came a cry from the vet’s office.

Charlie snapped. “Hey! You!” he yelled, straining at his leash. “Come here! Bring your needle with you!”

“What in the world…?” asked a gray-haired lady a few seats down with a parrot.

David forced a laugh as he fought to hold Charlie back. “Neat trick, huh?” he asked. “I’ve been working on throwing my voice like those guys on TV.”

“Are you calling me a dummy?” Charlie asked. “Just let me at ol’ Spike and I’ll show you a dummy.”

The stranger, noting the treadmarks left as kid’s sneakers dragged across the linoleum, grabbed hold of the leash. “Very realistic,” she groaned as the dog threatened to pull her arms off. “I actually thought he was talking.”

Finally David managed to calm Charlie down. “I’m sure it’s nothing,” he told the irate shepherd-mix.

“It better be,” Charlie grumbled. “Or I’ll turn that guy into a walking pincushion.”

The woman blinked. “I hope that’s not part of your act.”

David gulped. “Oh, it’s nothing,” he answered. “Just like those sword boxes.”

Charlie’s face took on a dangerous expression. 'Now there’s an idea…'

The vet came out a minute or two later with David's dad and Sasha, who to Charlie’s relief looked perfectly fine aside from the scowl on her face. “What was all the noise out here?”

David shrugged. “I was practicing a ventriloquist act.”

“Really,” chuckled the vet. “May I see?”

Charlie, glad for the excuse to talk, asked Sasha, “Are you OK?”

Her face wore a look that would have curdled milk. “I am really going to get you for telling them where I was hiding,” was all she said.

The vet laughed. “That’s amazing! How do you get them to move their mouths?”

David started to sweat. “Uh, sorry,” he covered. “A magician never tells his secrets.”

The vet seemed to buy that. “Well, I think it’s very convincing. Are you the reason she said ‘Ow’ when I gave her a shot?”

David scratched the back of his neck. “She, uh, makes sounds like that sometimes,” he admitted.

The vet shrugged as he put Sasha down. “Unusual dog,” he commented, “but she checks out just fine, and she should have a litter of perfectly healthy puppies in about two months.”

David’s dad nodded and thanked the vet, then added, “Do you want to check Charlie too?”

Dr. Greenbriar shook his head. “No, I checked his file and it said he’d been here a few weeks ago when you first got him. He should be fine.” He scratched his chin and added, “There were a couple of odd notes, though. What exactly happened to the vet who examined him last time?”

Charlie just smiled.

Sasha didn't talk to Charlie the rest of the day, which was pretty sad given that they had an alibi now. He tried everything he could think of to brighten her mood. First dinner...

“Hey, Sasha,” he whispered as they were eating dinner. “I snuck a couple of bites of chicken off the stove. You want some?”

She scowled at him.

“Look, there's no bones in it, okay? I'm just sorry about what happened earlier. Besides, there's the pups to think about, right?”

Sasha pointedly buried her muzzle in her dog food and didn't say a thing.

Next he tried flowers...

“ACHOO!”

THUD!

“Owww...”

...but forgot that she was allergic to begonias. As he lay crumpled against the wall wiping off his face, a buzzing sound brought to mind something else he had forgotten: checking for hitchhikers in the blossoms. “YAAAH!” he dropped the flowers and ran.

Sasha stopped wiping her nose long enough to see what the fuss was...

“AAAAH!”

… and decided to join Charlie in getting the heck out of there. On the bright side, she had been saying she should get more exercise.

By the time David succeeded in trapping the insects in a glass and putting them outside, Sasha was thoroughly exasperated with Charlie. She avoided him for the rest of the evening and refused to speak to him. However, as she bedded down for the night he heard a small “Ow,” escape her lips.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

She gave him an annoyed look and didn't say anything.

“You didn't get hurt running from the bees, did you?” he asked, concerned.

