“Let me worry about that. You worry about the house party. In the meantime…”
A loud crash and a shout of panic echoed from somewhere in the house, making Stephen flinch. He sighed heavily, leaning in to press a kiss to his grandmother’s cheek.
“I suppose I should go investigate whatever has just happened,” he muttered. “And you, Grandmother, had better get to work.”
CHAPTER 11
Anothercrashechoed down the hall. Cursing quietly to himself, Stephen broke into a run.
The hall ended in a round foyer, from which closed doors opened to various parts of the building. In the middle of the foyer were a few seats and three shockingly expensive vases set here and there.
There was now only one vase left. Dust wound himself around it, glowering down with righteous fury at the bouncing, barking dog a little way below.
“Tiny! Tiny, stop!” Nancy was yelling, jumping up and down, waving her arms ineffectually.
Stephen tensed. Dust was on edge, his back arched, his hackles raised, hissing. The dog was barking, its jowls flapping. Stephen caught a glimpse of long, white fangs, and his chest tightened.
“Get that dog away from Dust!” he bellowed. “Quickly!”
The cat moved to leap onto the next table, but of course, there were no more tables and no more vases. The dog leaped at the same time as Dust did, his long frame and scrabbling paws snatching the cat out of the air.
“Tiny! No!” Nancy squealed.
Stephen’s heart leaped into his throat, along with a rush of bile. Dust yowled. There was a crash—he was vaguely aware that it was the third and final vase shattering—and the two animals hit the ground together with athump.
So, this is how Dust ends his final life. Between the jaws of a giant, slobbering mutt called Tiny.
Stephen raced forward, prepared to kick the dog away, already terrified of what he would find. A dog could tear a cat to pieces in a matter of seconds. It might already be too late.
He skidded to a halt, his leg already half-pulled back for a kick, and paused.
Tiny had pinned Dust to the ground with two massive paws and was joyfully licking the cat’s head, tail beating the ground in a sharp rhythm.
Dust, incandescent with rage, hissed like a snake, freeing one paw and slapping Tiny’s muzzle with rapid-fire blows until thedog flinched back. Using the opportunity, Dust wriggled free and leaped to safety, clawing his way up the velvet curtains and out of an open window. Apparently, he felt that rain was preferable to Tiny’s overtures of friendship.
The dog in question shook his ears and sat unhappily back on his haunches, staring mournfully out the window where Dust had disappeared. Sighing, he slid down to rest his head on his paws.
Stephen let out a long, shuddering breath. Nancy trotted up to stand beside him, casting an odd look up at him.
“Did you think that Tiny was going toeatthe cat?” she asked, frowning. “Tiny would never do that. He gets terrorized by all the cats where we live.”
“I can imagine that,” Stephen managed, raking a hand through his hair. His heart hammered against his ribs, and he took long, deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
“Are you upset?” Nancy ventured.
“I suppose I am a little,” Stephen responded, offering her a quick, tight smile. “Dust and I have been friends for a very long time. I was glad when he came home with me, and while I wouldn’t dare call him apet—cats are never trulypets, you know—I would certainly call him a friend.”
“He was very angry at Tiny,” Nancy murmured, swallowing.
“Not so angry as he could have been,” Stephen pointed out. “He hit the dog with his paw, no claws. That was rather kind of him, I think.”
Nancy’s lower lip wobbled, and she glanced down at her feet, sniffling. “Amelia said I should be well-behaved while we are here, and that Tiny would have to behave himself, and we haven’t done either, have we? Tiny only wanted to be friends. He’s just toobig. He can’t control how excited he gets when he sees new friends. He can’t control his tail either,” she added miserably.
A downcast Tiny wagged his tail, swishing it across the floor and disturbing the shards of a broken vase.
Stephen sighed. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He wasn’t quite sure which was funnier—Dust’s outraged exit or Tiny’s despondency at the loss of his new friend.
“Are you angry? Are you going to tell Amelia?” Nancy asked anxiously.
