Read Online Waggit Forever by Peter Howe - Free Book Online

his wily friend would use them for cover if he was resting his aching limbs. Already there were more people on the streets, even though the dawn had not yet broken, and Waggit worried about the journey they would have to take to get back to the others.
    He had gone only three blocks when he suddenly stopped, shocked by what he saw. There was Lowdown, lying in the middle of the sidewalk, making no attempt to hide. As Waggit watched, a pedestrian passed right by, staring at the forlorn-looking old dog with his scruffy coat. Waggit quickly ran up to him.
    â€œLowdown, are you crazy?” he yelped. “You’ve got to get away from here.”
    His friend looked up at him with a mournful look in his brown eyes.
    â€œI can’t, Waggit,” he said. “It hurts too much. I must’ve been crazy to think I could make a journey like this. This is only the beginning, and I’m already finished. You go back to the others; they need you. I’m just going to lie here until the Ruzelas get me, and then whatever happens, happens.”
    â€œNo,” said Waggit. “I won’t let you. I need you too much. You’re coming back with me.”
    And without saying another word he picked up Lowdown in his mouth, grabbing him by the loose skin at the back of the neck, and ran across the road to the divider, carrying the struggling old dog like a mother would hold a puppy.
    â€œHey, hey, what’re you doing?” Lowdown protested.“Put me down! Ouch, ow, that hurts! You’re worse than the Ruzelas, and I ain’t kidding.”
    By this time they were on a patch of grass in the divider. Although it wasn’t as soft as the soil in the park, it was still more forgiving than the sidewalk. Waggit lowered Lowdown onto it.
    â€œUgh,” Waggit said, spitting bits of Lowdown’s coat out of his mouth, “your fur tastes awful.”
    â€œWell,” replied Lowdown, “it ain’t there for you to eat! So now what’re we gonna do?”
    â€œWe’re going to take it very slowly up the center here until we get to where we turn off, and then we’re going to join the others in the haven. They told me it’s not far from here.”
    â€œAnd if I don’t wanna go?” asked Lowdown.
    â€œThen my teeth go around the back of your neck,” Waggit replied.
    â€œYou know, I’m sure glad you’re my friend,” said Lowdown. “I can’t imagine what you’d be like if you was my enemy!”
    Despite Lowdown’s protests, Waggit’s rescue mission seemed to have renewed the old dog’s energy and spirit. They headed north along the divider, with Waggit in the lead. Every so often he would look overhis shoulder, and it upset him to see his friend limping along slowly and painfully. Although they were making progress, so was the dawn. As the sky lightened, the traffic increased. Every time the dogs came to an intersection, they faced an even harder problem. Lowdown was too weak to jump down from the divider, cross the street, and then hop back up, so after each block Waggit had to pick him up in his mouth and transport him the short distance to the next section.
    In this manner they gradually made their way uptown. Although Lowdown’s body hadn’t improved, his spirits had. Waggit glanced over his shoulder again and was glad to see how much happier he seemed. But then something else caught his eye. It was the front of the movie theater, not sparkling as much now in the daylight, but the same one for sure, and now more than a block behind them.
    â€œStupid, stupid, stupid,” Waggit said.
    â€œYou or me?” asked Lowdown.
    â€œMe,” Waggit replied. “I was concentrating on where you were and I lost track of where I was. We’ve gone past the place where we have to turn.”
    â€œOh well,” said Lowdown, cheerfully, “I hear thatwalking’s good for you—keeps you young, or so they