Byron

Byron was once Dr. Jocasta Kirkland's dog, but is now Madison's. He is a red Akita.

## Appearance

One-year-old (as of his first appearance) male red Akita dog. He's fluffy with a creamy white tummy.

## Personality

A playful, obedient, affectionate, house-trained, protective dog with a milder temperament than most Akitas. He didn't show any aggression toward Georgia when they first met at Jocasta's house, and he only attacked Sid as an extra-special chew toy. He was heartbroken when he was dumped at the shelter after Jocasta's death. He's very well-behaved, thanks to the training classes he'd taken with Madison. Like all Akitas, he's fond of cold weather.

## Sequential History

### A Skeleton In The Family

When Sid and Georgia arrive at Jocasta Kirkland's house, they think somebody is home because they hear a noise from inside the house. A moment later, a dog - Byron, not yet named Byron - came barreling out of the dog flap in the door. He barks with pure joy as he knocks Sid down and swipes his ulna, despite Georgia's attempts to stop him (well, she stops him from stealing Sid's femur, which he initially grabbed). The dog flees back to the house and Sid and Georgia are forced to enter to get the ulna back. They find him comfortably situated in a doggy bed on the floor just by the door. Georgia tells Sid that she found his bone and pets the dog, who was pleased enough by the attention to stop gnawing for a moment. One paw was still holding the ulna down, so Georgia had to slide it out while patting the dog with the other hand. It let the bone go easier than Georgia expected, but then again, there wasn't enough meat to hold canine interest for long. Still patting, Georgia moves the ulna behind her back to return it to Sid. Sid urges Georgia to look around, and she finally sees Jocasta Kirkland's body. Georgia considers latching the dog flap so the dog couldn't leave, but she decides against it, to leave the place as they'd found it. Sid notes that the dog is hungry while he and Georgia debate what to do. Sid decides to use the dog in his tip to Crime Stoppers, saying that the dog never runs loose, but he's been in the yard barking and they haven't seen the old lady who lives in the house. At Jocasta's funeral, Georgia overhears Corrina saying that if it hadn't been for the dog, Jocasta wouldn't have been found as soon as she was. She says that Jocasta didn't let her kids have any pets growing up, but as soon as she retired, she got the dog. This is how Georgia learns that the dog had been dropped off at a shelter by Rich, rather than taken in by any of Jocasta's kin. Later in the novel, when Georgia finally lets Madison get a dog, she ends up adopting Byron from the pound, unaware that he is Jocasta's former dog. She assures Sid that they can work things out, like training Byron not to chew on Sid. Sid later theorizes that if Byron saw Dr. Kirkland murdered, the murderer might not want him around, and wonder if he'd have a negative (or at least some kind of) reaction to seeing the murderer again. Sid freaks out the first time he sees Byron in the house, and Byron, thinking it was a fun new game, cheerfully trotted after him until Sid hopped on the table. Byron barks in good-natured defeat. Georgia coaxes Sid into offering a rawhide chew to Byron and theorizes that if a spray bottle can work on deterring cats, it might work on Byron. Byron helps make Madison feel better because he's part of the new security system, but Georgia still isn't ready to leave Madison home alone yet. Byron starts sniffing and scratching around the attic door, detecting Sid. Byron licks his chops when he sees Sid, freaking Sid out and causing him to toss over another rawhide. Byron accepts it but still stares at Sid as he eats it. Byron wakes Madison up early for a walk and is attracted when Georgia makes bacon. When Madison and Georgia go to a movie, they leave Byron in Sid's care. Madison begins working with Deborah to pay her back for the money she spent on Byron's accessories. Later, when Sid and Georgia have a fight, Georgia goes down and plays with Byron. Later, Georgia and Madison take Byron for a walk in the brisk fall afternoon, and when they get back and give Byron the last rawhide, Georgia finds a note from Sid. Georgia has Deborah take care of Byron when she comes back to find Sid missing. The night after everything went down, Byron is snoozing on the rug while Georgia tells everyone the story, and that Byron is going to stay with them no matter where they go.

