Emily’s feet still felt frozen, but her hand moved. Fascinated, she watched it reach out to the gate of the nearest kennel. Her fingers lifted the latch.

  A blizzard of white puppies blew out and swirled around Emily’s feet. Emily ducked behind the door to the lobby as it swung all the way open. The puppies darted through.

  “Blitzen! Dasher! Dancer!” Margery shouted. “What are you doing? Get back here!”

  Emily eased the door shut behind the last of the puppies as they dashed out. Then she ran to Anson’s side.

  Anson had Otto’s kennel open. Otto licked Emily’s hand and sniffed Anson’s face.

  “Back door!” Anson shouted. He pointed. There was another door at the far end of the corridor.

  Emily nodded. They hurried past whining dogs and barking dogs and dogs who just watched with sad, abandoned eyes.

  Emily grabbed the knob and twisted. It didn’t move.

  She tugged frantically at the door. Two retrievers, one yellow and one black, boomed at her from opposite kennels. “Outside? Outside?” they seemed to be saying. “Take me! Take me!”

  Tugging on a locked door wasn’t going to do any good. Emily shook her head at Anson. They’d have to get out through the front.

  She turned and realized that Otto was not beside them. He stood in front of the beagle’s kennel. As Emily watched, he took the latch of the gate gently in his teeth and tugged it open.

  The beagle bounded out, ears flapping.

  Other dogs were already milling in the aisle—the hound with the saggy face, a black Lab wiggling from nose to tail, a long skinny dog skidding under Otto’s belly to touch noses with a curly-tailed mutt, and something like an animated mop skittering around under everybody’s paws.

  The door to the lobby swung wide. Margery stood there with two wiggling puppies in her arms and three more yapping about her ankles.

  “What is going on?” she bellowed.

  If Rani had been there, Emily thought, she would have known what to do.

  Rani would have explained to Margery that everything was fine. Rani would have found a long pole and used it to vault over Margery’s head. Rani would have done something completely ridiculous that would have turned out to be the perfect thing to do.

  Margery piled her armload of yapping white puppies into the nearest kennel and shut the gate. “You two!” she said threateningly. “Get all of these dogs back into their cages this minute!”

  But Rani wasn’t here, and the back door was still locked, and Penelope was nowhere to be seen, and a collie had just put its front paws onto Anson’s shoulders. Anson toppled and the collie began a thorough job of licking his face with a long pink tongue.

  So if anyone was going to do anything here, it seemed to be up to Emily. And there was only one thing she could think of.

  “No,” she said to Margery.

  Emily’s “no” came out as more of a squeak than a word, and Emily was pretty sure Margery couldn’t hear it over the barking, baying, yipping, whining, and howling. But Margery probably heard the next thing that came out of Emily’s mouth, because Emily shrieked it at the top of her lungs.

  “Otto! Run!”

  Otto obeyed as if she were Rani.

  Suddenly a black blur was racing down the aisle. He sailed gracefully over two wrestling retrievers, dodged the skittering mop-ish dog, and headed straight for Margery.

  She ducked.

  Otto leaped over her.

  Emily seized Anson’s arm and yanked him up.

  While Margery was gaping after Otto, Emily and Anson tore down the aisle toward her. Emily nearly tripped over the mop-ish dog, so she scooped it up in her arms. Two black eyes glittered up at her through gray fluff. A tiny pink tongue panted.

  The collie lollopped behind Anson, clearly thinking this was a delightful game. Anson scrambled around the retrievers and tripped over the long-eared hound while Emily came face-to-face with Margery.

  “Here,” Emily said as politely as she could.

  She handed the mop-ish dog to Margery, who took it automatically. Emily ducked past on her left, while Anson stumbled by on the right.

  Both of them burst out into the lobby and around the counter. “Get back here!” Margery cried.

  Nobody did as she said. The two kids slammed open the door and ran out to the sidewalk. Gasping, Emily looked around for Otto. And where was Penelope?

