Chapter 15 Gracie #2
But the tiny dog did bark a plausible number of times to count as “Happy Birthday to you,” and received great applause for the effort.
The next few contestants consisted of a toddler and his older brother, who guided a golden retriever through a mini-obstacle course, a preteen boy whose beagle, Toby, shook paws with the entire front row.
There were several furry friends who could sit, stay, beg, roll over, turn in circles, and one particularly sizeable Labrador named Scooby who danced a waltz by holding his owner’s shoulders with his two front paws.
As they neared the end, out came Olivia and Kat, whose name got a big laugh. But Olivia became quite serious as she gave a short speech about the women at the heart of the space program, featured in the movie Hidden Figures.
Nicole leaned closer. “Tell me this is your future stepdaughter.”
Gracie gave a dry snort. “What part of ‘not interested’ do you not understand?”
“Then she’s your future daughter-in-law.”
“She makes Benny crazy.”
“What better way to start a romance?” Nicole teased.
Kat did her “orbiting” routine, circling Olivia while guided by a whistle that no one but the dog could hear.
After that, Olivia started a countdown from ten, the whole crowd joined in and, when they reached “one,” Kat leaped—well, launched—high into the air and gave the trophy a high-five.
The crowd exploded with cheers and whistles. Gracie clapped but shared looks with her mother, aunt, and cousin.
They all knew she was tough competition and they might be bringing home a sad second-placer.
“And now for our final contestant, Benedict McBride and his Cavapoo, Sir Isaac Newton!”
Benny marched on stage to the polite applause, his chest puffed out, his beloved beast trotting proudly beside him. He gave the family a tiny nod, his whole face glowing.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced. “I am proud to tell you that Sir Isaac Newton”—he made a grand gesture toward the dog—“is here to demonstrate the three most famous and important concepts in physical science, the laws of motion, discovered by the original Sir Isaac Newton.”
Laughter and more applause rippled through the audience.
“The first is the law of inertia! An object at rest stays at rest.” He pointed to Sir Isaac Newton. “Rest!”
The dog dropped to the stage floor and pretended to sleep. Pulling a ball out of his pocket, Benny rolled it toward the dog, who stopped it with his nose. “Until acted on by an outside force!”
That got a noisy round of claps and Jack whistled loud enough to get Newt to rise to his feet and bark, only to be instantly quieted by a treat from Benny.
“Relax,” Nicole said to Gracie. “Your son is a pro.”
Gracie gave her a grateful smile and sat a little straighter, ready for the next trick.
“The second of Newton’s laws is known as force and acceleration,” Benny told them. “Force equals mass times acceleration!” He snapped his fingers and the dog started walking across the stage. Benny clapped his hands and yelled, “Turbo boost!”
Instantly Sir Isaac ran, then slid to a dramatic stop at the edge of the stage, which got another enthusiastic applause.
Clapping with everyone, Gracie glanced toward the door Jack had propped open, knowing it was almost time for Red’s big appearance.
“Now, for our grand finale,” Benny said with the flair of a magician.
“Newton’s third law, known simply by scientists as action and reaction.
That means for every action”—he put the homemade whistle to his lips and his cheeks puffed out as he blew, making the dog bark five times—“there is an equal and opposite reaction!”
The double side doors swung open, letting in a rush of cold air and…Red.
Everyone hooted, clapped, and hollered as Santa strode in, pushing a chipped and rickety popcorn machine on iron wheels.
Most of the lettering had faded off, and steam puffed from a tarnished copper spout. But popcorn was moving through the machine, wafting enough melted butter through the air to make the room smell like a movie theater.
“Ho, ho, ho!” Red bellowed. “Let’s make some noise and have some snacks!”
The audience roared with laughter and cheers as Red cranked the handle, kernels popping wildly inside the brass kettle. Around the stage, the dogs barked excitedly, noses twitching.
The barking increased with the scents and cheers, not to mention Red’s overenthusiastic “Ho-ho-ho-ing” as he wheeled his way to the front.
“Wait, wait, we’re not done!” Benny called.
The retriever tried to jump on the wagon, but his owner snagged him.
The beagle leaped toward Red, nearly knocking him down.
Everywhere there was noise and chaos while Benny’s entire trick teetered on the edge of disaster.
“Come on, Ben,” Gracie muttered, not realizing she’d taken Nicole’s hand. “Get it together, buddy. Get this under control.”
Benny held up the microphone and practically screamed into it. “The popcorn pops up, and the machine pushes down!” He flung his arms dramatically as Red tipped the kettle, sending a golden cascade of popcorn tumbling into a serving bowl. And on the floor. “Equal and opposite reactions!”
