Chasing a Rainbow

My best friend, Julia, stares sadly out the window. “Matt, our day is ruined!”

We were supposed to go to the spring festival today. We were going to do potato sack races, win prizes at the ringtoss, and stuff ourselves with cotton candy!

But now rain is pounding on the windows. Thunder rumbles in the dark clouds. The puddles outside are growing into lakes. The spring festival was canceled, and we’re stuck inside.

Julia’s dog, Luna, snores by her feet. Looking at Julia’s big, fluffy dog makes me feel a little sad. I’ve wanted a dog for as long as I can remember. That’s why Julia always agrees to bring Luna along when she comes to my house.

Just then, my grandmother, Nana, comes into the kitchen. “Hi, Matt! Hi, Julia! How’s school these days?”

Julia and I pause and give each other a serious look.

“We love our teacher, Mrs. Cirillo,” I say. “But she’s having a baby! So we’re getting a substitute teacher soon.”

“Mrs. Marley,” Julia says. We look at each other and shudder.

“Who’s Mrs. Marley?” asks Nana.

“Only the scariest teacher ever!” Julia says. “Our friend Romeo said Mrs. Marley walks two terrifying dogs around the neighborhood.”

“And Melody said the dogs barked at her!” I add. It sounded horrible.

“She may not be so bad,” says Nana. She looks out the window. “And neither is the weather! The sun is coming out.”

“And look! There’s a rainbow!” says Julia happily.

“You know, rainbows bring good luck,” Nana says. “Irish legend says you can find treasure at the end. When I was little, my friends and I would go looking for treasure. We thought we would find a pot of gold!”

I look at Julia. She’s definitely thinking what I’m thinking. Even Luna perks up.

“Let’s go find treasure!” we shout.

Moments later, we set off to follow the rainbow with Luna.

“What do you think the treasure will be?” I ask. “A pot of gold?”

“Maybe it’s gemstones, like diamonds and rubies,” Julia says.

“Or a brand-new bike!” I exclaim.

“Or a pile of candy!” Julia replies.

We keep guessing as we follow the rainbow. But every time we think we’re getting closer, the rainbow seems to move farther away!

What feels like hours go by, and we still haven’t figured out where the rainbow ends. Our shoes and socks are soaked from the wet grass.

“Maybe we should just go home,” sighs Julia.

“Wait, look over there,” I say. “It looks like the rainbow ends at that house!”

We run to the sidewalk. Then I see the name written on the mailbox—and feel a shiver of fear run down my back. “Oh no,” I say.

Julia reads it too and stops dead in her tracks.

“‘Alma Marley,’” she reads. “The rainbow ends at Mrs. Marley’s house?!”

I take a breath and look closely at the house. I have to admit: It doesn’t look scary. It has a green roof and flowers in the yard. But it must be a trick.

“Come on,” I say with a nervous look. “Let’s get out of here before Mrs. Marley sees us!”

Suddenly, Luna starts pulling Julia toward the house.

“Luna, no!” says Julia. Luna lunges forward. The leash slips out of Julia’s hand, and Luna dashes up to the house. Then she leaps through the doggie door—and disappears.

“How are we going to get Luna back?” Julia wails.

I gulp. “We have to go in there,” I say, trying to gather my courage.

Shaking nervously, we walk up to the house, and I knock on the door.

Mrs. Marley opens it, looking serious.

“You must be here for the dog that just ran into my house!”

Julia and I are too scared to speak. We just nod. Mrs. Marley opens the door wide—and our jaws drop.

“Luna?” I call out. She is lying on the rug, wagging her tail. But she’s not alone—there are five other dogs! We introduce ourselves to Mrs. Marley and then plop on the floor. The dogs wag their tails. A floppy-eared puppy jumps out of Mrs. Marley’s arms and climbs into my lap.

“Are all of these dogs yours?” Julia asks, amazed.

“They’re my foster dogs,” Mrs. Marley explains. “I volunteer with a dog rescue. So these are dogs that I take care of until I find homes for them.”

“Wow! I would love to live with five dogs,” I sigh.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Mrs. Marley says, smiling. “By the way, you two look like you’re around 9 years old. Are you in Mrs. Cirillo’s class by any chance?”

Julia and I exchange a nervous look and nod.

“I’m excited to teach your class! But you look worried. Is everything OK?” Mrs. Marley asks gently.

“Well . . . some kids are scared of you,” Julia says. “They’ve seen you walking two scary, barking dogs.”

Mrs. Marley starts laughing. “I think I know which dogs they saw,” she says. She points to two tiny dogs with pointy ears. Julia looks as confused as I feel.

“They get nervous on walks, so they sometimes bark,” Mrs. Marley explains. “It might make them seem scary, but they wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

We both burst out laughing too.

“I can’t believe these are the dogs everyone is afraid of!” Julia says as one of the dogs licks her hand.

We play with the dogs some more before saying goodbye. I gently lift the floppy-eared yellow puppy off my lap. As I walk away, I turn around to get one more look at him. His head tilts as if he’s saying goodbye too.

When we get back to my house, we tell Nana everything.

“We didn’t find treasure,” says Julia. “But guess what? We aren’t scared of Mrs. Marley anymore!”

Nana smiles widely. “It sounds like you found some treasure at the end of the rainbow after all,” she says.