### The Skeleton Takes A Bow

Sid is revealed to like sneaking table scraps to Byron not because he likes Byron, but because he's hoping it'll deter him from wanting to chew on his bones. He still fusses about Byron. Madison takes Byron for several walks over the course of the novel, to exercise him and to relax after a long day. Byron stands at attention at the door to alert when he wants to go on a walk. His doggie flap lets him go outside to do his business when he needs to do. Georgia once takes him for a walk because Sid and Madison are bonding. During this walk, Georgia stops by Town House Pizza and Subs, and the worker gives Byron a free bone, then calls in the so-called crank call. After, she reminds Madison to tend to Byron, while Byron chews on his bone with the occasional longing look at Sid's femur. There's a reminder that Madison works with Deborah every Saturday to earn money for Byron's upkeep. Deborah and Madison return with great-smelling food, catching Byron's attention. Madison holds Byron on her lap as she and Georgia talk about the murder at PHS. When Sara hints at Patty and Charles being an item, saying "if you know what I mean", Georgia thinks that Byron would know what she meant. There's another reminder that Sid feeds Byron scraps from the table. When Georgia is home alone with Byron, after she grades a couple of essays that had actually been turned in ahead of the next day's due date, they curl up for a long nap together. Sid makes sure Georgia knows to keep the dog out of the attic. While Madison walks Byron, Georgia makes another call to the Pennycross tip line. Madison and Georgia make sure to greet Sid when Madison returns home with Sid's head in the bowling bag. Madison takes Byron for a walk and goes to Wray's on the walk. Byron is one of Madison's many responsibilities, and Sid brings this up when he laments on what he can (and can't) do for people. Georgia tries to comfort him by saying Byron doesn't add to the family revenue stream, and the comparison to a dog irritates Sid. When Madison comes home with Byron, she finds Sid and Georgia covered in flour from attempting to make pizza for dinner. Byron watches Madison playing Mario Kart on the Wii. In telling Georgia she's busy enough without a murder investigation, she lists her caring for Byron. After saying goodnight to Madison, Georgia rubs Byron's tummy. When Sid and Madison argue about wanting to tell Georgia waht he overheard Madison tell Samantha, Byron sits too close to Sid for her comfort. Byron hadn't tried to gnaw on Sid in a while, but that didn't mean he didn't want to. Byron is glad to see Georgia and wags his tail, though he had to realize it meant that his plans for a bony snack had been foiled. When Madison is upset, she takes Byron into her room with her. To avoid their difficulties with each other, Georgia and Madison lavish Byron with affection while Sid hands Byron a rawhide every time he looked like he might be considering chewing on Sid. Later, when Sid demonstrates he's been practicing his distance movement, Georgia asks if he wants to leave his bones on the floor with Byron around. Byron had just risen from his favorite spot by the back door and was staring at the bones. Georgia held Byron while Madison retrieved Sid's skill so he could reassemble himself. Georgia later dozes off with Byron curled next to her. When Madison brings home Tristan, Byron greets Madison with enthusiasm and Tristan with a touch of suspicion. Tristan passes Byron's sniff inspection. When Adam McDaniel Sr. comes to get Tristan, Georgia pushes Byron aside to let McDaniel Sr. come inside. After they leave, Madison takes Byron on a walk while Georgia makes dinner. She also takes him for a walk after Georgia tries to explain that she and Sid need to talk to things that aren't appropriate for kids, and Madison snarkily asks if taking Byron for a walk is appropriate for a kid. She calls to him louder than necessary. Sid and Georgia stop their plans when Byron and Madison return, and Madison is miffed, telling Byron to come because they're not wanted there. Madison comes back from walking Byron to ask Georgia if she can go out to Chelsea's house. Sid was waiting for Georgia after she drops Madison off, and he'd set lots of things up; he'd even given Byron a chew stick. When Sid and Georgia discuss how to get into the Foundation, Sid says "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" and it gives a Georgia. Sid thinks they're going to send Byron after them, and Georgia ignores it in favor of sharing her real plan. When Georgia comes home after being attacked at PHS, even Byron can sense that something's wrong. Deborah sets the ground rule that for walking Byron, either both Georgia and Madison go together, or Byron is to do his business in the yard; she says a couple of days without walks won't hurt Byron. When Georgia reveals the clue of the bone pen, Byron seems to be giving his full attention to Georgia too. Madison holds Byron like a teddy bear while she asks Georgia if Tristan is tied up in everything, to which Georgia replies that she doesn't know. When Deborah and Georgia come back to the house without Madison, Byron is still able to tell something is wrong; he kept looking for Madison and making unhappy sounds. Georgia pets him absently. When Georgia sat on the couch, Byron joins her and lays his head in her lap. Deborah puts out food for Byron during this time. Georgia shoves Byron out her lap when she hears a sound, revealed to be Sid's hand moving, attempting to send a message about himself and Madison. When they learn where Madison is, Georgia and Deborah debate bringing Byron along - perhaps he could track Madison and bite if the need arose - but decided against it because they weren't sure if he could manage the stealth they need. When Madison is rescued and returned home, Byron thoroughly greets her, and he and Madison share Georgia's bed that night. When Madison comes home at the end of the novel to see Sid and Georgia dancing, Byron joins in by running around and in between them.

