This year the entire family spent a lot of time watching the television when Hurricane Katrina happened because Mom and Dad always had the TV on. It made all of them so sad to see all those people who needed help but it really bothered Petey  when he saw all  the animals and how they were left alone in all that water. He understood it wasn't because their families didn't love them but was because the people who were rescuing them wouldn't let them take them along when they left. It really is dumb how so many who should know better don't realize that family pets are just as much a part of a family as any other member. They love their families, and their families love them. None of the humans ever think their pet isn't as important because they are only an animal, any more than a pet thinks 'they are not like me so I only love them a little bit'. They are family, and love one another, and that is all that counts. Why do some people just not get it ?

Those animals looked so frightened, confused and lonely. Petey worried so much about them that he even stopped singing. But then he decided he was going to do something to help and as soon as he made up his mind to do that he felt a little bit better. But then, as he tried to figure out what to do, and how to do it,  he really was stumped. After all, a small canary isn't exactly able to make a lot of humans understand what he wants, or what he is trying to say. Gee, It would be so much simpler if he could just speak like a human or if they could understand canary language. And then he had a brain wave. Of course, Chris would be able to help him !

Now all he had to do was get a message to him, and Chris would  be there in a flash. Petey and Chris had a deal ... if either one ever needed help they just had to whistle their special secret whistle and the other one would be there as soon as possible. He sure did hope Chris wasn't too busy helping his Grandpa get ready for Christmas Eve because this was the busiest time of the year for them. After all, Chris's Grandpa was Santa Claus. He and Chris had become buddies the Christmas Eve they took over for Santa when he broke his leg. ( You can read all about their adventure in "Petey's Christmas Journey ").

What Petey wanted to do was to bring one of the frightened pets to stay with his family until  the pet's own family could be found. Chris talked to Rudolph for a minute and then said, " no problem Petey, we'll go to New Orleans and we'll find one of the most frightened pets we can find and we'll fly him right here to you before the night is over. " Petey explained that he wished he could rescue all of them but he knew that was impossible and maybe helping even one was better than doing nothing. Chris promised that he would also take as many as he could back to the North Pole with him and he was sure his Grandpa would be able to find their families, maybe even in time for Christmas. He also promised to have Santa look for the family of the pet he would bring to Petey. 

That was even more than Petey had hoped for. If Chris and Santa did that it would make his plan work out  even better ! Now, all he had to do was get Mom to agree. He was pretty sure that wouldn't be too hard to do because he had seen Mom crying when she saw some of those poor animals on the TV. She didn't know he saw her crying but he did. Heck, he had cried too, even if he didn't let any of the kids see. They were already too upset without him making them feel more unhappy. 

Chris and Petey talked a bit more and then Chris said ,"okay Pete , I'm gonna take off now and I'll be back before morning  with your house guest." And with that he and Rudolph took off. Petey was so excited he didn't think he'd get any sleep at all but decided he better try to go to sleep so he was awake when Chris got back.  He really wanted to be ready to make their new friend welcome when he arrived. He sure did hope Chris found a puppy. He wasn't too sure about birds living with a cat ! 

It seemed as if he had just gone to sleep when he heard Chris saying, "Pete .. wake up, we're here !" Chris was standing there holding the dirtiest and most scared puppy Petey had ever seen. He thought  the pup was white but that puppy was so dirty he wasn't really sure.  Chris set the pup down and said, " Pete I have to go, we have a whole bunch of cats and dogs in the sleigh  and they are all hungry and scared so we want to get them to Grandpa as quick as we can. He'll know how to get them to relax. By the way your new friend's name is Joey. It's on the tag on his collar."

That poor puppy was so frightened and confused ! He was shaking like a leaf and looking around as if he had no idea what was happening. Petey said, "it's okay Joey, I promise, don't be scared. I'm Petey and I am going to help you find your family and until we do find them, you are going to stay here with us. First thing we have to do is get you cleaned up and find some food for you. I don't imagine you eat seeds or lettuce, do you ? I'm gonna go wake Dad up and he will help us. He's a really neat guy and you are going to like him a lot. You rest, and I'll be right back."

 Petey went and pecked at Dad's arm until he woke up and  tugged at his pyjama sleeve so Dad knew he wanted him to come with him. Dad always seemed to understand and he did this time too. He didn't even complain because Petey woke him up. I guess he must have known that Petey wouldn't wake him up this early if it  wasn't important. Dad took one look and said, "Petey ! what have you been up to this time ??" But then Dad smiled and went over, picked Joey up and cuddled him dirt and all,  looked at his tag and said  "hello Joey, I see from your tag you are from New Orleans, and I'm not even going to ask how you got here. I've learned never to wonder what Petey can do when he sets his mind to something.  You're safe now and that's what counts. I know you have had a really bad time so lets get you a bath and find you some food and water,  and then we'll all get some sleep and you can meet Mom in the morning."

