Dog Daze (14 page)

For a moment, Sunny and Aneta could only stare at Vee. Her bleak face stared right back. Aneta crossed her arms, rubbing her elbows. This plan had seemed perfect on the patio.
Now what?

“Think, think, think. We can’t waste time.” Sunny blew out a breath and glanced past Vee. “Uh-oh.” She quickly looked at the ground. “Don’t look over there, but there’s a creepy white van slowing down on the side of the park.”

Aneta and Vee, of course, turned toward the van.

“I said,
don’t
look!”

“Creepy,” Vee said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Run!” Sunny said. “We’ll think on the way!”

Aneta dug in her sneakers and dashed off toward their goal. Whoever the van driver was, she hoped he or she was not interested in three stupid girls up in the night without parents.

“Aneta!” Vee and Sunny’s screech stopped her. She looked back. She stood alone in the middle of the street in front of Mr. Leonard’s house. Vee and Sunny were nearly at the opposite edge, closest to running home. They were gesturing wildly. “You’re going the wrong way!
This
way!”

The van had disappeared.

When Aneta reached the girls, the two took off running again. She had to put on extra speed to catch up. Sunny was gasping out ideas.

“Vee—
gasp-gasp
—you’re the fastest.” She swallowed, stumbled on a curb, flailed, and righted herself. “Get over the fence, get the phone, get back over the fence.” Sunny finally stopped. “I gotta rest.” Aneta, while not winded, was relieved.

“Where are you two going to be?” Vee asked, not breathing even a little hard.

“Right behind you,” Sunny said. “You meet us, we’ll turn around. We’ve gone this far getting into trouble.”

Aneta nodded. “When we show Mr. Leonard is bad, we will not get in trouble.” She bit her lip. “Maybe.” It was both scary and kind of thrilling—this being out in the middle of the night without parents. She tipped back her head; the stars were out with a quarter moon. The Fam had taken her on the first family field trip to the Oakton Observatory after she became a Jasper. A memory she had tucked away then as the best day of her life. After tonight, she hoped she got to
stay
a Jasper.

With Plan B in place, they ran once more. Once she began gasping, Aneta realized she was forgetting to breathe, so conscious was she not to make any noise that might wake up the neighbors. C.P.’s bedroom window was open and his light on as they quietly jogged across his front yard to the fence. What was he doing up so late? Eating, probably.

As Sunny predicted, Vee made the fence just ahead of them. With one smooth motion that told Aneta Vee had climbed many fences before, the dark-haired girl was on the top, had turned around, and was preparing to drop down when a familiar grown-up voice that was
not
Esther’s came out of the darkness.

“Where are the other two, Vee?”

Banished?

P
arents crowded the living room.

Aneta watched Sunny, Esther, and Vee’s parents stand with them while Mom paced the front of the room. Mom had never acted this way. They would need to buy gobs of peanut butter. Aneta had shamed Mom—made her look like a bad mom.

A weight like the entire city of Oakton pressed on Aneta. She had already cried and now attempted to keep from breaking into fresh tears. It wasn’t working; the tears were rolling silently down her cheeks anyway. How long would it take Mom to decide that Aneta was trouble and send her back? From the looks on the faces of the other parents, they were as unhappy as Mom.

They had already gone through how dangerous it had been to go out alone. “
Stupid
is what it was,” Sunny’s dad had said. “So was sending Vee back alone. What were you thinking?”

“We were right behind her,” Sunny protested. “At least we were stupid in a group. Does that count?” From Sunny’s dad’s expression, Aneta knew it didn’t. The large-panel van slowing down as it passed them at the park rushed back into her mind.

She agreed with Mr. Quinlan.

“We were stupid,” she said, raising her eyes to meet his. “I am very sorry we did not think better.”

“Well.” He didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Esther, because you didn’t go. You should have told Aneta’s mother the girls had left. They could have been… Well”—Esther’s mother glanced at her husband—“a lot of things could have happened.” Esther flushed a dull red.

Both of Vee’s parents were there; her mother with her new husband and Vee’s father with his wife. It was double trouble for Vee, thought Aneta. She only had Mom to look at her so disappointed. Her shame deepened.

The parents left the girls to confer in the kitchen.

“That’s not good that they are talking together,” Vee said. Her face was pinched, and there were circles under her eyes.

Aneta yawned. It was nearing midnight. “Why?” she asked.

Sunny answered before Vee. “Because it means they’ll come up with a punishment for all four of us as well as—”

Esther finished Sunny’s sentence, “—as well as getting punished individually by our own parents for getting them out of bed to come here and find us in trouble.”

Aneta’s gaze moved between the three girls. “How do you know this?”

Each girl shrugged.

Sunny replied, “Practice.”

“Will they ground us all?” Vee wondered, her brows nearly touching each other.

“What about the Waddle tomorrow?” Aneta cried.

Esther hissed, “They’re coming.”

The nine parents reentered the room. The girls faced them. Mom spoke like Aneta imagined she did in the courtroom. “We have agreed that the Waddle is a community project that needs you four girls.”

Aneta felt relief.

“So you will be there tomorrow—to help others.”

Four whooshes of pent-up breath. Aneta squeezed Sunny’s hand. Sunny squeezed back.

Mr. Nguyen stepped forward. Although his words were for all the girls, he never took his gaze off his daughter. She stared at her feet. “However, after that, you four are restricted from seeing each other. Between antagonizing Mr. Leonard by going into his yard and now this, we think”—he gestured toward the parents standing together—“your being together is not a good thing for a while.”

Vee’s head shot up.

