hurriedness which had been necessary in her days as a stray. They wandered off to other parts of the house, and Luna shortly thereafter had to follow because Melchior, whose interest in the creature comforts often led him into places a dog shouldn't be, had slept too close to the fireplace and got stung by a spark that leaped out of a spruce log. Toby, out of deference to the Calvin parents' wishes, was taking his supper at home, leaving only the two sisters, Star and Angel.

At the outset of the meal, Luna had stationed the girls at opposite ends. But now Angel walked over, Star hoped, to say something kind in restitution for before.

“You really did look kind of goofy wearing that stuff,” she began. “Why'd you do that?”

Star deliberately took her time eating the present mouthful. Luna had told them more than once that you should always try to assume the best of people, especially family. And while Angel's words suggested clawing at a wound just beginning to heal over, her tone at least was sisterly. So maybe she wanted to make up, but Star wasn't interested in rehashing it. “I don't want to talk about it,” she murmured after swallowing her bite.

“No, really,” Angel persisted. “Why would you smear stuff like that on your face? I mean I know humans do it; they do a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense. But why would you?”

Star swallowed another mouthful for which she was quickly losing her appetite, and sighed. “I thought it would make me look pretty. It works on humans.”

Angel raised an eyebrow and drew back. “Well it made you look like...”

“Like a paint set threw up on me, I know,” said Star, starting to break down again. “I just want to look nice like you and Mom are.”

Angel turned her head to hide the smirk growing on one side of her mouth. “Guess you'll have to get used to being ugly,” she replied as if commenting on the weather.

That hurt. Really hurt. Not just the fact of being called ugly by her own sister, and after that sister had apologized, no less, but the suggestion that such a condition might go on indefinitely, cut to the very heart of Star's insecurities. “Could you just go away?” she asked.

Angel shrugged, not bothering to look sorry now, and walked away.

Star's first impulse was to go crying to Luna again, but she resisted. Why give Angel something else to gloat over? I'll show them, she thought. I'll show her. I will be beautiful like Mommy, no matter what it takes to do it.

If Star had been anxious for Luna's attention before, now she all but demanded it. Every waking moment she was at Luna for this, that, or the other. A veritable disciple, she was utterly absorbed with her desire to be like her mother. Angel, to her immense satisfaction, made herself scarce much of the time. Between her sister's absence and Toby's usual focus on the boys, Star had her mother all to herself.

And yet for some reason the less Angel was around, the more Luna seemed to focus on her. At every chance, she was looking out the window or checking at the pet flap to see where Angel was. In a bitterly ironic way, it was worse than when Angel was around!

This period of tension came to a head one evening when Angel came home late again. Luna was so agitated she left Star in the middle of the conversation with hardly a “hold on a moment,” and headed to confront her wayward daughter.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

Angel raised an eyebrow. “With my friends,” she replied, stating the obvious.

Luna frowned. “Why are you always late?” she persisted.

Angel looked offended. “Always late? I was early just yesterday.”

Star could attest to that. The more Angel got between her and Luna, the more she noticed when her sister wasn't around.

Luna, to Star's satisfaction, did not seem mollified by the answer. “Well you've been late three times this week. Now what's going on?”

The pup rolled her eyes. “Ease up, Mom. I just lost track of time is all.”

“Ease up?” Luna echoed, growing more agitated by the minute. “Is that how you talk to me?”

Star's moment of hope that Angel would be grounded was killed by the pup's contrite reaction. “Sorry,” she said, ears leaning down in a gesture of submission. “I just don't see what the problem is.”

Luna's ears were starting to lean back too, but the edge in her voice was checked. “What I'm trying to say,” she persisted, “Is that we worry about you sometimes. It's our job, your father and me both.”

Angel's drooped ears matched the annoyance in her voice. “There's nothing to worry about, Mom. I was just hanging out with my friends and lost track of time, that's all.”

“How?” asked Luna. “How hard is it to remember, 'Be home by dark?' or 'Don't be gone for more than an hour?'”

This time Angel's voice sounded hesitant, like a rock climber with poor-treaded footwear. “Well,” she said slowly, “Maybe it's because none of the others have to be home then.” With an edge to her voice, she added, “They get to be out any time they want.”

Star, still listening, felt slighted by this. Not because the other dogs had more privileges, but because her sister, who already had it made in her book, was complaining.

“Well, that makes sense,” Luna conceded, not in the least discouraged by Angel's tone, “But your friends aren't you, and they don't have me for a mother. I think it's great that you're out there having a good time, but I want you to be home on time, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” grumbled Angel as she walked into an unoccupied room to be alone. Luna, undefeated, followed after her.

Star heard nothing more of the conversation, but could not miss the disappointed expression and drooped posture her mother wore coming out of the room. Nor could anyone, even a human, miss the deep breath she took in and let out, her whole body seeming to lift and sag with the air. “Whew,” she said in a low, weary voice.

“Mommy?” asked Star, trotting up, “Why is Angel acting like such a...” She leaned her body forward and lifted her head to bring it as close as possible to Luna's. “P-i-g?” she whispered.

Luna shook her head in uncertainty and disapproval. “I don't know,” she admitted, “But try not to talk like that about your sister. I think she's having some growing pains, maybe.”

“Growing pains?” asked Star. “What are those?”

Luna chuckled in spite of herself. “It's a figure of speech,” she explained. “Real growing pains are when a pup's bones grow too fast for the rest of the body to keep up and it makes the muscles ache.”

Star tilted her head. “So Angel's growing too fast?”

“No, she has a different kind.” Luna's eyes drifted back to the room Angel was in. “In her case, she wants to grow up faster than she is, so she's getting impatient.”

“I wanna grow up fast too,” the pup thought out loud. “But it doesn't hurt.”

“It's not a physical pain, exactly,” she replied. “More of a mental pain.”

Star's eyes widened. “Oh, like a headache.”

“Mmm, something like that,” Luna agreed. “I used to get that kind of growing pains when I was a pup. Your aunts Haley and Phoebe were always so giggly that I just couldn't wait to get out of there.”

“Well, I don't want to be around here either,” said Star. “Angel's too giggly for me.”

“But she hardly ever giggles,” Luna pointed out. She knew what Star really meant was that she wanted to be like Luna was as a pup. She tried to think of some answer to the problem, but Angel's attitude kept eating away at her mind like termites in wood, and she couldn't think straight. “Anyway, we probably shouldn't talk about her behind her back like this.”

“Why not?”

“Because it's gossip, and gossip is wrong.”

“You and Daddy gossip,” Star pointed out. “You talk about us when you think we're asleep.”

Luna made a face. “That's different,” she said. “When we talk about you and your brothers and sisters, we're doing it to figure out how to take better care of you. That's our job. Gossiping is when it's someone else's personal business and you don't have a right to be talking about it. And it's also one of the reasons I didn't get along with my sisters.”

“Oh,” said Star. Well, if it was like her aunts, then she didn't want to do it. Especially if it was the very reason her mother didn't like them much. “Is that why Angel doesn't want to be around us?” she asked. “Do we gossip too much?”

“I don't think we do gossip. Angel just... needs a little space, that's all. Maybe we can check on her later.”

“Okay,” Star sighed. “Wanna play?”

“Alright,” Luna agreed, and they found a rag and began to tussle, in which they were quickly joined by the three boys and Arrow. Despite the edge in numbers, Star couldn't help noticing Luna was not as attentive as she otherwise tended to be; wasn't employing as many of the twists and tugs she often