A Simple Case of Angels by Caroline Adderson Page A

familiar cry rang out. “June Bug! Oh, June Bug! No!”
    Nicola raced back to the den where June Bug was merrily shredding a section of the newspaper the way she’d shredded Nicola’s story that afternoon. Mina stood gaping.
    â€œNo! June Bug!” Nicola cried. “That’s Mom’s puzzle!”
    Jared, at the computer, swiveled in his chair to watch.
    â€œMom, I’m sorry!” Nicola cried. “I’ll tape it back together. June Bug, stop!”
    Nicola caught a corner of the paper. June Bug pulled back, growling. She sounded fierce, like she was prepared to rip off Nicola’s arm to keep the paper.
    â€œThere’s Chance Number Three!” Jared hooted. “One, Two, Three! That dog is out of here!”
    Nicola sank to the floor, sobbing. June Bug forgot the crossword puzzle and clamped onto the corner of the towel instead, tugging until she managed to pull it off Nicola’s head. Gleefully, she pranced out of the room dragging the towel.
    Jared kept chanting, “One, Two, Three! One, Two, Three!”
    â€œStop it,” Mina told him. “You, too, Nicola. It’s time for bed.”
    Still weeping, Nicola collected the scraps of puzzle. Jared put his foot over one. Unable to pry it off, she crawled under the desk and flicked the switch on the power bar.
    â€œHey!” Jared roared. “I was in the Seventh Circle! Now I’m back to the Sixth!”
    Nicola ran with all the pieces gathered in her pajama top. She found her mother in her bedroom with June Bug, trying to make her give up the towel. Nicola took the treat container off the shelf and shook it.
    June Bug let go of the towel. She Sat and Waved.
    And Mina laughed.
    â€œI’m sorry, Mom. Please don’t send her away. Please don’t let that be her Last Chance.”
    Mina pulled Nicola close. “Nicola, we would never send June Bug away. We love her. You were the one who came up with the idea of the Three Chances.”
    â€œI was?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œBecause Dad said it wasn’t working out. He said he’d take her to the SPCA if she was bad.”
    â€œHe was frustrated, Nicola. Getting a dog hasn’t been the easiest thing we’ve done as a family. Frankly, having Jackson was easier.”
    Mina shook a treat into her hand and held it out to June Bug. “I was supposed to be relaxing over the holidays. Instead I spent all day running to the computer. Running to the dictionary. Twice I woke up in the middle of the night with a crossword answer. I went downstairs to fill it in then couldn’t get back to sleep. It was worse than work.”
    â€œSo June Bug did a good deed?” Nicola asked.
    â€œI’d say so.” Mina turned to the little black-and-white dog still waving one paw in the air. “Thank you, June Bug. I’m free at last.”

16
    â€”
    That night Nicola slept peacefully — a long dreamless sleep that left her feeling so light in the morning, it seemed she’d grown wings. Because June Bug was safe. She wouldn’t ever be sent to the SPCA despite all the bad things she did.
    At school Ms. Phibbs had changed the seating. Now Lindsay sat all the way on the other side of the room.
    She waved her hand in the air. “Ms. Phibbs? Excuse me? Can I still sit beside Nicola? Please?”
    Ms. Phibbs looked up from her lesson book, her eyes a little bloodshot, the sides of her nose chapped.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œWe’re friends,” Lindsay said.
    Nicola glanced over at Lindsay, no longer the girl who sat next to her chattering away about brides. Nicola was grateful Lindsay had helped her over the holidays, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to hang around with her at school.
    â€œI’m okay here,” Nicola said.
    â€œThere’s your answer,” Ms. Phibbs said. “No.”
    Lindsay stared at Nicola, her hurt eyes framed in pink. When she turned away, the airy feeling began to seep