Jelly Bean Read online

  “That was really fun!” said Allie Pink Girl. “I loved the cats!”

  All the other kids’ parents were in the waiting room. Jada waved to me as she left with her mom and little sister. My dad was nowhere in sight.

  “I can’t wait for next Saturday,” Levi said, leaving with his parents.

  “I’m sure your dad will be here soon, Suzannah,” Ms. Kim said. “I need to walk the dogs, but you can stay here with Ms. Flores and play with our waiting-room cats. If your dad doesn’t come in a few minutes, we’ll call your mom in case he forgot. How does that sound?”

  I smiled. I’d get to play with these cats all by myself! “Good!” It seemed like a long time ago that I felt nervous to be there.

  Ms. Flores, behind the front counter, told me the orange cat was named Hattie. “And the gray cat is Shadow. They both love to greet our visitors.”

  Sitting next to Shadow, I ran my hand down her side. She was so soft. Then she purred! A rumbly, happy purr. “Ms. Flores, can I go to the cat room and get one of the toys we made?” I asked. “I think Shadow might like to play with one.”

  “Of course!” she said.

  It was exciting to walk down the hall to the cat room all by myself, wearing my name tag. I was an official Shelter Pet Squad member on a mission! As I walked into the cat room, some of the cats meowed or flicked their tails. One pretty orange tiger cat rubbed her face against my leg. The black kitten I had played with was curled up, fast asleep next to the cat toy I had made.

  I picked up another braided toy. “I’ll be back next week,” I promised.

  Back in the waiting room, I held one end of the toy. I dangled the other end over Shadow’s head. She grabbed it with her front paws, attacking it.

  The bell above the front door rang. I was having so much fun with Shadow that I was glad it wasn’t Dad. A family brought in a huge bag of dog food. “We wanted to give this to the shelter,” the mom told Ms. Flores.

  “Oh, thank you! We’d be glad to have it,” Ms. Flores said.

  Next a veterinarian stopped by. “How’s Abby doing on that new medicine?” he asked Ms. Flores.

  “She is much better!” Ms. Flores said.

  “That’s great,” he said. “I’m going down to the kennel to have a look at her.”

  “You’re a beautiful cat,” I whispered to Shadow as the front door opened again.

  I looked up to see if it was Dad. No, it was a family. There was a mom and dad, each holding one end of a big cage. A girl about my age walked behind them. She was crying.

  I know it’s not nice to stare, but I couldn’t stop. I let Shadow pull the cat toy from my fingers.

  “Hello,” the mom said to Ms. Flores. “My husband just accepted a job in France, and we’re moving next week. Our guinea pig isn’t allowed to come with us. We have no one to take him. We were hoping you’d find him a new home.”

  “Yes, of course,” Ms. Flores said kindly. “I’ll just need you to fill out some forms.”

  The mom and dad set the cage down on the floor so they could write on the papers.

  “His name is Jelly Bean,” the girl told Ms. Flores, sniffling. “He’s a great guinea pig.”

  I sat up taller so I could see down into the cage. A brown-and-white guinea pig face peeked out of a little wooden house inside.

  “Are you leaving his cage and little house and dishes, too?” Ms. Flores asked.

  “Yes,” the dad said. “You may have everything.”

  “Thank you,” said Ms. Flores. “Jelly Bean will be more comfortable with some familiar things. And it’s easier to find someone to adopt the small pets if they come with a cage.” She looked over the forms. “I’m glad to see that he is in good health and he has never bitten anyone. He looks like a wonderful pet.”

  “He’s been a perfect pet,” the mom said. “We’re sorry that he can’t come with us.”

  “We have a special room for the smaller pets,” Ms. Flores said. “If you’ll bring him and follow me, I’ll show you.”

  The mom and dad picked up the cage again. The girl covered her face with her hands. I watched her shoulders go up and down as she cried.

  I know it’s hard not having a pet, but it must be even worse to give away a pet you already love. Ms. Flores held the door open to the small-animal room.

  “It’ll be okay,” I said to the girl.

  She glanced through her fingers at me.

  “The people here are nice,” I said. “They’ll take good care of him.”

  “He’s never lived anywhere else. He’ll be sad without me,” she said. “And I’ll be sad without him.”

