“Will you all just—” the police officer started, but she was interrupted by a long, clear yodel.

  It came from Rani. She spread her arms wide and sprang off the roof.

  In an elegant swan dive, Rani plummeted toward the ground. Everyone stood frozen with horror. Even Emily held her breath.

  When Rani’s head was just a few yards from the ground, the bungee cord around her ankles snapped her back up into the air. She plunged earthward again, bounded back up into the sky, and at last came to rest, bobbing gently upside down with her face on a level with Mr. Cleary’s.

  “Wow,” Jonah and Anson whispered together.

  “Oh, hello,” Rani said to Mr. Cleary. “Did you need me to come back to the school and help out with the club again? I’m exhilarated now, by the way. How are you feeling?”

  “Lord have mercy,” one of the police officers murmured. He sank down on the bench beside the front door and put a hand over his heart.

  “Rani, come down from there,” Emily’s father told her in his teacher voice.

  He helped unfasten the rubber cord from around Rani’s ankles and turned her right side up. Then he lowered her to the ground. Otto came to her side and nosed at her cheek.

  Rani stood blinking up at the adults surrounding her. Slowly her smile faded.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  Mr. Cleary put a hand to his forehead. He took in a very deep breath. He let it out extremely slowly.

  Then he knelt down on the sidewalk so he was face-to-face with Rani.

  “Rani,” he said. His voice came out a little wobbly, but it firmed up with his next sentence. “Nothing is wrong. We’re all here to help you.”

  Rani gave the principal her widest smile. “How nice of you,” she said. “But I don’t need any help right now. Thanks all the same.”

  “Sometimes we don’t realize when we need help,” Mr. Cleary went on. “But a lot of people are very worried.”

  “I’m sorry you’re worried. Would you like to try bungee jumping?” Rani offered. “It always cheers me up.”

  Mr. Cleary glanced up at the apartment building and shuddered. “Now, Rani, a child of your age needs parents. And I hear—”

  “Oh, I have parents.” Rani sounded relieved. “You don’t have to worry about that. One, at least. You can get by with one, right? Two is nice if you need a spare, but one will do.”

  Mr. Cleary began to get the slightly wide-eyed expression that was becoming familiar to Emily. It was the way grown-ups tended to look when they talked to Rani.

  The police officer who was still standing up moved a little closer, as if she wanted to overhear what was being said.

  “But I understand that your mother’s not always at home,” Mr. Cleary went on. “And little girls can’t live alone.”

  “Of course not. I’m never alone. Otto’s always around.”

  “Otto?” Mr. Cleary shook his head a little in bewilderment. “Who’s Otto? Does he take care of you?”

  “Sure he does. And I take care of him too. I put his food in his bowl…” Rani’s voice trailed off as she caught sight of Emily vigorously shaking her head.

  “You put his food in a bowl?” Mr. Cleary blinked. “Can I meet this Otto, please?”

  “Of course!” Rani draped an arm around Otto’s shoulders. “He loves to meet new people.”

  Otto offered his paw to Mr. Cleary, who took it automatically.

  “Yes, very nice,” he said, dropping the paw. “But where is Otto, Rani?”

  Rani gave him a pitying look. “Right here,” she said gently, as if she thought Mr. Cleary was pleasant but not very bright.

  Jonah Pinkney edged closer to Otto, who gave him a paw also. Emily could tell what was going to happen next.

  Rani was about to explain everything to Mr. Cleary—that Otto was a dog, that her mom was in Patagonia, that Rani lived in an attic and slept in a hammock where the dreams were almost as good as the ones you got on a drifting iceberg.

  And what would happen after that? Emily was sure it would be nothing good.

  “Rani!” she blurted as Rani beamed at Mr. Cleary and opened her mouth.

  Everyone turned to stare at Emily.

  What should she say? How could she possibly help Rani now?

  Then, suddenly, she knew.

  “Rani, where’s Mr. Armand?” she asked.

  Rani shrugged.