  She didn’t see either one. But she did see a white cylinder, about a foot long, rolling along the sidewalk toward them.

  Behind Emily, dogs exploded out of the shelter, a barking, joyful mass of fur and paws. Several pounced on the white cylinder. Some stuck their muzzles inside. Others lapped at a sticky white goo oozing out onto the sidewalk.

  Ice cream, Emily realized. The thing rolling along the pavement was a tub of ice cream.

  And now more tubs were rolling toward them, and more dogs were pouncing on the treats. Emily finally spotted Penelope waving frantically from the back of a white truck.

  An ice-cream truck. Rich’s ice-cream truck.

  Otto was standing beside the truck. He gazed calmly at Emily and Anson as Penelope heaved a tub of sea-salted caramel down the sidewalk. “Go!” Penelope shouted. “Run!”

  Margery, open-mouthed, stumbled out of the shelter, still holding the mop-ish dog, which squirmed out of her arms to leap into a puddle of strawberry swirl.

  Anson vaulted over the sad-eyed hound, whose long ears were dragging in a pool of vanilla sludge. Emily dodged a greyhound and a poodle, both trying to get their noses inside the same tub of raspberry ripple.

  Then they were at the ice-cream truck, and Emily half fell inside next to Penelope.

  “Otto, up here!” she panted.

  Otto placed his front paws inside the truck. He didn’t appear to be in any hurry.

  Margery was running now, but her foot slipped in a creamy smear. She staggered to one side.

  Anson grabbed Otto’s massive hindquarters and heaved. The big dog didn’t budge.

  “Otto, come on!” Emily begged.

  Otto studied her gravely, licked her nose, and jumped nimbly into the truck. Penelope and Emily had to scoot aside to make room.

  Anson flung himself in after Otto.

  Margery had caught her balance. A grayish terrier danced around her, yapping.

  “You kids!” she shouted. “Get that dog back where he belongs!”

  So Emily did just what Rani would have done.

  “Okay!” she called back. “We will!” Then she slammed the truck’s door shut.

  Rich, in the driver’s seat, revved the engine. “Ready to go, kids?” he called back.

  “Ready!” Penelope shouted.

  The truck lurched forward. Anson fell on Emily, who toppled into a freezer.

  Beneath her, something yipped.

  Otto didn’t even sway. He licked a few drips of vanilla from his whiskers.

  “Emily, be careful!” Penelope said as Emily scooted to one side and discovered that she’d fallen on one of the fluffy white puppies. The little dog didn’t seem to hold any kind of grudge. She wagged up at Emily as if asking what game they were going to play next.

  Penelope picked up the puppy, settling it carefully on her lap. “What?” she asked when she noticed Emily staring.

  “I thought you didn’t like dogs?” Emily said. She felt as if she were trembling all over, but when she checked her hands, they were steady.

  “People are allowed to change their minds,” Penelope informed her.

  “All right back there?” Rich shouted from the front.

  “Great! Anson yelled back. He had found a squashed fudgsicle and was busy tugging off the mangled paper.

  “Am I taking you kids home?” Rich asked.

  All three said yes, but all of a sudden Emily felt drenched in a cold and sticky wave of doubt.

  She supposed they had to go home. What other choice was there?

  But Otto still didn’t have a collar. He didn’t have a license. What were they supposed to do about that?

  Anson was full of schemes to smuggle Otto up to the attic. Penelope thought it would be better to hide Otto in the backyard with the chickens.

  Emily couldn’t believe either of those plans would work. But Otto seemed to have his own idea in mind.

  Once Rich stopped the truck, Otto sat up and stared at the back door. Emily could see he was expecting her to open it.

  She did so.

  Otto bounded lightly to the pavement. He wagged his tail back and forth, as if to say thanks, and then headed toward the apartment building.

  Emily climbed out too, followed by Anson and Penelope. Penelope still held the small white puppy, now asleep in her arms.

  Rich rolled down the driver’s side window and pointed at a family of three on the other side of the street. “Customers,” he said. “Mind if I take off?”

