Alone in His Teacher's House (Marvin Redpost 4)

Waldo lay there.

“There you are! You old whisker-faced dog!”

Waldo didn’t move.

“Waldo!” he shouted. “Wake up, Waldo! Wake up, you stupid dog!”

But already he knew that Waldo would never wake up.

Chapter 9

Do Something!

He didn’t know what to do.

Waldo was dead. He threw up the liver and died.

Do something!

Should he call 911?

Do something! The words kept repeating inside his head. Waldo is dead. Do something!

Should he get him out from under the bed? How would he even do that? Pull him by the tail? And even if he could get him out from under the bed, then what?

He called home.

It rang eleven times. His parents had already left for work.

Do something!

“I never should have given him liver,” he said.

He couldn’t just leave Waldo there. Could he? Just go to school as if nothing happened?

He walked around the house. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and noticed for the first time that he was crying.

He wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeve.

He walked quickly back to the phone.

He called the vet.

There was a recording. The office was closed until 10:00. But it gave another number to call in case of an emergency.

Marvin didn’t know if it was an emergency. Waldo was already dead.

He dialed the emergency number anyway. Dr. Charles had said, “Let me know what happens.”

A woman answered the phone. “Hello.”

“Hello,” said Marvin. “This is Marvin Redpost. I’m taking care of Mrs. North’s dog, Waldo. I mean, I was. Dr. Charles said to let him know what happened. Well, he died. And I don’t know what to do! I can’t take him to a cemetery because—”

“I’ll get my husband,” said the woman.

Dr. Charles came on the line.

“Waldo is under the bed,” Marvin told him, trying not to cry. “He won’t move. He threw up all his liver and dog food. I’m just here by myself.”