  “We’ve been trying to call him all afternoon!” Emily’s mother said. “He’s not answering his phone. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

  Mr. Cleary seemed to relax a bit. “So Otto’s last name is Armand?” he asked.

  Emily’s father spoke up. “Well, not exactly—” he began.

  “Oh, for goodness’s sake!” Mrs. Pinkney snapped. “Claude Armand’s first name is not Otto. Otto is that dog. And it’s high time that someone took control of this situation.” She stepped forward, seized Jonah’s arm, and pulled him away from Otto.

  Her other hand reached for Rani’s shoulder. Emily couldn’t tell what she planned to do. Push Rani away from Otto? Just keep Rani still while she dragged Jonah away?

  Emily never figured it out, because before Mrs. Pinkney’s hand touched Rani, Otto was between them, a sleek black mountainous mass of dog.

  Mrs. Pinkney snatched Jonah back with a yelp of alarm.

  “It growled at me!” she gasped. “That dog growled at me!”

  “No, he didn’t,” Emily said. She was quite close to Otto and she hadn’t heard a single growl.

  “Yeah, he really didn’t.” Anson tried his best to back Emily up.

  Nobody seemed to hear what they’d said.

  “The dog? Otto is the dog?” Finally Mr. Cleary understood.

  “Penelope, Jonah, come inside this instant!” Mrs. Pinkney ordered.

  “Janice, I don’t think the dog is actually dangerous,” Emily’s mom said soothingly.

  “Don’t you tell me that. I’m the one it growled at!”

  “Otto never growls!” Emily said a little bit louder.

  “Otto is the dog?” Mr. Cleary exclaimed again.

  Mrs. Pinkney marched Penelope and Jonah into the building. Mr. Cleary smoothed his hair back with both hands, looking as if he’d rather tear it out. The police officer on the bench stood up.

  “That dog doesn’t have a license. Doesn’t even have a collar,” he said.

  And that, Emily thought later, was when everything really went wrong.

  A short time later, Emily and Rani sat in Emily’s room. Emily could hear her parents in the kitchen, getting dinner ready. They had turned on some classical music with cellos and bassoons, so only a word or two of what they were saying got through.

  “…for the best, I…”

  “…really think so?”

  “…couldn’t go on…”

  All the grown-ups had talked and talked and talked down there in front of the apartment building. After what seemed like a horribly long time to Emily, they’d agreed that Rani could stay with Emily’s family for right now, at least until Mr. Armand turned up or someone could track down Rani’s mom.

  Mr. Cleary had asked a lot of questions about Rani’s mom. Where was she in Patagonia, exactly? What was she doing there? When would she be back? Did Rani know her phone number? Her email? Any way to get in touch with her?

  But Rani hadn’t answered any of those questions.

  Rani hadn’t said a single word since one of the two police officers had explained that all dogs had to be licensed. She had gently pried Rani’s arms away from Otto’s neck, led the big dog to the black-and-white car, put him in the back of it, and nodded at the second officer to drive away.

  Emily had seen Otto’s face as he stared through the car’s back window. She did not know who looked more heartbroken—Otto or Rani.

  Now Rani sat huddled on Emily’s bed. She looked tinier than ever.

  And she wasn’t talking. Not even to Emily.

  Rani. Wasn’t. Talking.

  “Listen,” Emily said to her. “Listen, Rani. The police officer said she had to take Otto to the shelter until we can get a license for him. But we can get him back, okay? When Mr. Armand gets here. Or your mom. They’ll get him a license. It’s just for a little while, okay?”

  Rani stirred. She turned to face Emily. Her blue eyes seemed faded and dim.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered.

  “Tell you what?” What was there to tell? Rani knew everything that had happened. None of it was a secret. What had she expected Emily to tell her?

  “About the collar. For Otto. And a license,” Rani answered softly. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a rule about those things for dogs?”

  Emily couldn’t think of anything to say.

  “If I’d known there was a rule…” Rani bent her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She hid her face.

