Stick Dog Crashes a Party Read online

  Goose and Tiffany screamed, “Edith!”

  Stick Cat saw that hungry dog. And that hungry dog saw him. And then Stick Cat leaped back into the gazebo.

  Now, when the lights in that gazebo came back on, one thing—and only one thing—grabbed everyone’s attention.

  It was Edith.

  She was right in the middle of the table—and right in the middle of that top cake layer.

  She was eating as fast as she could.

  Tiffany, Goose, Stick Cat, and all the guests gathered around Edith. She took a big bite of cake, chewed, and swallowed. Then she looked up.

  She was covered in moist yellow cake and creamy white frosting.

  Edith was busted.

  And she didn’t care one bit. She smiled a completely satisfied smile.

  She looked at Stick Cat and asked, “Who is the most important one now?”

  “You are,” answered Stick Cat. “You most definitely are.”

  Then Edith plunged her head back down into the cake.

  CHAPTER 21

  STICK DOG STEPS ASIDE

  That cake layer reached the bottom of the hill and stopped rolling about halfway across the field. Stick Dog got it and rolled it the rest of the way to the woods. Poo-Poo, Stripes, Mutt, and Karen hadn’t seen anything for the past couple of minutes. They were way too busy—and way too happy—eating the cake slices they’d brought back.

  They hadn’t seen Stick Cat at the top of the hill.

  They hadn’t seen that entire cake layer rolling down the hill.

  Stick Dog waited until they were done eating before speaking.

  “You guys?” Stick Dog asked. He had placed himself strategically between his friends and the cake. They couldn’t see it.

  Mutt answered, “Yes, Stick Dog? What can we do for you?”

  “I just wanted to ask you two questions,” answered Stick Dog. “First, how was the cake?”

  “It was so sweet,” said Poo-Poo.

  “And moist,” added Stripes.

  “It was amazing,” said Mutt.

  “Super-amazing,” added Karen.

  “I’m happy to hear it,” Stick Dog said, and smiled. He waited a moment. He knew Mutt, Karen, Stripes, or Poo-Poo would ask him what the second question was.

  He was right. It only took a moment.

  Poo-Poo asked, “What’s your second question, Stick Dog?”

  “Well, I just wanted to know,” Stick Dog answered slyly. He then took two steps to the left—and revealed the entire cake layer behind him. “Would you like some more?”

  The End.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  TOM WATSON lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter, and son. He also has a dog, as you could probably guess. The dog is a Labrador-Newfoundland mix. Tom says he looks like a Labrador with a bad perm. He wanted to name the dog “Put Your Shirt On” (please don’t ask why), but he was outvoted by his family. The dog’s name is Shadow. Early in his career Tom worked in politics, including a stint as the chief speechwriter for the governor of Ohio. This experience helped him develop the unique storytelling narrative style of the Stick Dog books. Tom’s time in politics also made him realize a very important thing: kids are way smarter than adults. And it’s a lot more fun and rewarding to write stories for them than to write speeches for grown-ups.

  Visit www.stickdogbooks.com for more fun stuff.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

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  COPYRIGHT

  STICK DOG CRASHES A PARTY. Copyright © 2018 by Tom Watson. Illustrations by Ethan Long based on original sketches by Tom Watson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harpercollinschildrens.com

  Cover design by Jeff Shake

  * * *

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017954084

  Digital Edition MARCH 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-241097-9

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-241096-2

  * * *

  17 18 19 20 21 CG/LSCH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  FIRST EDITION

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