CHAPTER 10

King felt alive! He huddled with Lulu and Hugo behind some bushes next to the pool parking lot, far away from the entrance, so that no one would spot them. Napoleon was still inside the pool area, causing who knew what kind of trouble.

“That was wild,” King said, out of breath. “I’ve never been in a pool before. There’s so much water in there! Is that what all pools are like? Do all pools have snacks? If so, pools are my favorite thing in the world.”

Then he remembered the looks on everyone’s faces after the dogs ate all the snacks and tore up the pool toy. He could tell that Lulu and Hugo were thinking the same thing.

“At least we had fun, right?” King tried to look on the bright side.

“Right . . . ,” said Lulu, but King could tell she didn’t mean it.

The more King’s nerves calmed down, the more his excitement was turning into regret. Jumping into the pool had been fun, but it definitely didn’t feel good, making those kids and counselors angry. King wanted people to like him! Being a real dog could be fun, but maybe it wasn’t as fun as being good and making people happy.

Hugo looked at Lulu and King. “You two are freaked out, huh?”

“Maybe a little,” King admitted. “How can you tell?”

“I can see it in your eyes,” Hugo replied. “You feel the same way I do. I just can’t stop thinking about what Zoe said when she saw me. ‘Hugo’s a good dog. He would never do something like this.’ I let her down.” Hugo hung his head.

King wished he could make Hugo feel better. He looked so sad.

“Actually,” Hugo said, “I think I’m done with this. Sure, being a real dog was fun for a bit, but now I don’t even recognize myself. Maybe I’m not meant to be a real dog. Just a good dog.”

King couldn’t help but agree. “Same,” he said. “I know I can get a little wild sometimes, but I don’t think I liked how that felt. I have a bad feeling in my tummy. Because of what we did, but also because I ate way too much. I think I need Erin to tell me when to stop being wild. And when to stop eating. Let’s just say . . . you shouldn’t stand too close to me.”

“I’m with you guys,” Lulu added. “It was fun at first, but now it feels kind of tired. Like rhinestone collars. And besides, what is a real dog anyway, huh?! Just because I wear leather vests and tiny, bedazzled hats, am I any less of a dog? No! Plus, I don’t want my Insta followers to get the wrong idea. A lot of people look up to me, you know. Well, they look down to me, since I’m a dog, but you get it  . . .”

Hugo glanced at the sky. “The sun is low,” he said thoughtfully. “That means camp is almost over. And after the kids come home, then . . .”

“The adults,” King concluded.

“Exactly.”

Right at that moment, Napoleon came running out of the gate, happy as ever.

“How amazing was that?!” he said, totally missing the somber mood of the group. “Man oh man, it’s been weeks since I’ve been in a pool. That was awesome. And those sandwiches, what was that?! Some kind of turkey with a pesto aioli? My taste buds were doing somersaults. What a treat. Definitely one of the top ten sandwiches I’ve eaten today. Anyway, what’s next? Should we dig up a garden? Run through a grocery store? Eat a block of cheese and barf on a rug?”

King didn’t want to do any of those things. But Napoleon was so excited, King didn’t know how he could ever let him down.

Hugo bravely stepped up to the plate instead. “Sorry, Napoleon. But we’ve actually decided to go home. Thanks for showing us a good time today, but our humans are going to be worried about us.”

For a moment, Napoleon looked disappointed.

Wow, thought King, he really likes us. I should go give him a lick on his face to show I care.

But then Napoleon’s face changed, and King suddenly realized he wasn’t sad—he was mad. Furious, even!

“I thought you all wanted to be real dogs,” Napoleon growled. Lulu, Hugo, and King all took a step back.

“We thought so too,” said Hugo, trying not to make Napoleon angrier. “But it just doesn’t feel right. We don’t feel like ourselves.”

“Why’s that?” snapped Napoleon. “Because you don’t want to disappoint your precious humans? What have they ever done for you? A whole lot of nothing, that’s what!”

“That’s not true!” said Hugo. “Sometimes when my family makes dinner, they cut up a piece of chicken just for me and mix it into my dog food!”

“And Jasmine lets me sleep on her head at night,” said Lulu. “And she takes me with her everywhere, and she spends all her time making me look nice and feel nice, and she tells me all the time that I’m her best friend!”

“And Erin found me at the dog shelter and took me home to a nice house where I have lots of toys to play with!” said King. “And she didn’t even get mad at me when I got sick from eating too much grass!”

“Oh yeah?” Napoleon retorted. “And you think they’ll keep doing nice things for you, after everything you’ve done today?”

King thought about it. Maybe Napoleon had a point. He’d been really bad today. What would Erin think? “If Erin found out about her scarf, she’d probably never forgive me,” he said.

Lulu felt her fur with a paw. Her blowout had turned into a giant curly, frizzy mess. “I do wonder if Jasmine will still want to be BFFs once she’s seen what I’ve done to her beautiful blowout.”

