The year’s supply of free flour made Ma Peachey nervous.
“I think it is time to go home and celebrate today’s triumph,” she said, “and think about free flour at another time.”
McTavish crept up behind Pa Peachey with his tail between his legs.
“Here is the hero—I mean, the villain—of the day,” Ollie said. “If it weren’t for the fact that you missed your ball and it whacked me in the head, McTavish, Pa Peachey’s masterpiece would still be in one piece.”
“Life is full of senseless tragedy,” Pa Peachey said, shaking his head. “But after all, McTavish is only a dog. What else can we expect from him but foolish bungling?”
Only a dog? thought McTavish. Foolish bungling?
McTavish did not expect to receive credit for all the clever plans he made for the Peachey family, but it did sometimes hurt his feelings when they went so unnoticed.
But just then Ollie swept McTavish up in his arms.
“McTavish,” Ollie whispered in his ear, “I don’t know if you missed that ball by mistake or on purpose, but either way, you are the hero of the day, and we all know it.” He glanced at Pa Peachey. “Almost all of us, that is.”
Betty and Ava came and hugged him, too.
“You are the best dog in the entire world,” Betty whispered.
“And the smartest,” Ava said.
“I have no idea what we would do without McTavish,” Ma Peachey added, patting him fondly on the head.
You’d be lost, McTavish thought.
But he was far too polite to say it out loud.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2019 by Meg Rosoff Original illustrational style and cover art copyright © 2019 by Grace Easton Interior illustrations by copy artist David Shephard, based on and in the style of Grace Easton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First US electronic edition 2021 First published by Barrington Stoke, Ltd. (Great Britain), 2019
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2021935042
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