### The Skeleton Haunts A House

Byron solemnly watches Sid, Georgia, and Madison get dressed up for the Halloween Howl. Georgia recalls that Byron and Sid have a love-hate relationship: Byron would love to chew on Sid again, and Sid hated the memory of him doing so. Before they leave, Georgia checks that Byron's food and water dishes are filled. When they return with Phil in tow, Byron came running and woofed suspiciously at Phil, and Georgia hopes he didn't give Dab a hard time when she came home. Byron paid no attention to everyone going down memory lane. he started to leave the room, looked back at Georgia, went a few steps, looked again, and repeated it until Georgia got the hint that she was supposed to follow him. Byron led her to the kitchen, where Dab was sitting. Georgia understands that Byron is annoyed - there were strangers in what he considered his domain. Georgia later sees that Byron is in his favorite spot under the table, hoping for dropped food, and it seemed plain that he'd adjusted to Dab and Phil being around. Georgia wants to wake Madison to tend to Byron, while Phil insists on helping out. Byron later shows his intelligence by pressing lovingly against Phil when Georgia expresses her reluctance to stay in the Thackery House permanently, now that Madison is a teenager and they have Byron. Phil pats Byron and says he's not trouble at all in response to his loving gesture. Georgia makes sure Byron is set for the day before she goes to McQuaid for the first time in the book. In finding a way to talk to Art Singer, Georgia recalls that nobody argues with a hard disk crash, and she couldn't claim that Byron had eaten her homework. When the Thackery family is watching *Guardians of the Galaxy* with a big bowl of popcorn, Byron was sprawled nearby, close enough for pats and stray popcorn. He jumps up when Georgia pulls Sid's skill out of the bag. Sid tells Byron (kibble-breath) to back off, and Byron does retreat, although disappointed. When Georgia comes home with her mom and isn't greeted by Byron, she deduces that she's on a walk with Madison. When Madison and Byron return, she absently scratches Byron as Georgia and Dab fill her in on the story about Linda killing Kendall (Linda didn't kill Kendall, she was framed). That night, Sid is nice to Byron by giving him a pizzle stick. Another night, Madison takes Byron to her room when she goes to bed. When Georgia greets Brownie coolly in response to his warm greeting, Sara Weiss' ears picked up like Byron's when he heard someone open the bin where we kept his food. Before Sid and Georgia could finish discussing Kendall's lack of recent posts and Madison being bullied by the Devil's Divas, Madison and Byron came upstairs, heading for bed, so they couldn't finish talking. Georgia goes to talk to Madison about it and Madison pushes Byron to the side of her bed to make room for Georgia. When Roxanne freaks out about her dissertation and reveals her true plans, Phil came in with Byron to see what the noise was about. As soon as he saw Roxanne's gun, he stepped in front of Georgia and grabbed Byron's collar when he started growling. Georgia then had to shut Byron up in her parents' office so he would stop growling at Roxanne.

### The Skeleton Paints A Picture

Sid is most bothered by the time Madison spends with Byron because he's not much of a dog person (understandably). When talking about Renee Turner and her real passion about raising Shiba Inus, Georgia tells Sid that Madison almost picked a Shiba the day she adopted Byron. There's a reminder that Byron tried to eat Sid during their first encounter and Sid hadn't forgiven him because of the offense to his dignity. Georgia confesses that she misses Byron for the emotional benefits. She hadn't realized how much she missed Byron until she had to let someone have a turn with the FAD therapy dog. However, in this passage, she says she needs to be sure not to tell Sid so because of his lack of affection for anything canine, directly contradicting an earlier sentence where she directly told Sid that she misses Byron and about the FAD therapy dogs.