Esther gasped. “Banished?”

Sunny sent a pleading look toward her mother. Aneta could only stare at Mom. They had just become the S.A.V.E. Squad! It was not fair! Two months ago, she had wanted nothing but
out
of the group. Now? She finally had friends. What would it be like without them?

Sunny’s parents nodded. The girls held hands. There didn’t seem to be anything more to say. Mom broke a silence so thick it stole the air from the room.

“Thank you for coming tonight. Again, I am—so sorry.”

Everyone began to move toward the front door. Aneta heard Sunny say to her parents as they passed through the door way, “Mom and Dad, please forgive me for being an idiot. I’m sorry I disappointed you.” Aneta watched both parents embrace their daughter.

When the door closed on the last person, Mom turned to Aneta. Her eyes were red. As she walked toward Aneta and the living room, she rubbed them and sighed. Aneta had thought she would say what Sunny had said to her parents. Instead she threw her arms around Mom. “Please don’t send me back. I am sorry I am so much trouble!
Please
don’t send me back!”

“Sweetie!” Mom’s mouth dropped open. “What are you talking about?”

Once seated on the couch, Mom’s arms held her tight. Aneta sobbed until the cries became jerks and gasps. It made her stomach hurt. Mom kept whispering, “Shh, sweetie. Shh. It’s all right. You’re not going anywhere,” until the words began to sink into Aneta’s pain.

She raised her head. “You will not send me back?”

Mom shook her head. “Jaspers don’t send Jaspers away. I love you so much, Aneta.”

Aneta cried all over again. She was still a Jasper. Mom said
always
a Jasper.

“I am sorry I was stupid,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I want my forever home here with you and The Fam.”

Mom’s eyebrows shot up. “Forever home? Sweetie, I love that.” She snuggled Aneta. Aneta felt herself drifting into sleep. Did she dream that Mom tucked her in bed like a little girl, whispering, “Tomorrow’s the Waddle, my little Jasper, and it will be great”?

Missing: One Hound Dawg

A
neta knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink, what with worrying about Wink, the Waddle, and the upcoming separation from the S.A.V.E. Squad. But then Mom woke her up the next morning and smiled at her.

“French toast, Jasper-style, ready to rumble,” Mom said. “Your grandmother brought over a big batch before you were up.”

Last night. Aneta’s face got hot. “The Fam knows?”

“Are you kidding?” Mom got off the bed and headed for the door. “The Fam has radar for news.” She turned at the doorway. “And they don’t love you any less, sweetie.”

Aneta relaxed then and stretched like a large cat. “I am a Jasper,” she said, a smile lighting her face. “Like you. Like The Fam.”

“Yes, my delightful daughter, you are. You are also going to be late for the Waddle if you don’t get moving.” Mom waved from the door, and she was gone. Her voice floated back. “The Fam will meet us at the park.”

Aneta jumped out of bed, dressed quickly in shorts and a W
AY
to W
ADDLE
T-shirt—designed by her with Esther’s help.

Sandals or sneakers? She might have to chase a loose basset at the Waddle. Sneakers. After tying them, she pulled a bulging plastic bag from her dresser, tucked it into her messenger bag, and thudded downstairs.

The two of them ate what Mom called a “gargantuan” breakfast of thick-sliced egg bread stuffed with sweetened cream cheese and then baked in cinnamon honey butter. While they drove the few short blocks to the park, Aneta hid her smiles thinking about Wink in his costume. Mom would fall in love. Aneta would pull him in a wagon that Esther and her brothers and sisters had decorated. Then, when this very last plan worked—and it
had
to—she and Mom would fill out the adoption papers. Paws ‘N’ Claws Animal Buddies would visit their house and make sure they would be good owners.
Only the best ever
.

She reviewed each girl’s job for the day. Vee had the final checklist. Esther would work the sound system for her father, the pastor of the local community church, when he prayed the Blessing of the Hounds. Sunny would shoot off the air horn to signal the beginning of the Basset Waddle. As the girls had worked out, Paws ‘N’ Claws Animal Buddies would carry out the other details the girls had planned.

The thought of the S.A.V.E. Squad banishment suddenly snuffed out her excitement. She looked through the car window over at Vee, Esther, and Sunny standing next to a Paws ‘N’ Claws volunteer. Vee had graduated to a clipboard today. Sunny was twirling in excitement around the group. Esther stood with her hands on her hips. Who knew how long the banishment would be? She wouldn’t figure out where Vee went with the backpack or hear about the funny things Sunny’s brothers said. And who would be Esther’s friends?

“You okay, ‘Neta?” Mom asked, turning the Lexus into The Sweet Stuff parking lot.

“No,” Aneta replied, sniffing, smiling at Mom’s abbreviation of her name. The Fam had been great about the whole name thing. “I want to find proof that Mr. Leonard is a bad dog owner. Then the S.A.V.E. Squad banishment would be worth it. Dogs like Wink and the others would at least be safe from Mr. Leonard.”

Mom’s mouth twitched at
banished
. “I’ve been thinking about that,” she said as the SUV rolled into a parking space. “I called Nadine last night.” She looked away, seemed to forget Aneta was there, and murmured, “I must have been crazy.” Shaking her head, she looked at Aneta. “After I apologized for waking her up, I explained what you girls think. Now, don’t get your hopes up, honey.” Mom leaned over to smooth the flyaway strands from Aneta’s headband. “Nadine asked her friend, who’s a volunteer with Paws ‘N’ Claws and an animal control officer, to join her and me at the Leonards’ in a few minutes.”