Chapter 2

In which Trixie the Wonder Dog and the children go to the library on their adventure

“Ok, kiddos where do you want to go tonight?”  Trixie asked.  To the adult humans it sounded as if she was barking and since the kids were in bed, they fussed at her to shush before she woke them up.  Of course, this brought laughter from the kids who were not even close to sleeping, unbeknownst to their parents.

“I want to go sailing on a pirate ship.” Jack said.

“No!  That’s boring!  Let’s go to Niagara Falls.” Hannah shouted.

“Hey! Absolutely not.” Grace said, “We did that two months ago and why would you want to go back there Hannah?  You broke your clavicle and had to have surgery, remember?  You aren’t even recovered yet and if Mom and Dad find out we snuck out to Niagara Falls and worse, if anyone else gets a broken bone, it’s going to be all my fault.  Just wait and see!  No.  We are not going to Niagara Falls.”

“Just exactly how are they going to find out where we go unless YOU tell them, Grace?” Jack inquired of his sister.  Secretly, he thought it would be a great deal of fun to go back to Niagara Falls and reenact their trip over them in a barrel.  He felt bad about his little sister’s broken collar bone and truthfully, he was a little bit jealous it was her who sustained the broken bone and not himself. In fact, he may have been hoping that he might be the one to get a broken bone if they went back.  It wasn’t as if he was a masochist or anything like that, it was just come ON!  He was the boy so why did his sister get the notoriety of having the bone break instead of him?  It just wasn’t fair.  Girls get all the fun.

“Niagara Falls?” asked Trixie. “I’m not sure we have time to go there tonight.  I think we need a shorter adventure today.  Not to mention something a little safer.  Grace is right.  We don’t need any more broken bones for awhile or else your parents are going to start asking questions.”

They all started chanting “No quick trips!”, “No quick trips!” while bouncing up and down on their knees.  At least all of the kids seemed to be in agreement that they did not want a short trip even if they couldn’t agree on where they should go.

Trixie said, “All right, you guys.  Pipe down before your parents come up here.  Let me tell you a story and we’ll see if we can figure out where to go from there.”

Hannah, Jack, Lily and Grace reluctantly agreed to settle in for a story even if they were really itching to go on an adrenaline laced adventure with the family Wonder Dog.  Trixie grabbed her glasses, perched them about halfway down her nose, looked over the top of them and began her story.  “It was a dark and stormy night.”

“Awwww!  Come on, Trix!  That’s such a boring way to start out a story!  It’s such a cliché” Grace chastised.  “No one starts a real story like that.”

Trixie just blinked and sighed.  She seemed a little surprised that someone would dare to call what she was doing a cliché’.  After all, how could a talking dog, in fact, an adventure seeking dog, let alone one with superhero powers strong enough to tote four kids around the globe at will, be a cliché?  Had this been done before?  Indeed, it had not!  Trixie was unaware of any other canines capable of what she was able to do.  She supposed it might be possible that others of her kind may exist, but if they did, she had not met any of them yet.

Indignantly, Trixie looked over the rim of her glasses and fixed her gaze upon each child.  She didn’t really have to say anything as her look said it all.  They stopped their protests and began settling in because they knew that look on her face meant that she would not utter one more word, let alone sneak out of the house with them if they continued to call her a cliché.

After a moment or two, it became apparent the kids were going to settle down and listen to the story Trixie was about to tell them.  She always went through this routine when she started talking.  First, she had to turn around in a circle on the nearest bed until she found a comfortable spot upon which to either sit or lay down.  After she found the exact spot she had to scratch at it for a few seconds.  The kids had yet to figure out what the scratching meant and she never answered their questions when they asked her about it.  After the scratching, she had to turn around a few more times and then she quiet ceremoniously, in fact, with the majesty and flourish of a queen, situated herself in the comfortable space she had chosen.  After that, all four kids would pile on the bed, lounging around Trixie while she placed her glasses on her nose because she thought they made her look quite scholarly. Sometimes, she uttered an extremely satisfied sigh before she began her latest adventure with the kids.  On this night, she skipped the scratching and the sigh.  She was ready to begin as soon as she turned enough circles on the bed.

“Ok, you guys.  What’s black, white and read all over?” She waited a minute.  “Anyone know?  Anyone?”  Trixie fixed each child with a pointed look and waited a beat before shouting, “A newspaper!”

“Oh brother, Trix.  That’s the dumbest joke I’ve ever heard.  In fact, I’m not even laughing at it.  See?  This is me not laughing at dumb jokes.  Why are you asking us this?” Hannah said.

“Because that’s where the story starts tonight.” Trixie replied.

“Aw, man!  At the newspaper?  I don’t want to go see a newspaper!  I can see a hundred of them stacked on the coffee table at Grandma’s house any day.  Why do we have to go see a newspaper?” Jack said.  “I want to go whitewater rafting, rock climbing or hiking!  I don’t want to see a newspaper!  That’s boring.”

