His mommy would be glad to be out of the hospital. She still didn’t talk, but his daddy said that she would talk as soon as all the lies stopped being whispered in her ears.
One thing was for sure: She would make Danny take a bath.
A loud creak made Danny’s eyes get big. He made a sound in his mouth—the same kind he made when he watched a movie and something happened that he wasn’t expecting.
He hugged his puppy tighter. It whimpered.
Danny sat up. Maybe his daddy had come back early.
He scooted out of bed and went to the door. His hand stilled on the knob. His daddy had said not to leave the room.
But if his daddy was here, it would be okay.
Danny turned the knob and opened the door enough to stick his head out. He listened for the sound of his daddy coming up the stairs.
The house was quiet.
And dark.
Danny shivered. He didn’t like being here alone.
His puppy jumped off the bed and ran over to him. Danny reached down to pick him up, but he ran out the door.
“Puppy! Stop!” He still had to decide on a name for his puppy. “Come back!” The puppy just kept going.
Danny ran to his bed and got his flashlight. He couldn’t let the puppy run around the house by himself. He might get into something.
“Puppy!” Danny could hear him yapping. He followed the sound down the stairs.
His daddy had made him keep his eyes closed when he brought him inside the house. He’d kept his eyes closed all the way to his room. That was where Santa had left his presents. The living room was a mess. Broken glass was on the floor. Stuff was turned upside down. What was that big red spot on the floor?
He remembered his daddy had ketchup on his face that night. Boy, he’d made a big mess. Danny’s mom wouldn’t like that. But they were moving anyway. Didn’t matter. The next people who lived here could clean up the mess.
Danny found his puppy in the kitchen. “You silly puppy.” He stepped in something wet. “Ooo. Bad puppy.” His dad said he’d have to learn the puppy to go potty outside.
Danny picked up his puppy and turned to go back to his room. The beam of his flashlight landed on the door to the basement. It was open.
Was his daddy down there? Maybe he had come home.
Danny went to the door and peeked down the stairs. “Daddy?”
No answer. It was quiet down there.
“Daddy!”
The puppy scrambled out of his arms. Danny tried to grab him, but he was tumbling down the stairs before Danny could catch him. He yelped and whimpered.
“Puppy!” He hurried down the stairs. If the puppy was hurt, what would he do?
He finally reached the bottom step and scooped up the whimpering puppy. “You’re being a bad boy.” His daddy said boy puppies were the best. The puppy snuggled against him, reached up, and licked his face. Danny giggled. Maybe he’d forgive him for being bad this time.
Danny started to go back up the stairs but something out of place made him look again. His daddy always kept the basement perfectly clean, just like his mommy kept the house. His daddy didn’t like messes. He was probably mad he’d spilled all that ketchup.
Rocks were piled up.
Danny hugged his puppy tighter. “How did those get there, boy?”
Had someone been in their house while they were gone? Boy, his dad would be mad about this! Danny looked around some more, moving the beam of his flashlight over the basement floor. He made that scared sound in his mouth again. He walked closer to the pile of rocks, looked down at the big hole. He shined his flashlight around the whole thing.