“Second floor,” the elevator voice said. Butterbean leaned forward, her muscles tensed and ready.
The doors opened. Butterbean could hear Biscuit’s barks echoing from down the hall.
Butterbean sprang forward. And immediately flopped back as she reached the end of the leash. She didn’t even make it out of the elevator.
Madison shook her head and gave her a grim smile.“Nice try, dog,” she said. She had the leash in a tight grip and was holding it extra close. Madison had thought of everything.
“Well, shoot,” Butterbean said, standing up. The doors closed again. She was out of ideas. The next stop was the lobby. She didn’t know how to get back to the second floor once they got to the lobby.
“Ahem.” Walt stepped out of the shadowy corner and winked at Butterbean. “See? Insurance,” she said, sitting down and licking her paw.
Madison gasped.“Walt? You got out too?”
“Lobby,” the elevator voice said as the doors opened.
Madison blocked the exit.“Sorry, Bean, we’ve got to go back. We can’t go out until we take Walt back.” Madison hit the button for the fourth floor and then leaned down awkwardly to hold on to Walt to keep her from running away. “Stay here, Walt.”
She glanced at her watch. The last thing she needed was a tardy.
“Are you addressing me?”
Madison looked over her shoulder into the lobby and turned red. A middle-aged woman was staring at the three of them with a pinched expression.“Oh, I-I’m sorry,” Madison stammered. “I just—”
“Yes, I can see,” the woman said. “Quite the zoo. Thank you, but I’d prefer to wait.” She frowned at Butterbean with distaste.
Butterbean glared back.“Mrs. Hates Dogs on Six,” she muttered under her breath. They had a history.
“Thanks, I’m sorry, they just…” Madison said apologetically before trailing off and staring down at Walt. Mrs. Hates Dogs on Six raised an eyebrow.
Butterbean stared stonily at Mrs. Hates Dogs on Six until the doors started to close. Then she jumped up and hit the button for the second floor. She looked over at Walt.“Ready?”
“Ready,” Walt said.
“Second floor,” the elevator voice said.
The doors opened.
Walt and Butterbean both made a dash for the doors. Butterbean’s hind feet were moving so fast that they almost passed her front feet. The leash jerked, catching Madison by surprise this time and yanking her forward. The leash flew out of her hand.
“BUTTERBEAN!” Madison squealed as she hurried after them. This was not the way she had planned to spend her morning.
“BISCUIT! BISCUIT!” Butterbean yelled as she raced to Biscuit’s door and threw herself against it, clawing at the handle. “OPEN UP!”
It wouldn’t budge. “WHY DO PEOPLE LOCK THEIR DOORS!” Butterbean wailed as she tried again. “I CAN’T GET IN!”
Walt jumped up and rang the doorbell as she looked behind them. Madison had almost caught up.“Talk fast, Bean, we only have a second.”
“BISCUIT, IT’S BUTTERBEAN,” Butterbean barked through the door. “YOU NEED TO—”
She stopped abruptly. Because the front door had been thrown open.
In the doorway stood Biscuit’s human, Mrs. Biscuit.
“Um,” Butterbean said. She didn’t know what to say to Mrs. Biscuit. They’d never officially met.
“Um,” Mrs. Biscuit said, looking down at the dog and cat standing at her feet.
“Um,” Madison said, racing up behind them and looking back and forth between Mrs. Biscuit and Butterbean and Walt. This was pretty bad. She was definitely going to get in trouble for this.
Biscuit stuck his head out from behind Mrs. Biscuit’s legs. He had a wild look around the eyes, like he hadn’t slept at all. He stared at Butterbean in confusion. “Butterbean?”
“Biscuit, we need to talk,” Butterbean said. “Excuse me.” She pushed past Mrs. Biscuit’s legs and squeezed into the apartment. Walt slipped in on the other side.
Mrs. Biscuit blinked at Madison, who blinked back.“Um, hi?” Madison said after a long second. “So… I guess my dog wants to play with your dog?”
She was definitely going to be late.
— 4 —
“PLEASE, HAVE A SEAT,” MRS. Biscuit said to Madison, waving vaguely at the sofa. “I think this is the first time he’s stopped barking in days.”
Madison sat on the very edge of the sofa and tried not to look at her watch. She was not going to be here long, not if she could help it. And technically, she was in charge, not Butterbean. She didn’t know why it didn’t feel that way.
“So he’s been barking a lot, then?” Madison said, trying to be polite. She’d seen him around, of course, but she didn’t even know this dog. Not really.
“Nonstop,” Mrs. Biscuit said grimly, watching Butterbean and Biscuit sniff each other. She flashed a tight smile at Madison. Madison gave a weak smile back.
Walt kept an eye on Madison as she turned to Biscuit.“Okay, quick. We don’t have much time,” Walt said. “Spill it, dog. What’s the situation?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Biscuit said gruffly. “There’s no situation. I’ve got everything under control.” He blew air out of his nose loudly.
“Give me a break,” Walt said.
“Walt, let me handle this. Biscuit, that’s not what we heard,” Butterbean said softly, in her best therapist voice. “I tried to get a message to you last night. Word on the street is that you’re about to get kicked out for barking. How does that make you feel?”
“What message? Last night?” Biscuit looked suspicious. “I didn’t get any message.”
Butterbean frowned. Maybe it would’ve worked better if she’d had Biscuit lie down on the couch. That seemed to be the prime therapy position, at least from what she’d seen on the Television. She tried again. “The white cat said you were in trouble, so we sent Marco and Polo to tell you we were coming. They were in the vents.”
“Marco and Polo are rats,” Walt added.
“So those things in the vents were your friends? Well, thanks for the extra trauma, I guess,” Biscuit said grouchily.
“We just wanted to help.” Butterbean tried to keep her voice even. Being a therapist was harder than she’d expected.
“Look, I’ve got enough invaders to deal with, okay? I don’t need any extras from you. I’m already having to monitor the perimeter of the apartment 24-7.”
“Invaders? What invaders?” Butterbean frowned. “Where?”
On the couch, Madison clasped her hands together and leaned forward.“So!”
“Uh-oh,” Walt said.
“You know, we should really get out of your hair,” Madison said, smiling. She could probably still make it on time, if she brushed her teeth really quickly. That would do it. She’d just be super fast. “This was a lot of fun, though.”
“Oh no, please. Give them just a few more minutes. They’re being so quiet,” Mrs. Biscuit said, gripping Madison by the arm a little too tightly. She had a strange hollow look around her eyes too, just like Biscuit. “There’s been so much barking.”
“But…” Madison looked over at the pets, who had frozen and were watching her carefully. She shrugged and sank back down onto the couch. “Okay, I guess. Just a few minutes.” She didn’t really need to brush her teeth.
Mrs. Biscuit gave her a weak smile.
Walt lashed her tail in the air.“Come on, Biscuit. We’re on a deadline.”
“If the white cat knows the situation, it’s all over the building. So you might as well share. Express your emotions. Um. Find your center.” Butterbean wished she knew more therapy terms, but she hadn’t even started her classes yet.
Biscuit snorted.“Look, that’s not my problem. My problem is—”
Mrs. Biscuit sneezed softly.
“Excuse me. INSPECTION!” Biscuit yelled, launching himself up into Mrs. Biscuit’s lap. He examined her nose thoroughly, and after a few seconds, he nodded in satisfaction. “Okay, all clear.”
“Um,” Madison said.