“You won!” Bella hugged her. “You see, I knew I was right to get you to go in. Sid’s a champion. Two firsts!”“What’s the next class, Bella?” Tom asked. “Whatever it is, I think your friend Megan’s in it.” He pointed across the ring to where Megan was lining up with Coco. “Oh, ‘Cutest Puppy Under Nine Months’. Well, she is cute. She doesn’t look very happy about it, though.” Coco was pulling, and pawing at her lead, as though she wanted to get away. Megan was trying to calm her down, but she looked worried, too, and Coco was whimpering.“Poor thing, I don’t think she likes how noisy it is,” Bella said anxiously. “Oh no!”Coco had been pulling and scrabbling at her collar so much, and now she slipped right out of it. She stood there for a second, looking bewildered by her sudden freedom and the noise. Megan tried to grab her, but a little boy screamed because he’d dropped his ice cream, and Coco shot away with a squeak. She bolted along the side of the ring towards Bella and Sarah, and then darted out through a forest of feet and off into the rest of the field.
