“Great idea!” I said. “And instead of a beauty station, we can call it a Baxter Station!”
There was a little empty table by the back door. Megan picked up the dog shampoo and the brush, and I grabbed everything else, and we laid it all out on the little table.
Megan turned to Baxter. “Now let’s fix you up.” She brushed his neck and his back and even the fuzzy hairs on his long legs and then put the brush down. Then I picked it up and carefully brushed all the sticking-out hairs of his beard and sideburns and eyebrows.
I could have brushed Baxter all day—making the swirls of his grays and silvers even swirlier and the crazy parts sticking out on his face even crazier. But when I handed the brush back to Megan, she just put it on the Baxter Station like she thought he was swirly and crazy enough.
That made me worry because if Megan wasn’t here with me, she’d probably be doing something fancy like piano or ballet or horseback riding.
I thought, What if hanging out with Baxter isn’t enough?
She picked up the packet of dog treats. “Can we give him a treat?”
“Sure!”
So she gave him a treat, and then I gave him one, and he wagged his tail after both of them.
I picked up the superbouncy ball. “I taught him how to play ball. Do you want to go over to the dog park? I can show you.”
So we yelled for TJ, who came running up the stairs, and we all headed over to the park.
Every time we threw the ball, it superbounced superfast, and so did Baxter. And even though there was a yellow Lab who tried to get the ball, Baxter always got it first.
“He’s really good,” Megan said.
“He’s King of the Bounce!” I agreed.
I was happy because it looked like Megan was having Fun!
Then her cell phone rang. She answered, “Hi, Mom . . . OK.” She shut her phone. “My mom’s coming in a minute. We have to go back to your house so I can get my backpack.”
So we ran home to our front yard. Right as TJ went inside to work on his short, my mom drove up and got out of her car.
Me and Megan told her all the things we’d done with Baxter. “We threw the superbouncy ball at the park!” I said.
“And we set up the Baxter Station!” Megan added, and then we told her how we organized it.
“Great!” Mom said. Then she smiled at Megan. “Do you want to stay for dinner, honey?”
“I can’t. My mom’s coming in a minute.”
“Oh well,” Mom said. “Next time.”
“I’ll wait here with Baxter while you get your backpack,” I told Megan. “He can’t come inside the house.”
So they went inside, and I sat down in the grass, Baxter plunking down next to me.
The whole time Megan was gone, I worried if she’d had enough Fun! that she’d love hanging out with Baxter as much as I did.
But right as she came back out, I suddenly realized what I needed to do. I stood up, and Baxter scrambled to his feet.
“I need to show you one more thing,” I told Megan. “Come stand right here in front of Baxter.”
So she came over.
I reached over and tapped the top of her shoulder. “Up, Baxter,” I said.
He reared up on his hind legs and planted his front paws on Megan’s shoulders, so fast and heavy it practically knocked her over. “Wow, he’s strong,” she said.
They stood eye to eye, with his crazy silver eyebrows standing straight up and his black lips open, panting dog breath. “If you stand eye to eye with Baxter, then he understands what you are saying,” I told her. “You just ask him something and then nod.”
I walked around to stand behind her, so he could see eye to eye with me, too. “You want Megan to come over again, don’t you, Baxter?”
I nodded, and he nodded back.
“You do?” she asked. Then she nodded.
I held my breath—because I’d never tried it with anyone else before, and I didn’t know if it would work.
Baxter looked into my eyes. He looked back at Megan, who was still nodding.
He nodded, too.
“Yay!” Megan cheered. “I love him!”
He dropped back to the ground, and she gave him a big hug.
“So you want to come over again tomorrow?” I asked.
She sighed. “I don’t think I can. I have lessons all week. Then my grandparents fly in on Friday morning, and I’m staying home from school to spend time with them—my mom and dad worked out the schedule.” She rolled her eyes. “The recital is on Saturday.”
“Oh. Are you excited?”
She shrugged. “Sort of.” Then her mom drove up. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”
She climbed into the car and gave me and Baxter a little wave through the car window. She was still hugging her backpack to her chest as they drove away.
13Spike Takes a Hike
When me and TJ got to the lab the next afternoon, we found Professor Reese on her hands and knees, crawling around the lab. “Watch where you step,” she called out. “Spike is missing!”
“He’s not in his tank?” TJ said.
“When I came down to feed him this afternoon, I discovered that the lid was off.”
TJ’s eyes widened. “I must have forgotten to put the lid back on yesterday after I gave him his carrot! I’m sorry!”
Professor Reese sat back on her heels. “It’s not your fault, TJ. I didn’t check on him last night, and he’s my pet.” She looked around the lab. “I know cockroaches are good climbers. He could be anywhere.”
TJ dropped to his hands and knees and started crawling around the floor, too, looking under furniture. I checked the tops of all the desks, behind all the
