"Well, bye guys, thanks for having us over," said Mrs. Peterson. "Yes," said Mr. Peterson. "The food was great." "Bye," said Katherine, as she got into the car. "Katherine, say you had a good time," said Mrs. Peterson. "I had a good time," said Katherine. I didn't, thought Amy. "Bye," she said, because she knew her mom would make her if she didn't.
    She wandered over to the guinea pig hutch. "Hiya, Squeakie," she said, seeing her little guinea pig pressed against the wires of the hutch. "Hi Wheekie, you in there?" she said to Wheekie's bottom sticking out of the sleeping quarters. "And where's my little Gurgley-Girl? Gurgle?" But Gurgle did not come. Amy reached down into the guinea pig food and stirred it up. "Oh, Gurgley! You have some food a-comin'! Come on, Gurgle!" But she still didn't come. Amy looked all around the hutch. "Gurgle! Gurgle?" she began calling frantically. She reached into the little patch of tall grass. No Gurgle. "MOM! GURGLE'S GONE!!" she practically screamed. Immediately, Amy was suspicious of Katherine. She ran to the driveway, but the Petersons had already left.
    "Mom, it's Katherine, I know it is!" said Amy, a half an hour later. "She even had the nerve to ask to keep poor Gurgle, when she practically squeezed the life out of her!" "Now Amy," said her mom, "I know that Katherine is a bit rude and needs to work on some manners, but there's no call to start accusing her of things she's not likely to have done. Your Gurgle probably found a weak spot in the hutch and decided to wander out on her own. Come on, why don't we go see?"
    Amy and her mother walked out of the house, and sure enough, they found a little hole behind the clump of grass. They quickly fixed it up. "Now, why don't you look for the guinea pig while I do some work in the house," said Amy's mom. "She can't be far, I'm sure you'll find her." I hope, Amy thought. She searched until nightfall when her mom called her in. Then the guinea pigs took over.
    "Purr-Purr, it's time now," said Squeakie. "You remember, I hope, how to get out of that cage, and Wheekie and I will try and dig our way out of the hutch now that Amy's patched it up. "Guinea pigs can't dig, and you know that as well as me," said Purr-Purr. "We aren't made for it. And - eek, what's that?"
    A large animal came right up to Purr-Purr's cage. "G-g-get away from me," said Purr-Purr. "Wait," said Squeakie, "Maybe it can help us! Who - and what are you?" "I'm a raccoon, Ma'am, and my name's Cockle-burr. You looked like a nice meal from a distance, but now I see you're in cages, that don't matter no more. I'll be off." "No, please wait," said Squeakie. "We need help. Our daughter Gurgle is missing and we have to get out and find her. Are you any good at digging?" "Digging, hmm," said Cockle-burr. "You do look good…" "No no, please don't eat us," said Squeakie. "If you don't, and you let us out, we'll show you where our food supply is. Tasty, nutritious, totally free pellets!" "You've got yourself a deal," said Cockle-burr. "Whaddaya want me to do?" "Dig a hole under this hutch big enough for us to get out. Then we'll show you where the food is."
    Slowly, the big raccoon dug his way under the hutch. Squeakie and Wheekie kept trying to squeeze through the hole, but it was always a little too small. Finally, Squeakie squeezed her way out. It took Wheekie a little longer. By this time, Purr-Purr and the boys had managed to get out of their cage. "Now," said Cockle-burr, "I've kept my end of the deal. Now you keep yours or else you're a tasty meal-" "In the barrel," said Squeakie. "A smart critter like you'll be able to get into it for sure. Now come on, Wheekie, Purr-Purr, children, let's find Gurgle!"
    The guinea pigs looked and looked. They went into the woods and called Gurgle's name softly. They didn't dare call too loudly for fear of wild animals. Then, suddenly, Pip stepped on a thorn. It sank deep into his little foot. "EEK!" he squealed. It echoed around the woods. All the guinea pigs stood stock still for a moment. Then, a big, dark shape came out from the trees. "Run!" Squeakie cried.
    Pip and Zip were off like a shot. They didn't know where they were running to, they were just running. And something big and hairy was running right behind them! "There," Zip cried, darting for a small hole in a tree. Pip ran after him into the tree. It was hollow inside. The animal reached inside, growling, but it couldn't get to Pip and Zip. They breathed a sigh of relief as -- whatever it was -- ran off with a frustrated growl.

