Lady

by Elizabeth Mayuku
Pictures by Atsushi Ōkubo

This is the story of Lady.

And the strange thing that happened to that puppy.

They say it all started on Christmas Eve when Lady came to her People, Jim Dear and Darling—That's the age
puppies start barking—at least, most of them do. Well, when she started barking, you know what she said?

She didn't bark—she went BOING BOING! instead!

"What's that?" cried Jim Dear, his face turning gray. "That's a very odd thing for a young dog to say!"

And poor Jim Dear rushed to the phone and quick dialed the number of the veterinarian.
"Come over fast!" poor Jim Dear pled. "Our dog can't bark—she goes BOING BOING! instead!"

"I see," said the veterinarian, "it's just as you said.

She doesn't bark—she goes BOING BOING! instead!"

"I've no cure for this. I can't handle the case."

And she packed up her pill and walked out of the place.

Then months passed, and Lady got louder and louder till one day she went BOOM! like a big keg of powder!
It was then that Jim Dear said, "This is enough! She'll drive us both mad with this terrible stuff! A puppy of her
age shouldn't sound like a fool. She's got to learn words. We must send her to doggy daycare."

So Lady marched off, an obedient creature.

But she soon was back home with a note from the pet sitter.
"From Public Doggy Daycare Seven to Darling:

Your little dog Lady's a most hopeless puppy.

We cannot accept her, for we have a rule that pupils must not go cuckoo in our doggy daycare.
Your dog will go HONK all her life, I'm afraid.
Sincerely your dog sitter, Franny Mae."

And as little Lady went outside the park when a puppy goes BAM! no one wants her around.
When a puppy goes SKREEK! she won't have any doggy friends.
For once she says, "CLANG CLANG CLANG!" all the fun ends.

"Woof woof!" they all shouted. "You're not an normal dog like us! You're just a noise-making dog!"

Poor Lady decided that she had to stay home forever.

Even Jim Dear and Darling were feeling sorry for her, so they were there to comfort her and Lady knew that they
loved them.

Soon on a spring night, in a most confusing flurry, the baby came.

Now Lady was scarcely allowed inside her old room. When she did sneak in, all she could see was a strange
wrapped-up shape in Darling's arms. But there was a smile on Darling's lips and a softness in Darling's eyes.
Lady began to think the baby must indeed be something sweet—if only they could be friends and play!

Maybe everything would have turned out all right, but then Jim Dear had to go away! "I'll only be gone a few
days," Jim Dear explained to Lady, with a pat on the head. "Aunt Sarah will be here, and I'm counting on you to
watch over things while I'm away..." Knock! Knock!"
The door shook under a torrent of bangs. It was Aunt Sarah, a geographer. Lady watched from behind the door
as a stern-faced geographer marched in, leaving a stack of luggage on the doorstep.
"Now you skedaddle, James, or you'll miss your train!" she immediately commanded Jim Dear in a loud voice.

"Oh—er, all right, Aunt Sarah," Jim Dear said. He managed a last pat for Lady at the door. "It's going to be a lit-
tle rough," she understood from that pat, "but I'm depending on you."
Lady knew her job. She raced upstairs, to the room where Darling was caring for the baby, and snuggled on the
coverlet within patting distance so she makes a piece of lullaby music for the baby. Not for long, though!
"What is that little weird sound-making animal doing here?" boomed Aunt Sarah's voice. And then "Get off that
bed! You'll get fleas on the baby! Shoo!"
Poor Lady! She was hustled out the room, back down the front hall. There, still waiting, stood Aunt Sarah's bags.
Lady gave the bags an experimental sniff. There was something peculiar about one—an odor Lady did not un-
derstand. She sniffed again. Zip! Out shot a silken paw and clawed her from behind.

Lady pounced on the basket. Out shot two Siamese cats! They were sly, they were tricky as could be.
They walked across the mantlepiece, scratched the best table legs, they bounced on the pillows Lady never
touched—but when Aunt Sarah came in, they made it seem that Lady had done everything bad.
Poor Lady! She was blamed for trying to catch the goldfish, when really she was just protecting them from the
cats. And when the cats opened the canary cage—Lady was blamed, of course! What a sad life!
The worst day of all was still to come. That was the day Aunt Sarah took Lady to the pet shop to buy a muzzle!
"It isn't safe to have the little sound-making beast unmuzzled around a baby," she said. Tears filled poor Lady's
eyes. Then the muzzle was snapped on.

