bloodhound’s direction when he stirred.  The dog yawned and stretched his forelegs, and then did he notice her.  He wrinkled his wrinkled brows even more.  “Who’re you?”

Startled, Robyn stared.  The dog squinted.  “Did you just arrive here?  Because I didn’t see you yesterday.”

“Yes, I’m new.  The name’s Robyn.”

“Sherlock.  It’s nice to get acquainted with you, Robyn.”

For the first time, a smile blossomed on Robyn’s face.  “Are you and the two others the only dogs living here, or are there more?”

Sherlock chuckled.  “Nope, it’s just us three…four.”

“Then who’s that dog in the picture?”

Robyn motioned at a picture frame on the fireplace with an Airedale Terrier panting next to a young boy.  “Hmmm, I don’t know.  Maybe he was an older dog.  Oh, that reminds me, have you met Wishbone and Tyrone yet?”

Robyn looked skeptical.  “I haven’t met Wishbone”—her happy face changed into a scowl—“And I’ve met Tyrone.”

Robyn watched as Sherlock eased himself off the couch.  “Did something happen between you and Tyrone?”

“Sort of,” she admitted.  “It’s just, I don’t like to discuss my past.  It wasn’t a very fun puppyhood, if you know what I mean.”

Sherlock looked understanding.  He nodded.  “Would you like to go meet Wishbone, and maybe say something to Tyrone?”

Robyn sighed.  “I guess.”

She didn’t really feel up to it.  Robyn felt a little carsick; she’d never done well in cars, and today was no exception.  “Um, is it OK if I lie down first?” she asked as she lay down on a blanket behind an easy chair, “I’m not a car-traveling type of dog.”

Sherlock winked.  “Gotcha.  I’ll bring the cadets to you.”

Robyn’s ears went down.  Whooptee-doo.  The terrier she’d seen earlier zipped inside and hopped in front of Robyn.  Her eyes followed him as he kept bouncing and bouncing, which wasn’t helping her queasiness at all.  “Could you please stop that?  I got carsick on the ride back and—“

“Sorry.”  The puppy landed and stayed there.  “I’m Wishbone.”

“Robyn.  Nice to meet you.”

“Same ‘ere.  Uh, now if you’d excuse me, I have some hare business to attend to…”

“No, you don’t.  Remember what happened yesterday?” Tyrone came in inquiring Wishbone.  The pup’s spirits seemed to melt.  “Ohhh, yeah.  That.  I’ll stay inside today.”

The Jack Russell left quietly down the hallway.  “Are you always such a kill joy?” Robyn asked.  Tyrone yanked his head in her direction.  “What’d you say?”

“That puppy was all happy and ready to have fun outside until you reminded him of something that obviously upsets the poor thing.  You seem to have a knack for that—“

“Do not!  There’s a good reason for why he can’t go out there—“

“And what exactly is that, hmmm?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why?  Because I was rude to you in the car?  Well I’m sorry.  Happy?”

“No, not really.  You’ve got a bad attitude—“

“Okay, okay, that’s enough.  Stop chewing each other out,” Sherlock interrupted.

Robyn laid her throbbing head back down, turning it away from Tyrone.  “What’s going on here?  I thought you two were going to apologize?  You just made a bigger mess out of things—“

“I did apologize!  But Mister Kill Joy here had to—“

“Alright already.  I get your point, Robyn.”

“Sure you do,” Robyn said under her breath.  Sherlock’s gaze locked on Tyrone.  “Tyrone.  You.  Me.  Outside.  Now.”

“What did you say to her in the car that caused her to get so upset?” Sherlock asked.

“I just asked her where she came from and all I know is that the rest of the car ride was a long and silent one!” 

“Have you thought that maybe she lived in a place where she was treated harshly?  No hygiene, no decent food, no nothing?”

“Uhhh…”

“’Uhhh’s’ right.  Now I expect for you to ask for forgiveness to her even though it doesn’t seem like a good reason and forget it.  She’ll be up to it in the noon.  Meanwhile, maybe you can think up a good apology,” Sherlock concluded before leaving Tyrone to sort things out in his head.

