Lucy's Tricks and Treats Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2012 by Ilene Cooper

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2012 by David Merrell

  Cover illustration copyright © 2012 by Mary Ann Lasher

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Cooper, Ilene.

  Lucy’s tricks and treats / by Ilene Cooper; illustrated by David Merrell.

  p. cm. — (Absolutely Lucy; 5)

  “A Stepping Stone Book.”

  Summary: Halloween is near and Bobby has a great idea for costumes for himself and his dog, Lucy, but when he brings Lucy’s costume to school for show-and-tell it disappears, and Bobby suspects the unfriendly new student took it.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-98637-6

  [1. Halloween—Fiction. 2. Costume—Fiction. 3. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 4. Beagle (Dog breed)—Fiction. 5. Dogs—Fiction. 6. Schools—Fiction.] I. Merrell, David, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.C7856Lvt 2012 [E]—dc23 2011042084

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  To all the girls and boys who love Lucy as much as I do.

  And thank you to Kay Weisman for reading the manuscript and

  giving me valuable input on hearing disabilities.

  —I.C.

  For Mason, Sophia, Matthew, and Ethan

  —D.M.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1. Here Comes Halloween!

  2. Yo Ho Ho!

  3. Pumpkins for Dragons

  4. Pirates and Pencils

  5. Lucy at the Library

  6. Show-and-Tell

  7. Lucy Sniffs Around

  8. Howl-loween

  The leaves were turning colors—red, orange, yellow, and brown. The air was getting chilly. It was autumn for sure. That meant one thing to Bobby Quinn and his friends Shawn and Candy. Halloween!

  “I’m going to be a pirate!” Bobby said as they walked home from school.

  “I might be an astronaut,” Shawn said. “What about you, Candy?”

  “Well, I thought about being a fairy,” Candy said. “Then I thought lots of the girls might be fairies. So maybe I’ll be a queen. My mother has one of those sparkly crowns somewhere. But she probably won’t be able to find it. A witch! A witch would be good. Don’t forget we get to wear our costumes twice on Halloween. Trick-or-treating and at the school parade!”

  Candy was a talker. Bobby and Shawn were shy. Not as shy as they used to be, though.

  “Are you going to make your costume? Or are you going to buy it?” Shawn asked Bobby.

  Bobby shrugged. He wasn’t sure. But he had a reason for being a pirate. He didn’t want to talk about it yet. If his idea worked out, it would make being a pirate extra-special. “I’m hoping there’s going to be a pirate surprise” was all he would say.

  The three kids stopped at Bobby’s house. Shawn lived across the street. Candy’s house was a few blocks away.

  “Hey, Lucy’s waiting for you,” Shawn said, pointing at the Quinns’ living-room window.

  Lucy was Bobby’s dog. She was a little brown-and-white beagle. She had a few black spots and chocolate-colored eyes.

  Lucy was waiting for Bobby, but she wasn’t waiting patiently.

  She stood at the window with her paws on the glass. Small howls interrupted short barks. She wiggled around.

  “Lucy’s doing her happy dance,” Candy said. “I wish Butch did a happy dance when I came home.”

  Bobby and Shawn looked at each other. They tried not to laugh. Butch, Candy’s dog, was maybe the laziest dog they had ever met. It was hard to picture him getting off the couch when Candy came home. A happy dance? Absolutely not!

  Bobby said goodbye to his friends. He was barely inside the house when Lucy dashed over to him. She leapt into his arms. She licked his face. Bobby smiled. Lucy acted as if he had been gone for a month.

  “Hey, girl,” Bobby said, “calm down.”

  Lucy got the message. She wriggled to the floor. Then she looked up at him. She seemed to be saying, Let’s have some fun.

  “Okay, Lucy. Maybe we’ll go for a walk,” Bobby said.

  Walk! Lucy knew that word.

  Before Bobby could get Lucy’s leash, his mother came into the hallway.

  “Hi, Mom. I’m taking Lucy out,” Bobby told her.

  Mrs. Quinn smiled, but she looked tired. “That’s a very good idea. Do you want to say hello to your father first?”

