Beastly Feast!, page 3
Fleabag stared at the pretty poodle. His drool-covered jaw dropped. A warm, fuzzy look crept into his eyes.
Grunty and Grouchy stared at each other. What was wrong with their dog?
As Fifi-Belle pranced away, Fleabag scrambled to his feet and raced after her. Fleabag was in love!
“No!” yelled Grouchy, racing after him. But Fleabag was already at Fifi-Belle’s side, panting madly.
“Eww!” cried her owner. “What smelly breath! Get him away!”
Grunty thundered up behind them and scooped Fleabag into his arms. “Come on, we’re going home!” he roared.
As the trolls stomped away, Fleabag noticed that Fifi-Belle was heading to the park. Maybe he’d see her there tomorrow.…
For the rest of the day, Fleabag whimpered and whined. He lay in his basket and wouldn’t eat or play.
That night, the trolls went to bed feeling very worried. They’d never seen Fleabag like this before. What was the matter with him?
The next morning, Grouchy jumped out of bed and immediately looked around for Fleabag.
“Where is he?” he gasped. “He’s normally chewing a bone on my bed!”
They checked the garden. There were no new holes. They checked the curtains. There were no new holes. Where on earth was Fleabag, and what was he up to?
“Don’t worry,” said Grunty. “We’ll go search around town. He probably went back to the dumpsters! Come on!”
As they hurried out of the door, Grouchy spotted something. There was a dog by their gate.
“Look!” he gasped. “It’s … wait … oh, never mind. It isn’t him.”
There was no way this dog was Fleabag. This dog looked too clean and neat. It couldn’t be!
“Scram!” yelled Grunty. “Go on! Grrr!” But the dog came trotting toward them.
The trolls stared in disbelief. It was Fleabag! But his fur was short and shiny, and he smelled clean.
The trolls shuddered in disgust. He must have gone to the Pampered Pooch Salon to make himself look and smell this bad.
“Quick!” whispered Grunty. “Get him inside before anyone sees him!”
“Or smells him,” Grouchy said. “Bad dog, Fleabag!”
Chapter 4
For the rest of the morning, Fleabag paced around the house, pawing the front door. His eyes were sad, and his clean tail drooped.
“What does he want?” The Grunt growled.
Grouchy shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”
They offered him boogie snacks. They offered him bones. They offered him boogies on bones! But Fleabag just kept pawing at the front door and whining sadly.
Finally, Grouchy got the message. “Hang on,” he said. “I think he wants to go on a walk!”
Fleabag’s ears pricked up at once, and his tail started wagging happily. That was it! He wanted to go on a walk to the park.
“Well, I’m not taking him anywhere looking like that!” Grunty growled. “I want the old Fleabag back!”
The trolls tried everything to persuade Fleabag to get dirty. Drippy ice cream, a muddy bath … they even offered to have a food fight! But Fleabag turned his clean nose up at everything.
“He’ll have to wear a disguise then,” sighed Grunty. “Or no walk!” He pulled out an old sweater and hat, which Grouchy helped Fleabag put on.
Fleabag sniffed the sweater and whimpered. It stunk, and he didn’t want to stink! Not today.
On the way to the park, Fleabag trotted by Grunty’s side and carefully stepped around all the mud puddles.
“What is wrong with that dog?” The Grunt snapped. “I wish he was like he used to be.”
By the time they made it to the park it was raining. Fleabag quickly hurried under a tree to stay dry. And there he sat, peering around, for what seemed like hours.
Then, suddenly, Fleabag perked up. He wriggled out of The Grunt’s old sweater, shook off the hat, and raced across the park toward …
“Fifi-Belle!” The Grunt exclaimed with a scowl. “So that’s why he went to that pampered pooch place! Fleabag’s trying to impress that poodle!”
The trolls watched in horror as Fleabag trotted up to Fifi-Belle’s owner and held out a spotlessly clean paw for her to shake.
They stared as the woman took it and patted him gently on the head. Clearly, she didn’t recognize Fleabag from yesterday!
Then they watched in horror as Fleabag and Fifi-Belle began to play with a ball. Not chew it up. Not drool on it—just play.
“I’ve had enough of this!” The Grunt growled angrily. “Come on, let’s go get him!”
“No, wait a second!” said Grouchy. He’d spotted something that might solve their problem for them. “Look over there.”
As The Grunt and The Grouch watched, a fancy black poodle came trotting along the path. He stopped right in front of Fifi-Belle and Fleabag.
Fifi-Belle gazed up at him and let out a yappy little bark. The black poodle barked back at her. Fifi-Belle’s little snowball tail began to wag. It was love at first bark!
The two poodles trotted away through the trees together, their owners strolling behind. Fleabag hung his head and whimpered.
“It’s okay, Fleabag!” cried Grouchy, dashing over and giving him a hug. “Forget Fifi-Belle. We love you, boy!”
The Grunt quickly hurried off and bought three ice cream cones. He placed them on the grass in front of Fleabag.
After a while, Fleabag licked one. Then he slurped them up, one after the other, and finished with a giant burp.
“That’s more like it!” said Grunty. “He’s back to normal. Let’s go home!”
They stomped off under the trees and through the flowerbeds. Then, as they reached the park gates, they found a ginormous mud puddle!
“Whee!” cried the trolls, jumping in. “We love mud puddles!”
“Woof!” barked Fleabag, joining them. He couldn’t have agreed more!
About the Author
Tracey Corderoy
was born and grew up in South Wales before moving to Bath, England to become a teacher. Tracey has always been passionate about writing for children and convinced that language, expressed through wonderful literature, is the key to stimulating learning and imagination. She currently lives in an ancient cottage with her husband, two daughters, and their many animals.
About the Illustrator
Lee Wildish
lives in Lancashire, England and has been drawing since a very young age. He loves illustrating children's books and thinks there's nothing better than seeing people laughing at a book he's illustrated.
READ MORE ABOUT THE GRUNT AND THE GROUCH AT
capstonekids.com/characters/grunt-grouch
First published in the United States in 2012 by Stone Arch Books
A Capstone Imprint
1710 Roe Crest Drive North Mankato, Minnesota 56003
www.capstonepub.com
First published by Stripes Publishing
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road
London SW6 6AW
Text © Tracey Corderoy 2010
Illustrations © Lee Wildish 2010
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on the Library of Congress website.
ISBN: 978-1-4342-4603-5 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-4342-4269-3 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-4342-6001-7 (e-book)
Summary: The Grunt and the Grouch get in trouble in the school cafeteria, find the perfect pet, and visit the barbershop.
Tracey Corderoy, Beastly Feast!