Feeling much better now, Robyn sat in the tall grass, the breeze blowing her soft hair.  She closed her eyes ad sighed.  This is waaay better than that cramped cage back at the mill.  Anything’s better than that cage at the mill. 

“…Byn?”

“Huh?”

Robyn was roused out of her thoughts.  “Who said that?”

“Uh, I did,” said a sheepish looking Tyrone.  Robyn straightened her composure and said: “I’m sorry for snapping at you.  I had a rough life.”

“Um, yeah, I kind of figured that part out on my own.  Would you forgive me too?  I shouldn’t ask that question to any dog unless I know they’re comfortable with it.”

The Border Collie nodded.  “I forgive you.  Next time, just ask how they’re stay was at the shelter.”

“Okay…Er, would you like me to show you some of the places here?  It’s okay if you say no, I under—“

“Sure.  Do you have a pond here?  Any meadows?”

“Both actually.  Would you like to see them?”

Robyn noticed Tyrone’s tail start to wag.  “Why not?”

She got up and let Tyrone lead her away.

Robyn was glad she’d forgiven Tyrone and followed him.  Now, they were splashing in a pond, throwing Lilly pads and reeds at each other.  Tyrone dove under when she flung a pad at him with her tail, and popped up right in front of her, scaring Robyn and sending her falling backwards.  She hid there until he looked closer to see if she was okay, and dragged him under by his neck.  They both came up drenched to the bone and laughing.  They got out of the water, which was growing colder by the minute as it drew nearer to nighttime, and shook.  Tyrone waited until Robyn was dry before saying: “I’ve got another place to show you.  It’ll be ready by now, just follow with your eyes closed, I’ll guide you.”

Robyn shifted her eyebrows before closing her eyes.  “If you promise it’ll be cool.”

She heard a smile in Tyrone’s voice this time.  “Oh, it will.”

Tyrone pushed away overgrown blades of grass for Robyn and led her into a large meadow.  “Sit,” he ordered.  She sat down, eyes tightly shut.  Tyrone waited for a few minutes until the place was ready.  “Okay, open your eyes.”

When Robyn did, her face lit up in awe.  Lightning bugs flitted over a meadow covered with poppies.  She got up and started to chase after a few, then bumped into Tyrone after her mad pursuit of a tricky little bug.  Their noses met as they both stared.  Robyn giggled as she drew back and Tyrone looked at his paws.  She licked the side of his head and nuzzled him.  Tyrone nuzzled her back, feeling very content with himself.

“Awww, now ain’t that just sweet?”

Both dogs latched their eyes in the direction the voice had come from.  A black wolf strolled out of the forest with three others.  “This is so cute I can puke,” he said as he started to circle the two dogs.  Tyrone jumped to his feet and began to growl, using his body to shield Robyn.  A wolf with mixed colors growled back at him and followed his every move from outside of the invisible ring.  “You must be the pup’s friends.  Well, I’ll give you two the little warning I gave him: If this were to happen three times in a row, you’d be long dead by now.”

“Did you forget to mention to me that wolves were out here too?” Robyn hissed into Tyrone’s ear.  Tyrone side glanced at her, and saw now how scared she really was.  This was probably the first time in her life she’d seen a real live wolf.  He felt something slam into his side when he was off guard and went skidding on the grass.  The multicolored wolf stood over him, fangs bared.  Tyrone snarled at him and kicked the wolf in the gut with his hind legs.  He flinched a little, but took hold of Tyrone’s throat and flung him again.  He landed in a heap, wondering if that wolf had abs of steel.  The black wolf barked an order, and just as they had mysteriously come, they melted back into the forest.

Robyn was at Tyrone’s side in a flash, helping him up and inspecting him.  “You have a couple of bruises, but you’ll live,” she said.  “That’s good to know.  Now let’s get outta here before the Big Bad Wolf returns.”