  “Rani?” Emily said.

  There was no answer.

  It had never occurred to Emily that Otto might need a collar. Or a license. Those were for the kind of dog that got taken on walks and sometimes got fleas or jumped up on the counter and ate the lasagna. Otto wasn’t that kind of dog.

  But the police officers hadn’t known that.

  “Rani? I’m sorry.”

  The police officers had only been there because Jonah had left the school playground. And Jonah wouldn’t have been on the school playground at all if Emily hadn’t thrown the ice-cream cone at Mrs. Pinkney.

  “Rani,” Emily said. “Rani?”

  Rani’s mom was so far away. And now she didn’t have her dog.

  All she had was Emily, who felt like a not-very-good friend. A friend who was so busy trying to get Rani to follow the rules that she’d missed the one that really mattered.

  “Just wait here,” Emily told Rani. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Under the cover of a loud moment for the kettledrums in the music from the kitchen, Emily slipped out of the apartment, shutting the door behind her.

  She made it down one flight of stairs before she found Penelope sitting gloomily on the landing.

  Emily could hear Mrs. Pinkney’s voice from inside the apartment.

  “She’s calling my dad,” Penelope said. “She always gets even madder when she calls my dad.”

  Emily nodded, but she couldn’t stop to talk. She sidled past Penelope and kept going. It was only when she opened the front door of the building that she realized Penelope was behind her.

  To Emily’s surprise, Anson was slouched on the bench outside the front door.

  “What are you still doing here?” Penelope asked him.

  Anson sat up straighter. “It’s boring at my house,” he said. “Is Rani coming out?”

  Emily shook her head. She wasn’t sure how to say, Rani isn’t Rani anymore.

  Then she figured it out. “Rani needs Otto back,” she said.

  Anson nodded. Penelope made a face.

  “Dogs, yuck,” she said. “But she did find Jonah like she said she could. So I guess we better go get that dumb dog.”

  Anson knew where the animal shelter was. “We had to go there when my sister’s cat got lost,” he explained.

  “Can we just say we want to adopt Otto?” Emily asked as they walked. But she knew it would not be that simple.

  “They’re not going to let some kids just adopt a dog,” Penelope told her.

  Anson agreed. “You have to have a grown-up. You have to sign things.”

  “So what are we going to do?” Emily asked.

  “Break him out!” Anson grabbed a lamppost and swung in a circle around it. “Like a raid. A rescue. A jailbreak!”

  Penelope snorted. “We say he’s our dog and then they have to give him back.”

  Emily was doubtful. “But are they going to believe us? We’re just kids, like you said.”

  “Kids have dogs,” Penelope said calmly.

  “But…”

  “Emily.” Penelope turned her head to give Emily a look that said, Stop arguing. “We have to try.”

  Emily still didn’t think they could walk into the shelter and announce that Otto belonged to the three of them…but she couldn’t come up with anything better. And like Penelope said, they had to try.

  They passed an empty playground and a dry cleaner’s and a drugstore and a shop that sold flowers and fruit and windchimes. It was the second time this day, Emily thought, that she was walking through her neighborhood without permission.

  Anson led them around a corner, and now they were on a block Emily didn’t recognize.

  They hurried past apartment buildings and a thrift shop and an empty storefront with a blank black doorway that made Emily shiver.

  Anson stopped walking and pointed. “There,” he said.

  Emily studied the plain, one-story building on the other side of the street. It said City Animal Shelter over the front door.

  If Rani were here, Emily thought, she would tap dance into the building. She’d do a backflip or several cartwheels. She’d dazzle the shelter workers with a burst of facts about leopard seals or hippos, and she’d smuggle Otto out through a secret tunnel or parachute him through a window.

  But Rani wasn’t here. It was just Emily and Penelope and Anson, and they didn’t have a parachute. Or much of a plan either.

  In the distance, Emily heard the jaunty jingle of an ice-cream truck, and it brought back the shuddery horror of the chocolate fudge ripple hitting Mrs. Pinkney in the face. It also made her stomach growl a little. It must be really close to dinnertime.

