Pierre and Marie emerged from the kitchen, pushing a tray that carried two identical large dog biscuits. They were shaped like hearts and decorated with red and green stripes.
“These biscuits are a new secret recipe I’ve been working on,” Marie said. “I haven’t told anybody what’s in them. Not even my brothers!”
Toulouse frowned at Marie.“You’re keeping a secret recipe from us?”
“I’m sure she’ll tell us later,” Berlioz whispered.
Marie turned to the crowd and announced,“There are six ingredients. Your challenge is to sniff out all of them.”
“Easy as pie,” Nadine said with a confident smile.
“You mean basic as a biscuit!” Leon said, nudging her.
They both laughed, then started examining the dog biscuit…with their noses. They sniffed the top; they sniffed the bottom. They sniffed all around the edges. Then they started whispering to each other.
“I like their strategy,” Toulouse murmured to his sister.
At the other table, Claudette sat quietly, staring at her treat for a few moments. Then she took a long breath in through her nose, closing her eyes. She breathed out, then in again.
“I likeher strategy better,” Marie commented.
“Can we go first?” Nadine asked after a minute, excitedly hopping up and down on the chair.
Marie opened her mouth to reply, but Nadine didn’t wait for an answer.
“Peanuts!” she announced. “Also cranberries! Honey, too…”
“Oats!” Leon exclaimed. “And flour…and…” He paused, stuck, then sniffed the treat again.
[Картинка: img_9]
“Come on, Leon,” Nadine said. “It must be whatever is making the green color. Reminds me of home, actually. I think it must be…”
“Grass!” Leon declared.
“Yes, I think so, too.” Nadine turned to Marie. “And grass. That’s six. Did we guess them all?”
Marie slowly shook her head.“You got five, but one wasn’t exactly right.” Marie then turned to Claudette. “What do you think, Claudette?”
“I agree about the cranberries, honey, and oats,” Claudette said slowly. “Peanut butter and flour, too.”
Marie nodded.“Those five are correct. What about the sixth ingredient?”
Claudette took one last, long whiff of the biscuit.
“Do you know?” Nadine asked.
As Claudette paused, every animal in the caf? seemed to hold their breath, waiting for the answer. It was so quiet you could hear a mouse tiptoe.
“I think I do,” Claudette said.
[Картинка: img_10]
All eyes were on Claudette.
The little brown-spotted puppy sat up as tall as she could and thumped her tail twice against the chair.
“Spinach,” she finally said. “I know that smell from the vegetable garden my humans keep.”
Now everyone turned to Marie…who broke into a big smile and started purring loudly.
“You’re right, Claudette!” she exclaimed. “Itis spinach!”
All the animals in the caf? cheered, except for Nadine and Leon.
Toulouse went over to them.“You were close! Personally, I like grass better than spinach.…”
“That wasn’t a fair contest,” Leon muttered. “I bet Marie told Claudette her secret recipe.”
Marie spun around to face them.“I would never,ever do that,” she said, so insulted that the fur on her tail stood on end.
“Don’t pay attention to him,” Nadine told Marie. “He’s just a sore loser. Nice job, Claudette.”
“Thanks,” Claudette replied.
Nadine added,“I’ve never even tasted spinach, let alone smelled it. Is that biscuit yummy?”
“If Marie made it, I’m sure it is!” Claudette said, then pointed toward the biscuits with her nose. “See for yourself!”
Nadine took a bite of the biscuit. Then Leon took a turn. They both chewed and crunched and slobbered.
[Картинка: img_11]
“Well?” Marie asked.
“It’s…kind of…” Leon began.“Eh.”
Berlioz frowned.“Eh?”
“I agree,” Nadine added. “It’s…fine.” She took another bite, then turned to Leon. “I bet we could make something that tasted even better.”
“I bet you’re right!” Leon replied. “We’re puppies, not kittens, so we know dog biscuits. Imagine what we could create if we were back home in the countryside, where there are so many delicious ingredients to scavenge. Much more than in a city!”
Marie twitched her nose.“I disagree. Paris is full of different foods and flavors.”
“It’s true,” Claudette added. “You can find anything here if you know where to look.”
“Do you think you could invent a better dog biscuit recipe than we could?” Nadine asked, tilting her head.
“No!” Claudette replied. “I was just—”
“Sure she could,” Marie said. “I’ve been teaching her, and she’s great at baking!”
“Oh, no,” Berlioz groaned. “Not another argument.”
Toulouse looked at the red-and-green heart-shaped biscuits, thinking about how he would have made them a different shape. Maybe a paw print, or a bumblebee to reflect the honey flavor. He knew if he had the chance, he could turn a dog treat into a work of art.
Suddenly, he had a brainstorm and motioned to Berlioz to step away from the group.
“Maybe another competition would be a good thing,” Toulouse told his brother. “If the country puppies and Claudette want to see who can make the yummiest treat, we could make it an official contest. Everyone could taste the treats and vote on who should win.”
Berlioz hesitated, looking over at the three puppies. Claudette had gone into the kitchen to wipe off her paws while Nadine and Leon were examining everything in the pastry case, trying to sniff through the glass.
Finally, Berlioz nodded.“Actually, I like that idea. If we really spread the word, I bet we’d get a lot of new customers to come to the caf?.”
“Yes, you’re right!” Toulouse agreed. “Let’s tell Marie.”
They called their sister over and filled her in. As they explained, her eyes lit up.
“What a wonderful idea!” she said.
“What should we call it?” asked Berlioz. “Every contest needs a catchy name. And a great prize, too!” Then his eyes lit up. “Oooh! I’ve got it! Our contest can be the Dog Biscuit Bake-Off.”
“I like the sound of that!” Marie said.
“Me too,” Toulouse agreed. “I didn’t know you had these kinds of ideas in you, Berlioz.”
Berlioz smiled shyly.
“What if the winner got their dog biscuit added to the Purrfect Paw-tisserie menu?” Toulouse added.
“Good thinking, Toulouse!” Berlioz said.
Toulouse scrambled to the top of the piano, with Marie following close behind. Berlioz pounced on the piano keys to get everyone’s attention.
[Картинка: img_12]
“Attention! Attention, everyone!” Toulouse announced. “We’ve decided to hold a Dog Biscuit Bake-Off! Anyone can enter, and anyone can come to taste and vote on their favorite. Whichever biscuit gets the most votes will be added to the Purrfect Paw-tisserie menu!”
“We’re in!” Nadine and Leon shouted at the same time.
Claudette raised a paw.“I’ll enter.”
“Anyone else?” Toulouse offered. Not a peep, squeak, honk, quack, bark, or meow. “Well, think about it. All you have to do is bring your treat here in two days, at noon, for judging.”
The caf? was suddenly abuzz with excitement about the contest. Marie and Toulouse leapt down from the piano, and Claudette padded over.
“What did I just sign up for?” Claudette asked Marie. “I’m not sure I can actually create a treat recipe.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you,” Marie said to her friend.
“I can help, too,” Toulouse offered.
Marie glanced at Claudette, then back at her brother.“Oh…er…I was thinking this could just be a girl thing for Claudette and me. I don’t think you’d have any fun.”
A hurt look flashed across Toulouse’s face, but he quickly tried to hide it. “Yeah, sure. I probably wouldn’t.”