I left the box and began rummaging through our cabinets, looking for something to eat. Jack-Jack hadn’t left my side since getting out of bed until now. Instead of following me into the kitchen he stayed by the door doing the pee-pee dance.

  It was times like this when I appreciated our fenced-in backyard most. All I had to do was open the door and let him go. There was none of that walking him at the crack of dawn or late at night, or worse, in the cold or rain—at least, that was how it was supposed to be. Jack had a different idea that morning.

  The second I pulled the door open, he grabbed Abby’s mystery box and dashed outside with it. Of all the things to take, he had to pick that! He was going to ruin it! I stuck my feet in Dad’s boots and thundered after him.

  The sun wasn’t even up yet and Jack-Jack thought it was playtime. He raced around the backyard with the mystery box still in his mouth. I stomped across the grass, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf. Miraculously, when Jack saw that I wasn’t amused, he dropped the box. I hurried to get it, breathing a sigh of relief. Other than Abby’s turtle figurine spilling out, which must’ve been what she’d chosen to hide, there wasn’t any damage. I pocketed the turtle and grabbed the box.

  Meanwhile, Jack did his thing. He sniffed here and there until he finally found an acceptable spot. I looked away, giving my dog some privacy when I saw him go into his squat. I started back toward the house. Taking my eye off him was a mistake. Just when I thought all the excitement was behind us, my naughty dog came running, snatched the box from my hand, and took off with it again. Apparently, he wasn’t done playing. Well, I was.

  I ran after him, growling like a bear. To my surprise, Jack wasn’t interested in playing chase or tag. He stopped as soon as he reached his fresh pile of dog doo. I will say this, for a young guy Jack-Jack could produce some monster turds. I had to wonder if our mystery dog wasn’t actually part rhinoceros. I should’ve wondered more about the mystery part, because Jack was all of that. But it took me a while to see that—and longer to believe it.

  Jack placed Abby’s mystery box on the ground and stood there, staring deep into me. You could say that what ended up inside the box was Jack’s idea. Thinking back on it now, I get chills.

  24

  THE MYSTERY BOX FALLOUT

  When Mom showed up at the middle school and yanked me out of class early, I knew there was trouble. I met her in the office. She didn’t say a word when I walked in, and she didn’t have to; everything I needed to know was written on her face. She shot me a hard glare and then stormed out.

  I tucked my tail between my legs and followed. Expecting her to march straight out to our car, I was surprised when instead she turned the corner and decided to first pay Ms. Riley a visit. Mom didn’t even knock. Just barged right in.

  Ms. Riley was more than slightly startled by the crazed woman charging into her office unannounced. “M-m-may I help you?” she stammered.

  “I’m Susan Ettinger, Thea’s mother.”

  “Oh, it’s nice to—” Ms. Riley began as she went to get up.

  “Don’t bother,” Mom said, cutting her off. “You can stay in your seat. This won’t take long.”

  Ms. Riley sat back down. She’d gone from startled to intimidated. And Mom was just warming up.

  “I appreciate you checking in on my daughter, and I understand you were only trying to do your job,” Mom said, “but Thea doesn’t want to talk. If that changes, she’ll be sure to let you know. I thought I’d made that clear with Principal Starmer when we moved here, but apparently not, so let me make it clear now: if any other adult mentions or tries to talk to Thea about what you noted in her file, I’ll be back with my lawyer.”

  Ms. Riley could only nod.

  “Good,” Mom said. “Have a nice day.” And with that she turned and out the door we went.

  I had just witnessed a first-class butt kicking. Inside my head I was yelling to the world, You mess with me and you mess with my mother! I wanted to hug her, but Mom was in no mood for celebrating. As soon as we climbed into the car and closed the doors, she unloaded on me.

  “Do you know what Abby did today?”

  I shook my head while staring at the floor.

  “Really? Let me fill you in, then. It seems your sister decided it’d be a good idea to hide dog poop in the mystery box.”

