The Invisible Harry (9 page)

Feeling desperate, I plunged Harry into the toilet with no mercy.

He went crazy, barking and flapping and even snarling.

“I’m sorry, honey,” I kept saying. “I’m sorry. We’ve got about twelve seconds before they knock down the door. You’re going to feel better, I promise. Hubert! Help me! I’m getting soaked!”

Harry thrashed and yipped while I tried to get the sludge on his head and over his ears and around the tail.

I rubbed it deep into his fur, pretending to give him a shampoo.

“How long do we have to keep him in here?” asked Hubert.

“Let’s check now. Hit the switch.”

The room
buzzed
with light.

I blinked, feeling like a bat in sunshine.

And then I saw Harry.

“He’s here!”

Harry was sodden and miserable but all here.

I lifted him out of the toilet and rubbed him all over with paper towels, until his fur stood up and most of the bath lumps were gone. He was even cuter than I remembered.

“Wow,” whispered Hubert in awe. “We really did it!”

“We did it!” I hollered, loud and happy. We jumped up and down, punching each other with glee. Harry, of course, began to bark.

“Okay, stop.” I took a deep breath. “We have to hurry. We’ve got to clean up this mess and, oh my God, look at you!”

Hubert’s T-shirt was wet through, and his arms were coated in crud.

“You should talk, Billie. Your hair looks like it’s full of vomit.”

I checked the mirror and groaned.

“Do you think it’s safe to flush the toilet?” asked Hubert. We stood shoulder to shoulder examining the porcelain bowl full of slops.

I skimmed a couple of handfuls off the top and delivered them to the garbage can.

“We can only try,” I said, pushing on the lever.

Harry lifted his front paws onto the rim and watched with curiosity as the soup swirled and the pipes gagged and choked. Finally, thankfully, everything was sucked down.

We mopped the floor with more paper towels. Hubert splashed off his arms and squeezed what he could out of his shirt.

I twisted my head upside down in the sink, trying to rinse my hair, but mostly I sprayed water on the wall.

Harry suddenly shook himself, showering our knees and ankles, as if he’d just learned to be a real dog. From head to foot, I was various stages from damp to saturated.

The doorknob jiggled, and there was another knock.

“Billie! Charley said you were in there. Come out right now.” It was my little sister.

C
ome on!” Jane called. “Daddy is waiting outside, and so is that Jody girl.”

I flicked the lock and opened the door. Jane stared.

Harry greeted her with two happy barks.

“He’s real!” she exclaimed, crouching to pet him. “How did you do that? And why are you all wet? And why is Hubert in the bathroom with you?”

“Let’s go,” I said.

I picked up Harry and cradled him in my arms, feeling sadness settle over me like dust.

Jody was here to collect Harry. I was minutes away from having to say good-bye.

Sure enough, out on the school steps, Dad and Jody were chatting together like old friends.

Harry nearly jumped from my grasp as he spotted Sam being yanked toward us by his company of dogs.

“Yo! Shortie!” Sam hailed me.

“Yo,” I said weakly.

Jody reached over to pet Harry. “Hey! Harry! Nice to see ya!” And then, in a whisper, “Is that Sam? He’s totally cute.”

The dogs greeted one another with a chorus of barks and yaps.

“Jody!” I shouted over the noise. “How was the science competition?”

“Oh, I won,” she announced, trying to be cool. Then her face split in a silver smile. “It was mighty.”

“You’re Jody?” asked Sam. “You’re the whiz kid?” He looked impressed.

“Congratulations, Jody!” said my father. “Whatever you won, I’m sure you deserved it.” He was trying to talk normally, but he was surrounded by large, sniffing dogs. His ankles must give off some enticing scent. Jane begged the leads from Sam, and they were soon hopelessly tangled.

A taxi pulled up at the curb.

“Yikes!” said Hubert.

My mother climbed out.

Jane dropped all the leashes to hurl herself at Mom. The barking doubled as the dogs realized they were free and tried to pull apart.

