Duster: Part 3

By MARGARET BEAMES

Just some rubbish, she thought, but as she went closer, it moved. She bent down for a closer look and caught her breath. "Hey, where did you come from?" she asked softly.

The little dog thumped his stumpy tail on the dusty ground. As Fliss knelt on the grass beside him and stroked his head gently, he flattened his ears and rolled his eyes at her apologetically. She frowned as she saw the state of his feet. The pads were sore and cracked, the claws worn down to the roots. He must have been walking for days!

"You're exhausted, aren't you?" she said. She could feel his ribs under the rough, curly coat. "And hungry, I bet."

Distantly she heard a cry: "Fliss! Catch it! Fliss!" Another ball had gone sky high. There would have been plenty of time to get underneath it if she had been watching, but she wasn't. Her team screamed in frustration as she left it to fall.

Publisher: Scholastic

Price: $13.95

Age group: 6-10 yrs

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