  I didn’t move. I didn’t want to give Mom any sort of a reaction.

  “This morning, a nice little boy reached his hand in there and gave the hidden object a good squeeze,” Mom continued, acting out parts of the story as she retold it.

  “Was it Simon?” The question slipped from my mouth before I could stop it. I had to know.

  Mom stopped and stared at me. “What?” she asked, clearly shocked that I’d said anything.

  “Was it Simon?” I whispered, continuing to stare at my feet.

  “It was,” she answered, her voice low.

  My smirk broke Mom’s spell. It didn’t matter that I’d just spoken for the second time in two days after months of silence. She was fuming.

  “Thea, let me be clear here. I don’t care if that boy has been picking on your sisters. Your stunt crossed the line. That poor little boy started screaming and crying when he realized what he’d done. And then he tried to wipe his hands on the boy next to him.”

  I grimaced.

  “Thank goodness Ms. Stacy stopped him before that happened,” Mom went on, “but she wasn’t able to stop him from wiping it on his own pants.”

  Eww, I thought. Dog-poop pants.

  “Poor Ms. Stacy really had a mess to deal with. A disaster.”

  I shrugged.

  “No biggie, huh? Then it shouldn’t be any big deal for you to go in and apologize.”

  “What?” I croaked.

  “You will be going in and apologizing to Ms. Stacy tomorrow after school. I just hope this Simon boy’s parents don’t make a stink—no pun intended. I don’t want to see your sister get suspended.”

  “Can’t I just write Ms. Stacy a note?” I pleaded.

  “No,” Mom snapped. “That is not good enough. You got yourself into this mess. Now you have to accept the consequences. And you better apologize to your sister. Ms. Stacy said it was obvious Abby had no idea. She was confused and upset.”

  I swallowed. I hadn’t been nervous or scared up to this point, but now I was terrified.

  25

  MYSTERY BOX APOLOGY

  I spent that night sitting on my bed, writing my apology inside a card while my partner in crime curled up next to me. I told Jack he had to stay because he wasn’t innocent in all this, not that he objected. He never left my side. I figured I could hand-deliver the note to Ms. Stacy and avoid needing to talk to her—and Mom would never know the difference. It was a solid plan, but as I was just beginning to see, nothing went as planned since Jack entered my life.

  The playground at Johnny Arena Elementary was conveniently located behind Ms. Stacy’s classroom, so Liv and Abby kept busy out there while they waited for me to do what I had to after school the next day.

  The door was open, but I still knocked. Ms. Stacy looked up from the student desk she was wiping clean.

  “Can I help you?”

  I swallowed and opened my mouth, but no words came out.

  “You must be Thea.”

  I nodded.

  “Livvy and Abby mentioned that you might be dropping by.”

  I forced one of those no-teeth cheek smiles, and then I quickly held out my card for her—but she didn’t take it.

  “Come in and have a seat,” she said. “I want to show you something.”

  Ms. Stacy turned and walked to a table on the other side of the room, where she began digging through a stack of notebooks. I thought about dropping my card and taking off, but I worried Mom might hear about it if I did that, so I sucked it up and stayed. I sat in the chair at the closest desk. When Ms. Stacy had Liv and Abby’s notebooks she came and sat across from me.

  “I’ve been reading the book Wish by Barbara O’Connor to the children,” she said. “It’s a story about a young girl wishing for something important, and finding a dog and much more along the way. You can bet your sisters were excited about the dog and have had much to say about Jack-Jack.”

  I smiled—unforced this time. It was small and fleeting, but it happened.

  “Is Jack doing any better with the crate?” Ms. Stacy asked.

  I shook my head.

  “I’d say you should try letting him out, but from what I understand, your father won’t go for that.”

  I shook my head again.

  “Well, I’d keep trying,” Ms. Stacy said. “Fathers can be stubborn, and it sounds to me like your dog doesn’t want to be trapped.”

