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“What are they DOING?” Walt gasped. She jumped to her feet and rushed forward to press her nose against the screen.

Oscar’s jaw dropped. “Are they INSANE?”

Plan B had started.

Butterbean felt like maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. It had seemed okay when Polo had suggested it in the elevator, but that was before they thought they’d actually have to do it. When Butterbean’s biggest concern was keeping a rat from hitching a ride on her tummy while she peed. That didn’t seem like such a big deal nowthat Plan B was about to go into effect.

“You ready?” Polo squeaked from her position under the plant. She wasn’t getting back onto Butterbean’s tummy. That part of the plan was OVER.

“Ready,” Butterbean yipped, stealing a peek up at Madison. The girl was twirling the end of the leash and shooting nervous glances at Mr. Doorman. She wasn’t paying attention to Butterbean.

Good.

The elevator bell dinged in the lobby.

The doors opened. The elevator was empty.

“NOW!” Polo shrieked, rushing quickly through the open elevator doors.

“GOT IT!” Butterbean shrieked back, jerking the leash out of Madison’s hand as she ran at top speed away from the elevator.

“Butterbean, NOOOO!” Madison yelled.

Butterbean skidded across the lobby, slid into the plate glass window, and bounced off, turning back just as Madison started running toward her. Perfect.

Butterbean skidded between Madison’s legs and tumbled into the elevator just as the doors started to close.

“Grab my leash! Grab my leash!” Butterbean squealed. Polo desperately tugged at the leash, which was lying partly in the lobby and partly inside the elevator, still attached to Butterbean.

“I’m trying!” Polo said, jerking the leash inside just as the doors slammed shut.

“Whew!” Polo hunched over with her hands on her knees and took a deep breath. “Okay, now hurry, give me a boost!”

Butterbean stood with her paws on the elevator panel and tried not to give in to the heebie-jeebies as Polo raced up her back and perched on her head. Paws flying, Polo pushed the button for every single floor.

“You can skip four—that’s us,” Butterbean said. She was trying to keep her head still so Polo wouldn’t lose her balance, but she wanted to see what Polo was doing.

“Too late,” Polo said, settling back between Butterbean’s ears. “I pushed them all. Now get ready.”

“Ready,” Butterbean said. She positioned herself in front of the elevator door, waiting.

Polo slid down onto the floor.“Hold on, let me fix this leash so it won’t get caught. If you get strangled, it’ll give me nightmares.”

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“Me too,” Butterbean said. She shuddered just thinking about it.

Polo looped the leash around Butterbean’s collar so that the end wasn’t dragging anymore. She patted it carefully as she watched the elevator numbers. “Now go.”

The elevator dinged as it reached the second floor.“Second floor,” a disembodied lady’s voice said.

“That’s really creepy,” Polo muttered.

“You should hear her say ‘lobby,’ ” Butterbean said. “Gets me every time.”

The doors opened.

“You know what to do!” Polo shrieked, throwing herself in front of the elevator door. Butterbean had said that her rat-sized body should be enough to keep the door from closing, but until they tested it, they couldn’t be sure. And now that Polo thought about it, getting squished in the elevator door was something else that would give her nightmares.

Butterbean raced out of the elevator and then ran up and down the hallway, pausing only to sniff under each door.

“Biscuit!” she yelled at the first door. “Teacher Man!” she yelled at the second. “Too Many Kids!” she yelled at the third. “Old Mothball Lady!” she yelled at the fourth. “All clear.”

“Great!” Polo said, bracing herself against the elevator door. “Now hurry! This thing is trying to move!”

Butterbean rushed back into the elevator, skidding into the wall just as Polo leaped inside and let the door slide shut.

“We’re like superheroes! This is so fun!” Butterbean panted, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.

“Yeah, well, I hope you keep feeling that way, because we’ve got seven more floors to go. Get ready!”

Butterbean took her position in front of the door and shot out of the elevator as the doors opened, quickly making the circuit.“Mrs. Third Floor! Man With Stinky Sweat Socks! Perfume Lady! Lots of Cats!” She yelled at each apartment before turning and skidding back into the elevator. “We’re awesome! We could do this professionally.”

Polo suppressed a grin.“We are pretty great, huh? Okay, get ready for the next flooooor!” she yelled, diving into the gap to hold the elevator door. Plan B was looking like a winner. Oscar was going to be so surprised when he found out.

Oscar was already surprised. At that moment he was doing some pretty serious stress plucking of his under feathers and trying not to fly off the handle (literally).“WHAT ARE THEY DOING!” he screamed. “What’s HAPPENING!”