Next door, Bonnie was still yapping, high-pitched and frantic. Max’s back door had stopped rattling, so he crawled to the window and peeped out. No Jaden.

Max inched a little higher and saw Jaden on the footpath, hands on hips, staring at the house, mouth pinched, eyes hard. He stood there a long time while Max leaned against the wall, hardly breathing, too scared to move. His stomach was aching from being bent over. He wished Mum and Dad would come home.

Jaden walked over to Leon’s place. What was he doing? Bonnie raced up and down, barking. The wire zinged as she threw herself at the fence and bounced off. Then all went quiet.

Max peeked out, trying to get a view of Leon’s yard, but he couldn’t see Bonnie. She should still have been yapping at Jaden. And Max couldn’t see him either.

Then he noticed Leon’s gate was open.

He was terrified, sick with worry. Jaden must have opened it and let Bonnie out. She was just a pup and didn’t know about cars—she might run down to the highway and get hit.

He heard footsteps on the front porch again, and Jaden squinted in at the window. Max shrank into a ball.

When he looked up a few seconds later, Jaden was sprinting down the street.

Max raced out, looking for Bonnie. He ran to the footpath and glanced down the street. No sign of Jaden or the dog.

Max was crying now. He wished he’d been brave enough to tell Jaden to piss off. He wished he could tell someone what Jaden had done, but then Jaden would tell his policeman father about the stealing. Max saw himself in prison with bars on the doors. He would have to wear orange pyjamas, and live in a concrete cell with a hard, narrow bed.

Everything was messed up. Back inside, Max sat on the couch, feeling terrible.

It wasn’t long before Leon’s car pulled up next door. Rosie barked, so Max let her out and she dashed to the fence, yapping. Leon got out of his car like an old man. He had a limp and was covered in mud. He hobbled up the driveway, then paused. His walk sped up until he was running into the yard, yelling, ‘Bonnie!’ Then he rushed to the street and stared down it, like Max had just a few minutes ago.

Mum and Dad arrived at that exact same moment. Max saw Mum talking to Leon through the car window. He couldn’t hear what they said, just Leon’s lips moving and a worried look on his face.

Dad parked in the driveway, and Mum came into the house. ‘Max. Where are you? Come quick. Bonnie’s missing.’

Max slunk from the lounge room.

Mum frowned at him, hands on her hips. ‘What have you been up to?’

‘Nothing. Hanging out here.’