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“We were in the park,” I began. “Rupert was being really good. I was holding on to his leash, and everything was fine. I told him to stay, and then I let go of his leash just for a second. At first he stayed. But then he went chasing after a baseball, and he didn’t come back.”

It felt good to finally tell the truth.

“YOU LET GO OF RUPERT’S LEASH?” boomed Poppy. “ON PURPOSE?”

Poppy sounded like he was going to explode.

“It was a test,” I tried to explain. I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

“A test?” said Poppy. “What kind of test?”

“To see if Rupert would listen to me the way he listens to you,” I said. “He didn’t, but everything turned out okay. We found him.”

“I didn’t know you let go of Rupert’s leash on purpose, Henry,” said Dad. “Why did you blame Sam? And what made you think you deserved any part of the reward? That’s what I want to know.”

“I thought I deserved some of the reward because I helped find Rupert,” I said. “And I didn’t tell you about letting go of the leash on purpose because I knew you’d get mad at me.”

“You’re right about that,” said Dad, crossing his arms. “I am mad at you.”

“And so am I,” said Poppy.

This was bad.

“And so am I, Henry,” said Mom, giving me a look. “Although I’m more disappointed than mad.”

This was very bad.

“It’s the second time Rupert has run away while you’ve been holding his leash,” said Poppy, looking straight at me. “Do you remember when it happened last summer at the ice-cream truck?”

“You never told us about that,” said Dad.

Sam was sitting on the floor next to Rupert, watching us all.

“If your parents agree, you’re going to come to my house every day for the next two weeks,” Poppy said to me. “That’s your punishment for letting Rupert run away. By the time you’re done you’ll know everything there is to know about taking care of a dog.”

“I’m sorry, Poppy,” I said.

“I know you are, Henry,” said Poppy.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” I said.

“I know,” he said. “But you’re going to have to earn our trust back.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“We’ve talked about this a million times, Henry,” said Dad. “You have to be more responsible. You aren’t a little kid anymore. And you didn’t act the way a big brother is supposed to act.”

I turned to Sam. “I’m sorry, Sam,” I said.

“Okay,” he said.

Then I turned to Mom. I figured I should probably apologize to her, too.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“So am I, Henry,” she said.

“What?” I said. “Why are you sorry?”

“There’s going to have to be a consequence for this,” she said.

“What kind of consequence?” I asked. “Poppy just gave me a punishment. Isn’t that enough?”

“I think Henry should have to give his allowance to Sam for the next two weeks,” she said to Dad. “Henry blamed Sam when he knew all along it wasn’t Sam’s fault. It’ll be Sam’s reward for helping to find Rupert. What do you think?”

“Sounds fair to me,” said Dad.

“It doesn’t sound fair to me!” I protested. “I thought our reward for finding Rupert was a movie night.”

“That was before we knew the whole story,” said Dad. “We’ll talk about having a movie night after we’ve seen how you do at Poppy’s.”

“Promise?” I said.

“Promise,” said Dad.

“So … are we good?” I asked.

“We’re good,” said Dad, with a nod.

“Goody,” said Sam.

“Good,” said Mom. “Are you staying for bacon and eggs, Poppy?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said.

“Then let’s eat,” said Mom, picking up Sam.

We all headed into the kitchen, Rupert right by Poppy’s side.