  “Dad’s home?” Bobby asked, surprised.

  “He came home early,” his mother answered. “We’re getting started on the nursery.”

  Up until that day, the “nursery” had been Mr. Quinn’s office. Now the Quinn family was waiting for the adoption agency to bring them a baby. Bobby’s parents weren’t sure when that would be. It could be tomorrow. It could be months from now. Mrs. Quinn wanted to be ready.

  Thinking about the baby made Bobby feel funny. It had been just the three of them for eight years. Mom, Dad, and Bobby. Then Lucy had joined them last summer. She had changed everything for Bobby. He had been very shy. But Lucy was so friendly and so much fun. Everyone liked being around her. She helped him make lots of new friends.

  Bobby hoped the baby would work out half as well as Lucy had.

  “We need to keep Lucy out of the office,” his mother said. “She wants to get in the middle of things.”

  Bobby nodded. If there was one place Lucy liked to be, it was in the middle of things. “I’ll try,” he said.

  Mr. Quinn came into the hall. “Hi, Bobby,” he said. He ruffled Bobby’s hair.

  “How’s it going?” Bobby asked.

  “Well, the desk is in the middle of the room, and the stuff from that closet is on the floor. But I guess we’re making progress,” Mr. Quinn said. He didn’t look all that sure.

  “Do you want to have a look?” Mrs. Quinn asked. “I can show you the new wallpaper. It’s yellow with rainbows. Good for a boy or a girl.”

  “Oh, it’s going to be a boy,” Bobby said.

  “Why do you think so?” his father asked.

  “Because boys are more fun,” Bobby replied promptly.

  “Lucy is a girl,” his mother pointed out.

  Before Bobby could say, “But she’s a dog,” Mrs. Quinn turned to her husband. “You closed the office door, didn’t you?”

  Mr. Quinn made a face. “I think so.”

  A loud crash came from the office.

  “Lucy!” everyone said together.

  They hurried down the hallway to the office.

  Mr. Quinn had not remembered to close the door.

  The room didn’t look like an office now. And it certainly didn’t look like a nursery. It looked like a big mess.

  The stuff from the closet was scattered across the floor. A cup of coffee had been knocked over. A small river of the dark liquid headed for the door. Next to the coffee
cup, two half-chewed doughnuts lay on the paper bag Lucy had pulled them from.

  Lucy had managed to do a lot in very little time.

  “Where is she?” Mrs. Quinn asked.

  Mr. Quinn pointed under the desk at a mounded white sheet.

  At first Bobby was confused. But then the sheet started rustling. From under it came a spooky howl.

  “Looks like Lucy wants to dress up for Halloween, too,” Mrs. Quinn said. “As a ghost.”

  Bobby kneeled by the desk and lifted the sheet. Lucy barely looked up when the sheet came off. Something was between her paws—a piece of yellow wallpaper dotted with rainbows. She was busy shredding it with her teeth.

  “She had been doing so well,” Mrs. Quinn said with a sigh.

  “She’s hardly caused any trouble in weeks,” Bobby said, trying to defend his dog.

  “You can’t really blame her,” Mr. Quinn said. “How could she help herself? A room like this, with stuff everywhere, must have looked like an amusement park to Lucy.”

  Bobby shook his head. “And she went on all the rides.”

  “Lucy’s in the doghouse,” Mr. Quinn told Bobby.

  “We don’t have a doghouse,” Bobby said.

  “It’s just a saying,” Mr. Quinn replied. “It means Lucy’s in trouble. I’m in the doghouse, too,” he added. “Your mom kept reminding me to keep the office door closed.”

  The night before, Bobby’s mother hadn’t said much during dinner. Then she told them she had a headache and went to bed early.

  Now, late on Saturday morning, she was still asleep.

  “Let’s do something nice for Mom,” Mr. Quinn said.

  “What?” Bobby asked.

  “We’ll do the Saturday errands, so she can relax,” he answered.

  “Can we take Lucy with us?” Bobby wanted to know.

