subsided, and they decided it must have been a cramp.  “You shouldn’t scare me like that,” Toby reprimanded anxiously.

Luna sighed.  “Look, I’m not the first dog to have puppies.  If you want to practice worrying…”

To this day no one knows how they became aware of it.  It might have been their instincts.  It might have been Luna glancing in the direction of Arrow’s favorite spot to sit without realizing it, or Toby suddenly noticing a change in the mix of scents which characterized the Calvins’ home, or perhaps all three.  But both of them suddenly had an overwhelming sense that something was very wrong.  “Did you feel that?” asked Toby.

Luna nodded.  “Yeah.  And if you felt it too then it can’t be a…”

And then full realization sprang upon them like a tiger roaring as it hurled itself into the air.  “Arrow!” they both exclaimed.

Toby lifted his nose and sniffed.  “She’s not in the house,” he reported.

“Then where is she?” asked Luna, worrying Toby all the more.  All this anxiety couldn’t be good for her, especially this close to term.

“I’ll go find her,” he said, heading for the pet flap.  Sensing Luna’s intent he added, “And you stay here.”

Luna groaned as she felt the pups move around inside of her, anxious to leave but not quite ready.  “I’ll stay here,” she conceded.

Toby made every effort to stay calm as he stepped out the door and descended the front steps.  It was only when his paws hit the snow that he started to run.  And this time he made his run in November look like he had been standing still.

Toby had been walking for what felt like forever as stinging ice gathered on his coat.  The storm made tracking all but impossible even to his keen senses, but he trudged on, praying that he would somehow find his daughter.  ‘Maybe I’ll get lucky and trip on her,’ he thought as he struggled to see through the whiteness that hung before his eyes.  “Arrow!” he called, but the wind flung his words literally back down his throat, chilling his lungs.

She couldn’t have gone this far, could she?  ‘I must be on the wrong track,’ he thought.  “Arrow!” he cried out.

“Aroooo!”

Toby blinked and turned toward the sound.  With the wind no longer in his face, he was just barely able to make out the shape of a dog.  But it wasn’t Arrow.  This dog was full-sized, and its fur was a shade of gray.

“Have you seen my daughter?” he yelled to the stranger, trying to be heard over the storm.

The figure turned its back to him, walked a few steps, and turned to look back.  It seemed unaffected by the cold or the wind.

“My daughter,” Toby called again.  “She’s a little pup, looks like a raccoon, and she’ll never survive out here if I can't find her!”

The dog, or wolf, threw back its head and howled.  The sound carried high and clear, as if there were neither wind nor snow to drown it out.

Toby shook his head.  He didn’t have time for this, but if the stranger knew where Arrow was then he had to follow.  “Alright,” he called.  And he followed after the dog, desperately hoping it would lead him to Arrow.

It was dark.  The wind was blowing, whipping snow up off the ground into frigid gusts and mini-cyclones.  Arrow trudged on, her nose running and her eyes dripping.  Every step made it harder to keep going, both from the cold that flooded her limbs and from the ongoing desperation to turn back, go back home, and find everything as it always had been.

Running, however, became a lot easier when she sensed she had someone, or something, on her tail.

She wasn’t sure how she knew it.  She couldn’t hear anything, and when she looked behind her she couldn’t see anything but the wind-blown clouds of ice.  But somehow she knew she was being pursued.

Could it be a wolf?  She knew some wolves were nice, she had even met a bunch when Luna had taken her to meet the Northern Lights Pack.  But Arrow wasn’t sure if she was in their territory or not, and she’d heard stories about what some wolves did to dogs, especially little ones by themselves, and especially when it was winter and food was scarce.

Maybe it was a bear, or a fox?  As she glanced back and saw an outline beginning to appear, she stopped wondering and ran faster.  When the snow let up for a brief moment she managed to spot what looked like a cave farther ahead.  ‘Maybe I can hide in there,’ she thought.  ‘Maybe whatever it is will be too big to follow me inside.’  But when she reached it she found that anything smaller than a bear would be able to enter easily.  Still, she had nowhere else to go, so she ran into the cave and huddled in a corner.  Whatever was following her, now she was trapped.

Toby followed the figure for several minutes.  The figure’s pace never seemed to change, always remaining at a steady, patient walk.  But no matter how fast he himself went, the wolf never got any closer, nor any farther away.

Which made it all the more strange when suddenly, it vanished.  Toby ran to the spot where he had last seen it, but there was nothing.  No wolf, no scent, not even footprints.  His guide had just… disappeared.

“Where are you?” he called into the night.  No answer.  “Please!” he begged, icy tears beginning to well in his eyes.  “I don’t have time for this!  Arrow’s lost, Luna’s probably in labor right now…” a blast of wind sent snow down his throat, almost choking him.  When he recovered himself he cried out with all his strength, “Help me!”

Then, he saw a black outline only a stone’s throw away.  A cave.  ‘Could he have gone in there?’ Toby wondered.  He had nothing to lose by trying.  “If that wolf is wasting my time,” he growled, his mind a muddle of worry and frustration, “He’ll wish he’d never been born.”

Arrow waited and waited for what seemed like forever, until she saw a large shape at the cave mouth.  It sniffed the air and came in.  It wasn’t a bear, or a wolf.  But when she saw who it was, she thought perhaps even a hungry wolf would have been better than Toby.

“Arrow?” he asked.  His fur was encrusted with snow and he was shivering, but his voice at least was a strong mix of question and reproach.  “What are you doing out here?” he demanded.

“I’m… I’m running away,” she replied meekly.  “Please, just leave me alone!”

“Arrow, it’s OK.  I’m here…”

“Go away!” she shouted, beginning to sob.

“Arrow, Arrow, it’s OK,” Toby repeated, trying to calm her.  “Now why did you run away?”

She sniffled.  “Because… you and Luna don’t want me anymore.  You’re having your own kids.”

A spear of guilt pierced Toby through the heart as, in an unbidden rush, he suddenly understood his crucial mistake.  “Oh, sweetheart,” he nuzzled his daughter.  “Look, I know we’ve been a little caught up about all this, but just because Luna and I are having more pups doesn’t mean we love you any less.”  He gently licked away her tears.  “Your Mom and I have been worried sick about you.  She almost had a heart attack when she realized you were gone.”

Arrow hung her head.  “I’m sorry,” she whined.

“Hey, it’s OK,” he told her.  “Now let’s get back home before you catch a cold.  Wouldn’t want to have to keep you away from your new brothers and sisters, would we?”

Arrow rose to her feet.  “Has it happened yet?” she asked.

“I don’t think so,” he replied.  “But we don’t want to miss it, so come on.”

“OK.”

They turned to leave, only to see a very unwelcome shape looming in the mouth of the cave.  Two blood-red eyes gleamed out of an ugly face attached to a squat, bear-like body.  A ghastly miasma, like rotting meat mixed with concentrated skunk, surrounded the animal.  Arrow cried in fear.