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Early Saturday , Carter tiptoed down to the laundry roo late at the pizza place he ed, his father hadn&039;t come home until way past Carter&039;s bedti that his father would soht take the dog away in the e door close, he&039;d prayed really hard that Rusty wouldn&039;t bark at the strange noise The dog sees like that, because he stayed quiet all night

Carter could hear his parents talking, and even though he&039;d had his ear against the door, he couldn&039;t make out their words All he kneas that after about ten minutes they went to bed Then and only then was Carter able to sleep

In the , he sneaked down the hallway and freed Rusty from the laundry room Rusty wanted outside, and Carter let him into the backyard to do his business As soon as he&039;d finished, Rusty hurried back onto the porch, where Carter waited for hiry, boy?" Carter asked softly No one else in the house ake He bent down and stroked the rich auburn fur of his new best friend Then he led Rusty back into the laundry rooave him a bowl of Wheaties withfood

Rusty seemed to like the cereal and when he&039;d licked the bowl clean, Carter returned to his bedroo asked, Carter made his bed, dressed and brushed his teeth, too All the while, Rusty lay on his bedroo Carter

When he heard his parents stir, Carter was ready He kneould take a lot of fast talking to convince his father to let him keep Rusty His one hope was that once he heard Rusty had followed hi This was the dog God had sent Carter

Through his partially open door, he could hear his father step into the kitchen and i coffee Rusty dashed out of the bedroo but it was too late Rusty skidded into the kitchen, his long tail wagging excitedly

His father caught sight of Rusty and bent down to pet him "Where did you come from, boy?" he asked

"Hi, Dad," Carter said tentatively

"Do you have a friend spending the night?" David asked, glancing at his son

Carter sed hard "Rusty&039;s my friend"

"Rusty?" his father repeated

"I na you had when you were a kid You told me about him, remeet the dog, Carter?"

Carter&039;sthe sash on her housecoat She looked uneasily from Carter to his father "I ht, David," she said, pouring them each a cup of coffee

"I suppose it slipped your

"No I decided you were too tired and didn&039;t need to deal with another proble anyway"

His father turned to Carter "Where did you get the dog?" he asked a second time

"He was in the schoolyard, but Dad, this is a special dog Really special Out of all the kids there, Rusty came to me"

"Did you feed hi, Dad! And his coat was all ave hi to eat, didn&039;t you?"

"Yes" Carter bit his lip "I fed him a Twinkie and then Bailey let me have her peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich" Because he wanted his father to know his sister hadn&039;t willingly donated her sandwich, he explained "I traded ive ently "Rusty caht you&039;d feed him"

"Not at first," Carter insisted "He didn&039;t know about the Twinkie"

"He could probably ss have a keen sense of s you ho He&039;s smart and he listens and he understands, too"

His father crouched down so they were eye to eye "Did you encourage him to follow you?" he asked

"He followed the bus! I told you, Dad - he&039;s s out, his father rested a hand on Carter&039;s shoulder "Rusty could see that you liked him"

"It&039;s more than that!" Carter cried "I prayed really hard and God sent me Rusty He was so ave him a bath"

"In our tub?" his father asked

Carter nodded reluctantly

His father stood and cast hi look

"Did he make a mess?" The question was directed at Carter&039;s mother

"I cleaned it up," Carter inserted "Tell hi"

"He did," she confir of fresh coffee

David accepted it, closing his eyes as he took his first sip "I&039;"

Relieved, Carter offered his father a hopeful s was for me because he had red fur"

A pained look appeared on his father&039;s face "Did you stop to think that Rusty ht had never entered Carter&039;s ht have another fa aside and put his hand on Carter&039;s shoulder once again "There could be a little boy out there who&039;s lost his dog"

"Not Rusty," Carter said with certainty

"We can&039;t be sure of anything when it comes to a stray"

Carter shook his head "Rusty needs a family," he stated boldly "Our family He adopted us"

The same sad look came over his father "I e could keep hi"

"He&039;s a wonderful dog, and he&039;s housebroken and he doesn&039;t eat much He can have my food"

David drew one hand across his face "If it was just a matter of food, we could deal with that, but it isn&039;t I already explained this to you, Carter There are the vet&039;s fees for one thing Since Rusty&039;s been on the streets for a while, he should be checked out by a veterinarian"

"I&039;ll pay for it with my allowance," Carter said "I have thirty dollars and seventy-six cents"

"David," hisvoice

"That wouldn&039;t begin to cover the cost of a checkup and shots And what if he needs some kind of treatment? Then there&039;s the license and heaven knohat else We can&039;t keep him, Carter I don&039;t want to sound heartless but we&039;d be doing Rusty a disservice, too"

Carter didn&039;t want to cry but his eyes filled with tears before he could hold them back

His mother wrapped her arms around him and held him close "I&039;m so sorry, honey," she whispered

"Where will you take hi up at his father

"He&039;ll have to go to the animal shelter"