  I nodded.

  “Well, anyway, to go along with the book we’ve been reading,” Ms. Stacy continued, “I’ve had the children writing about wishes. This is what I wanted to show you.”

  Ms. Stacy opened Abby’s notebook and slid it in front of me. I looked down and read:

  I wish Thea cud be happy agin.

  I wish Thea wuznt sad all the time.

  I swallowed. Ms. Stacy slid Liv’s notebook over next.

  I wish I knew how to make Thea all better.

  I wish to have my big sister back again.

  I wish Thea didn’t think the axident was her fallt.

  I fought the tightening in my throat, refusing to cry. I choked back another swallow and wiped my eyes. I wished those things too.

  “You’ve got two wonderful little sisters, Thea. I just wanted you to know that they love you very much.”

  I still had my head down, but I nodded.

  “And here they come now,” Ms. Stacy said. “And they have a dog.”

  What? I sat up. Liv and Abby came running up to the classroom window, squealing and laughing.

  “Jack-Jack came to play!” Liv yelled through the glass.

  My mouth fell open.

  “Did you go home all by yourselves to get him?” Ms. Stacy asked, sounding concerned.

  “Nope. He just showed up,” Abby said. “He missed us.”

  But how? I wondered.

  “Looks like you’ve got yourselves a regular Houdini dog,” Ms. Stacy said.

  She was right about that. Somehow our dog had not only escaped from his crate, but also our house. How? I continued to wonder, utterly dumbfounded.

  “I must have something that we can use for a temporary leash,” Ms. Stacy said, rummaging through her closet. “Yes, this should work.” She pulled out a bundle of clothesline. “Let’s go help your sisters.”

  I followed her outside. When Jack saw us, he came running, wagging his tail.

  “This is Jack-Jack,” Liv and Abby told Ms. Stacy.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Jack-Jack,” Ms. Stacy replied. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Abby giggled.

  “He’s a good boy,” Livvy said, patting his head.

  Just then it started to rain. It was light, but the sky didn’t look promising. Wet roads were dangerous. I could feel my anxiety level rising.

  “Oh no, we’re gonna get soaked,” Abby whined.

  “I’ll give you a ride,” Ms. Stacy said. “Don’t worry. I just need a minute to get my things together.”

  “Yay,” Liv and Abby cheered.

  “Ms. Stacy, you’re the best,” Abby said.

  “Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m certainly not going to let two of my finest students walk home in a downpour, even if they are accompanied by their big sister and special dog.”

  Liv and Abby beamed. We followed Ms. Stacy inside, but stayed near the exit doors while we waited for her to round up her belongings because we had Jack and didn’t know if he could be inside the building. It didn’t take Ms. Stacy long and then she showed us out to her car.

  My sisters climbed into the back with Jack and I hopped in the front. It was a short ride, but it saved us from getting drenched because Ms. Stacy had been right. By the time we reached our house, the light rain had turned into a heavy downpour.

  My sisters thanked their teacher and then jumped out and ran inside with Jack-Jack.

  “Thea, I’m not sure you ever got to do what you came for today, so I guess I’ll be seeing you again,” Ms. Stacy said.

  My fingers gripped the apology card inside my pocket. I could’ve given it to her then and been done with this—but I didn’t. Instead, I nodded. Then I got out and hurried into the house. I closed the door behind me and stood there thinking. It wasn’t that Ms. Stacy needed me to say anything. She was just giving me a reason to go back—in case I wanted to, which I did.

  26

  FREE!

  Liv and Abby told all about Jack’s incredible day at dinner that night. Not only did Jack manage to escape his crate, he then proceeded to get out of the house by pushing his way past the screen in the bathroom window. (Mom had left the window open because Jack didn’t smell like roses after a day-long slobber-fest inside his crate.) Most amazing of all, once outside, Jack went and found my sisters at school. We had no way to explain that, but Liv and Abby had fun sharing their different theories.

