can pull the kid back up when she comes back,” he ordered. “It'll save me from your whining.”

Lily got up. “Okay, okay. You don't have to be so kindhearted about it,” she agreed in a tone dripping with sarcasm. “Maybe I can swipe some from somebody's shed or something.”

Angel dove under the snow as Lily walked by her. The dog was so busy muttering to herself that she never noticed the open window or the ears poking out of the snow. As soon as she was past, Angel shook off her frigid cover and made a beeline for home.

It took her two or three tries to get her direction right. She had never been to this particular part of town, and the wind and snow made it hard to guess direction, something she had never been too good at to begin with. Houses and stores provided some shelter, but the roofs had a hazard of their own: ice. Chunks of re-frozen snow almost crushed her a few times, and once or twice she narrowly escaped being impaled by a falling icicle. Above all this, it was cold, and she worried she might freeze to death before she found Star or her parents. 'As if I could face them now,' she thought. 'It's all my fault this happened in the first place. I should have listened to Mom and Dad from the start.'

But it seemed the weather was not altogether against her. Every now and then a brief lull in the wind would grant her clear enough vision to see a familiar building or recognize a street. And then she stopped, straining to hear above the sound of the wind. She could have sworn she heard a voice.

“Star...”

It was Toby, calling for Star! Angel almost hid, but then she remembered it was she who had gotten Star into this mess in the first place. And now, only she could fix it. So when she heard the voice again, she immediately headed toward it. “Dad!” she tried to shout, but the wind blew the words back in her face. She was fighting the weather now, head-to-head. She actually missed her father at first and could have gone on wandering forever if he hadn't spotted her.

“Star!” he cried out, mistaking her for her sister. Even in good light, it would have been a logical error. Angel hadn't thought of it up until now, but her normally beautiful fur, luxurious even at her age, was stained with soot and coal dust.

“No,” she replied. “Not Star.”

“Angel?” he asked. “What are you doing out here, you're supposed to...”

“I know, I know Daddy,” she replied, reverting to the more familiar, more personal name. “I'll tell you later, but I know where Star is.”

“Where?” he asked anxiously. “And how do you know?”

“She's in a trash can a few blocks north of home,” she replied. “Please, Daddy, you've got to trust me.” Tears were blowing from her eyes now.

Toby frowned. “Alright.” He threw back his head and howled. Another howl sounded in reply, and moments later Luna cam barreling out of an alley. “Toby, did you find...?”

“No, but I know where to look. Take Angel back to the house and come join me as soon as possible.”

“Angel?” Luna was confused.

Toby squinted against the wind. “Tell Arrow to keep an eye on her. I'll be a few blocks north of your house. Hurry!”

“Right.” Luna snatched up Angel and made a beeline for home. “Uh you ukay?” she asked through her teeth.

“Y-y-yes,” the pup replied, part of her stutter coming from cold and the other from her mother's running.

“Good, 'cause you wun be once we find your sister. What are you doing out here anyway? I told you...”

“Mom-my... I... know,” Angel answered between bounces, “But first... I... need... to... tell... you... some... thing.”

“What?” asked Luna.

“Star...didn't... leave,” Angel replied. Then, growing tired of the bouncing talk, she finished quickly, “She was kidnapped.”

Luna skidded to such an abrupt halt that Angel almost flew from her jaws. “Kidnapped?” she asked in shock. “What on earth...?”

“It's those dogs Daddy caught me with at the butcher's,” she explained. “They didn't tell me this, but they took Star so you and Daddy wouldn't know I left.”

Luna dropped her in the snow and stared down at her. “Look me in the eye, Angel,” she ordered.

Angel did briefly, but then she looked down, ashamed.

“Look at me!” Luna demanded. “”Why did you...?”

“I didn't know they had Star, Mom,” Angel insisted. “I overheard them through the butcher's coal chute when they made me go in to get the keys, honest.” Now she was looking up into Luna's face, and this time, Luna knew she was telling the truth.

