ones, little ones, fat ones, and noisy ones. This may be even more fun than my squirrels, thought Frank. At home I only have two squirrels to chase, but here there are hundreds of birds. Frank was on the run. Birds were flying this way and that, trying to get away from the dapple blur of fur that was chasing them. “Oh, this is the life.”
A New Friend Arrives
Frank awoke. “Where am I?” He looked around for his glasses, found them, and put them on. “Oh, that’s right. I’m at the lake. I can’t wait to chase more birds! I better get boy up.”
Frank started barking. “Darn it, Frank,” said Spencer. “It’s me.”
I know it’s you, thought Frank. “We must get up. There are birds to chase.”
Being woken by Frank’s barking, Spencer got out of bed. It was almost noon.
“Good morning,” Spencer called out to his parents.
“Good morning,” they called back to Spencer. “Remember, today your brother, his wife, and Puma are coming. They are going to stay a couple days with us at the lake.”
Spencer was excited. Frank decided he was very excited. Frank knew that Spencer’s brother was Tyler. And Tyler’s wife was Kinga, but who was Puma?
Frank’s question was soon to be answered when a car was heard coming down the driveway. Tyler, Kinga, and Puma had arrived! Everybody went running out of the house, including Frank.
Frank saw Tyler step out of the car, then Kinga. Where was Puma? Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Frank saw a flash of black. Something went running by him so fast that he didn’t have time to blink. “Could that be Puma?” questioned Frank.
And Puma it was. Puma, as it turned out, was a dog. He wasn’t just a dog. He was a beautiful, long-legged Border collie. The only strange thing, thought Frank, is that Puma is a cat’s name. I wonder if Puma knows that.
Puma came to a screeching stop just inches in front of Frank. “Hi, I’m Puma. You must be Frank.”
“Finally, someone that I can understand,” said Frank. “Can you understand me?”
“Yes, of course I can,” said Puma.
Puma was very intelligent. So intelligent in fact that Frank was sure he was the smartest dog he had ever met. Frank thought for sure that Puma probably could read and write.
“Puma? Isn’t that a cat’s name?” asked Frank.
“Why, yes, of course it is,” answered Puma. “My people thought that would be the perfect name for me. I am quite proud of it.”
“I’m proud of my name too,” said Frank. “My full name is Franklin Marshall, but you can call me Frank.”
“Let’s go swimming, Frank,” Puma said as he went running toward the trail to the lake. “The water will be warm.”
Frank had never been swimming. He wasn’t sure he could do it. But he headed toward the lake anyway. “Just another great adventure,” said Frank gleefully. “Puma is going to be my best friend. I just know it!”
They reached the bottom of the trail, and splash, Puma leaped into the water. “Come on, Frank. The water’s fine,” Puma called out from the water. With his long legs, Puma was a graceful swimmer.
Frank moved slowly toward the water. He put his front foot in and pulled it right out. “Puma, that’s not swimming. That’s a b-a-t-h,” said an alarmed Frank.
“Frank, what is a b-a-t-h?” asked Puma. “Wait, b-a-t-h. That spells bath. Oh, Frank, you are so silly!”
Frank was amazed. Puma could spell! Frank thought he could, but now he knew for sure. He also felt very sorry for Spencer because Spencer had called it a b-a-t-h. He will need to get back to school as soon as we get home, thought Frank.
“Come on in, Frank,” urged Puma.
Frank set his glasses down on the dock, took a deep breath, and leaped into the water. “I can swim, Puma. I can swim!”
Meanwhile up near the house, Spencer was asking Tyler where the dogs had gone. Tyler figured that they probably went down to the lake because Puma loved to swim. Tyler and Spencer went down toward the lake; they had grabbed some towels and put on their swim trunks. Once down at the water, they saw Puma swimming lazily in the water, but where was Frank?
“Puma, where is Frank?” called Tyler. “Find Frank, Puma.”
Frank heard someone say his name. He swam around the end of the dock. “Here I am!” barked Frank.
“Look, Tyler! Puma taught Frank how to swim!” Spencer beamed proudly.
A Scary Encounter with a Stick
The next morning, Puma and Frank awoke and had breakfast.
“What shall we do today Frank?” asked Puma.
“I was thinking that we should chase my birds today, Puma. They make so much noise when I chase them,” said Frank with his mouth half full of food.
“That’s a fine idea, Frank. Let’s go catch us some birds.”
Frank and Puma whined at the door. That was the only way they could communicate the point that they wanted out. It seemed when they whined, people would open the doors. It worked the same way as the doorbell. Odd, thought Frank.
Out the oddly matched dogs ran, Frank on his short, stubby legs and Puma on his long and slender ones. Both dogs could run fast. Puma would chase the birds in the grass, and Frank would chase them from the bushes.
“We make quite a good team,” declared Frank.
“Yes, we do, Frank.” Puma smiled. “I think we can be best friends.”
“Me too,” smiled Frank. “Me too.”
The two dogs ran after the birds for an hour. Tired, they lay down in the shade of a tree. They both sat looking out toward the lake.
“I’m having such a nice time at the lake,” said Puma. “I really hate to leave tomorrow.”
“I hate to leave too, Puma. Why don’t we go swimming now?” answered Frank
Down the trail they ran. Puma was leading the way down. Suddenly he heard a loud yipe from Frank. Puma’s blood ran cold. He didn’t want to turn around, afraid of what he might find.
Puma did turn around. It was worse than he thought. For there lying in the trail was his new best friend; a stick stuck into his chest.
“Puma,” Frank said through glazed eyes, “I don’t think I’m going to live.”
“Oh, Frankie.” Puma used his calmest voice. “I will go get my people and Spencer. You lay right there. You will be fine. I know it.”
Puma ran as fast as he could up the trail.