  Emily nodded. She thought it was best for Rich to get his truck out of sight before Mrs. Pinkney showed up. Reminding Mrs. Pinkney about the existence of ice cream was probably a bad idea.

  “Thanks,” she said to Rich. “Really.”

  Rich nodded. “Tell Rani I said hi.” Then he drove off.

  “What now?” Anson asked.

  Before anyone could answer, something tumbled out of the attic window—a long coil of purple rope that unrolled as it fell. When one end smacked the ground, Emily saw that Otto’s dog harness was attached to it.

  Otto walked to the harness. He sniffed it. He looked at Emily with a tilt to his head.

  Rani was back in her attic. Emily felt a flicker of hope.

  “What’s that thing?” Penelope asked.

  Emily knelt beside Otto and buckled him into the harness. “Are you sure?” she asked him. “That window’s really high.”

  Otto turned his head and licked her ear.

  Emily nodded. She checked the clip that connected Otto’s harness to the rope, and she stepped back.

  Otto rose into the air, legs dangling. He had just cleared the first floor when the building’s front door burst open.

  “There you are!” Emily’s mother shouted. Her father was behind her, and Mrs. Pinkney was there, too, holding Jonah tightly by the hand. To Emily’s surprise, Mr. Cleary was with them.

  “Uh, I’m going to head home,” Anson muttered. He disappeared just as Emily’s mother swept her up in a hug.

  Emily hugged her back, taking the opportunity to peek over her mom’s shoulder and see Otto clambering into an attic window.

  “You see, Janice?” Emily’s dad said to Mrs. Pinkney. “I told you they’d be all right. They were together.”

  Emily’s mom swapped her to her father for another hug, and Mrs. Pinkney swooped in on Penelope. “Never, never, never dare to do anything like that again!” Mrs. Pinkney declared, squeezing her daughter tightly.

  There was a loud yip.

  “Careful, mom!” Penelope wiggled free. “Don’t squash her!”

  Everybody looked at the white puppy in Penelope’s arms, who was wagging her tail so hard her entire body wiggled. She seemed delighted to find herself surrounded by so many new friends.

  “Penelope Pinkney, what is that?” her mother demanded.

  “My dog,” Penelope said firmly.

  “Your…what?”

  Jonah came close to his sister and tugged gently on her arm. She lowered the dog to his level. The puppy licked his nose.

  “Wow,” Jonah whispered, soft but clear. “What’s her name?”

  “Vanilla,” Penelope answered. “Her name is Vanilla.”

  Mrs. Pinkney slowly shut her mouth. She looked at the dog cuddled in Penelope’s arms and at the joy beaming off Jonah’s face.

  “Well,” she said uncertainly. “Well, come upstairs, you two. Both of you. We’ll discuss…” She let her voice trail off. “Come upstairs.”

  The Pinkneys hurried inside, leaving Emily and her parents on the sidewalk with Mr. Cleary.

  “Where did Penelope get a dog?” Emily’s dad asked in bewilderment.

  “At the shelter,” Emily said.

  Both parents focused in on her. “That’s where the three of you went?” her mother demanded.

  Too late, Emily realized her mistake. Now her parents would figure everything out. She’d be in more trouble than ever. And that wasn’t even the worst thing.

  “To get that dog back?” Emily’s father asked.

  She could only nod.

  The worst thing was that Otto would probably be taken away from Rani all over again.

  Her dad sighed. “Emily. I’m sure you thought you were helping, but you should have left this to the grown-ups.” He sighed again. “Where’s Otto now?” he asked. “And where’s Rani? Isn’t she with you?”

  Emily couldn’t help herself. She glanced up at the attic window.

  Just then the door of the first-floor apartment swung open. Mr. Armand stood there, blinking a little, as Emily, her parents, and Mr. Cleary all turned toward him.

  “Hello?” he said, as if it were the only comment he could think of.

  “We’ve been trying to call you!” Emily’s mother burst out.

  “Are you in charge of that child?” Mr. Cleary demanded. “Is your name Otto?”

