"Daniel! You scared me to death!" I screamed. I pounded him on the back.

Laughing his head off, my brother yanked off the stupid rat costume he had insisted on packing. "You should have seen your face!" he cried. "Know what? I'm going to start calling you Scaredy-Kat!"

"Ha-ha. Very funny," I replied, rolling my eyes. Did I mention that Daniel also thinks he's the king of practical jokes?

I suddenly remembered what my brother was supposed to be doing. "Dad asked you to find Killer. Where is he?"

"I didn't have to find him." Daniel snickered. "He was never lost." "What do you mean?" I demanded.

"I stuck Killer in the basement," he said proudly. "While you were hanging around on the porch, I ran in through the side door and hid under the sink."

"You really are a big rat!" I exclaimed.

I heard a funny tap-tapping on the linoleum floor. "What's that noise?" I asked. Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Oh, no, it's a real rat!" he shrieked. "Kat, look

out! Move!"

Without thinking, I jumped on to a kitchen chair as... Killer came trotting into the kitchen.

Daniel let out a high-pitched laugh. "Twice on the same trick!" He was very pleased with himself.

I dove at my brother, ready to tickle him. "Prepare to die laughing!" I yelled. "Stop! Help! No!" he gulped. "Kat, please. Stop, please. I... can't... take... it!" "Give up?" I asked.

Daniel nodded. "Yes!" he half-gasped, half-laughed. "All right," I said generously. "You can get up now."

"Thanks!" he said. "Hey, what's Killer doing over there?"

"No way. I'm not falling for another one of your tricks," I declared.

But when I glanced over, the cocker spaniel did seem very interested in something inside the sink cabinet I'd left open.

He pulled it out, then sniffed. Pushed it with his nose and gave a head-tossing growl.

That's weird, I thought. Killer never growls. "What do you have there, boy?" I called to him. The dog didn't even look up.

Sniff, sniff, sniff... growl.

I leaned in for a closer view.

"What is it, Kat?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing much," I answered casually. "Just an old sponge, I think." Sniff, sniff, sniff... growl.

It seemed perfectly ordinary—small, round, and light brown. A little bigger than an egg.

But the sponge had Killer all excited and nervous. The dog danced around it, barking and growling.

I snatched the sponge from him to get a better look. And my sweet dog tried to bite me!

"Killer!" I yelled. "Bad boy!"

He slunk to a corner. And with an embarrassed howl, he lay his head down sadly on his paws.

I held the sponge up close to my face, to study it better. Whoa! Wait a minute!

I suddenly understood Killer's strange behavior.

"Daniel—check it out!" I exclaimed. "Wow! I don't BELIEVE this!"