Amy stepped into the foyer and cleared her throat, getting Mom’s attention.

“Can I come with you on your walk?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” said Mom, like she knew what this was about. Amy pulled on her puffy purple coat and leashed up Stormy, and the three of them headed out together.

Outside, the air was cold but bright and clear, heavy with the plant smells of spring on the verge of turning into summer. The cool air and bright light warmed Amy’s spirits a little, and she couldn’t help but see a bit of a change in Mom and Stormy—Mom did a lot of looking up and taking deep breaths, while Stormy pranced around and sniffed at every crack in the curb. Amy knew why their dog was in such a good mood … and though Mom might never admit it, Amy thought both the dog and her mom were happy for the same reason, even if they didn’t know it.

They were out of the house. Away from him.

After a few minutes of silence, Mom said, “How are you feeling today, kid? After the science fair and everything.”

“Better,” said Amy, even though it was a lie. The images of the science fair still played over and over in her mind—the blood spilling from Jake’s hand, Valerie’s wide eyes as she puked, Mr. Heindecker’s gritted teeth as he threw the rat to the floor, the face of the rat as it stopped in front of Rover and dropped dead. Most of all, though, she saw Rover’s eyes as he handed her his leash, letting her know that the fair was over, it was time to go. Amy had had a terrible nightmare Friday night, where those eyes stared deep into her soul, and she had barely left her room Saturday. Her parents thought it was a mix of being upset about what she’d seen and disappointed that the whole science fair had been canceled … but really, it was something else.

“For the record, I think your experiment was really interesting,” Mom said. “That kind of phenomenon … well, I don’t know a lot about it, but it seems pretty far-out and open-minded.”

“Thanks,” said Amy. She tried to ignore her mom’s tone, which was telling her, Your project idea was kind of bizarre.

Mom was the serious one of her parents, the practical one—of course that was what she’d thought. But that was also why Amy had decided to bring this up to her, instead of Dad.

“I wanted to ask you about something else, Mom,” she said.

“I’m all ears,” Mom replied.

Amy took a deep breath and went for it. “I want us to get rid of Rover. I think we should take him to a shelter.”