Suzy of the house Miller

Chapter 5

A week had passed since Suzy's first visit to the temple, and she walked up her street with Cuddles at her side. He wasn't allowed out too much when Suzy wasn't at home, and not even the rain seemed to be able to stop his happiness. The splash of plastic boots mixed with the claking sound of bone on concrete. Suzy looked at the piece of paper in her hand, then stuffed it back in the pocket of her raincoat. As she turned a corner, a beautiful house came into view. It was definitely larger than hers, with an immaculate lawn in front. She checked the address once more, then walked up and rang the doorbell. In a few moments, Jessie opened the door.

"Hi Suzy!" She said, hugging her. "Come on in, I'll make some hot chocolate."

Suzy and Cuddles stepped through the doorway, and Cuddles shook himself as Suzy took off her boots and raincoat. He didn't have any fur to shake water off of, but he did it anyways.

"Won't your parents be upset that I brought Cuddles in?" Suzy asked.

"It's alright. They aren't around often."

"That doesn't seem fun", Suzy said.

"It's alright. I get to do all the reading I want instead. Come on, I'll show you the library."

She led Suzy through the living room, where a large, ornate mirror hung on one wall. The furniture and carpet were spotless. In the center of the living room there was some sort of obstacle course set up.

"I borrowed them from Mom for today, she's a professional dog trainer", Jessie explained. "Which means there's bound to be some books on dog training somewhere."

"Maybe we should start with the basics first", Suzy said. "Cuddles is great but I'd like him to be able to learn some tricks. There's a show and tell coming up in my school and I'd like to bring him, but my parents would be worried if he wasn't trained."

Jessie nodded. "He seems like a calm dog, but you never know what might happen with so many people."

They walked up a flight of stairs and Jessie led Suzy down the hall. The clacking of dog claws on wood flooring followed behind them. Jessie turned to the right and led them into a room. The walls were lined with booksheves, and in the middle of the room was a table with even more books on it and a pair of sofa chairs. Jessie walked alongside the bookshelves for a moment, looking at the titles before beginning to pull out books. She had selected about five or six befor returning to the table and setting them down.

"I'll go make the hot chocolate", Jessie said. "Let's grab a book each and head downstairs."

Suzy picked out one titled Dog training for dummies: from "Sit" to "Fetch". Jessie picked up two: Dog behavior and you and Teaching old dogs new tricks.

"It might help to learn about old dogs for this", Jessie said. "He was dead, after all."

"Won't it cause problems with your god if you help me?" Suzy asked. She didn't want Jessie to get in trouble with anyone.

Jessie thought for a moment. "As long as it's in the name of truth, I'm sure it's fine. Veritas wouldn't punish someone for getting to the bottom of a question."

Suzy couldn't argue with that, and followed her down to the kitchen. As Jessie placed two mugs of milk in the microwave, Suzy sat down at the counter and opened her book. From chapter one, Suzy could tell there might be a few problems.

"It says here that one of the best methods to use during training is using treats, but Cuddles doesn't eat."