‘Go outside and help Leon. Bonnie’s gone. Someone opened the gate.’

‘It wasn’t me.’

Mum’s frown deepened. ‘I didn’t say it was, did I?’

Max shook his head.

But Mum was suspicious. ‘You wouldn’t do something like that, would you?’

‘No. I love Bonnie.’

‘You didn’t go round there to play with her and forget to shut the gate?’

‘No, Mum. I always shut it.’

‘That’s what I thought.’

She came with him over to Leon’s.

‘I don’t know how she got out,’ Leon said. ‘Maybe I didn’t shut the gate properly.’

‘These things happen,’ Mum said. ‘Let’s start looking in the street. Max will go find some friends to help, and I’ll knock on doors and ask if anyone’s seen her.’

Max was glad Mum was in charge. She was the best. She always knew what to do.

He grabbed his bike and took off, pedalling furiously. It felt good to do something at last. He raced down the street, past Robbo’s log truck, calling for Bonnie. Robbo’s ute came up the hill, so Max stopped and waved. Trudi opened the passenger window and looked out at him with her sad eyes. ‘Bonnie’s gone,’ Max said. ‘Did you see a dog on the road?’

‘No, but I’ll come and help look for her.’ Trudi clambered out of the car.

‘Don’t overdo it,’ Robbo warned.

‘I won’t. I want to help.’

Max took off down the street again. He stopped at a house where a kid from school lived. When Max told him Bonnie was missing, he was keen to help. Soon they were riding up and down on bikes, yelling Bonnie’s name.

Callum joined in too, but not Jaden—he was nowhere.

All over town, people came out of their houses to help search for Bonnie. Everywhere Max went people were calling her name. Nobody wanted her to be lost or hit by a car. Especially Max.

He stopped at the highway with his heart thumping. He was on his own now. The other kids had split up and gone in different directions. He wasn’t sure where to go next. If Bonnie had run down the highway she could be halfway to the next town by now. She could be sniffing around on somebody’s farm, or hiding under a car. She could be anywhere.

The main street was full of people and cars because the footy had just finished. Max checked the rubbish-hopper behind the hardware, but Bonnie wasn’t there. Maybe she’d gone exploring down one of the lanes. He rode to the takeaway, dropped his bike on the footpath and ran in. ‘Have you seen a dog?’ he asked Miki. ‘Bonnie’s missing.’

Miki turned towards him and shook her head. It was the first time he’d noticed her face was shaped like a heart.

‘Can you come and help look for her?’