  “I’ll be coming here on Saturdays for Shelter Pet Squad.” I showed her my name tag. “So I can check on him. I’ll make sure he gets a good home.”

  “Promise?” she asked.

  “I promise.”

  The bell over the front door to the shelter jingled. “I’m sorry I’m late, sweetie,” Dad said. “I got lost trying to find the shelter. Are you ready?”

  I glanced toward the small-animal room. The girl had gone inside. She was holding Jelly Bean in her arms, saying good-bye.

  I nodded to Dad, feeling braver than when I had arrived. I had a real mission now. “I’m ready.”

  Ready to find a new home for Jelly Bean.

  On Monday, I woke up excited to find a new home for Jelly Bean. He was such a cute guinea pig. How hard could it be?

  Our mail carrier was coming up the sidewalk as I left for school. “Mrs. Fisher, how would you like to have a pet guinea pig?” I asked. “He even comes with a cage!”

  “Oh, no, thank you!” she said, making a face. “Cleaning cages is too much work. My daughter had a pet rabbit years ago. I was always cleaning the cage.”

  I didn’t even get to tell her how cute Jelly Bean was.

  When my bus came, I tried again. Climbing the steps, I said, “Mrs. Scott, do you like guinea pigs? There’s a really cute guinea pig at the animal shelter. He needs a new —”

  “I have three cats!” my bus driver said. “A guinea pig would be scared to death at my house!”

  At school, I saw my principal in the hallway. “Would your kids like a pet guinea pig, Mr. Viera?” I asked. “I know the perfect one.”

  “My kids have their hearts set on a dog,” Mr. Viera said. “I’m just not ready to train a puppy. We’re too busy right now.”

  It was hard to keep hearing no. But it would only take one person saying yes to keep my promise. So I kept trying.

  “I have the same problem you do,” my teacher, Mrs. Cole, said. “My landlord says no pets.”

  The janitor’s son was allergic to hay.

  The nurse’s daughter was allergic to fur.

  Every kid I asked wanted Jelly Bean. The next day, I found out that all their parents didn’t.

  “Sorry. My mom says they’re too smelly.”

  “We don’t have a good place to put a big cage.”

  “I begged, but Dad says we already have too many pets.”

  “My mom thinks I’m not responsible enough. I told her I was, but she thought we should try a fish first.”

  “My grandma doesn’t like rodents!”

  With every no, my stomach felt heavier. By Friday, I had asked everyone I could think of who might adopt Jelly Bean. No one had said yes.

  At home, I kept pretending Jelly Bean lived with us. I would put his cage right near the TV so he could watch the news with Dad. Mom would bring him a carrot as she was cooking supper. I would make fun play areas for him in my room. Jelly Bean was used to having a family, and that’s what he needed again.

  But I couldn’t adopt him either.

  “Don’t worry,” Dad said at suppertime. “It’ll happen.”

  “Maybe when you get to Shelter Pet Squad tomorrow, you’ll find out that Jelly Bean has already been adopted,” Mom added. “You aren’t the only person trying to find him a home. Ms. Kim and Ms. Flores are trying, too. I’m sure they’ve told every visitor to the shelter about
Jelly Bean. Maybe one of them adopted him.”

  I nodded, but that idea only made me half happy. “I wanted someone I know to adopt him. Then I could ask about him sometimes. I could find out if he was happy in his new home.”

  Still, I crossed my fingers that Mom was right. I hoped he’d already been adopted by a family that would love him.

  And didn’t mind cleaning cages.

  And lived in a place where pets were allowed.

  And didn’t have allergies.

  And didn’t have cats that didn’t like guinea pigs.

  I sighed. Finding Jelly Bean a good home was much harder than I’d thought it would be.

  On Saturday, I wasn’t scared to go back to the shelter. But I still put Whiskers in my pocket, just in case.

  Ms. Kim met us as soon as we came through the waiting room door. Before I could even ask her about Jelly Bean, she said, “Ms. Flores has something special to show us!”

  Jada grinned at me. I walked over to stand next to her. I was glad to be making a new friend.