  “I think he sniffed our feet tracks,” Abby suggested.

  “I think he picked up our scent on the wind,” Liv said.

  “I think the squirrels and birdies told him where to go,” Abby said next, getting creative.

  “I think he heard us on the playground,” Liv decided, which actually might’ve been the case.

  Mom laughed and shook her head while Dad sat in stunned silence. He’d been rendered speechless for all of dinner. He simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mom, on the other hand, had heard enough.

  “Can we please be done with the crate now?” she asked.

  Still no response from my dumbfounded father.

  “Please, Daddy,” Abby pleaded.

  “Please,” Livvy echoed.

  Dad sighed. “Well, the vet said she’d give us a round of meds to try, but okay. We need to close all of the bedroom and bathroom doors. I don’t want to give Jackson free rein over the entire house in case this backfires…but we can try leaving him out on Monday.”

  “Yay!” Liv and Abby cheered.

  Jack’s tail wagged. He gave Dad’s hand a lick.

  “This is your big chance, buddy,” Dad told him. “Don’t blow it.”

  “He won’t,” Abby promised—and she was right.

  “Jack-Jack’s free. Free!” Livvy sang.

  More tail wagging.

  “Thank goodness,” Mom murmured. “It only took all of September.”

  27

  WHITMAN FOREST

  Jack-Jack and I were up and at it early the next day. The weekend was here, and with it a batch of beautiful weather. Based on our regular routines, Jack knew when it was and wasn’t a school day, and on the non–school days we always dedicated a chunk of our morning to training, which he liked. At this point, Jack had sit and stay mastered, and he was pretty good at come whenever I whistled. Now we were working on roll over and shake.

  We had a good morning, and then just like he did after our first training session, Jack-Jack insisted we go for a walk when we finished up. I didn’t mind, but before leaving I decided to throw some treats and a sandwich and an apple into my backpack, just in case we found a good spot for a picnic lunch while we were out and about.

  Mom and Dad had mentioned Whitman Forest, a nearby reservation with over thirty acres of hiking trails, when we first moved to the area. At the time I didn’t care, nor did I think I’d ever care, but things were different with Jack-Jack. The forest sounded like the kind of place he might like. So instead of making the familiar trek toward school, we headed in the other direction—and I’m glad we did.

  The reservation was beautiful. Jack and I studied the map at the entrance and decided to give the yellow trail a try since a portion of it traveled along a lake that was also part of the reserve. At first, I kept Jack on his leash, but after three squirrels he’d almost pulled my arm off. We were in the middle of the woods, so I didn’t have to worry about cars, and like I said, Jack-Jack was pretty good at listening to my whistle, so I decided to let him run free.

  He loved it. He ran all over the place chasing chipmunks and squirrels, jumping over logs and darting around trees like a slalom skier. I was smiling before I even realized it, but the best was yet to come.

  We were about a mile along when the trail turned down a hill and the lake first came into view, precisely where a colorful group of ducks had congregated not far from shore. The second Jack spotted them he bounded ahead and launched into the water, belly-flop style. It was anything but graceful. A chorus of quacks filled the air followed by a string of big barks. And then it happened. I laughed. For the first time since the accident, I laughed. And it felt good. But my firsts didn’t stop there.

  As I watched Jack paddling through the water, chasing after those ducks that he had no chance of catching, I felt something else that hadn’t been there in a long time. I was hit by a sudden urge. I dug through my backpack until I found my journal. Even though I hadn’t opened it since that day, I also hadn’t taken it out of my bag. I pulled out my colored pencils next, and then I sat on a nearby log. I flipped through the pages, stopping on the last sketch I’d made, a drawing of a dragonfly I’d seen perched on a rock at Clover Creek. I studied it, remembering that day, and exhaled. I looked out at Jack-Jack, jumping and splashing in the shallows, trying to catch the little minnows he’d spotted now. I smiled. Then I turned to a clean page and began drawing.

 

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