“That’s cool your gram let you stay over last night,” I said to Doug.

“Yeah. A guy only turns twelve once in his life, and Gram thought I’d enjoy it more spending it with my best friend. I’ll hang out with her tonight.” Doug reached into a bag next to him and munched a corn chip. “Thanks for the birthday food bucket! I’ll probably eat it all before I have to go back to . . . ugh . . . balmy Florida.”

Zoe got up and looked out the frosty front window of our brownstone. “I can’t believe we went from the hottest summer to the coldest Thanksgiving ever!”

“I wonder how Elijah is doing with getting business in Central Park?”

“Probably not so well.” Zoe shook her head. “But he’ll find a way to enjoy the process, and he’ll smile through the cold. You know, we should be out there, too, watching the parade live! It starts just a few blocks south from us. We could be there in twenty minutes.”

I wrapped up in my blanket a little tighter. “BRRRRRRR.”

“Yeah,” Doug said. “BRRRRRRRRR!”

Zoe looked over at us and rolled her eyes. “Babies.”

Zoe’s phone buzzed. “Hello? Oh . . . hey, Michael . . . yes, I’m looking out the window right now . . . it’s crazy cold . . . what? Um . . .”

Zoe hopped behind the love seat and sat down, where we couldn’t see her. I jumped onto the love seat so I could hear what she was saying.

“. . . Yes, that would be fun . . . but aren’t you going with Trista? Broke up? . . . I’m sorry, Michael . . . yeah, I get it . . . Broadway strikes again . . . well, okay . . . that would be fun . . . let me ask my parents . . . yeah. . . . I have a warm coat . . .”

I popped my head over the love seat just as Zoe was standing, and we almost bumped heads.

“Arcade! Were you listening to my conversation?”

Before I got a chance to answer, Zoe’s phone buzzed again. She looked down at her screen. “It’s a notification from @LoopDogNYC!”

I pulled the phone from her hands to take a look. It was a new Picture Post of Loopy’s furry, chocolate-colored legs, standing in front of a giant balloon being held to the ground under a net!

I ran upstairs. Doug followed. “What’s goin’ on, Arcade?’

I flew into my room and began piling on clothes. “Today’s the day, Doug. We’re gonna get Loopy back!”

“We’re gonna get Loopy back?”

“That’s what I said! He’s over in the Thanksgiving parade balloon area!”

Zoe barged in my room. “But he’s there six years ago! How is that going to help us get him back?”