A 12-year-old boy and his best friend, a Golden Retriever, share adventures they don’t always look for. These offer lessons in dealing with bullies, the importance of self-esteem and friends.
Excerpt
Woof. Woof.
“You go and follow Jack and he’ll show you where they are,” said Gussie in her thick Swedish accent.
Jack took off running down the aisle and sat in front of the microscopes the lady in the red coat was looking for. Jack was a very intelligent dog, for you see he had a special gift. Even though Jack was a dog, he could understand English as well as any human. Of course Jack couldn’t speak English; everyone knows a dog’s vocal cords aren’t designed for speaking. But he could understand it, even with Mr. Guss and Ms. Gussie’s thick Swedish accents.
Jack belonged to Esbjorn and Lovisa Gustoff who immigrated to America from Sweden in 1958. Because their first names were so unusual to the people in the little town of Muscatine, folks started calling him Gus and her Gussie, and the names stuck. The Gustoffs owned a toy store in Muscatine and Jack, the very intelligent golden retriever, was one of their biggest draws. So was Henry, the Gustoff’s other dog and he was just the opposite of Jack. All Henry, a lazy basset hound wanted to do, was lay around and eat. Kids loved coming to the toy store not only for the toys, but to see Jack and Henry as well.
Gus and Gussie had the toy store for about eighteen years. When they first came and settled in the small community on the Mississippi River Gus worked for Home-O-Nize, an office furniture maker. After a few years he and his friend Tom Davidson opened their own cabinet making shop and did custom woodworking. They became very successful. As a hobby Gus started making wooden trains, as he was very good at woodworking. Even today Gussie runs the toy store and Gus is usually downstairs making something out of wood. The toy store doesn’t carry only Gus’ hand-made toys, but all kinds of toys, for kids of all ages. They have wooden toys and stuffed animals, both large and small. They carry dolls and die-cast cars, race sets and even dollhouses. Lots of science stuff like microscopes, bubble-making kits, spy kits and even weather stations. And of course trains. What toy store would be complete without trains? It was a really fun place to visit.
Everyday after school Russell would come down to the store and do some chores for Gus and Gussie. Russell was Tom Davidson’s grandson. Gus and Gussie have known Russell since he was born. He was like one of their own grandchildren. Russell would bag up all the trash and set it out; he would break up boxes and clean up the sawdust mess Gus would make during the day. Russell also loved demonstrating stuff at the toy store. Gus and Gussy loved having him come down and do it. He was really good at showing how to use a lot of the toys; after all who is better qualified to demonstrate toys to a kid than a kid is? Sales always seemed to go up when Russell was showing off the merchandise. He was a great little salesman. He was very polite when moms or dads would ask questions and took his time teaching the kids.
His favorite chore was taking Jack for a walk. He and Jack were the best of buddies. Henry would sometimes go on the walks too but he always just lagged behind and lay in the grass as Jack and Russell would play. Russell couldn’t love Jack anymore even if he were his own dog. Jack loved Russell too. They would go for long walks along the riverfront, and romp and play at Riverside Park. Jack’s favorite thing was the Frisbee. He loved chasing after it and catching it in his mouth. He would always bring it right back to Russell. Sometimes Russell would tell Jack to sit, throw the Frisbee and tell Henry to fetch it. Henry would walk about ten feet; plop down in the grass, and bark, “I’ve had my exercise for the day. If you want me to bring it back, don’t throw it so far.” More than once Russell got into trouble with his mom for missing supper because he and Jack just lost track of time playing on the riverfront.
Whenever Gus and Gussie would go on a trip, Jack would stay at Russell’s house because they were the best of friends. Henry would always go and stay with the Gustoff’s granddaughter, April, who would come to the toy store and help out whenever she could. She knew her grandparents were getting much too old to be running the store by themselves. So April would help out as much as her 17 year old, teenage schedule would allow. After all there was cheerleading, the yearbook club, and chorus. Yes, boys too. Even though Russell was five years younger he and April were best of friends. She would help Russell with his homework and sometimes she would drive him places he needed to go. “Hey any excuse getting to use the car,” she would say. They were almost like brother and sister and would tease each other like it too.
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Read more about Jack and Russell LUCKY FIND and Jeffrey Boldt HERE.
Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Boldt. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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