Poor Joey was so tired but the bath did feel good. He had hated being so dirty. And after finally getting some food which he really, really needed, all he wanted to do was sleep. Dad made a bed for him right beside Petey's cage and  he was asleep in seconds.  He knew he was safe. He didn't know how he knew. But he did. And he knew he could finally sleep. He'd find a way to thank these people in the morning. As soon as Joey was asleep Petey relaxed.  He'd get some sleep now too and in the morning he would explain to Joey what was going on.

During the next few weeks Joey and Petey spent a lot of time together. The kids all wanted to play with Joey but he was so sad that he wasn't much fun to be around. He missed his family so very much. And he was worried about them. He didn't even know if they were safe. Things had been so confused when the hurricane ended and the flooding started, and just kept getting worse. He knew they couldn't help that they had to leave him behind but knowing that and understanding it were not the same. They had tried to do what they could. They left him a lot of food and water and said they'd be back as soon as they could. He had felt so badly when they said goodbye, and he had been so afraid. Every one was crying when they left. It was a really scary time once they were gone and he was all alone. But he was so glad they had taken Trisha, the wee baby  where she would be safe. She was his favourite in the whole family and he wanted her to be safe more than he wanted to be safe himself.  He loved her so much and had always felt as if she was especially his from the first day his Mom and Dad had brought her home from the hospital.

He explained to Petey that  after the family was gone, and when the water started to fill the house, he got out a broken window and because he could swim a little bit he finally  found a dry spot on top of a  neighbour's roof, but he had no food and only dirty  water to drink for days and days. Talking to Petey helped. He told him all about it, and even cried a bit. He hadn't cried at all till he was talking to Petey, he really had tried to be brave for so long and it was a relief to finally not be alone any more. He told Petey how the  nice strangers  finally came and rescued him and took him to a place they were taking all the animals they saved. It really did help to talk about it.

But now he was worried that his family would never find him. He had tried to get away once the water started to go away so he could look for them but  the nice people who saved him had put him in a cage and he never did figure out how to get out of that thing ! He finally decided all he could do was wait and hope the family would know where to look for him. The people had so many animals to look after that he understood why they hadn't even had time to give him a bath. At least they made sure he had food and water.

And then this really nice boy with a reindeer showed up and he had a big sleigh which was filled with other dogs and some cats too and the boy, who said his name was Chris, opened up the cage and picked him up and said, " you are coming with us little guy, a very special friend of mine and his family are waiting for you in a nice warm house and everything is going to be okay just you wait and see. My friend Petey and I have a plan." And now here he was .. sitting talking to Petey.

 But even though Petey had tried everything to make him feel better he still missed his family so much ! Petey told him that everything was going to be fine and he just had to wait a little longer and he would be back with his family but Joey just couldn't see how because now he was even farther away from home than before. How in the world would his family EVER find him now ? Petey and his family were really wonderful to him, and he appreciated it, but he missed Trisha so much that it hurt all the time. He missed her the  most at night when it was time to go to bed. He always slept beside Trisha's bed, right beside her, and he was worried that Trisha would be afraid when he wasn't there. She was only a tiny wee girl and she didn't even have her Teddy Bear 'cause the family forgot him when they left in such a hurry. Petey didn't know it but he cried every night when he went to bed  because he was so worried about Trisha. He tried to be quiet so Petey wouldn't know because he didn't want to hurt Petey's feelings or seem ungrateful. Petey and his family were being so good and kind to him ! And Petey had promised him that he was going to find his family. He even promised he would be back with Trisha  by Christmas morning but Joey didn't see how that was ever going to happen.

What Joey didn't realize was that Petey would never ever make a promise he didn't think  he could keep. Promises were very important to Petey. He had heard from Chris that Santa thought he knew where Joey's family was but until they were absolutely sure he didn't think they should tell Joey. Just in case. But Petey couldn't help it. He had to at least give Joey hope. He knew Joey cried at night ( he always checked on Joey after he was in bed even though Joey didn't know it.) He didn't let on to Joey, but he knew. Santa had to be right !  And Santa did know everything, Petey would bet his life on that ! He thought Chris was being too careful. He trusted Santa more than anyone.

And now it was just about time to find out. Tonight was Christmas Eve. Petey decided not to say anything to Joey about anything special because he was finally having some fun with the kids and they were all hanging up stockings for Santa. They even had cookies and milk which Mom had put out by the tree. And Dad had even remembered carrots for the reindeer. He decided it was best to wait till Santa got there and let Joey be surprised.