  “Look over here.” Ms. Flores pointed to the bulletin board on the wall behind the front desk. “This is where we post photos of the animals that have been adopted. As they leave the shelter, we take their picture. Sometimes the families even send us photos of their pets in their new homes. Seeing our animals happy and loved by their new families makes all our hard work worth it.”

  The bulletin board had lots of photos. There were people holding cats or kneeling beside dogs with the Maplewood Animal Shelter sign in the background. I looked quickly across the photos. Where was —?

  “Suzannah, look!” Ms. Kim said.

  Jelly Bean? I hurried over to the picture Ms. Flores was pointing to.

  “It’s Bandit!” Ms. Kim said.

  Oh. Well, that was good news, too! In the photo, a lady was kneeling next to Bandit, holding his leash. She was smiling, but Bandit looked nervous.

  It’ll be okay, I wanted to tell him. Just wait and see. It’s scary to meet new people, but it won’t be scary forever, only at first. There wasn’t a photo of him at his new house. So I imagined him happily playing with some dog toys on the couch next to the lady.

  “There’s Brutus!” Levi said. “I’m glad he has a new home!” I looked at the other photos of pets and their new families. I recognized some of the dogs, but I didn’t see Sunny.

  “What about Sunny?” I asked. “And Jelly Bean?”

  “Not yet,” Ms. Flores said. “Sunny has lots of energy. She’ll need a yard with room to run. And no one has come to the shelter wanting a guinea pig. Most people are looking for a dog or a cat.”

  As the other kids talked about the photos, I walked over to the doorway to the small-animal room. Jelly Bean saw me right away. “Wheeek!” He ran to the side of his cage. Standing up on his hind legs, he held the cage bars with his tiny paws. “Wheeek!”

  He looked so cute. I wished I could pick him up and hold him. “Wheeek!”

  “That means ‘I want a treat!’” Ms. Flores said, coming up beside me. “There are some carrots under his cage, Suzannah. Would you like to give him one?”

  I was excited to give Jelly Bean a treat. As I came closer, he turned his face to the side to see what I was doing. I pulled a carrot out of the bag.

  “Wheeek!”

  “Who’s this?” Matt asked.

  I turned around to see everyone had followed me into the small-animal room.

  “His name is Jelly Bean.” I felt proud that I could introduce him to the other kids because I had met him first.

  Levi smiled. “Jelly Bean is a funny name for a guinea pig.”

  “He’s shaped like a jelly bean,” Matt said. “Maybe that’s why they named him Jelly Bean.”

  I pushed the end of the carrot through the bars. Jelly Bean grabbed it with his teeth and pulled it the rest of the way inside. He started chomping and chewing.

  “He sure likes carrots!” Jada said. “Just like my rabbit, Honeybun!”

  “He’ll make someone a great pet,” Ms. Flores said. “We just need to find the right person.”

  “Jelly Bean has his treat now,” Ms. Kim said. “Are you ready to make some treats for the dogs?”

  “Yes!” everyone said.

  “Great!” Ms. Kim said. “Come with me to the workroom.”

  I walked beside Jada so we could sit together. This time we hid treats in paper-towel tubes. We cut the tubes in half and then folded over an edge at one end to make a little cup. We put a handful of cheese cubes and broken-up dog biscuits in the tube. Then we folded over the other end to seal the treats inside.

  “It’s like a little package,” Jada said.

  “Yeah, we’re mail carriers delivering treat packages!” Matt said. “Special delivery for Abby!”

  “It’s like a puzzle for them. The dogs will smell the cheese and work to get it out of the tube,” Ms. Kim said. “It’s the same idea as the paper-bag balls we made last week, but with a different problem to solve.”

  “Isn’t it mean to make them work for their treats?” Allie Pink Girl asked.

  “Not at all,” Ms. Kim said. “Dogs like to be busy and play. This gives them something to do and a treat for doing it.”

  “Can I make one for Jelly Bean?” I asked.

  “Guinea pigs don’t eat cheese or dog biscuits, but they do like to chew cardboard,” Ms. Kim said. “Go ahead and make an extra tube and just fold over one end, Suzannah. When we’re done with the dogs, we’ll find a good treat to put inside for Jelly Bean.”

  Allie Pink Girl laughed. “We should give him jelly beans!”

