Ten Minutes

School is over. I wait at the gate of Bell Lane School. Dad comes at three every day.

Now the clock says ten past three. A red car comes, but it isn't our car. A blue car comes. It isn't our car.

I put my head on my knees. I hope Dad is OK. My friends are at home now, and the gate is empty.

Then I hear our car, and I feel better.

Dad opens the door. “Sorry, Milo!” he says. “Look in the back.”

A small brown dog sits in the back of our car. It's Mrs. Park's dog.

“It was on the road,” Dad says. “I stopped the car and I caught it.”

Dad looks at the clock. “Ten minutes late,” he says. “Are you angry?”

“No,” I say. “But next time, call me.”

Dad gives me his phone. “Then you call Mrs. Park,” he says.