asked Ty why she couldn't go outside. Ty promised to talk with their mother, and through some gentle coaxing and vowing not to let Paige out of his sight, Shelby reluctantly let Ty take Paige outside.

Paige was so glad to be outside that she took off across the yard before Ty was even off the front porch. "Paige, wait!" Ty called after her, and Paige half turned, trying to skid to a halt, but the ice was too slippery and she slid out the open gate and right into the legs of another dog.

"Hey!" the dog, a black malamute, jumped back as Paige slid into his leg.

"Sorry," Paige said quickly, slowly standing up while trying to keep her balance.

The malamute made a odd sound, and Paige looked up as two more dogs, a brown husky and a white mix, came up behind the malamute. "Eh, Zak, who's the," the brown husky said a word Paige had never heard, as he looked down his nose at Paige as if she were covered in trash.

Before Paige could say anything, the malamute, Zak, snorted. "How should I know? She just ran into me," he said.

"I didn't mean--" Paige started, but she was cut off by the white mix.

"Huh! No wonder, lookit that, she's missing a leg," the mix said, pointing at Paige's stub. "can hardly control yourself, can't ya?" the mix said as the other two snickered.

Paige's ears lowered and she tried to back up, but she slipped on the ice and instead went sprawling on her stomach. The three dogs snorted with laughter as Paige tried to stand back up, only to slip and fall back down.

Paige starred at the ground, her ears lowered as the three continued to laugh. It wasn't until a low growl rumbled behind her did the three stop.

Paige looked behind her and saw Ty, his ears flat against his head and his fur bristling. Paige blinked. She'd never seen Ty angry before, but he didn't look angry. He looked furious.

Apparently, the other three got the message, because Zak muttered something and the three slinked away, with the white mix shooting Ty a glare. Ty snarled at him and he took off after his companions.

Once they were out of sight, Ty's fur laid flat again, and he picked Paige up off the ice. Paige, still stung by the dog's laughter, looked up at him. "Ty, what's a," she repeated the word the brown husky had used and Ty jerked to a halt. Puzzled, Paige turned her neck as far as she could, though she still couldn't see Ty's face. "Ty?" she asked.

He seemed to take a deep breath before answering her. "Don't worry about it. You're not one, and that's what matters," his voice was muffled, but Paige heard him well enough. "Now come on, let's try and stay together this time, okay?"

~^~^~^~^~^~

Ty and Paige agreed not to mention the three dogs to Shelby, afraid of how she might re-act.  The three dogs turned out to be Paige's first encounter of how other dogs would re-act to her handicap.

It seemed that now any dog Paige met would either ignore her, shift unconformity until they excused themselves, or tease her. Needless to say, this put a bit of a damper on Paige's mood. As far as she was concerned, she wasn't any different then before.

"I don't get it, Momma, it's just my leg that's gone, why are they treating me so weird?" she asked Shelby once, but Shelby could only comfort her by saying they were just being stupid.

Still, Paige found great comfort that Ty didn't treat her any different then before. He was the same as always, fun and caring. Aili didn't treat her very differently either, other then maybe being more motherly then usual, but Paige didn't mind that so much.

Shelby though, well, Paige felt suffocated by her mother's protectiveness. The silver husky never let her out of her sight now. Even when Ty was over, Paige caught glimpses of her mother looking out the window at them. Paige felt like a bird in a cage. Ty told her Shelby was just worried, but Paige still didn't like it. She was about five months old now, and she felt she could watch herself well enough.

Apparently, Miss and Mister felt the same. One day, they came home with another man. The new man was friendly, and he played with Paige for a bit before saying something to Mister, then leaving, saying he'd be back tomorrow.

When Paige asked Shelby what was going on, Shelby said the man had bought her.

Paige was both excited and nervous. A new home meant she'd have her own owners, but it also meant leaving this one, and while she was tired of being watched by Shelby, she was still her mother. It also meant Ty might not be able to come see her anymore, depending on where her new owners lived. She wasn't very fond of that idea.

That night, Paige slept a bit restlessly. It wasn't until Shelby gave her a gentle nuzzle did she settle down enough to fall asleep.

It was mid-afternoon when the man, who Paige learned was Mr. Woods, came back. He shook hands with Mister and Miss, clipped a little heart shaped dog tag on Paige's collar, picked her up, and Paige waved goodbye to her parents.

Paige wasn't sure how far they walked, but Mr. Woods stopped in front of a small cream house with a front porch and a picket fence around the back, making a small yard. Paige's tail started wagging and she squirmed, but Mr. Woods didn't put her down. He was about halfway to the porch when the door flew open and a young girl with brown pigtails came running.

"Mommy, mommy! Come see what Daddy got! It's a puppy! See mommy? See?"

The girl danced in a circle around Mr. Woods as they entered the house, where a pretty woman with black hair stood smiling.

"Amanda, calm down, you'll scare the poor thing," Mrs. Woods laughed.

Paige wasn't scarred at all, she was squirming in Mr. Woods arms, trying to lick the girl as she hung on her father's arm to see the new puppy. Amanda giggled with glee. "Can I hold her daddy? Pleaseeeee?" she begged, turning a pair of pretty green eyes on him.

Mr. Woods chuckled. "Sure you can, but be careful with her, she's a special one."

Amanda cradled Paige against her chest and Paige licked her hand. Amanda beamed like Christmas had come early. Then the girl noticed Paige's leg, and she frowned in confusion. "Daddy, where's her leg?"

"The vet had to take it off to make sure it wouldn't make her sick."

Amanda's face brightened again. "Oh! Good, that means she's all healthy!"

Paige barked and wagged her tail as the girl put her on the floor. "What's her name, Daddy?"

"Paige."

Amanda frowned and seemed to decide the name was a good one, gave a approving nod. "Come on Paige, you can sleep in my room!" she said, taking off down the hall, Paige scampering after her.

It took about a week for Paige to adjust to the new house, but she loved it. She liked it even more when she found out they weren't very far from Ty's owners.

~^~^~^~^~^~

Five months later

"Mom, please. Look at me, I'm not a puppy anymore."

The silver husky did, and she couldn't help but smile. These past couple months, Paige had blossomed into a lovely young female, looking very much like herself, though a bit shorter in height. No, she wasn't a puppy anymore, that was true. And now the younger female wanted an answer.

"Just tell me, Mom," Paige pleaded gently. She had her own guess what the answer to the question was, but she needed to be sure. "Why did the vet take my leg?"

Shelby sighed, but finally gave in. "You had bone cancer, sweetheart."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Paige, the Woods(c)SilverKia

Dallas, Shelby, Ty, Miss and Mister (c)larkspur

Aili(c)MishaN