Sebastian somehow managed to hide his new dog for several days. He kept him hidden in his bedroom, which had a bathroom he'd lock him in whenever he wasn’t home. Thankfully, he didn’t leave the house often, so he just worried his father would barge in unannounced. Sebastian started sliding his dresser in front of his door when he slept. He also got puppy training pads he kept in his bathroom, so he could do his business in there if Sebastian couldn't take him out for it.

  He named the dog Tiberius- Tibby for short. Sebastian had to wait for his parents to fall asleep so he could sneak him out for a walk in the dead of the night. He took Tibby into the backyard whenever his parents weren’t home. Tibby would run around, and sniff at everything. Sebastian would throw a ball for him.

  A few mornings later, his dad went to work, and his mother went to the grocery store. As soon as they were gone, Sebastian rushed Tibby out into the backyard. He tossed a ball around for him to catch.

  “Is that a dog or a horse?” an amused voice commented.

  Sebastian turned around to see Luke watching him. In his excitement, he had forgotten about the gardeners. “Please don’t tell my parents.”

  “You’re keeping him hidden from them?” Luke let out a whistle. “How the hell are you getting away with that?”

  “It’s only been a few days. I keep him in my room.”

  “A dog that large? That’s cruel.”

  “My room is big.” Though Sebastian knew Luke was right. “I rescued him. But my dad hates dogs. He’d never let me keep him.”

  Tibby walked over and sniffed at Luke. He pet his head. “He’ll find out, you know.”

  It was true. Sebastian knew it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep Tibby forever. “Do you want him?”

  “I can’t afford to take care of a dog this big.”

  Tibby picked up a ball, and pressed his head against Sebastian’s chest. Sebastian pulled the ball from Tibby’s mouth, and threw it far. Tibby ran.

  A car door slammed. Sebastian swore internally. How was his mother home already? He checked his watch. An hour had flown by. “Tibby!”

  Tibby was sniffing around at the opposite side of their freakishly large backyard. How was Sebastian going to wrangle the dog inside and up the stairs, without his mother noticing? She had to be dragging in groceries by now.

  Something she sometimes asked Sebastian to do.

  The back door slid open. “Sebastian?”

  “Hi mom!” Sebastian walked through the door before his mother could peer into the backyard. He slid the glass door shut behind him. For good measure, he closed the curtains as well.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Keeping the sun out. It’s supposed to get really hot today.”

  “Okay…” His mother walked with him through the kitchen, towards the living room. She sat on the couch, and turned on the TV. “Can you bring in the rest of the groceries? There’s only a couple bags left.”

  Sebastian wasted no time in doing that. Afterwards, he checked in on his mom. She had on one of her soap operas. He shouldn’t have a problem sneaking Tibby back inside. As long as he did so before five minutes worth of ads started playing.

  Outside, Tibby continued roaming around the yard. He came when Sebastian called him. “Sorry boy, but I got to get you back in my room.”

  Tibby let out what sounded like a groan.

  “I know, I know.” Sebastian grabbed his collar, and guided him through the back door. He walked through the kitchen, and heard footsteps approaching. Sebastian opened the large walk-in cupboard, and shoved Tibby inside.

  His mom walked in. “I’m gonna make myself a sandwich. Do you want one?”

  Sebastian swallowed. He noticed a snout peeking out of the cupboard behind his mother. “Why not have the robot make one for you?”

  “You know that thing can never get food right.” Celine turned her her head towards the cupboard. Sebastian’s heart pounded.

  “I could make it for you!”

  Celine turned back to Sebastian. “What?”

  “You work so hard all the time, and I never do anything. I’ll make it for you. What kind do you want?”

  “Ham and turkey, with only a touch of mayo.”

  “Got it. I’ll bring it to you.”

  “Okay.” Celine left the room.

  Sebastian made sure the coast was clear before leaving the kitchen with Tibby. He held his breath as he tiptoed past the living room, towards the stairs. Tibby sniffed at them. Sebastian pulled at his collar. “Come on,” he hissed.

  “Sebastian,” his mother called.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Sebastian got behind Tibby, and pushed at his rear end. “Get up there!”

  Footsteps approached. Tibby thundered up the stairs, knocking Sebastian down along the way. The second the dog disappeared around the corner, his mother appeared.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I fell down the stairs.”

  “I thought you were making me a sandwich?”

  “I was. But…” Sebastian struggled to come up with an excuse. “I had to use the bathroom really bad.”

  “You just walked right past it.” Celine pointed to a door a few feet away.

  “I wanted to use mine. Don’t want to stink up the area.” Sebastian chuckled.

  Something thumped upstairs.

  “What-”

  “Be right back!”

  Sebastian raced up the stairs in search of Tibby. He wasn’t in his room, or in any of the spare bedrooms. Please don’t be in my parent’s room...

  Sebastian peeked into his parents’ room to find Tibby sprawled across their bed.

  “Tibby!” Sebastian hissed.

  Tibby barked.

  “What on earth…” Celine stood next to Sebastian, covering her open mouth.

  “I can explain.”

  People hadn’t forgotten about the supposed rat problem at Callahan Mansion. Though visitors still trickled in, the place wasn’t bustling like before. It didn’t help that the story ended up on the local news. Barry did all he could to tell the world the rumors were just rumors. That there weren’t any rats in the house. He posted pictures of the clean, rat-free kitchens. He managed to get a spot on the news, denying the allegations.

  Somehow, an AI generated image of a comically large rat inside one of the mansion’s restaurants made its way around Gilran spaces. Eventually it broke containment and had been seen by the rest of Jefferson. Probably the rest of the Free States too. Along with the Equal States, the Patriot States, and the Colonial States. Hopefully no one outside of Jefferson understood the context of the image.

