looked like huge boulders. The second floor, built onto the walls on either side, loomed like a pair of towering cliffs. Woodcutting equipment lay around, bristling with toothed blades like sharp rocks at the bottom of a waterfall. Even to Toby, who had been through his share of scrapes and tight spots, it was more than a little spooky.
“What are we looking for in here?” asked Caspar.
Toby wished he had asked that question before they went inside. He was tempted to say “The exit,” but thought better of it. “Uh, the bad wolves have a sled team trapped in here,” he said. “And we've got to find them and set them free.”
“Why are they keeping them here?” he asked.
“Because they're mean, of course.”
“Oh.”
Toby's ears shot up. “I heard something.”
Caspar froze. “What is it?”
Toby's head flicked back and forth. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, but there wasn't much to see. “Wolves,” he replied. “They must know that we've come t-”
And then he stopped. Had a shape just flitted through the shadows? It must have been his imagination. No, there it went again. Something had definitely darted across a patch of light coming in through a window. Was it a rat? He hoped not. Rats usually wouldn't pick a fight with a dog his size, but it wasn't at all unheard of for them to go after, and even kill and eat, a small puppy like Caspar.
“Caspar,” he whispered, “I think it might be better if we leave.”
“But what about the dogs?”
Me and my big mouth, thought Toby. He, of all dogs, should have known how potent a pup's imagination could be, especially his son's. “We can worry about that later,” he hissed. “Now that the wolves know we're here, we can't get near the dogs' prison.”
“Maybe if you distract them, I can sneak in and free the dogs.”
“No!” he snapped. The last thing he wanted now was his son slipping off alone. “We have to stay together.”
“But we've gotta do something,” insisted the pup. “We can't just leave the sled team behind.”
“OK,” Toby agreed. “I think they're keeping them down at the other end, so here's the new plan. We'll go out so they'll think we've left. Then we'll come in at the other end and let the dogs go. In and out, real quick.”
“OK.”
They headed for the exit, but before they could get there, Caspar let out a frightened yip. “Wolves!” he cried.
Toby turned and saw the last thing he wanted to see. Not wolves, but rats, just as he had feared. A small pack of them were heading straight for Caspar, teeth and eyes glinting. Caspar stood frozen in fear at the site of the rodents, some of them almost as big as he was.
Toby lunged, grabbed his son by the neck, and with a sharp twist of his own, flung him towards the door. “Go!” he yelled. “I'll hold them off and catch up!”
The frightened puppy didn't argue. Instead, he dashed outside into the moonlight.
Toby caught the first rat in his teeth, bit hard, and tossed the broken body away. But in the time it took him to kill that one, six more swarmed his legs and began jumping for his throat. Slinging them off, he ran, grabbing the more stubborn ones off his legs and chest as he bloted outside to join his son. He was bleeding from several small, painful bites when they re-united.
“Dad, are you okay?” asked Caspar.
He panted. “Yeah, I'm fine,” he said. Lest Caspar for some reason try to stick to the game, he added, “Let's go home. It looks like the sled team managed to get out the other way while we distracted the wolves.”
“Good,” said Caspar. “I don't want to mess with any more of them.”
As they trotted home, Caspar looked up at Toby. “You were really great, Dad. The way out took on those wolves was...”
“Rats,” Toby interrupted. “They were rats, not real wolves.”
“Well, yeah. But the way you took them on was the best.”
Toby nodded, too weary for the words to make a mark. “Thanks,” he said, “But let's never do that again, OK?”
Caspar nodded. “Okay,” he agreed. “No more wolves.”
They knocked paws on it and headed for home. After a moment, Toby started to chuckle.
“What's so funny?” asked Caspar.
“Oh, nothing,” he laughed, looking at the bites and scratches adorning his front side. “I'm just wondering what your mother will say when she sees me like this.”