But Benny’s science lesson was lost when Sir Isaac Newton spotted Red.
Unleashed, he lunged forward, zoomie style, lurching toward Red but hitting the trophy instead.
It toppled with a crash, the noise just enough to set all the dogs off, including the littlest one, who shot off the stage and darted to the door.
“Petunia! Someone get my dog!”
Standing now, Gracie gave Nicole a nudge. “Get the dog!” but Nicole had her hands over her face in horror.
“Do you smell that?” she cried. “It’s gas!”
Propane.
“And smoke!” Aunt Cindy yelled, pointing at the thin, dark plume curling from the propane burner at the machine’s base. The copper top rattled and whistled shrilly.
Someone yelled over the barking and Jack launched from his seat toward Red just as a smoke alarm sounded a high-pitched warning so loud it drowned out everything.
Bright white strobe lights flashed along the walls, more than a few people knocked over folding chairs trying to get up and out, and every dog in the building started barking, howling, and running for the open side doors.
“The dogs!” someone screamed.
“I smell gas!”
“Move that old thing out of here!”
Red! Benny! Gracie felt her mouth open to shout for her son, but there was no way she could be louder than the explosion of noise around her.
“Red! Hang on! I’m coming!” Jack was nearly to Red, who was surrounded by people and dogs and flying popcorn.
“Where’s Benny?” Gracie hollered, trying to muscle through people and dogs toward the stage. The whole time the smoke alarm blared, deafening and frightening, terrifying everyone.
Finally, she saw him, standing on the edge of the stage, clinging to his dog, tears pouring down as he surveyed the bedlam unfolding around him as kids who’d jumped on the stage shouldered him out of the way, desperate to get to another door.
“Get the dogs!” Renee shouted. “And get out of the building!”
Benny didn’t move.
Gracie tried to climb onto the stage, but she kept getting bumped by people and dogs. “Benny!” she called out. “Benny, I’m right here.”
“I’ve got him,” a man exclaimed behind her.
She whipped around in time to see Marshall leap up in one easy move, followed by Olivia, who turned and offered one hand to Gracie, the other clinging to Kat’s leash.
As she climbed up, Gracie saw Marshall swoop to Benny and lift him and Sir Isaac Newton, carrying them both to open space.
“Benny!” Gracie called, running to them, throwing a grateful, “Thank you!” to Marshall.
“I’m okay, Mom!” Benny’s voice wobbled, tears springing to his eyes. “But the other dogs—”
On the floor, Red and Jack wrestled with the machine’s crank. A giant mastiff ran by and knocked the whole thing over, adding to the utter and complete pandemonium.
“Mom, what do we do?” Benny cried, trembling. “They’re all running away!”
“The whistles!” Olivia shouted, handing Kat’s leash to Gracie. “Hold her. We need to go out there and use our whistles to get any missing dogs back!”
“You’re right,” Benny said, shoving Sir Isaac Newton into Gracie’s arms. “Let’s go the other way.”
Without another word, the two of them sprinted off the stage to the front door, leaving Marshall and Gracie staring at each other.
“Well, I’ll give him this,” Marshall said. “He knows how to stop the show.”
Gracie barely smiled. “I want to help them.”
He scooped up Kat and nested her in his arm like, well, like a football.
“Follow me,” he said, putting a hand on her back. “If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s avoid a tackle.”
Clinging to Newt, she ran alongside Marshall, catching sight of her family guiding Red and the wayward popcorn maker out the door. When they reached the front lobby, the smoke alarm suddenly stopped and left everything bathed in a shocking silence.
They threaded their way around families and dogs, then out to the snowy steps to spot Benny and Olivia running around with their whistles.
A firetruck’s siren blared in the distance as a white poodle came running.
A gray pittie loped over to his owner. A little Chihuahua barked his fool head off as he scampered to the loving arms of a boy about Benny’s age.
With each reunion, Gracie breathed easier until finally Olivia and Benny stopped running and blowing their silent whistles, breathlessly high-fiving each other.
“We did it,” Benny said as they came back to where Gracie and Marshall waited with the dogs. “We got—”
“Can you find Petunia?” The little girl who’d launched the program whispered her request to Benny, her eyes wide and full of tears.
“Where are your parents, honey?” Gracie asked, bending down to her size.
She blinked. “In heaven,” she said, and Gracie nearly swayed and fell over. “My grandma brings me here and she had to work.”
“Oh.” Still holding Sir Isaac Newton, Gracie put a hand over her mouth to hold back a whimper of sadness.