### The Skeleton Makes A Friend

Byron alerts Madison, Georgia, and Sid to the presence of a visitor by barking and running towards the front of the cabin they're renting in Overfeld. Byron escorts Jen around the front of the cabin, and Judy catches up to them. Georgia introduces Byron to Jen and Judy along with Madison. When Jen leaves, Byron follows her out of sight. When she and Judy drive off, Byron returned. Later, when Madison needs alone time in her room, she calls for Byron to follow. Byron is noted to let everyone know if Jen comes back, and Sid sniffs, unimpressed because of the memory of their first encounter where Byron left teethmarks on Sid's femur. Among her string of duties before Georgia meets Hynes, Georgia makes sure Byron is taken care of. When Madison and Georgia have a dance party, Georgia stops relatively soon, and Madison quit at the same time to tend to Byron. Georgia pats Byron and kisses Madison before going to talk to Sid about her recovered memory. Later, Georgia, Sid, Dab, and Phil stay on lawn chairs in the shade while Madison and Byron play in the water. When Madison comes to join everyone, a soggy Byron plops down on the grass next to Sid's basket. The leftovers from the barbeque include beef bones for Byron. When Madison gets back from walking Byron, she tells Georgia to turn on the sex appeal when talking to Neil. When Georgia and Sid get back from finding Neil's smelly dead body, Georgia sets out the bacon suitcase to air out and Sid tells her not to let Byron pee on it. Georgia doesn't think it'll be a problem because Byron took one whiff of Georgia, snorted in disgust, and retreated to Madison's room. The night Sid seems to cry over Neil and Georgia discovers the depth of Sid's loneliness, even Byron comes to soothe Byron by putting his head at Sid's feet without even taking a nibble. When Georgia catches Sid and Madison being fishy, she asks if they're going to try and blame the extra chores they did to butter up Georgia on Byron. When Georgia hears that Neil didn't have any pets, Georgia pets Byron's head and says she'd hate to think of a pet left alone in Neil's house all this time. When Georgia comes from meeting Walker Schild, Byron came to greet her. She gave him a tummy rub to show how honored she was by the attention. Madison was out by the lake with Byron, allowing Sid and Georgia to simplify their conversation about the whole situation, but not the situation itself. Madison took Byron out and then, instead of going online or putting in a video, she sat on the couch, staring into space and ruffling Byron's fur. When Georgia suggests everyone go to the movie, she clarifies that they can't take Byron too. When Madison and Georgia have to be at the hospital overnight, Georgia asks Charles to tend to Byron. She'd left Byron water and had fed him before they left, so she wasn't overly worried about his welfare, but she was worried about the welfare of the cabin's floor and furniture. Charles insists on taking care of Byron regardless of the lateness. When they returned, Madison gives the neglected Byron some extra attention while Georgia fixed lunch and fretted over where Sid could be. When Sid returned, he's so happy to be back that even pets Byron. Once.

### The Skeleton Stuffs A Stocking

Madison describes that she realized Byron was missing when Byron didn't meet her at the door when she got home from school, and Andrew said he saw Byron sneaking out when somebody didn't close the door all the way, and he closed the door without telling anybody. Madison finds him after about ten minutes of her and Georgia searching. Madison brings Byron home by the collar with one hand and holding a human femur in the other. Madison and Georgia immediately think it's Sid's and Madison wants to tell him before Byron is her responsibility, letting Byron to go the kitchen because she doubts Sid will want to see him. When Sid reveals he has all his bones, they realize it's someone else's, and they call Louis Raymond, who summons many other cops and forensic experts. They check the porch cam to find out more information. They use Byron to lead them back to the skeleton he got the bone from, although Byron is in no hurry to get there. They hope Byron isn't just enjoying the walk. Byron pushes muzzle into the dirt where he found the skeleton, revealing its location to everyone else. An officer gives Byron, Madison, and Georgia a ride home while they got to work on the skeleton. They huddle with Byron to warm up during the short drive back to the house, although they both knew it wasn't just the frigid weather affecting them. Madison manages to sleep after finding the skeleton, and Byron keeps watch over her. When Yo asks Georgia if she's a skelesexual, Georgia denies it and says that Byron has a certain fondness for bones. Georgia later tells Charles about how Byron brought home the bone. Dab later recalls how the porch cam came in use for Georgia using Byron to track the body for the police. When Georgia asks Madison about her homework and dog, Madison says she has one chapter to read and that she'll take Byron out for a walk before she touches her computer. When Deborah and Georgia discuss Brownie and Georgia's relationship, Deborah brings up Byron when she discusses how everyone can be a problem. She says that Byron would be a problem in Georgia and Brownie's relationship if Brownie was allergic to dogs. While Georgia is waiting for her date with Brownie, she doesn't sit down while waiting, because she doesn't want to get Byron's fur on her clothes. When Brownie arrives, he greets Byron with a head rub among his string of greetings to Georgia's family. When Georgia gets back from her date with Brownie, Byron comes downstairs to see who it is; once he saw it was Georgia, he went back to Madison's room. Later, during Georgia's meeting with Sue Weedon when she confronts her for lying, Georgia compared Sue watching her to Byron's look when he knows he's in trouble for chewing something up. When Brownie and Georgia from another date, the Thackery family is waiting for Georgia, including Byron. On Christmas morning, Sid lets Byron sit next to him. Byron got a pat on the head for Christmas, and he seemed satisfied with that. Just before Annabelle / Sue Weedon / Rose arrives, Georgia sets up the scene, with Madison on the floor with Byron.