39

I was still sitting at the computer when I heard Sam. It sounded like he was screaming. I ran into my parents’ room and found him in his crib, sleeping. It was the same thing that had happened in the tent at Poppy’s.

“Home!” he screamed. “Home!”

“Sam!” I called out. “Sam! You’re dreaming. It’s okay.”

Sam opened his eyes and scratched his head. He wiped the drool from his chin. He looked at me.

“Poppy home,” he said quietly. “Poppy home.”

“Poppy’s not at home,” said Dad, who had also come running. “Poppy’s camping. Remember?”

“Woopah?” said Sam. “Woopah home.”

Sam had been saying the same annoying thing all day. It occurred to me that he might be trying to tell us something important. Last summer, when I’d dropped the leash by accident, Poppy had said he knew Rupert was smart enough to come back to him. Maybe, when Rupert took off, he went looking for Poppy. And didn’t Gretchen Thorn tell me that Rupert would find his way home? All along, I had been thinking of our place as Rupert’s home. But this wasn’t Rupert’s home at all. Maybe Rupert went back to his real home at Poppy’s.

“THAT’S IT!” I said. “Rupert’s at home! He’s probably been at home the whole time. He’s probably looking for Poppy!”

“What?” said Dad.

“Sam has been trying to tell us all along!” I explained. “Rupert’s at home!”

I lifted Sam out of his crib and hugged him tight. “You are a freaking genius!”

“What? You think Rupert’s at Poppy’s?” said Dad. “I guess it makes sense. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you aren’t as smart as Sam,” I said. “Me neither.”

I started doing a little happy dance with Sam, spinning around the room.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered in his ear. “I’m so sorry. It was never your fault. You’re not a baby. You’re a genius. You figured out where Rupert is all by yourself. Now let’s go get him!”

“Tham big boy!” said Sam, jumping up and down in my arms.

“Come on!” said Dad. “We’ve got a dog to find.”

Dad says Sam is smarter than any of us. Poppy says Rupert is smarter than all of us. Maybe they’re both right. Maybe Sam was smart enough to know that Rupert would go home. Maybe Rupert was smart enough to actually go home. We were about to find out.

We were out the door in a flash.

“Go, Mondo, go!” shrieked Sam, waving Mondo in the air.

We sped through the park and past the spot where we last saw Rupert. We turned down Poppy’s street. We passed Max’s house.

I could see the chestnut tree in Poppy’s front yard. I could see the flowers in the garden. I could see the wooden chair by his front door …

But I couldn’t see Rupert.