  Lucy heard her name. She came bounding into the living room, where Bobby and his father were sitting. She didn’t seem to know she was in the doghouse.

  “Oh, definitely,” Mr. Quinn said. He looked around for Lucy’s leash. “I think your mother would be disappointed if we didn’t.”

  Bobby and his dad got in the car. Lucy got in the backseat. She started making soft little growling noises. Bobby and his father knew that meant Open the window!

  “Hold on, Lucy,” Mr. Quinn said. “I have to start the car.”

  “Where are we going first?” Bobby asked once they were on their way.

  His father reached into the pocket of his jean jacket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “Here’s the list.”

  Bobby unfolded it. “Bank,” he read, “library, and Pet-O-Rama.”

  Great! he thought. Pet-O-Rama was where his surprise was.

  They parked in front of the bank and got out of the car. Mr. Quinn said, “Bobby, you’ll have to stay outside with Lucy. Don’t go too far.”

  Mr. Quinn had just gone into the bank when Lucy noticed someone coming out. Lucy tugged at her leash. It was someone she knew.

  Their neighbor Mr. Davis was walking slowly out of the bank.

  “Hello, Bobby. Hello, Lucy.” Mr. Davis lifted his cane a bit off the sidewalk and waved it at them.

  “Hi, Mr. D.,” Bobby answered. Even though Mr. Davis was old, older than Bobby’s grandparents, Bobby liked talking to him. He had interesting stories to tell.

  “Have a moment to sit, Bobby?” asked Mr. Davis. He pointed to a nearby bench.

  “Sure,” Bobby said, joining him. “I’m waiting for my dad.”

  Lucy could be wild sometimes, but she seemed to know that she had to be calm with Mr. Davis. She jumped on the bench and put her head on his knee.

  “So, Bobby,” Mr. Davis said, “Halloween’s right around the corner. Do you know what you’re going to be?”

  Bobby nodded. “Yep. A pirate.”

  Mr. Davis patted Lucy’s head. “A pirate, huh? Say, I have a black patch from when I had eye problems a while back. Would you like to borrow it for your costume?”

  “An eye patch would be perfect,” Bobby said. He would look like a real pirate!

  “Well, it’s all yours.” Mr. Davis nodded. “Have you ever heard of the book Treasure Island?”

  Bobby shook his head.

  “It’s about a fierce pirate, a fellow named Long John Silver,” Mr. Davis told him. “And Jim, the ship’s cabin boy. Not much older than you. There’s a dangerous search for a hidden treasure.…”

  Mr. Quinn came up to them. “Hi, Mr. Davis. What are you guys talking about?” he asked.

  Mr. Davis smiled. “I was about to ask Bobby if he wanted to borrow my copy of Treasure Island.”

  Mr. Quinn smiled. “Bobby and I can read it together. I loved that book when I was a boy.”

  “I’ll come by to pick it up,” Bobby said, getting up from the bench, with Lucy right behind him. “And the eye patch!”

  “They’ll be waiting for you, Bobby,” Mr. Davis said with a smile.

  Next, Bobby and his father took a quick trip to the library. They weren’t going in today, just returning books in the metal book drop. Lucy gave a small yip each time a book went down the chute.

  Then it was time for Pet-O-Rama. Now Bobby was getting excited.

  Lucy was getting excited, too. She loved Pet-O-Rama! Maybe it was because it had all her favorite treats. Maybe it was because it was one of the few stores where dogs were welcome. Or maybe it was because Lucy had happy memories of being in a pet contest there. Whatever it was, Lucy always seemed to know they were heading toward Pet-O-Rama before the parking lot even came into sight.

  Her nose started quivering, and her ears pressed flat against her head. And although Lucy couldn’t exactly smile, the look on her face might have been taken for a grin.

  “What are we buying here?” Bobby asked as they all got out of the car. He knew what he hoped they’d be buying, but he didn’t want to tell his dad about it—he wanted to show him.

