CHAPTER 4

Scarf, scarf, scarf, gotta find the scarf, grass, bird! Focus, King! You’re looking for a scarf!

King’s mind raced as he, Lulu, and Hugo desperately searched the area around the fountain for Erin’s scarf. King was a dog on a mission: If he could find the scarf and bring it back to Erin in mostly one piece, maybe she would forgive him for splashing around in the fountain yesterday. He would do anything to make up for misbehaving.

Sure, today he had escaped from his house through a window and was now running around the park unaccompanied, but this time he was misbehaving for a very good reason! Plus, it was early morning, so barely any people were around.

Where are you, scarf? Where are you? Ooh—what’s that?! Nope, just some grass. Grass! Maybe I could go smell it! No, King! Focus!

Just then, a familiar voice called out to them. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here! I need your help!”

King, Lulu, and Hugo looked up to see Nuts the squirrel pacing anxiously on the edge of the fountain.

“I’ve lost my acorns again!” Nuts exclaimed. “Can you help me find them?”

“Did you check under the elm tree?” Lulu replied, rolling her eyes.

“No. Why would I check under the—” Nuts began, but Lulu interrupted.

“We could actually use your help, Nuts! Have you happened to see a red-and-blue scarf in the park? The one Erin was wearing yesterday?” Lulu gave her best sympathetic smile. “We’d really appreciate the help of a great friend like you . . .”

“Oh yes! I saw it right here, in the grass near the fountain last night. It was so silky and cozy that I wove it into my nest! Is that what it’s called? A scarf? Huh! I’ve been calling it a perfect squirrel mattress!”

“We’re going to need that back,” said Lulu.

“But . . . ,” Nuts started, his floofy tail deflating. “I had the best sleep of my life last night. That thing is incredible. I usually have all this back pain, and my posture—and you know, a good night’s sleep can really affect your whole day, and—anyways, it’s mine now.”

“Actually, it’s Erin’s!” King replied defiantly. “And I need to get it back to her. It was a birthday present!”

“A birthday present?” repeated Nuts. “Why would someone give a person a squirrel mattress for their birthday?”

King huffed impatiently, and Nuts paused, softening a bit. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s a real shame she lost it. But aren’t you all familiar with the Golden Rule of the park? It’s been passed down for generations . . .”

“Yes, of course,” Hugo answered wisely. “If it’s golden, someone already peed there.”

“No,” said Nuts. “The other Golden Rule.”

“Look both ways before you run around in a circle?” Lulu tried.

“No! The other other Golden Rule,” said Nuts. “Finders Keepers! So there, it’s settled, the so-called ‘scarf’ is mine, we’re all in agreement, and speaking of finding things, I really need to find my acor—”

But King had heard enough. They were there for one thing and one thing alone—to get Erin’s scarf back—and he wasn’t about to let a squirrel get in his way. He lunged toward Nuts, crouching low to the ground and getting right in his face. Then he let out his fiercest puppy growl. “I need that scarf!” he barked. “It’s Erin’s! I will defend her until I die!”

Nuts stared at him in shock, then looked to Lulu and Hugo for support. “A little help here, folks?” he asked. “Can dogs put other dogs on leashes or . . .”

“Sorry, Nuts,” Lulu replied. “But for one of the first times since I’ve known him, King is right. We need to get that scarf back.”

“And . . . what if I don’t give it to you?” Nuts asked, slowly backing away from King.

“Well then,” Lulu replied. “We’ll have no choice but to . . .”

She glanced at Hugo, then King, then back to Nuts. “Chase you,” she said.

Hugo gasped. King gasped. Nuts stared at Lulu, wide-eyed.

“Chase me? Come on. We’re all friends here, you three are good dogs, and you’d never—”

Lulu interrupted him with a loud growl—a sound King had never heard from her before—and leapt toward Nuts. King followed her lead, and just like that, the chase was on!

Nuts zipped and zoomed around the park as Lulu and King ran after him, a gleam in their eyes. Hugo hesitated for just a moment, looking around to make sure there weren’t any disappointed humans watching, then joined in.

All three dogs were sprinting as fast as they could as the sprightly squirrel dashed through bushes, under benches, and into the dog run, trying his best to lose them. Nuts was fast, but a bit out of practice, and King, Lulu, and Hugo managed to catch up with him at every turn.

Finally, Nuts must have realized there was one place the dogs couldn’t reach him, and he scurried up a tree, hiding among its thick branches. Lulu, Hugo, and King gathered at the trunk, barking up toward the scarf-stealing squirrel, trying to get him to come back down. Instead, he jumped to another tree, and the dogs followed. This continued for a while, Nuts jumping from tree to tree and the dogs following underneath.

King felt exhilarated. “Is this what chasing squirrels always feels like?” he yelped.

“I think so,” Hugo replied. “I don’t really remember . . . It’s been a while.”

“I think it probably depends on the squirrel,” Lulu said. “But you’re right. This is great!”

“Why doesn’t Erin let us do this?” King continued. “Maybe she doesn’t know how FUN it is and how GOOD it feels! She should really try chasing a squirrel.”

After what felt like an eternity of running, the dogs trapped Nuts in a tree that was at the end of the line. Out of breath, Nuts looked defeated and ready to throw in the towel or, in this case, the scarf.

