Stolen Treasure

Chapter 1

I was in trouble. I wasn't sure why. I didn't remember doing anything bad—not recently, I mean. I didn't chew the remote again, even though it's super tasty. I didn't even break anything when Hudson threw the ball inside for me this morning.

But I knew that spiky feel Mia gets when she's agitated, and she was glancing at me every few seconds from the kitchen. Even a four-legger like me can add those together and come up with trouble for Neville.

Hudson was upset, too. But it didn't seem to be with me. He wasn't looking at me as often as Mia, but he felt heavy, when he was usually bouncy and fun, like the ball we play with.

The ball! Why didn't I think of that before? I got off my bed and stuck my nose into my toy bin. Hudson loved the ball. We played it at least once a day. I couldn't run as far in the new yard as I did when we went to the park, but Hudson still loved it, and that's what was important.

I found the ball under the couch, then doubled back to my bed and found another one there. I can just fit them both in my mouth. Hudson always smiled when he had the ball, and Mia smiled when Hudson smiled. And if one ball was good, two balls had got to be better. Balls would fix everything.

Hudson's hands were flying as he talked to Mia, so I beaked him gently in the thigh to get his attention. He glanced down and gave me a skritch behind the ear before letting me drop the balls into his hand.

He didn't smile. His fingers twitched around the balls and his face had frozen in the same kind of twist Suzy at the dog park made when she fell funny and hurt her leg. My tail dropped and the whine rose in my throat before I even knew it was going to happen.

Hudson dropped to his knees and used his free hand to scratch along my jaw. "It's okay, buddy. She didn't mean it."

Mia snorted and bent to grab the balls away from Hudson. "I do mean it."

Her spikiness faded into more Mia-ish curves, and her cut-grass scent filled my nose when she kissed the top of my head. "But you'll be all right. It's for the best, Nev."

I leaned into her and my tail wagged so hard my back feet slid on the kitchen floor. Mia did that to me. Just being near her gave me the wiggles. Ever since we first met in the middle of the big wild.

"But Mia, couldn't we just..."

She put the balls on the kitchen counter and my butt hit the tile in the ready-to-fetch position. But she wasn't getting ready to throw them. She put one hand on Hudson's face and pulled him closer with the other. "You know we can't, Hudson. I should have done it a long time ago."

Hudson's sigh released the last of the tension between them and my tail swept across the floor. They were good again. 'Cause of the balls. Balls were the key to happiness.

Mia stepped away from Hudson and patted her chest. I stood up and nuzzled her neck and jaw. She hugged me tight. "It really will be all right, Neville, I promise." And then she was pulling her going-away pack over her shoulder.

She paused with the door halfway closed. "Maybe he could have some bacon on his dinner tonight."

Bacon? She said BACON!!! No matter what the spiky heaviness was about, it couldn't be that bad if bacon was involved. See, it's just like I said. Balls make everyone happy. Bacon happy.

Hudson gave a funny kind of laugh as I danced the happy bacon dance around him. "Oh, buddy. You really shouldn't have knocked up the dog next door."