They got lucky. Luna was still out with the other pups. So the two of them settled down to rest by the fire and wait for them while Mrs. Calvin did various tasks about the kitchen and hummed to herself, waiting for her husband to return from work and their kids from school. The flames bathed the two dogs in warmth. The smell of pine smoke and the aroma of bread baking in the oven mingled in the air. The crackling flames and the woman's soft aria surrounded father and son. As the terror of the rat-infested mill left their minds like dust swept out the back door, a sense of peace settled over them like an eagle spreading her wings over her nest. All was well.
Caspar looked at Toby. “Dad?” he asked.
“Hmm?” Toby murmured, lifting his head.
“Will you teach me how to fight rats like you did?”
Toby stifled a moan. Luna would kill me if I did, he thought. “I wish I could, son, but it's just too risky.”
“Why?”
He took a deep breath. “Rats are dangerous. Normally they won't go after someone as big as me, but if you had tried to fight them yourself, they would have badly hurt you; probably even killed you. You're just a snack to them.”
Caspar's eye got wide. “You mean they wanted to eat me?” he squeaked.
“I'm afraid so,” Toby said. “Even for someone as big as me they can be dangerous. If enough of them came after me, or even just one if it had rabies, I'd be in trouble.”
“Oh.” The pup took this in. “Did you ever get hurt by a rat?”
“No, I guess I just lucked out when I was your age. I never ran into any live ones, just a few dead ones that I liked to scare your aunts with.”
“Were you scared of live rats?” the pup asked.
“Oh, very,” Toby asserted. “Especially tonight. I was so scared I didn't know what to think. But I knew I couldn't let them hurt you, no matter what. I'm not about to lose my son to a bunch of rodents.”
Caspar buried the top of his head in Toby's chest. “You're the best, Dad,” he smiled.
Toby smiled and curved his neck, bringing his head around to draw his son in closer. “Thanks.”
The two of them stayed that way for some time before they heard the squeak of the pet flap, heralding the arrival of Luna and the other pups.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Luna remarked as father and son rose to greet the pack. “You're home early?”
Toby shrugged. “We figured we'd give the ra- I mean wolves, a break after we freed the hostages.”
Luna nodded. “Oh, I-” she stopped as she noticed the scratches all over Toby's front legs. “Wait, where did you get those?” she asked.
It was a long and awkward conversation that ensued. While Toby tried to describe it as calmly as possible, Caspar, seeing the events play out once more as he had imagined them, kept interrupting with his version of the stories. The other pups, excited over this daring adventure, had immediately wanted to hear every detail and began peppering the two explorers with questions. Melchior even got it into his head to set out and see the “wolves” for himself until Toby threatened to cancel the family trip if he tried it. And Luna just stared at Toby as if she couldn't believe he would do something so crazy. “Why would you go into the old mill anyway?” she demanded.
“Because I didn't expect there to be rats in there,” he confessed. “I guess they were nesting in the sawdust and wood shavings.”
Luna shook her head. Questions swirled through her mind. How could he have not known there would be rats? Why would he and Caspar choose the old mill, of all places, to explore? Then as she shook her head, her gaze fell upon their pups. Five pairs of eyes were fixed on Toby. One pair was looking at her.
Arrow. It dawned on Luna that Arrow's parents, her real ones who had died long ago, must have argued just like she and Toby were on the verge of doing. Was that what she wanted her babies to see? Mom yelling at Dad over an honest mistake? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Are you sure you're okay?” she asked, the only question that really mattered.
Toby nodded. “Yeah. None of them bit too deep, and I didn't smell rabies on them, so I think I'm fine.”
She smiled and stepped forward to push her face against the side of his. “Alright,” she agreed, “That's good enough for me.”
“Does that mean I can check out the sawmill now?” asked Mel.
“NO!”
After Luna had gotten the pups settled down for the night, there was one question she realized she had meant to ask Toby. But he had already gone home for the night, so at first she decided to forget about it until morning. Only she couldn't. The question ate away at her mind for hours and hours, robbing her of sleep until at last she did something she had never done before: she got up and left the pups sleeping by themselves. Their fur was thick enough now that between it and the heat emanating from the coals in the fireplace, they should be warm