  “Mom forgot the chewy bones Lucy likes so much when you were here the other day.” Mr. Quinn snapped Lucy’s leash on her collar. “When Lucy doesn’t have her chewy bones …”

  Mr. Quinn didn’t have to finish. When Lucy didn’t have her chewy bones, she found plenty of other things to chew.

  Inside, a wide aisle divided the brightly lit store in two. On one side were mostly pet supplies. On the other side were the animals you could buy—turtles, birds, fish. Shawn had bought his mouse, Twitch, here.

  Lucy was definitely interested in looking at the animals. She tugged on her leash. She wanted to watch the parakeets fluttering around in their big glass cage.

  “Not today, Lucy,” Mr. Quinn said. “We’ll just pick up the chewy bones and then go.” He looked around. Pet-O-Rama was large and filled with many things to buy. “Do you know where those bones are, Bobby?”

  Now was the moment Bobby had been waiting for.

  “Sure, Dad,” Bobby said. “But can I show you something first? It’s right over here.”

  Before Mr. Quinn could answer, Bobby led his father and Lucy to a rack of Halloween items. Catnip treats in the shapes of witches and ghosts sat next to dog bones striped black and orange. Behind them was a whole rack of costumes for pets. A dog or cat could be anything from a bee to a zebra.

  Bobby riffled through the rack. There it was! “Dad, look, a pet pirate costume. See, isn’t it great?”

  A small black-and-white-striped T-shirt and a plastic bag with four tiny black boots were on a hanger. The best part of the costume was pinned to the T-shirt—a black pirate hat painted with a white skull and crossbones!

  “Let me get this straight,” Mr. Quinn said. “You think Lucy will let you dress her in a pirate costume?”

  Bobby hadn’t thought about whether Lucy would wear the costume. He had just thought about how good she would look in it.

  Mr. Quinn shook his head. “Lucy is way too squirmy.”

  “But, Dad …”

  “I admit, this costume is neat,” Mr. Quinn said. He took it out of Bobby’
s hands and looked it over.

  Bobby felt hopeful. His father liked the outfit. “See, I thought we could both be pirates,” Bobby explained.

  “I just don’t think she’d wear it,” Mr. Quinn said, handing the costume back to Bobby.

  Bobby didn’t know what he could do to change his father’s mind.

  Lucy had been sitting quietly on her haunches. Now she gave a sharp bark.

  Both Bobby and Mr. Quinn turned to look at Lucy. Her nose was quivering. Her tail was, too.

  Bobby held the costume next to Lucy’s face. He hoped she wouldn’t start to chew it.

  Lucy did not chew it. She did sniff it. She sniffed the little striped shirt, and she sniffed the pirate hat. She licked the bag with the boots.

  “Do you like it, Lucy?” Bobby asked.

  Did she ever! She closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against the shirt. It looked as if the costume was making Lucy very happy indeed.

  “Dad, can we get it?” Bobby asked.

  “All right,” Mr. Quinn said with a sigh. “We’ll give it a try. Captain Lucy, the most dangerous pirate on the seven seas.”

  Lucy opened one eye. “Arf.”

  “She’ll never wear it.” That was the first thing Mrs. Quinn said when she saw Lucy’s pirate costume.

  “She seems to like it,” Mr. Quinn said.

  “It smells good to her,” Bobby added helpfully.

  Mrs. Quinn shrugged. “Well, I suppose we can try to put it on.”

  Lucy was staring at the pirate costume. She seemed to be smelling it, too. Her nose was twitching.

  Bobby brought the costume closer. Lucy’s tail wagged hard. She gave an excited bark.

  “Okay, I see what you mean.” Mrs. Quinn laughed. “But that doesn’t mean she’ll actually wear it.”

  Bobby thought that might be true. To the surprise of all of them, though, Lucy couldn’t wait to put it on.

  Bobby slipped the striped shirt over her head. She hardly wriggled at all.

  He put the pirate hat on her head, and Lucy gave a happy howl.

  She looked confused when Bobby put the little black boots on her paws, but she didn’t try to get them off.

  “Let me take a picture of this,” Mr. Quinn said, whipping his phone out of his pocket.