“Come on you guys.  Give me a minute here will you please?  We are not going to see a newspaper, but we are going to see a place where you can read many different newspapers, magazines, books, and even encyclopedias if  you want too.”

“Trixie, do you see our cousin here?  He’s the one who reads the dictionary and the encyclopedia, not us!  Why would we want to go where you can read that stuff?” Lily inquired of the family pet.

“Will you guys please be patient?  Of course I see that your cousin is not here.  If he were here we would not be having this conversation correct?”  All of the kids nodded their heads in agreement.  They all knew it was of utmost importance to keep the secret that they had a most extraordinary pet who was capable of gallivanting around the universe at will. 

“Ok” they muttered.  “What’s the story going to be then?”

Trixie settled in again and began, “Once upon a time.”

Grace, Lily, Jack and Hannah all groaned at once.  Lily muttered, “For Pete’s sake, Trixie, you listen to our lessons all day long at homeschool.  You have better language and communication skills than most people and yet you insist on starting your adventures with these ridiculous trite beginnings.  So much for creativity.”

In the interest of getting to the adventure, Trixie chose to pretend that she did not hear Lily’s comment even though everyone knows dogs have much better hearing than their human companions and she would have to have been nearly deaf in order not to hear Lily’s complaints.  But honestly, Trixie didn’t really care because she knew the kids enjoyed her stories since they always led to some outrageous adventure or another.  Besides, she knew it was true that she possessed an exceptional vocabulary and superior language skills when compared to the general public.

“Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night.”  Grace rolled her eyes and shook her head, while Lily gave a short snort.  Jack and Hannah settled themselves on pillows anticipating the adventure to come.  “It was the kind of night when no one wants to go outside because the rain pours down in sheets and the wind bends tree limbs to the ground.  Branches snapped.  Electricity flickered and people ran to make sure they knew where the candles, matches and flashlights were.  A tumbleweed blew across the…”

“Trix, get on with it will ya?  We get the picture.” Jack interrupted.

Now, Trixie was a polite dog.  She would never think of interrupting someone when they were talking, let alone telling a story so she fixed a pointed glare at Jack and said, “Young man, I am setting the scene.  You should know about this since you learned it just the other day in your creative writing course.”

“Writing, smiting, I don’t even like to write.  Scene setting?  I don’t remember any of that!”

Trixie looked at Jack straight through her glasses this time and said, “Interestingly enough, that is exactly what your Mother said after you turned in your latest assignment.”

“Hey! Not fair!  There’s no need to bring that up is there?  Leave me alone, will ya?  My pencil was running out of lead and that’s why I didn’t set a scene.”

At that, Jack’s sisters burst out with the laughter they had been suppressing during this latest interruption in the adventure.  Truthfully, they were getting tired and might even fall asleep before there ever was an adventure at the rate things were going tonight.

“Anyway, scene for what?” said Jack.  “We get it.  It’s raining hard and there’s a storm. And maybe flashlights or candles or something; I forget exactly what you said.  But who cares?  We don’t have tumbleweeds in this part of the country!”

“That is true Jack. But, it’s still part of the scene!”

“Ok. But I’m getting tired.”

“Well, we could have already been gone if you four would stop interrupting me!  A dog can only be expected to tolerate so much interruption you know.  I’m fighting an urge to go dig up a buried bone.”

The girls all looked at each other and Grace decided she would take up the cause for her sisters.  “Listen Trixie, we are not the ones interrupting every two minutes.  Jack is the one.  Why are you blaming us for his behavior?”

The four kids looked at each other, trying to suppress their smiles because they knew if they started smiling, it would end up in a fit of laughter.  Each one dropped their gazes at their siblings and fought hard to keep themselves in check.  Where in the world was Trixie going to take them tonight? Or was she really going to take them anywhere?  At the moment, it did not seem like an adventure was on the horizon at all!

Trixie heaved an exasperated sigh and said, “Ok.  Who wants to go to the library?”

Everyone’s eyes got huge and Lily said, “But Trix, the library is closed now. How would we get in?”

Trixie just laughed and said, “Do you forget that I am Trixie the Wonder Dog?!  Do you doubt my ability to gain access to the library after hours?  Besides that, I’m friends with the librarian’s poodle and she gave me a key years ago in case I ever needed reading material late at night.”

If possible, four sets of eyes grew even larger at the news of the librarian’s poodle. 

Hannah cleared her throat and asked the burning questions, “Uh, Trix?  Can Mrs. Faber’s dog talk too?  Can she read?  That would be weird since I read her a story at the library last summer! What if she could read what I was reading?  Does she take her kids on adventures like you do? Can she…”

“Hold it!” Trixie said.  “One question at a time!  Sheesh, you guys!  Ok.  Yes, she can talk.  Yes, she can read.  I don’t know because I don’t know what you read to her so it might have been too hard for her to read. And no, because they are all grown and gone now but maybe she takes the grandkids.  I’m not really sure since I haven’t seen Honeycomb in quite some time now.”

