The next morning at 8:00, Joey heard a knock at her bedroom door. She woke with a start, since she was a light sleeper. She looked around and remembered where she was. It was strange to be in such a fancy bedroom, in a big, very comfortable bed.

There was another knock, and she heard Mr. Peabody's slightly muffled voice say, "Josephine? Wake up. It's time for breakfast."

She got dressed in the clothes she wore the day before and came out of her room. Mr. Peabody was standing a couple of feet away from the door. He smiled. "Good morning!" he exclaimed, cheerfully. "How did you sleep?"

Josephine rubbed her eyes and replied, drowsily, "Fine."

"Glad to hear it. Come on. I've got breakfast cooked." They went into the dining room, and Mr. Peabody asked, "I hope you like pancakes and fruit."

The teenager just nodded.

They sat down at the table, and they started eating. Josephine ate, slowly, mostly moving the food around with her fork. Mr. Peabody noticed her actions and asked, "What's the matter, Josephine?"

Not looking up, she replied, "Nothing. I don't get very hungry in the morning."

"Oh, well, don't eat too much if it upsets your stomach."

After breakfast, Mr. Peabody said, "You can take a bath or a shower before we leave. I got you all kinds of body washes and shampoo. Use whatever you want."

"I'll try to hurry."

"There's no rush. Take all the time you need."

Joey went into the bathroom and looked at all of the soaps and hair care products that Mr. Peabody had bought for her. She had never had so many choices of what bath and shower things to use.

After taking a hot bubble bath, Joey got dressed and left the bathroom. When she got into the living room, she saw that Mr. Peabody was on the couch, reading a book. He put the book down and stood up when he saw her enter the room. "Hello. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Put your shoes on, and we'll leave."

Soon, they were in the elevator and then outside. Joey looked for a vehicle but saw nothing but a red motorcycle and side car. "So, are we going to walk, or..."

Mr. Peabody got on the motorcycle and put a helmet on. Then, he handed one to her. "Hop in."

"I'm not sure about this," Joey said, nervously.

"It's alright. We won't be in any danger. I'm a good driver."

"Yeah, but...I've never ridden in one of these."

"I know it must be nerve-wracking, but I promise that I'm careful."

Joey turned away from him and shook her head, quickly. "No! I won't go!"

Mr. Peabody was startled by her sudden outburst. This was the first time that she had ever shown him any emotion. He got off the motorcycle and walked to her. He said, gently, "Alright, we don't have to ride the motorcycle. We can take a taxi. It's not a problem." He took off his helmet and put it back.

Soon, they were riding in a cab and stopped at a clothing store. When they went inside, Mr. Peabody said, "Go ahead and look around. Choose anything you like."

Joey silently looked through the clothes that were her size. All of them were so expensive, and she wasn't used to buying or receiving such clothing. She tried on a few things and ended up picking up a pair of jeans and a shirt. She brought the items to Mr. Peabody. He frowned. "Just those two? You can get more, if you like."

The girl looked away, uncomfortably. "Um, yeah. Just these."

"Do you need help looking? I'm not really an expert on girls' clothing, but we can ask for help from one of the employees."

"It's...not that."

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

She started going to the cashier, but Mr. Peabody said, "What's wrong? You don't have to get clothes here. There are plenty of other stores. I'm in no hurry; we have the whole day."

"There's nothing wrong; I just don't want that many."

Reluctantly, Mr. Peabody left it at that and paid for the clothes. When they walked out of the store, he said, "I have an idea. Do you want to go to the mall? There's one close by. I'm positive you will find a lot of things there."

"Sure."

The mall they went to was huge with dozens of stores and a good number of clothing stores. They went in almost all of them, but Joey only got a few things here and there. They went into stores that sold accessories and movies and almost anything they could imagine, but she still didn't get much.

They passed a store that sold Gothic-like clothing and accessories and music. Joey seemed interested in it, but tried not to show it. Mr. Peabody probably wouldn't let her go in; he didn't seem to be the kind of being that would approve of that kind of stuff. She was torn between wanting to look around the store and not wanting to make Mr. Peabody angry. Finally, she made a decision and decided to go into the store on her own. Mr. Peabody called her name and followed her. By the time he caught up to her, she was already looking at some shirts. "Josephine, why did you do that?"

"I'm not leaving."

Mr. Peabody looked around and grunted. "Why do you want to be in this store?"

"It's more my style."

The canine paused and sighed. "Alright. Just don't get anything inappropriate. At least you can't wear any of this in school."

Joey took interest in a lot of merchandise that was there, and she chose quite a few things and took her time browsing. Finally, when she was done, after Mr. Peabody checked to make sure all of the things she picked were decent, he paid for them. "At least she seems happier," he thought.

Later, they stopped at the food court for lunch. "I don't usually eat food like this, but this is a special occasion. What would you like?"

"Is it okay if I have some sushi?" Joey asked, hesitantly.

"Of course. It's been a while since I've eaten sushi. In fact, I think I'll have some, as well."

They waited in line and finally got their food, then sat down at a table nearby. "Are you having fun?" Mr. Peabody asked.

"Yes. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I bet you like shopping quite a bit."

"It's not really a hobby."

"It is good to get out and buy things for yourself from time to time. I'm glad you're enjoying the outing."

After they finished their lunch, they went to other stores, but Josephine didn't seem interested in any of them, which Mr. Peabody found odd. He didn't say anything to Joey about it, however. He did manage to find a couple of things for himself, but most of what he bought was for Joey.

At 3:00, Mr. Peabody and Joey left the mall. As they waited for a cab, the canine saw a newspaper vending machine. On the the front page was a picture of him and Joey and an article about him fostering her. He paid for a copy of the newspaper. He showed Joey the picture and said, "Look, we made the main headline!"

Joey turned her head away. "Yeah," she simply stated.

Before he could say any more, a few people came up to them and started talking to them, all at once. It seemed that they were both famous, now. The people started asking them questions, and soon, a crowd formed. Mr. Peabody tried to answer and interact with all of them. As everyone was talking, Joey dropped the bags she was carrying and ran away from the crowd. Mr. Peabody saw her running and called after her, but she didn't turn around or even acknowledge him. He excused himself and ran after her, though, now, she was gone. He didn't know what direction she took, and he started to panic. "No, get a hold of yourself, Peabody," he said to himself. "You'll find her. Just think. Think!...Oh dear." He started calling out her name and running through the city. His heart pounded in his chest, but he had to avoid thinking that something bad would happen to her. He could only have one thing on his mind: finding her.