waste of time. Gimme a swim in the park pond any day.

His long golden ears pricked up when he saw that Scamp wasn't going inside. There was a scowl on the young pup's muzzle, and his ears drooped. Fang sneered. The pup was afraid of a bath.

Angel stopped at the doorway. "You comin', Tenderfoot?" she asked.

Scamp blinked. "I'll, uh, catch up."

Angel smiled wryly. "You'll have to take one sooner or later."

As she left, Scamp muttered under his breath, "I prefer later."

Fang thought that this was the perfect time to make his move. With no owners or other dogs around in the yard, he slid through the opening in the fence, where obviously some dog had dug a hole a long time ago. It smelled of Scamp. Fang grunted.

"Hey! Bone-breath. Pst!" Fang growled in a low voice.

Scamp turned and yelped in surprise. Fang let out a short laugh. Typical house pet.

"Who're you?" Scamp asked, tail lowering.

"Name's Fang."

Scamp's tongue lolled out, panting. He smiled as he panted. "I'm--"

"Scamp, I know." Fang circled the mutt-pup, limbs tense and poised to pounce. A wicked smirk was on his muzzle. "You've got it good here, don't ya, House Dog?"

Scamp raised his head. "This is home for me."

"Oh, I ain't talkin' about the house, mutt. Or the humans. No, I'm talkin' about dollface in there." He pointed his nose to the door of the house.

Scamp cocked his head, one eye squinted slightly.

"You know. Blue eyes, puffy tail, yellow collar? Crooked ear?" Fang tried.

Recognition and guarded hostility lit in Scamp's brown eyes. "Angel?"

"That's her. You've got the good life, hanging with her all the time."

"Yeah, she's great." Scamp lifted his chin proudly. "So, uh, you're a street dog?"

"Huh!" Fang grinned boastfully. "Wrong again, house pet. I'm the street dog. Or street pup." He scratched his ear with a hind paw. "Whatever you wanna call it."

"Then you've met Buster?" Scamp's tone darkened.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Heard of him, but never met 'im. I guess you have?"

"Buster's nothing but trouble." Scamp said immediately. "I'd stay away from him if I were you."

"But you ain't me, House Dog." Fang stood now, showing his famous fangs. "And that's too bad for you now, 'cuz I'm fixing to tear you apart."

Scamp flinched, but stood his ground bravely. "I can pin you with one jump," he bragged. But his eyes were wider than they should've been, betraying his fear.

"You're welcome to try," Fang sneered, drawing himself up to his full height, a head taller than Scamp.

Fang lunged, and Scamp bolted across the yard, the golden retriever pup right on his heels. Finally Fang backed him up against the wooden wall inside the doghouse, baring his teeth and about to move in for the fatal bite.

"Scamp! What's going on out here? Scamp!"

Jim Dear's voice rang across the yard from the porch. Fang froze. Scamp got a triumphant look in his eyes, refusing now to crouch. Fang turned and ran out of the doghouse and through the opening in the fence, not caring if Jim Dear had seen him.

Scamp crept out of the doghouse, looking around for Fang.

Fang panted, growling with frustration. His head was in the opening in the fence as he watched Scamp.

Jim Dear called Scamp again and disappeared into the house.

As Scamp turned to go inside, he stopped on the steps and took one last look around.

"Hey, chew toy!" Fang hissed from the fenceposts.

Scamp lifted his ears, wincing when he spotted Fang.

"I'll be back. This ain't over. Stay away from Angel, got that? Expect me sometime. And don't forget to watch your back, House Dog."

With that, Fang left.

 

"Skip, cut that out!" Afghanna covered her ears with her front paws where she lay on a rock. She was an african shepherd hound mix, and always knew where to find good bones--or any food, really. And then, of course, there was Skip, the yellow labrador mutt. He, at the moment, was barking his head off at a squirrel that had scurried up a tree.
 