Sasha shook her head and groaned. “No, I don't know what it is,” she complained, “But my back's been stiff all day.”

He ran a paw across her back. “Where?” he asked.

She hesitated a moment, as if wondering whether it was wise to accept his help. Then she gave in. “Up... left... right there.”He rubbed where she had indicated, and felt her muscles relax. “Thanks,” she sighed. Then, still out of sorts over a less-than-pleasant day, she added, “'Bout time you did something to make up for selling me out.”

“Selling you out?” he protested. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“The vet's,” she reminded him. “You were the one who gave away my hiding place.”

“Hey, come on, you can't blame me for that.”

“You lead them right to me. And that reminds me, didn't you also almost blow our cover at the vet's office yelling like that?”

“Well I wouldn't have yelled if you hadn't said 'Ow.'”

“Which I wouldn't have said if I hadn't been there getting my blood taken.”

“Yeah, well...” Charlie fumbled. Okay, so they had found her and taken her to the vet on account of him. Like a guy wouldn't talk to his wife? “It's not like I did it on purpose. Besides, I wouldn't have snapped if I hadn't been...”

“Ah-hem.”

“What?” Charlie was not in a good mood for interruptions.

“What do you mean, 'what'?” asked Sasha, looking equally perturbed.

“Is this a bad time?” asked an almost mousey voice.

“Huh?” both dogs jerked their heads up.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” came the voice again.

“Annabelle!” cried Charlie, searching for the voice.

“Over here,” she directed him. “In your water dish.”

Charlie and Sasha got up to inspect the disturbance. There was the pink whippet angel herself, shimmering on the surface of Charlie’s water bowl.

“What’s going on?” asked Charlie.

“Charlie, who is this?” asked Sasha.

“I’m Annabelle,” she replied. “Charles used to work for me, until I sent him back to earth after your little experience with Red and Carface.”

“So why the call?” asked Charlie.

Sasha glanced at a nearby clock. “Especially at this time of night,” she yawned. “I need my sleep.”

“Yes, about that,” Annabelle replied. “For one thing, I wanted to say congratulations on your puppies.”

“You know about that?” asked Sasha.

“Oh she knows,” Charlie retorted. “She was always a know-it-all.”

“A-hem,” Annabelle scolded. “Charles, you may not work for me anymore, but I still think you should show me some respect. Besides, it‘s not everyday most dogs hear from an archangel.”

“Sorry,” Charlie muttered, not adding that with the mood he was in he could think of lots of people he'd rather hear from. Like Dracula.

“Anyway, that wasn’t the only reason I called. I have something important to tell you.”

“Oh come on, Annabelle,” Charlie pleaded. “I’m not an angel anymore, you know. At least not for the time being.”

“I know. But you do have something very important to be concerned about now that you’re back to being mortal. The puppies.”

“What about them?” asked Sasha.

“I’ve heard the two of you arguing from up here, and you need to change your attitudes pronto.”

“Yep, she knows you all right,” Sasha murmured, elbowing Charlie.

“Both of you,” Annabelle repeated. “Charles, you need to listen more when Sasha is talking to you. Pay attention to her. And Sasha, try to be a little more patient with Charles. You're blaming him for a lot of things that aren't his fault.”

“Like having mis-matched chromosomes?” she muttered.

“Like not knowing that David was right behind him when he was talking to you,” Annabelle fairly shot back. “Or not being able to read your mind when you tried to tell him about the puppies. It's not as if you needed to be subtle or embarrassed about them.”

Sasha wanted to defend herself, but hey, when you're wrong, you're wrong. “Well, I’ll try if he will,” she replied.

“Hey, as long as she cuts the riddles, I’m all for it,” Charlie agreed.

“That's all I ask of you,” Annabelle replied, nodding her approval. “Goodbye.” And she disappeared.

Charlie yawned. “Okay, so she wants you to stop making me guess...”

“... and you to stop making me... not make you guess,” finished Sasha.

The