  “Otto is the dog,” Emily’s father reminded him.

  “I was picking up a friend at the airport,” Mr. Armand said, looking from face to face. “And I dropped my phone. I’m afraid it did not fare well. May I ask—is something wrong?”

  “Wrong!” Mr. Cleary burst out. “Wrong!”

  The torrent of explanation that came from all three adults involved ice cream, Capture the Flag, and the animal shelter. Next came chickens, bungee jumping, and something about hippos that even Emily did not understand.

  Rani was right. Grown-ups certainly were good at talking.

  Mr. Armand stood blinking in more bewilderment than ever. “What is Capture the Flag? Which flag is involved?” he asked.

  Mr. Cleary straightened his shoulders. “I have to go inside, please,” he said firmly. “I can’t leave until I’m sure that child is safe.”

  Mr. Armand moved aside a little. Emily was about to follow Mr. Cleary when her father put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Honey, let’s go up to our own apartment,” he said.

  But Emily pulled her shoulder free from her father’s grasp.

  “I’m going too,” she said. “Rani’s my friend.”

  All week, Emily had been trying to help Rani by teaching her the rules. But trying to teach Rani the rules was like trying to teach a fish to walk on stilts. It was never going to work, no matter how hard you tried. Or how hard the fish tried.

  And then Emily had tried to help Rani by breaking the rules. But that hadn’t gone well either.

  As far as Emily could tell, there was only one thing left that she could do. No matter what was going to happen next, she couldn’t let Rani face it without a friend at her side.

  So when Mr. Armand held the door open for Mr. Cleary, Emily followed him. Mr. Armand followed Emily. And Emily’s parents exchanged a glance and followed Mr. Armand.

  Mr. Cleary marched all the way up to the attic and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He tried the knob. It didn’t turn.

  “Does anyone have a key?” Mr. Cleary asked.

  Emily heard the lock click.

  “It’s open now,” she said. And, indeed, the door swung inward.

  Otto was sitting just inside. He wagged the very tip of his tail in a polite manner.

  Emily checked the trampoline. It was empty. So was the loft with its pillows and curtains. The chandelier overhead cast flakes of white light and patches of rainbows over the floor.

  Everything was just as it usually was, except for one thing.

  Rani was not swinging in the hammock or hurtling down the slide or bounding up and down on the trampoline. Instead, she was in the green velvet armchair, curled up in the lap of a woman Emily hadn’t met before.

  Emily had never seen Rani sit so still.

  Even though the woman was a stranger, Emily recognized her. She had long legs in patched pants of faded blue. She wore hiking boots so muddy and dusty it was impossible to tell what color they had once been. She had on a tan vest with pockets everywhere over a purple shirt spangled with mirrors.

  The pale skin of her face was scattered with freckles and her red-orange hair frizzed around her head just as Rani’s black curls did. Her eyes were as blue as Rani’s own.

  For a moment they all stood and stared—Emily, her mother and father, and Mr. Cleary. Mr. Armand waved and turned to clump back down the stairs.

  “Hi, Emily,” Rani called out. She grinned without lifting her head from the red-haired woman’s shoulder. “My mom’s back from Patagonia!”

  After that there was even more talking.

  But Emily noticed something funny. Rani’s mom was doing very little of the talking herself. Words swooshed and lapped around her like waves, and she listened and nodded now and then.

  How could such a quiet mother have a daughter who talked as much as Rani? Maybe it worked out for them, Emily thought. Maybe all the listening Rani’s mom did gave Rani’s words the space they needed.

  When the talking began to get tiresome, Rani and Emily escaped to the loft and hoisted Otto up to join them. They found Araminta roosting on a purple silk cushion embroidered with yellow butterflies. She had an egg underneath her. Otto sniffed at her feathery head.

  There was now a dumbwaiter to one side of the loft. Rani turned a crank to pull it up. Inside were a plate of lemon cookies and two glasses of chocolate milk, each with a straw. Rani handed a glass and two cookies to Emily.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12