The sense of unease about Rover, agitated by Valerie putting her on the spot, chased Amy the whole way home. Putting her head out the window and letting the breeze drag its fingers through her hair certainly helped, but she still felt raw and bothered and couldn’t get comfortable. From the back seat, Katie told Dad about her day, but Amy barely picked up any of the details; the question of what Rover was clouded her mind.

When they got inside the house, Dad called out his usual, “Hellooo?” In response, Amy heard the whine of a dog. She followed it quickly to the basement stairs.

Stormy lay on the concrete floor, shivering and whimpering.

When Amy saw her, the labradoodle looked up with such fear and hurt that it broke Amy’s heart. She ran down and knelt by the dog’s side, stroking her face and feeling her heart beating quickly inside her.

“What happened?” asked Dad, clomping down next to them. “Is Stormy okay? Did she fall down the stairs again?”

“I don’t know,” said Amy. She petted Stormy all over, testing to see if any of her joints would make her yelp, but the dog never moved. She just kept looking up the basement stairs with that terrified expression.

“Wow, she’s really upset.” Dad knelt down and rubbed Stormy’s haunch. “You need to be more careful, don’t you, good girl?”

“She hasn’t fallen down the basement stairs in years,” Amy protested. “Not since she was a puppy.”

“Well, old habits die hard,” said Dad.

Stormy flinched and whimpered, backing slightly away from the stairs. Dad cooed and petted her more. Amy looked up the stairs and saw Rover and Katie standing at the top, staring down at them.

Rover nudged Katie’s hand, and the two of them turned and walked away.

Amy shivered. The sight made her ask the question again:

What’s wrong with Rover?

That night, when the dogs were in their kennels and Mom and Dad were busy watching TV, Amy crept into Katie’s room. Her parents had just put her little sister to bed, and Amy knew that Katie stayed awake for a little while even after she’d been tucked in.

Sure enough, Katie’s eyes were wide open when Amy appeared and held a Shhh finger up to her lips.

“Is everything okay?” asked Katie.

“Yeah, I’m sorry to bother you,” Amy replied. “But, Katie … I wanted to ask you something about Rover. Have you …” She went quiet, trying to find the right words. “Do you have any idea how Rover does the things he does? With the iPad and everything?”

“He’s just really smart,” Katie said with confidence. “He told me he’s always been able to do things like that. For a long time, before the fire and the accident and maybe even back in the big cave.”