“Quite a reception!” laughed my mother, hanging on to Jane and tugging her bag out of the cab at the same time.

Sam and Jody called the dogs firmly to attention and sorted out the leads, while Harry watched, panting.

“Welcome back, Mary,” said my father.

She gave him a cheerful, polite smile. It was
hard to believe they had ever been madly in love.

“Thanks for taking the girls, Alex,” said my mother.

I could hardly bear to watch them, even though I was dying to. They were hardly ever together to provide this dilemma.

My mother focused on me.

“You’re dressed for the pageant already! But why are you wet?”

“The pageant’s over, Mommy,” Jane said, as if that explained everything. “They did it this morning.”

Harry chose that moment to start licking my face.

“And who’s this?” my mother asked.

I felt myself fill up with sudden, electric resolve. It was now or never.

“Mom, this is Harry. He’s, well, he’s—”

“Hello, Ms. Stoner, I’m Jody,” said Jody, extending her hand, with professional good manners. “My dog, Pepper, is Harry’s mother.”

“Oh, you must be Hubert’s friend.” My mother remembered my lie after Jody’s original phone call.

“And I’m Sam,” said Sam, extending his hand. “I work for Billie.”

My mother’s eyes drilled into mine.

“Mom.” I cleared my throat.

“Can we keep Harry, Mommy? Please, pretty please?” Jane jumped to the punch line. My mother’s eyebrows went up. She put her bag down.

“Mom,” I said again, “I’ve been doing Jody a favor while she tries to find homes for her puppies. But I want it to be us who gives Harry a home. And before you say anything, I’ve had Harry since Saturday night, and—”

My mother shot a look of irritation at Dad. “Oh, Alex, how could you? You have the common sense of a, of a puppy dog! We agreed we would discuss—”

“Mom!” I interrupted. “You’re not letting me tell you! You’re just flipping out at Dad instead
of listening to me. I’m the person who’s talking to you. I’m the person you live with!”

There was silence.

“You’re right, Billie. But it’s my house. Don’t I get to choose how many … living creatures I have to look after?”

“But you don’t have to look after him. That will be my job. With some help from Sam. And Jane,” I added quickly.

“I’ll tell you the truth, Mary,” my father said placidly. “These kids did such a good job looking after him this weekend, I hardly even knew he was there.”

Jane prodded my back. “He didn’t know at all!” she whispered.

“Just go along,” I muttered back. “He believes his own story. He doesn’t want to admit he didn’t notice.”

Jody was talking to Mom. “I’ve been very impressed with Billie’s, um, intuition about Harry,” she said with a straight face. “I think she’s a true animal friend.”

“I gotta say,” said Sam suddenly, “I never knew an eleven-year-old kid who was smart enough to hire a dog walker before. And you can’t send him back now. I got him a present.”

Sam dipped his hand into his jeans and pulled out a collar. A red leather collar with a medallion on it, engraved with an H.

“Oh, Sam,” I gasped. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Cool,” said Hubert.

“Wow,” said Jody.

Jody and Sam looked at each other like Archie and Veronica in the comic books. I could practically see the little hearts spinning around their heads.

“So, Mary?” prodded my father.

I used my final ploy. “Can we make a deal, Mom? Can we have a trial period? And if I do a good job, for a month, or something, I can keep him?”

My mother sighed. She reached out to touch my hair and let her hand fall gently
onto Harry’s head. I should have thought of that before. As soon as she felt his silky ears, and his curious nose, her heart would bump just like mine did.

“Okay, honey. I’ll give you a month.”

Jane squealed and jumped up and down. Hubert slapped me on the back. Sam and Jody said “Yes!” in unison, clenching their fists in triumph. My father gave her a thumbs-up sign.

She smiled at us all, with her warm, crinkly-eyed smile.

“Let’s just see what happens,” she said.

“You won’t even know we have him, Mom,” I promised. “It will be just like he’s invisible.”