Everyone had gone to bed but Petey was wide awake and getting more excited by the minute. He didn't know exactly what Santa had planned but he had a message earlier in the day from Santa saying everything was going according to plan and he would be making Petey's house the first stop after he made a little side trip and he would have company  when he arrived. Maybe he just meant Chris would be with him? Well, he'd know pretty soon so he just had to wait and see.

 It was almost midnight and everyone in the house was sound asleep when he heard the sound of the bells on the reindeer harness in the front yard , and then he heard voices. It sounded as if there were people with Santa ! What the heck was going on ? Where was Chris ? And just as he was wondering if he should go outside through the doggy door Chris came running in and calling in a loud whisper " Petey ! Wait till you see this, you are NOT going to believe what Grandpa has done ! " Right behind Chris was Santa and a man and a woman. And the woman  was holding a little girl baby all bundled up in blankets. Before Santa could say a word the woman said, "where is our Joey ? Someone please tell us, is he alright, and where is he ?"

Santa  smiled and said, ",just wait, Petey will go get Joey and you can see for yourself ". Petey didn't need anyone to tell him twice ! He was already flying up the stairs to get Joey because he knew this just had to be Joey's family with Santa. Santa was the BEST friend in the whole entire world ! He pulled on Joey's ear and said, " hurry Joey ! you have to come downstairs with me RIGHT NOW !" He didn't want to waste a second explaining anything to Joey, he wanted him to see for himself as quickly as possible. And besides Petey was so excited he would probably start to cry or something dumb like that and not be able to even talk anyway.

 Joey didn't have any idea what was going on but he knew if Petey woke him up it must be important so he followed Petey down the stairs as fast as his little legs would carry him. And then he stopped, looked, and couldn't believe his eyes. His tail started to wag a mile a minute and  he almost knocked his Mom down he jumped so high to kiss her ! And Trisha was bouncing in Mom's arms saying "Goey !!" over and over again with a great big smile on her face. She never said 'Joey ' the right way because she was just beginning to talk. In fact, "Goey" was the first word she ever said. But one thing for sure ... she was definitely happy to see him !

By now the whole house was waking up and Mom and Dad were coming down to see what all the noise was, and what was going on. The look on their faces when they saw Santa, Chris, and all the others, was really something to see. Petey was loving every minute of this ! He had to go get the kids so they could see this too ! He flew upstairs, pulled the covers off the kid's cages, opened their cages with his beak, went and got Kacey too, and said, " hurry up, you have to come meet Joey's family !" And with that he flew back down to the living room so he didn't miss a thing !

 Santa had just finished explaining to everyone when he got there and now everyone was sitting down  getting to know one another. Joey and Trisha were on the rug sitting almost on top of one another and Joey was kissing her over and over again and she was loving it. She was giggling and bouncing up and down and hugging Joey so tight Petey wondered how Joey could still breath ! Trisha's Mom was trying to change her clothes so she would be warm enough on the trip home. She had made the trip in her jammies and a snow suit because they left in such a hurry but her Mom had warmer clothes she had grabbed and brought with her and she wanted to make sure Trisha didn't catch a cold. Trisha would not let go of "Goey" even long enough to get dressed ! Mom finally managed to tear her away long enough to finish dressing her but as soon as her Mom finished she was right back to hugging Joey.

 This just had to be the very best Christmas Eve in history !

 After a little while everyone began to settle down and Santa said, " I'm sorry folks, but we have a very big night ahead of us and Chris and I have to get going, we have to take Joey and his family home first before we can start on the rest of the trip so we are going to have to make this a short visit this time." Everyone understood and began to put coats and boots on and prepare to leave. Joey  was so happy  and Petey was so pleased that his plan had all worked out even better than he had imagined that the feeling of being sad  seemed strange. But he couldn't help it. He did feel sad. He was really going to miss Joey. And Joey was saying exactly the same thing as Petey was thinking it.

 Joey came over to Petey and said, "Petey I will never, ever forget you and what you did for me and my family. Thank you. And somehow, someway, I'll come back and visit, I promise." You would have thought Joey's Dad heard him and understood because he came over and picked Joey up, looked at Petey and said, "Thank You, My Friend and I promise we will be back to visit  as often as we can from now on. We will never forget you and your family. You are all a part of our family from now on."

 It seemed as if only a minute had passed and the house was quiet again. Joey and his family, Santa and Chris were gone, and everyone was back in bed. All except Petey. He was sitting beside the tree, all by himself, and feeling better than he ever remembered feeling in his entire life.  It really was true. Doing nice things for others is the best thing in the world to make a guy feel absolutely wonderful. He actually felt like he could fly even without using his wings ! This was the best Christmas ever, and he was the luckiest guy in the entire world. He wanted to sing out at the top of his lungs ...