“Come on,” she said quietly. “Let's get you inside.” Scooping her daughter into her jaws, she added, “And this time, stay there.”

The other pups were, unfortunately, not asleep when Luna and Angel got back. They were very much awake and eager to know what had happened and why Angel was such a mess. Apart from getting them to be quiet, it didn't take long for Luna to get the details: the kidnappers were still at the butcher's shop, as far as Angel knew they had no idea she was gone, and there were only a handful of them. That was about when Toby got back with Star in his grasp. She wasn't moving.

“Star!” Luna cried, nosing the pup. Her voice cracked like a mid-pubescent teenager's as Toby laid the unresponsive pup by the fire and grabbed a blanket from the basket to drape over her. “Is she...?”

“Alive,” he reported, panting. “But barely. She could have frozen to death.”

Angel's eyes grew wide. 'Oh my gosh,' she thought with a sense of doom. 'If she dies, it's gonna be my fault.' She started to back away, but Luna moved to block her escape.

“Toby,” she reported, “Angel has something to tell you.”

As her father's eyes turned to her, Angel took a deep breath and quickly poured out her story. Her escape from the house, sneaking into the butcher's home, learning about their trick, and escaping again. “I think they're still at his house,” she finished.

Toby glared. “This time they've gone too far,” he growled, grinding his teeth. He turned to the rest of his family. “I'll get the police dogs. Luna, you bring the mail team and any of your relatives whose homes you happen to pass en route. They're the strongest dogs in town. We'll meet at the post office, then go teach that pack a lesson. Arrow, Caspar, you two hold down the fort here. Everyone gather around Star to give her as much heat as you can. Make sure no one leaves...” and here he turned to Angel. “...especially her.”

Angel hung her head. I really blew it this time, she thought. This was worse than getting caught chewing the furniture, messing on the carpet, and digging in the trash all at the same time.

Less than half an hour later, the miscreants were still outside the coal chute, shivering. Their fur was adorned with ice and snow so that one could scarcely recognize them, not unlike Steele had been so long ago when he barged into the boiler room on his return from the famed sled run. “What's t-t-t-taking her s-s-so l-l-long?” asked Lily, her tail tucked under her belly more from cold than emotion.

“I dunno,” Max replied, forcibly suppressing a stutter. “But she'd better hurry up, or I'm throwing her out once we have the keys.”

Buck blew against the snow that had gathered itself into the gap around his closed mouth. “I'm about ready to give up,” he grumbled. “No amount of beef is worth...”

Max spun and rammed into him, spikes of ice from his fur digging into Buck. “No you don't,” he said slowly, full of menace. “We've come too far to weasel out now. If you want to wait in a shed or something, fine. But nobody quits, or...”

“Actually,” came a voice, “I'd suggest that you do quit while you're ahead.”

The frozen felons turned to face what for their purposes amounted to a small army of dogs, teeth bared and eyes narrowed. Front and center among them was Toby, who added, “Or maybe I should say while you still have heads.”

Angel was not having a good time of it back home. Her brothers hadn't let up since Toby and Luna left, but she had endured silently with little or no defense as they tormented her. Why not? She deserved every minute of it.

“Why didn't you listen?” asked Caspar. “You should have stayed away from those punks like Mom and Dad said.”

“Yeah,” added Melchior. “Why couldn't you play with us anyway? We're your-”

“Okay, that's enough,” Arrow cut him off forcefully. “Listen, you guys, she made a mistake. We all do. But talking her to death about it won't change it. It's up to Mom and Dad to tell her she blew it, and they will. So shut up.”

“But...” Zar protested.

“But nothing,” Arrow replied. She gestured to Angel's tear-soaked face. “She's already sorry, so leave her alone. In fact, beat it. Go somewhere else, now.”

“Dad said to stay with Star,” Caspar pointed out. “To keep her warm.”

Arrow laid a paw on