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    But almost immediately, their relief turned into fear and panic. Where were they? Where was their family? "Well," said Pip after a long while, "I guess we're lost."
    An hour later, they still didn't know what to do. "I think we should stay in the tree till they find us," said Pip. "What if they never do?" said Zip. "We'll have to go by ourselves." "But… I don't know the way, Zip, and you don't either." There was a pause. "Hey, Pip, don't you remember the story Mama told us about her and Auntie Wheekie?" "Yes," said Pip. "They had to smell their way out of the burning house. Maybe we can smell our way out of these woods. What do you think?" "How would we do that?" said Pip. "A house is one thing, these woods are another." "We can smell our way back the way we came," said Zip. "It'll be easy. Um, when it's morning it will be. Then we won't have those - those things to worry about. Let's sleep now."
    "Now it's not only Gurgle, it's all of the babies," said Amy. "Then it can't be Katherine," said Amy's mother, "because they haven't been here." "Mom, I don't care who - or what - it is! All I know is that there was a huge hole under the hutch, and the babies got out," said Amy. "Pip and Zip are gone. Who'll be next? Maybe Squeakie or Wheekie for all I know!" "Well, what do you want me to do?" said Amy's mother. "I don't know," said Amy. She ran upstairs to her room.
    "Purr-Purr, we have to find the boys," said Squeakie. "Squeakie, you know as well as I do that they couldn't have made it. There's nothing to find, now. All our children are gone." "No we're not!" came a voice from the far end of the lawn. "We're here!" said another. The two boys came running across the lawn to the hutch. "Now what?" "Go run, and wheek as loud as you can under Amy's window. She'll put you back," said Squeakie.
    Pip and Zip did just as their mother told them. Amy looked down at the ground in disbelief. There were her two little guinea pigs, just wheekin' away as if nothing had happened. She ran downstairs as fast as she could, and outside. She grabbed the babies and said, "You've been very, very bad. Running away from poor old Amy. But… I'm glad you're back." She carefully put the two guinea pigs back in their hutch. Just then, a car pulled up. It was the Petersons.
    Amy's mom came out to greet them. "Oh, what a surprise! Hello, Mrs. Peterson!" But there was no bright smile on Mrs. Peterson's face today. "Um, we won't be staying long. My daughter has something that belongs to your daughter." Amy jumped. "I love her, though!" said Katherine, tears trickling down her face. "Katherine, go give it to Amy," said Mrs. Peterson. Katherine walked up to Amy, and handed her Gurgle! "Katherine!" said Amy. "It was her, Mom, I always said it was," said Amy, stroking Gurgle's fur. "I'm glad you're OK, girly." "I asked her and asked her where she got the guinea pig," said Mrs. Peterson blushing, "but she just said that she found it wandering around, and she rescued it. She was so happy with it, I decided since I wasn't going to get any more out of her, I'd let her keep it. Then, this morning, I heard her say to it, 'You're so much happier with me than with Amy, aren't you?' I ran into her room, and said, 'Get in the car. We're taking that thing back where it belongs.' Oh, she threw a fit! But now, here it is, and… goodbye." "No, wait," said Amy's mother. "Please wait for us." Amy and her mother walked inside.
    "That was Gurgle!" said Pip. "Yeah, it was," said Zip. "I wonder what they're doing to her."
    Amy and her mother came back out. There were tears on Amy's face, but she walked up to Katherine. "Katherine, I am very disappointed in you that you would steal my pet." "It was-" "I know it was outside, but you could have brought her back to me. I don't want you to ever, ever do that kind of thing again. Do you promise you won't?" "Yes, I promise," said Katherine with a sniff. "Then… in exchange for that promise… I know you love Gurgle, and I'd have to give her away anyway. You can keep her." "Oh, Amy, thank you!" said Katherine, throwing her arms around Amy's neck. So there is a sweet side to this girl, said Amy, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Do me a favor, though, would you, and bring her over to visit me sometimes?" said Amy. "OK," said Katherine with a big grin. "Good-bye, Amy." "Amy, thank you, you don't know how happy you've made my girl," Mrs. Peterson whispered in Amy's ear.
    The Petersons drove away. Nothing had really changed. Someone else still had Gurgle. She would still have to find a new home for either Pip or Zip. But now, she felt good inside. She had made a little girl happy. And, who knows, she maybe even changed that little girl's life.

    You may wonder what happened to Pip and Zip. When Amy's mother asked Amy what she wanted for her birthday later that year, (she hadn't found a home for either Pip or Zip yet), Amy said she wanted to keep both of them. And her mother let her! Pip, Zip, and Purr-Purr all went to the vet to get fixed so that they and the girls could all live happily together without the risk of unwanted babies.

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