“All right. You got me. This happens to be the tree where I built my nest, and if you three aren’t going to get tired any time soon, then I don’t have much choice,” he said. He removed the scarf from his nest and held it over the dogs’ heads, ready to drop. “Here you go. Goodbye, perfect squirrel mattress.”

Nuts dropped the scarf from the branch above them, and all three dogs leapt for it at once.

“I got it!”

“No, I got it!”

“Mine! Mine! I got it!”

King, Lulu, and Hugo all excitedly caught the scarf in their mouths, pulling in opposite directions, and then—RRRIP!—King heard the sound of the scarf shredding apart. Then another RRRIP! And another. Just like that, the scarf was in pieces.

“Oh no,” whimpered King.

“Serves you right,” yelled Nuts, retreating safely into his nest.

King whined sadly, looking down at the torn scraps of the scarf. “If Erin loved one normal-sized scarf, maybe she’ll love a bunch of tiny scarves even more?” he wondered softly, but deep down he knew this was a disaster.

“It’s okay,” said Lulu. “Maybe we can fix it.”

She gathered some mud and tried sticking the pieces back together with it, but it was no use—now they were just looking at a muddy torn-up scarf.

“You’re making it worse,” pointed out King. “She can’t see it like this! It would be better if it was lost forever! We need to hide these pieces! Bury them! What if Erin brings us here tomorrow and sees what’s left of her scarf? She could sniff out that we were involved!”

“She won’t be able to smell that,” Lulu reminded him gently. “Human noses are just for decoration.”

“BURY BURY BURY!” King snapped. “We have to bury the pieces! Now now now!”

“Okay, okay!” said Lulu. “But if you’re gonna dig, you’ll need to take that cone off.”

“But if Erin sees me without the cone . . .”

“She won’t,” assured Hugo. “It’s all right, buddy. We’ll put it back on you right after we get cleaned up.”

Hugo pulled off the cone with his teeth, and the dogs hid it in the bushes. Then it was time to dig.

“Well,” Lulu said, looking down at her body. “If I’m dressed like a dog today, might as well act like one. For a good cause. Let’s split up and spread out.” And they did, each taking a few pieces of scarf to bury.

Dirt, dirt, dirt! Hole, hole, hole! Rock! Stick! Dirt, dirt, dirt!

Digging holes was fun! Almost as fun as chasing that squirrel, King thought as he dug and dug and dug. No! Even more fun!

Lulu and Hugo were also having a great time digging their holes. By the time they were all done, they had way more holes than they needed to bury the scarf pieces.

“Hey, Nuts!” Lulu called up into the tree. “You can use some of these extra holes to hide your acorns, if you want!”

Nuts just huffed.

“Don’t worry, he’ll get over it,” Lulu said to King and Hugo. But King started whimpering again. After finishing the holes, he started thinking . . .

“Lulu? Hugo? I just had a terrible thought. Are we being . . . bad?” King asked softly.

Lulu and Hugo exchanged a look, unsure how to respond.

“It kind of feels like we’re being bad . . . We’re not bad dogs, are we?” King asked, looking down at the ground, embarrassed.

Hugo sighed and nodded sympathetically at King before looking back to Lulu. “I was wondering the same thing,” Hugo said. “I mean, I have to admit . . . the chasing and the digging felt pretty amazing. It was more playing than I’ve done with my family lately . . . but what would our owners think about all of this?”

Lulu looked away, a flash of guilt in her expression. But it faded quickly, and she turned back to them with confidence. “Don’t be ridiculous. Hugo, we had to get you away from the thing, right?”

Hugo didn’t answer.

“And then we had to come here and look for the scarf,” she continued. “When Nuts wouldn’t give it back . . . we had no choice but to chase him! We’ve only done what we’ve had to do!”

Hugo nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “We’re not bad dogs. We’re just good dogs having a bad day!”

“Exactly,” said Lulu, nodding. “Happens to the best of us.”

King smiled. “Thank goodness,” he said. “Of course we’re good dogs. You’re right. Should we call it a day and— Oh no!”

He was suddenly distracted by his own paws, which were supposed to be white, but just then were caked in dirt and mud. Then he looked at Lulu and Hugo, who had gotten even messier than him! Lulu had grass and twigs all over her usually perfect fur. Hugo’s entire mouth and nose were covered in the dirtiest dirt, like he’d been digging face-first.

“We’re all filthy!” said King. “We can’t go home like this. I mean, I think we smell delicious. Mud, grass, and drool? Mmm, mmm, mmm. But our humans would think we stink.”

“Don’t worry,” Hugo replied. “We just need to get wet somehow, to clean off! Whenever I’m messy, Mom and Enrique give me a big bath . . . If only there was a big bath in the park . . .”

“Well . . . ,” Lulu said. “Are you two looking at the same thing I’m looking at?”

“Oh my goodness. Yes, I am,” said Hugo.

“That delicious-looking stick over there?” asked King, panting excitedly as he looked at a stick. “Those don’t make you cleaner. If they did, I’d be spotless.”

“No, King. That.”

King followed Lulu’s gaze to see what they were staring at: the fountain. In all its wet, splashy glory.

Should they . . . ?