The four kids fell silent as they thought about the implications of another dog possibly having the same type of Wonder Dog characteristics as Trixie.

“Hey!  You said you didn’t know any other dogs with the same type of superpowers as you have, Trixie.”  Jack declared in a slightly cynical and accusatory tone I might add.

“I don’t. Honeycomb can’t talk like I can.  She writes though.  In fact, last November she participated in NaNoWriMoFoDo and she wrote this amazing dog adventure story entitled Honeycomb: The Adventures of a Scottish Lass.  It had 54,273 words in it and she wrote it all in one month!  It’s available everywhere books are sold now.  I think that’s real talent for a dog who has to get her toenails painted every two weeks, not to mention that ridiculous haircut she endures! Boy am I glad I don’t have to get my nails and hair done.  What a pain in the neck that wou…”

“What in the world is that?” Hannah excitedly shouted.  “There’s no such thing as NaNoWriMoFoDo.  I would know about it if there was!”

“Well, yes there is such a thing.  It’s call National Novel Writers Month For Dogs.” Trixie insisted as if everyone should already know about this event.  “It happens every November and it’s really quite popular among my fellow canines.  You probably don’t know about it since everyone is always so caught up in NaNoWriMo instead; yourself included, Hannah.”

“I don’t believe that for one minute.” Grace flatly stated while giving Trixie a rather pointed look.  Trixie wondered if she was aware of the irony of declaring that she did not believe a dog with painted toenails would be capable of writing a novel in a month, to a dog who was capable of talking, telling stories, and traipsing around the world with her humans in tow. 

Trixie stared at her a moment longer than necessary in order to drive home the point that this entire conversation was unbelievable, except for the part where Trixie was unable to lie, which therefore made the entire conversation believable.

“You guys!  Where were we?  It’s getting late and I have to get my beauty rest.” Trixie declared.  “I thought we were going to the library, but I guess no one wants to go now?”

“Yes, we do Trixie! We want to go right now and see if we can find that book Mrs. Faber’s dog wrote. Does the library here in Weston have it?”  The kids were all talking over each other and it was starting to get loud enough that their parents might hear them so Trixie tried to get them to bring the noise level down to an acceptable range.

Trixie told them that Honeycomb’s book was a bestseller and it was very difficult to find in the library due to its popularity.  They all looked disappointed, until she assured them that there were many other fine books available, also written by various canines (Everyone is My Friend by Dane Grate III), felines (Don’t Bother Me by Fluffy von Furer), equines (Harry the Horse Builds a Hovercraft) and even swine (When Pigs Fly: The Story of Max the Skydiving Pig) in some cases.  The kids also thought that was preposterous.  You see, they had been to the library on many, many occasions and they had never once heard about the titles that were written by anything or anyone from the animal kingdom.  Trixie had to reassure them by telling them that of course most people would not believe any book worth reading could be written by an animal, therefore, the books were always published under the name of a ghost writer.

“Ok, you guys.  Get ready to go then.  Does everyone have their shoes on?  No one needs to use the bathroom before we go?  Coats?”

“Coats? Come on, Trixie!  It’s 82 outside!”  Jack said.  “It’s hot!  We don’t need coats.”

“You’re right.  It’s just that I have my coat on at all times so it’s just habit to inquire as to whether or not you have yours.”  Trixie replied.  “Where’s my leash?”

“Right here.” Grace said.  “Let’s get it hooked so we can go!”  She was eager to get to the library to see these books for herself.  Grace was convinced that there was no such thing as books written by animals, but she was willing to give Trixie the Wonder Dog the benefit of the doubt until she could find out for herself at the library.

“All right everyone.  Grab onto my leash and let’s go.  We have to be careful and quiet so we don’t disturb anyone.”  With that, Trixie said, “Trixie the Wonder Dog, to the library!” The bedroom walls faded away and the four kids, plus Trixie found themselves outside the Chester Public Library.

“Hey Lily, grab the key to the library out of my bag.”  Trixie had a small bag that attached to her collar.  Whenever they went on an adventure, they took the bag with them.  Wherever they went, if they ever needed a key or a screwdriver or sometimes a blowtorch, it always seemed to be available in the bag.  Trixie told the kids that she was very astute at anticipating when they might need some assistance on their adventures and so she knew how and what to pack for any given trip.  No one questioned that some of the things she packed weighed much more than she did and yet she was still always able to fly wherever they were going.

It must be stated here that on these adventures, Trixie and the kids never broke into or damaged a property they were visiting.  That would be wrong and Trixie did not want her kids to grow up to be thugs.  She wanted them to be trustworthy people of character.  The truth was, Trixie had many friends in the animal kingdom and they all helped each other out.  That meant if Trixie needed help getting into or out of someplace, she could count on a friend to give her the key or let her in themselves.  They never vandalized or broke anything, except for Hannah’s collar bone that time at Niagara Falls and they never got in trouble.  Trixie truly was a trustworthy friend of the family.