  Emily didn’t know what kind of trouble she might get into if she didn’t show up for dinner, but she was pretty sure it would be even worse than a special conversation. She’d need more than a fresh start.

  Maybe they just ought to go home.

  “Come on,” Penelope said, and started across the street. She shoved open the door of the animal shelter and disappeared inside.

  Emily traded a nervous glance with Anson. Well, hers was nervous. His was alight with excitement.

  As soon as they opened the shelter’s door, Emily could hear barking. It bellowed and boomed around her, though there was not a single dog in sight.

  They were in a mostly bare room with a counter along one side. Penelope was standing in front of the counter, giving the woman behind it a firm look.

  “I’m here to get my dog,” she announced. “He’s big. Really big. And black. And kind of slobbery, and he doesn’t smell that nice.”

  The woman seemed confused. She had a name tag on. It read, I’m Margery! Ask me about adoption!

  Margery glanced at the door behind Penelope. “Your parents are here too?”

  Penelope sounded irritated. “He’s my dog,” she said. “Not my parents’ dog. That’s why I came. His name’s Oscar. I mean Otto. Big. Big and black.”

  While Penelope talked, Emily let her gaze wander around the room. There was a grubby yellow couch in one corner and a bench with a few magazines on it. That was it, unless you counted a window with a view of the street and a door in the wall behind Margery.

  “No, he doesn’t have a collar, that’s the whole problem!” Penelope was saying. “I’ll get him one. But I can’t get a collar if I don’t have a dog, so—”

  “Listen,” Margery interrupted. Emily wasn’t sure which of the two sounded more annoyed. “Just go home and get one of your parents, okay?”

  She stepped out from behind the counter. Anson quickly moved to one side. He snagged Emily’s sleeve and tugged her with him.

  “That’s not very nice, keeping someone’s dog away from them,” Penelope grumbled. “I don’t think that’s what a shelter should do.”

  Margery reached for Penelope’s shoulder and steered her toward the front door. “Hey, you’re not supposed to touch me!” Penelope snapped.

  Anson dragged Emily behind the counter and drew her down to the floor. The door that led to the back of the shelter was right behind them.

  “Strangers aren’t supposed to touch kids! Don’t you know anything?” Penelope went on. “I don’t think you—”

  Anson eased the door open. He oozed through it, and Emily just couldn’t stay there crouched behind the counter.

  So she followed him.

  The noise of frantic dogs exploded into Emily’s ears. It was fantastic, the noise. It was unbelievable.

  They were standing at one end of a long corridor lined on either side with kennels. Each kennel had a food and water dish, a scrap of blanket, and a dog who clearly believed that the arrival of Emily and Anson was the most exciting thing that had ever happened.

  Dogs who had been snoozing woke. Dogs who had been lying on their blankets sat up. Dogs who had been pacing raced to the gates of their kennels.

  Dogs who had been quiet started barking.

  The noise thundered at Emily. It bounced off the cement floor and the cinderblock walls and thundered at her again. It got inside her head, banging every thought out of her brain.

  On her right was a kennel with a litter of puppies, all white frizz and black eyes. A little way down, a hound with a sad, sagging face lifted up his chin and let out more of a yodel than a bark. A beagle flung both front paws at the gate of its kennel, yelping something that clearly meant, “At last! At last! You’re here at last!”

  Next to the beagle was Otto.

  He sat calmly by the gate of his kennel and gazed at Emily and Anson as if he’d been expecting them.

  Anson flashed a grin at Emily and ran toward him. Emily stayed where she was, frozen by the deafening noise and the knowledge that she was in a place she was not supposed to be.

  Even through the din, her ears caught the sound of the door opening behind her.

  “What is all this racket?” asked Margery as she peeked inside. Then she turned her head. “No, look, kid, I already told you, you can’t get your dog now,” she said over her shoulder.

 

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