  “He likes carrots,” I said, sticking my chin up.

  “Carrots are a much better idea,” Ms. Kim said. “Candy would make him sick. We give our animals only healthy treats.”

  I liked that my idea was a “much better idea.”

  “What happens if an animal doesn’t get adopted?” Jada asked.

  “They live here with us,” Ms. Kim said. “If the animal has been here a long time, we might ask another shelter in a different town to take him. Maybe the right family isn’t here. Maybe the animal will have a better chance somewhere else. But we do everything we can. We put each animal’s photo on our website. We tell all the people who come into the shelter about our pets.”

  I made the extra treat tube for Jelly Bean. Then I put it off to the side so it wouldn’t get mixed in with the dogs’ treats.

  “But we don’t want just any home,” Ms. Kim continued. “Some animals need special care. Or a family might have other pets, too. Will the animals all get along? There are a lot of things to think about and questions to ask. We need to find a good match for each animal and each family.”

  “What would be a good match for Jelly Bean?” I asked.

  “The right person would give him a safe, clean place to live, healthy food, hay, and fresh water. And he’ll need toys or things to keep him busy, and plenty of attention,” Ms. Kim said. “Guinea pigs can get lonely. So it would be nice if his cage were placed where he will feel part of the family.”

  We brought our treat tubes to the dogs in the kennel. I gave mine to Sunny. She had no trouble getting it open! Then I headed to the waiting room with Jelly Bean’s empty paper-towel tube. I wanted to ask Ms. Flores if I could have some carrot bits to put inside.

  “We have lots of wonderful cats,” Ms. Flores was saying to a lady at the counter. “Are you looking for a kitten or an older cat?”

  “Or a guinea pig?” I asked. “There’s a really nice one in the small-animal room. His name is Jelly Bean and he’s really friendly.”

  The woman squirmed. “I want a cat to get rid of rodents.”

  I stepped backward. She was definitely a bad match for Jelly Bean!

  Waiting for Ms. Flores to finish talking to the lady, my heart sank. It had been a whole week. Not one person had been a good match.

  I’d promised to help, but what if I couldn’t?

  What if no one wanted a guinea pig?

>   The next week, I was so happy to find Sunny’s adoption photo on the bulletin board. In the photo, Sunny was sitting beneath the Maplewood Animal Shelter sign with four kids. Her mouth was partly open as if she was smiling. “She has gone to live with a family that has a big backyard for her to run in,” Ms. Kim said. “She’ll love that.”

  “I’m glad she got a good home with lots of kids,” Jada said.

  Sunny’s family had sent a photo of her at her new home, too. Two boys were playing outside, and Sunny was right there with them. Her tail was wagging so fast it was blurry in the photo.

  I looked at every other photo on the bulletin board. No Jelly Bean.

  “I brought Jelly Bean an apple,” I told Ms. Flores and Ms. Kim. “I borrowed a guinea pig book from the library. It said guinea pigs like apples.”

  “He’ll love that,” Ms. Flores said. “But let’s cut it up. The seeds aren’t good for little animals.”

  Ms. Flores found a small knife and cut my apple into chunks. “These can go in his bowl. Would you like to give them to him, Suzannah?”

  I was hoping she’d say that!

  Jelly Bean ran to the front of his cage when he saw me.

  “Wheeek!”

  “I have a special treat for you,” I said, opening the cage door. I put the apple chunks in his bowl. He came right up beside my hand, so I stroked his back gently with my finger. I thought he might run into his hidey house, but he didn’t. “I hope you like apples,” I said.

  He liked them so much that he started crunching and munching as soon as I stopped petting him. As I closed the cage door, I heard someone come into the small-animal room behind me. I thought it was one of the other kids, until a man’s voice said, “I was told there’s a guinea pig in here?”

  I turned around. The man was wearing dirty jeans and a black T-shirt. Maybe he was looking for a pet for one of his kids? “Yes, this is Jelly Bean,” I said. “He’s a wonderful guinea pig.”

  The man didn’t smile. “Do you know how much he costs?”

  “He’s twenty dollars. The cage is ten.”

  I was about to tell him that a guinea pig needs attention, but he said, “I don’t need the cage. Do you think they’d take five dollars for him?”