Stormy’s eyes locked on Rover, and a low whine rose from her throat. Amy flinched at the sound; it was like nothing she’d ever heard before, strained and piercing, almost like silverware being scraped across a plate. When Amy tried to pet the dog’s back, she felt that every muscle beneath her pelt shook with tension. The hair on the nape of her neck stood straight up.

Rover, for his part, stood there with his tongue hanging out, staring calmly back at her.

“Easy, Stormy,” Amy cooed. “It’s just another dog, he’s not going to hurt—”

Stormy leapt to her feet and barked her head off, her voice cracking in panic. With each bark, she lunged slightly forward—but then recoiled ever so slightly backward. Katie threw her arms around Rover’s neck and Amy backed off from the family dog, agitated by the noise. Stormy had barked at other dogs in the past, sure, but never like this. Amy had heard this bark only once before, when they’d run into a bear on a family hike a couple of years ago.

Rover took a step forward, and Stormy turned and hightailed it out of the room. The doggy door at the kitchen’s back entrance sounded like the flapping of some huge bird as she barreled through it and out into their backyard.

“Whoa!” said Katie. “Is Stormy okay?”

“Oh, it’s fine, honey,” said Mom. “It’s just alpha dominance, and Stormy’s not too happy about it.”

“What’s al-pha dom-i-nance?” asked Katie, pronouncing each syllable.

Amy blinked, and finally regained her composure. “It’s when a dog shows the other dogs in the area that he or she is the one in charge, claiming control of the space,” she said. “Rover’s a bigger dog, and a male, so Stormy might be afraid of him.”

“Aw,” said Katie, squeezing Rover even tighter. “Rover’s not trying to steal Stormy’s house from her! He just needs somewhere to stay. Come, Rover, you can stay in my room for now.”

“Now, wait a second, Katie, we never agreed on that—” But Mom had barely spoken when Rover and Katie turned and walked upstairs, Katie’s giggles trailing down the stairs as she and the dog trotted up to her bedroom.

Mom watched them go. When she turned back to Amy, a confused look sat across her face.

“That was weird,” Mom said with a little laugh that wasn’t very funny. “It looked like that dog was leading your sister up there, not the other way around.”

“Yeah,” mumbled Amy, rising to her feet. “It’s like he already owns the place.”

Chapter 4: Clean Bill of Health

Marguerite was asking Amy a question, but Amy barely registered it. Her eyes hurt from pushing them so far to the left. She wished she could read lips.