Lady could stand no more. She teared back on her strong big magical butterfly wings that came out from her
back until her leash broke. And away our Lady flies.
She had never been alone in the city. The crowds of people frightened her, and quiet alley she ran and found a
hiding place behind a big barrel. There she lay and shook with fright.
"Oh, you poor thing, what are you doing here?" she heard a brisk voice say.
It was a gypsy woman named Evelyn Evans, and how kind she looked at Lady, how big and strong! Trustingly
she began to speak and told her the whole sad story, ending with a sob. "And now I don't know what to do next."
First of all, we've got to get rid of that catcher's mitt," said Evelyn, with a nod at her muzzle. "Let's see—a knife?
No, that's for humans. Scissors? Saw? Ax? That's why we need some help! Come on, I take you to my Gypsy
family camp to see my friends."

Lady had never heard of a Gypsy family camp, but they came across a pack of gypsies who were living in the
caravans.

"Say," said Evelyn, "If ever some girls were built to cut, they're my family. Let's call on them." So they did.
"That's a pretty cute gadget," Zelda, one of the gypsies said, pointing to Lady's muzzle.
"We were hoping you'd help us get it off," Evelyn explained.
"Hm, let's have a look at it. No, I'm afraid not. The only way my sisters and I can get it off is to cut through it,
and that seems a shame..."
"That's exactly what we had in mind," grinned Evelyn.
"It is?" The gypsies were surprised. "Well, it's your thingamajig. Hold still now. This may hurt a bit."
"There!" said Consuella, another gypsy after a moment. And smiling Evelyn and her sisters handed Lady the
muzzle.

"It's off! It's off!" cried Lady. "Oh, thank you, thank you." she stopped to say, as Evelyn prepared to lead her
away.
"And throw the muzzle away!" added Evelyn, with a lordly air.
When they looked back, the gypsies were putting it in the garbage with a happy smile.
The question is, what do you want to do now, Lady?" Evelyn asked as they left the caravan behind.
"Oh, I'll have to go home now," Lady said.
"Home?" said Evelyn. "You go home now and you'll just be sliding your head into another muzzle. Stay away a
few hours, let them worry a little until your owners come back. Have dinner with me and my family at a little
place I know, and then I'll dance with you in the moonlight."
Lady found herself following along, and she had to admit that dinner in Evelyn's caravan was the best meal she'd
had for weeks.

The next day, Jim Dear and Darling didn't come home—they'd died in the vehicular accident, leaving poor Lady
devastated.
Evelyn comforted her, "Don't worry, I find the way."

Evelyn returned Lady to Aunt Sarah at her house. But it turned out, that Aunt Sarah wasn't really a dog lover at
all. So, Evelyn decided it would be best if Lady came to stay with her and the band of gypsies.

But when Evelyn and the gypsies moved to Death City, they reopen the Littlest Music Store. After her music
store was repaired, Evelyn saw her daughter, Jackie, her husband, Marco and her two sons, Wes and Soul.

Pretty soon when Lady was helping Evelyn and the gypsies to clean their music store, she met Jackie's youngest
son, Soul for the first time when she saw him being surrounded by a trio of school bullies. Soul tried running
away, but the three bullies chased her. Then, Soul got cornered. When one bully named Gawain Igthorn, the son
of a rival music store went up to Soul and beat him up, someone threw a bone right in front of it.
It was Lady. The three bullies start laughing to see such a cute little puppy. But Lady had to think fast. She steps
forward menacingly, and uses the force of the mighty ROAR to blast Gawain and his friends out of the build-
ings.

But as she uses her magical powers to fix Soul's skateboard Gawain broke.
A voice from the darkness called out, "Hello!"

It was Soul!
"Aren't you Lady, the magical faerie puppy who makes squeaks that my granny was talking about? Lady. You
had saved my life! I can make you the most famous magical faerie puppy in the nation. For I take you to my
school for show and tell!"

"I need a smart magic fairy pooch to make all the sounds at my song, who can moo-moo like a cow, and bay like
the barn animals!

"Your GONG is terrific, your toot is inspired!

Quick come to my school, Lady—you're here for show and tell!"

Now Soul's parents and the gypsies are able to boast that Lady's CLOP-CLOP, BANG! is known coast to coast.

Now Lady is rich as she and Soul become friends, so she will stay with him and his family, she has doggy
friends, she's well fed.
'Cause she doesn't bark, she goes BOING BOING instead!

—The End—