasped her hands again. “Judges!” she said. “Oh, dear, oh dear.”
“Is Ruth still missing?” asked Henry.
“What? Oh, no. She got here late last night. She’d had a flat tire. Strangest thing, you know. She’d just put new tires on her car.” Mrs. DeCicco kept staring in the direction the judges had gone. “Oh, dear,” she repeated. “I must win. I must.”
“Mrs. DeCicco?” said Violet. “Winning isn’t everything.”
Mrs. DeCicco looked at Violet. “Maybe not. But if I don’t win, I could lose everything!”
“What do you mean?” asked Jessie.
“I’ve put all my money, everything, into my beagles. And they all used to win all the time. But then I was in an accident and couldn’t show my dogs for a long time. Now we have to start winning again soon, or I won’t have any money left. I’ll be forced to sell my dogs and my kennel!”
“Oh, dear,” said Violet.
“I’m sure your beagles will win,” said Henry.
With a sad, serious expression, Mrs. DeCicco said, “Do you think so? I hope you’re right. They’re such good dogs.” She turned toward the three kennels with her beagles lined up inside. She bent down, and the sad expression left her face. “Aren’t my beagles good boys and girls?”
The beagles began to bark happily. “Yes, good dogs, the best beagles in the world, no matter what,” Mrs. DeCicco told them.
Henry looked at his watch. “We still have time to look around some more,” he said. After saying good-bye to Mrs. DeCicco, the Aldens made their way through the benching area, still staring at all the different kinds of dogs and all their amazing shapes and sizes and colors.
Then Jessie said, “Look!”
At the very end of the row, a man was sneaking up to an unguarded kennel. He kept looking back over his shoulder nervously as he bent down. Inside the kennel, the Aldens could see a droopy-jowled basset hound growling angrily.
“Nice dog,” said the man. The dog kept growling, watching the man suspiciously.
“Good doggie,” said the man. He appeared to be fumbling with the latch on the kennel door. The dog raised itself up on its front legs and barked. The man jerked his hand back.
“Excuse me,” said Henry.
The man jumped and spun around. He was not much taller than Henry. He had brown wispy hair combed across the top of his almost bald head, heavy brown eyebrows, and sharp little blue eyes.
“Excuse me,” Henry repeated. “Could we help you?”
“No!” said the man hastily. “Why do you ask?”
“Is that your basset hound?” asked Jessie.
“Why?” the man said.
“Because he doesn’t seem to know you. If you were his owner, I don’t think he’d bark at you like that,” persisted Jessie.
“Okay, okay, so the dog isn’t mine. A man can look at another person’s dog, can’t he? It’s a free country! Besides, I’m thinking of buying one. Yeah, that’s it. Maybe this one. Now, if you kids will excuse me — ” With that, the man pushed past the Aldens and disappeared into the crowd!
CHAPTER 6
A Bad Haircut
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 sh
e 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.”