Things were still pretty quiet when Charles’s dad took the boys down to Loon Lake Park after school the next day. “Opening day is this weekend,” said Charles, pointing to a sign at the park’s welcome booth. “Free ice cream and free canoe rentals all day,” he read. “Cool! We should have another picnic down here on Saturday.”

“Hunter and me always have a contest to see which of us goes swimming first every spring,” said Tyler. “Last year he won. He jumped in on April Fools’ Day! This year I’m going to win.”

“I don’t know,” said Liam. “That water still looks pretty cold to me.” He rubbed his arms. “Brrr.”

“Louie doesn’t seem to mind,” said Charles. “Look at him go.”

Louie had pulled the leash out of Charles’s hand, dashed right past the welcome booth, and charged into the shallow water near the canoe racks, chasing some geese who had been floating on the choppy, gray waves. Now he swam in big circles, happily splashing away as the geese honked and flapped their wings at him.

“Lizzie was right about his breed,” said Dad. “He is an amazing swimmer!”

“Come on, Louie,” said Charles. “Leave the geese alone, now.” He whistled and waved. “Louie!”

Finally, the dog turned and swam back toward shore with powerful, sure strokes. When he emerged from the water, he raced up and down the beach, stopped to shake off, then lay down and rolled happily in the sand. Charles groaned. “So much for his bath,” he said. “Come on, Louie, we have to look for clues.” He went over and clipped the big dog’s leash onto his collar. “Ready?”

Louie grinned a doggy grin up at him and shook off again, spraying all the boys with water and gritty sand.

I’m always ready for an adventure!

“Ugh!” said Tyler.

Liam just laughed.

“Louie,” groaned Charles, wiping at his pants.

“You were the one who wanted to foster a big sloppy dog again,” his dad reminded him with a smile.

“I know, I know,” said Charles. “And he’s worth it.” He tousled Louie’s wet ears. “Aren’t you, big guy?”

“Let’s go look for clues.” Tyler pulled a huge magnifying glass out of his pocket and put it up to his face. Charles and Liam laughed at the giant eye staring back at them.

“Maybe we should head back to the upper parking lot, where we first found Louie,” Dad suggested. “I don’t see any clues down here.”

Louie led the way as they hiked across the little bridge and up the path through the woods. As they came out into the parking lot, he stopped still and stared.

“What is it, Louie?” Charles asked. He peered down to the end of the parking lot. A man and a woman stood near the spot where Louie’s crate had been.

Louie leaned against Charles’s knee. Then he took a few paces forward and tugged at the leash, staring at the people. Then he slunk back again to Charles.

“Louie?” Charles asked. “What’s the matter?”

Then the woman turned around and spotted them. “Harley!” she shouted. She knelt and opened her arms.

The man turned, too. “What?” he said. “It’s really him! Come here, boy!”

Louie didn’t seem to know what to do. He looked up at Charles.

They’re my people. But — I’m scared. And confused.

Charles’s dad strode toward the couple. “Hello,” he said. “I’m Paul Peterson. And you are?”

“We are that dog’s owners,” said the man, pointing to Louie. “I’m Steven, and this is Sarah.”

“You were his owners,” Dad corrected. “If I’m not wrong, you abandoned him here.” He looked back at Charles and Louie.

“We didn’t mean to,” blurted Sarah. She looked as if she’d been crying. “I mean, we did leave him here, but then we realized that it was the wrong way to do it. We came back — but he was already gone.”

“We just couldn’t keep him,” said Steven. “We lost our lease at our apartment just after I lost my job. We’ve basically been living out of our van. We were — well, we were staying here in the park, even though it’s not open yet.”

“It’s been so stressful,” said Sarah. “Harley picked up on it. He’d try to run away or hide under the van every time we had an argument. We thought he’d be better off in a real home. We were going to call the animal shelter to let them know where we’d left him — but then he wasn’t here anymore. We didn’t know what to do.”

“And now you’re back at the scene of the crime!” announced Tyler, looking at them through his magnifying glass. “Classic. That’s what all the criminals do. They can’t stay away.”

“We’re not criminals!” said Sarah.

“We came back because we thought maybe he’d escaped from the crate and was looking for us,” said Steven. “We wanted to make sure he was okay.”

Louie was still leaning against Charles’s leg. Charles scratched the top of the big puppy’s head. “He didn’t escape,” he said. “We rescued him. My family is fostering him until we can find him a good home.”

Sarah’s eyes brimmed with tears. “We miss you so much, Harley,” she said. She held out her hand. Finally, Louie ran to her. She buried her face in his fur. Steven knelt down to hug the dog, too.

Charles looked at his dad. Now what? Did they have to give Louie back to the people who had abandoned him?