“And my family already has less time for me,” added Hugo. “Once they see I destroyed the thing, they’ll probably never want to see me again.”

Napoleon’s mood was suddenly brighter. “You see, pals?” he said. “There’s no reason to rush home. You’ll just be punished when you get there, so why don’t you live it up now?”

“I don’t know . . . ,” said Hugo, but Napoleon wasn’t going to let it go.

“Look over there,” Napoleon said. He was looking across the street, into the backyard of a nearby house, where King could see a lot of children jumping up and down on a big colorful bouncy castle. “A kid’s birthday party. Jackpot! This is every dog’s dream.”

“Not mine. I only ever have dreams where I’m running,” said King. “But I’m upset about it for some reason.”

Hugo and Lulu shared a wary look. King felt the same way.

“Look,” said Napoleon. “Why don’t you all just wait outside the backyard gate. I’ll go get one more sandwich, bounce a bit, leave a little present for the birthday girl, by which I mean a poop on the grass, and then we’ll all go home!”

The Good Dogs thought about this idea. It didn’t seem so bad. They wouldn’t have to do anything. And it would all be over soon either way.

“Fine, we’ll wait out there for you. But that’s it!” Lulu said firmly. “Make it quick.”

“Fine,” said Napoleon.

With that he darted off, and the other dogs walked slowly and carefully across the street to wait by their meeting spot. They watched as Napoleon walked confidently into the party through the open gate and grabbed a sandwich off the table.

How many sandwiches has this guy eaten today? King wondered.

But then, instead of coming right back, Napoleon went totally wild! He gulped down the sandwich, then grabbed a bunch of cupcakes and ate those too! He jumped onto a pile of gifts and started tearing up all the gift wrap and bows. Parents chased him around the yard, but no one could catch him. As he leapt onto the bouncy castle, a bunch of kids ran out of it screaming and crying. King knew that look—they were scared of Napoleon.

One little girl ran all the way out of the party toward the bushes.

“I know what to do,” Hugo said. “I’ll make her feel better.”

Hugo went up to her and softly nudged her hand with his snout. He tried to give a gentle lick, but as soon as she saw him, she screamed and ran away from him too.

Oh no, King thought. This is terrible. Dogs were supposed to make children feel happy! But now, because of Napoleon, all these children were sad.

King felt worse than he’d ever felt in his life. Even worse than when he’d eaten all that grass and his stomach wouldn’t stop doing flips. He realized that Erin must have felt the same way when she first met Napoleon. He had spent all day thinking that Erin’s rules were getting in the way of him having fun, when really she was just helping him, and those around him, stay safe and happy. He started to whimper. Oh, Erin! He missed her smile, he missed her laugh, he missed the smell of food on her hands. But most of all, he missed the way she loved him, and encouraged him to be his best self.

Just then, they heard a loud sound! It sounded like a huge car zooming toward them from a distance. King spun around to see a big white van barreling around the corner, heading straight toward the house. It skidded to the curb right near the dogs. The doors slammed open, and two men jumped out holding big nets. Animal control!

“Run!” Hugo shouted, and Lulu, King, and Hugo ran as fast as they could away from the scary men in gray uniforms. But the men were fast! King ran through the legs of one of them, narrowly avoiding a swinging net. Then the dogs darted behind a row of tall hedges, hiding as they watched the animal control officers run right past without spotting them. The dogs stopped to catch their breath, safe for the moment. But where were the officers going . . . ?

King turned to see the backyard birthday party in the distance. The officers were running straight for it. The bouncy castle wobbled back and forth, and King realized it was deflating.

“Oh no,” gasped Lulu. “Napoleon must have popped the bouncy castle with his nails!”

Grown-ups were pulling kids out of the castle as it ran out of air. Everyone was running around screaming. Finally, King spotted Napoleon struggling to get out from under what was now a completely deflated castle.

“Come on, Napoleon!” shouted King. “You can do it!”

Lulu and Hugo barked encouragement as well.

Napoleon’s head was poking out now, and it seemed he had found his means of escape. Then, seemingly from out of nowhere, King, Lulu, and Hugo watched as animal control grabbed Napoleon from under the castle and carried him to the van. The dogs carefully leaned through the hedges to get a better look. Napoleon was sitting in a metal cage in the back of the van. He looked at them sadly, then turned away. King, Hugo, and Lulu shared a worried frown. There was nothing they could do. They knew this day had gone totally off the rails, but this was worse than anything they ever could have imagined!

The officers shut the doors, then glanced around one last time.

“Hey, did you see where those other dogs went?” one of the men asked.

“No,” the other man answered. “But I have a sneaking suspicion this little guy’s their ringleader. If those dogs cause any more trouble, we’ll be back.”

King gulped. “What do we do now?”

Lulu sniffed the air and looked disgusted. “Yuck, King!” she said. “Was that you?”

“What?” he said. “I told you not to stand too close to me.”