  “I know exactly how to get people back,” Barry said to Stellaluna over breakfast, after the servants had left the room.

  “Offering discounts and free food?”

  “Absolutely not! God, we’d lose money for sure doing that. No. What we need is something big to happen that would make people forget about the rats. Something that would make people feel bad for us. They’d want to come back here in support.”

  “Okay?” Stellaluna wasn’t sure she liked where this was going.

  “We’re going to stage a mugging.”

  “What!”

  “I need you to play the victim. People are more sympathetic towards women.”

  “I’m not-”

  “You will! Waylon has already agreed to play the mugger. He’ll be in disguise, wearing a mask. It’ll be in broad daylight, with enough eyewitnesses to spread the word within minutes!”

  “What if someone attacks Waylon to rescue me?”

  “Someone already will. Me.”

  Stellaluna stared at him. “If you attack him, people will expect you to unmask him.”

  “I’ll let him get away when it’s safe for him to do so.” Barry checked his watch. “We agreed to meet downtown in about an hour. Get ready.”

  Lord help me, Stellaluna thought.

  An hour later, Stellaluna found herself walking along the cracked sidewalks of downtown Gilran. Barry had his arm linked in hers. Since it was a weekday, there weren’t very many people out. Most people they did come across, were bored housewives.

  “It’s great because women would never take on a mugger,” Barry whispered to her.

  Stellaluna had to agree with him there. She certainly wouldn’t.

  They stopped in front of a shop. Barry turned to face her. “Now, go into that shop. When Waylon arrives, I’ll text you. You'll leave the store. When you come out, Waylon will come at you with a gun. Act frightened. I’ll jump in to attack Waylon, and Waylon will run away.”

  “What could possibly go wrong?” Stellaluna muttered as she walked inside the store.

  It was a shop that sold various, decorative items. Stellaluna focused her attention on the large selection of posters. It wasn’t long before her watch pinged and said, “come out.”

  Stellaluna left the shop. A large man dressed in black jumped in front of her with a gun. He wore a ski mask that concealed his face.

  “Give me all your money!” Waylon’s voice was deeper than usual, and more gruff. Probably an attempt to disguise it.

  Stellaluna covered her mouth in feigned terror. “Oh no...”

  A group of women across the street stopped to look. One of them tapped at her watch.

  Barry leaped in, tackling Waylon to the ground. He wrestled the gun out of his hand. Waylon struggled against him.

  “You leave my wife alone!” Barry bellowed.

  Waylon freed himself. Barry and Stellaluna chased after him. They ran towards an elderly woman. The woman held her cane out, and Waylon tripped. He landed on his stomach. She whacked him with her cane repeatedly.

  “You nasty man!” the old woman shouted as she beat on him.

  Waylon struggled to get to his feet, but another woman grabbed him by the shirt, and yanked off his mask.

  Both women stared at Waylon’s face, flabbergasted. Waylon broke free. He ran down the street, and out of sight.

  “Was that the mayor?” the younger woman asked.

  The old woman frowned at Barry. “Aren’t you friends with him?”

  A police car drove down the street, and parked in front of the building.

  “We must be off,” Barry said to the women. He linked his arm with Stellaluna’s, Waylon’s gun still in hand. “Come, darling. We’re safe now.”

  News of the “mugging” spread fast. So fast, the servants knew about it before Stellaluna and Barry returned home. A few asked if she was alright. Most went right back to work at the sight of the pair.

  Later on, Stellaluna bumped into Yannick.

  “You were almost robbed?” Yannick asked.

  Stellaluna only managed a slight nod. She hated lying to him.

  “People say Master Callahan planned it. He had the mayor robber play. They did it so people here return.”

  “That’s quite the theory.”

  Yannick studied her intensely. “Is it true, or?”

  “I’m not allowed to say.” Stellaluna winked at him. He smiled, and walked away.

  Stellaluna wandered into the living room where Barry watched the news.

  “In today’s news, Stellaluna Callahan was almost mugged this afternoon,” Dave Asher said. “Her husband, Barry Callahan, owner of Callahan Mansion, came to her rescue.”

  “The real hero, however,” Jimmy Rodgers said, “was an old lady. After beating the man with her cane, another woman showed up to help unmask the man. They claim it was Mayor Barstow all along!”

  “By the time police showed up, everyone had left,” Dave Asher said. “It appears Barry is trying to distract everyone from his rat problem by faking a mugging. Whether business will return remains to be seen.”

  “I’m definitely not going back,” Jimmy Rodgers said.

  They moved onto a different story. Barry turned down the volume and sighed. Stellaluna waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.

  “I’m sure people will come back in time,” Stellaluna said. “It’s not like there’s much else to do in this town.”

  Sebastian was honest with his mother. He explained how he found Tibby, and rescued him. How the animal shelter couldn’t locate the owner. How he caved in and brought Tibby home. How he’d been hiding the dog in his room since.

  “Please don’t make me get rid of him,” Sebastian finished. “He needs me.”

  Tibby sat next to Sebastian, his sad dog eyes on Celine.

  “You know your father doesn’t want a dog.” Celine rubbed her chin. “This is why you’ve been in a better mood recently, isn’t it?”

  She noticed? Sebastian had tried acting as though nothing in his life changed. “Yeah.”

  Celine looked at Tibby, and back at Sebastian. “I won’t tell your father. But when he finds out, I knew nothing about this.”

  “Thanks mom!” Sebastian hugged her.

  “When he finds out,” Celine emphasized. “You won’t be able to hide the dog forever. And you’ll be in a lot of trouble when he does.”