Free The Silence of the Chihuahuas by Waverly Curtis

to be. Dr. Lieberman had totally confused me.
    Pepe growled softly.
    â€œHe says he’ll try,” I said, “but he’s not sure he can handle all of the stress.”
    â€œWell, I have your number. I will try to get your case expedited and I’ll give you a call as soon as space is available.”
    It seemed like that was the best I was going to get from Dr. Lieberman. In fact, he seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of me. Maybe he had another intake.
    As Pepe and I headed back down to the lobby, I paused at the landing of the stairs and looked out the tall arched window at the various buildings.
    â€œMy sister might be in one of those buildings,” I said, “but how will I know which one?”
    Then I remembered the map Pepe had drawn on his iPad. I pulled it out of my backpack and booted it up. Sure enough the design he had drawn corresponded to the landscape in front of me.
    â€œAnd you know where she is, don’t you?” I asked him.
    Pepe yelped again. I put the iPad on the ground and he stepped on the farthest square to the right, which represented the building closest to the woods, the one called Serenity, which Lacey had said contained the craziest people.
    I realized that the mass of scribbles that surrounded the one cottage were meant to depict the woods.
    â€œWe could sneak through the woods and get close to Serenity!” I said.
    I could practically hear Pepe saying: “Finally!”
    â€œLet’s go check it out!” I said. Pepe’s tail was wagging furiously. “I’m getting pretty good at speaking dog, aren’t I?” I asked him as I slid the iPad back into my bag and followed him down the stairs.
    I could almost hear him saying: “Not as good as I am at speaking human,” but then again, he didn’t really talk.

Pepe’s Blog: Humans and Dogs: A Comparison
    I stopped speaking because everyone thought my partner, Geri, was crazy for thinking that I talk. Now she is pretending that I speak when I do not. She is putting words in my mouth. I fear she may be going loco. She actually growled at the doctor at the insane asylum.
    And he was talking to me as if I do speak. He knew I was not speaking, and was muy patronizing. I think the shrink is a little loco too.
    Plus, I could smell Geri’s sister in that office. It was a faint scent but it was clear. Does Doctor Lieberman know they are related? I heard him get on the phone as soon as we left the room. He told someone that he had some security concerns.
    But then Geri finally recognized I was using my iPad to communicate with her. She deciphered the map I drew. What joy! We are finally working as a team again. Now if only she will notice that we could gain access to that one cottage by sneaking up on it through the woods.
    Â 
    Pepe’s Advice
    â€¢ Never expect humans to act like dogs, even though humans often think that dogs should act like humans.

Chapter 8
    â€œLet’s see if I can park closer to that area,” I said, starting my old green Toyota, the most beat-up car in the parking lot, and pulling over to a row of parking spaces along the river and in the shade of the poplars. The sign said they were reserved for the staff.
    I turned off the car and studied Pepe’s map some more. “If we go behind the poplars,” I murmured, “we should be able to approach the cottage without being seen.”
    Pepe’s tail wagged energetically. I imagined him saying: “Right on, partner! I will lead the way.” And as soon as I opened the car door, he scrambled across my lap, jumped down, and disappeared into the undergrowth.
    I looked around, saw no one stirring in the parking lot, and followed him. A small dirt path led between the trunks of the poplars to an even smaller trail in the grass, which ran alongside the river. When the river took a bend toward the right, the path went with it, but Pepe veered to the left, and led me through a glade of