Benny toddled around the furniture while Cora crawled after him on her hands and knees barking like a dog. Benny giggled and screeched. Scout barked and darted through the parlor whacking chair legs and the mahogany side tables with his madly wagging tail.Leo seemed pleased by Benny’s exuberance. A couple of times he reached around the back of his chair to scare Benny and Cora.They screeched.Faith and Duke sat on the davenport watching and laughing at the chaos.It was cute. For two minutes. Adam groaned. Usually he enjoyed sitting in the parlor reading or playing games with his family. He liked lying on the floor near the woodstove and playing with Scout. But the shrieking and giggling was about to drive him mad.In the ruckus Scout knocked Benny down. He tumbled backwards and bumped his head against a wooden chair leg.Everyone lunged to their feet as Leo scooped Benny into his arms.The boy squalled while Leo held and comforted him.Faith and Duke checked Benny’s head and determined it was nothing more than a bump.The accident upset Cora and she crawled onto Faith’s lap, watching warily as Leo rocked Benny in his arms and calmed him down.Adam glanced at his father to see if the chaos had upset him, too, but he seemed relaxed and happy to have the house in an uproar.“The little one is quite attached to you,”