Fang was swimming in the pond nearby, watching his friends and enjoying the feeling of the sun on his back as his paws moved expertly underwater, keeping him afloat. Nothing like a good swim on a hot summer morning. Especially a swim in the park, on a Sunday when it was closed. Closed to everyone, that was, except the dogs who knew how to get in.

It was three days after Fang had "rescued" Angel from the pound and encountered Scamp. He was still fuming over it.

He climbed out of the pond and shook his golden fur dry, ears flapping. He trotted with lazy movement over to where Afghanna sunbathed on a rock, a bone in between her front paws as she gnawed on it.

"Hey, Affy," Fang greeted her, "whaddaya say you share with the class, eh? Toss the bone this way."

Afghanna raised her head and turned her mismatched eyes on him, growling, "Don't call me that." She returned to chewing her bone.

This only intrigued the flirtatious golden retriever. He hopped onto the rock with an impressive spring and sat down beside her. He was still a bit wet; he shook himself again.

"Ugh--Fang! You're getting me wet!" Afghanna sat up, shaking herself just as he had a moment ago. She pushed at him with one paw. "Shove off, will you?"

"You don't mean that, Affy," Fang chuckled. "You know you're nuts about me."

"Oh, please," Afghanna grumbled. "Go take a long walk off a short cliff." She turned her head away from him and chewed on the bone. "And stop calling me Affy."

Skip stopped barking at the squirrel and padded through the grass to sit at the base of the rock. He began scratching an ear with his hind leg. His eybrows were knitted together in a dark line, as usual, warning all sunshine and happiness to back off.

Fang nudged Afghanna with a shoulder. "Did I tell you I met another dog yesterday?"

Afghanna ignored him. Skip continued scratching.

Fang couldn't handle not having their undivided attention. "She was a House Dog."

Skip stopped scratching. "House Dog?"

Afghanna looked at Fang. "She?"

Fang smirked at her irritatingly. "Jealous now? Yep, she was on her way to the slammer."

Skip scowled. "The pound? Didn't she have a collar?"

"Oh, she had one." Fang winked down at him. "Before the dogcatcher could take 'er home, I sprang her loose--and she fell for me right away." Okay, not completely true, but what his friends didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right?

"She fell"--Afghanna snorted a laugh and smothered her mouth with a paw--"for you? Yeah, right."

"I know, I know," Fang closed his eyes and grinned. "You wish it wasn't true, Afghanna, but she was quite a looker. Cute, real cute. Goes by the name of Angel. Dare I say it, she may even have been prettier than you, Affy."

He immediately knew he had said the wrong thing. Afghanna had issues with her appearance, being a female, and a stray at that. At least, that was the way Fang saw it.

"Here it comes," warned Skip. "Look out." He smiled, a rare thing for him, at Fang.

Afghanna sprang to her paws and thrust her nose in Fang's face. "My name is Afghanna, you bonehead, not Affy! Call me that again and you'll be nursing a broken leg--maybe several broken legs. Get it?"

Fang, not fazed, smiled devilishly at her, "Got it."

"Good." She sat down again.

"It might interest you two to know that I had a run-in with an interesting mutt at Angel's place," Fang continued cockily. 
 

"You said 'interesting' twice," Skip pointed out dryly.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, your work is finished here," Fang growled to the slightly-younger pup. "And for your information, I said 'interest' once, and 'interesting' once."

Skip rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"As I was sayin'," Fang woofed, "I met an interesting mutt at Angel's cozy li'l house pet home."

"Who?" Afghanna raised her head and looked at him.

"Nobody in particular. A ledgend, nothin' special."

"Tell us already!" Skip snarled.

Fang lifted a paw. "Okay, okay." He closed his eyes, paused for dramatic effect, and his eyes popped open again as he said, "The Tramp."

Skip and Afghanna were instantly alert. Skip scrambled up onto the rock, green eyes wide.

"The Tramp?" said Afghanna.

"In a house?" said Skip, disbelieveingly.

"With a collar?" said Afghanna.

"No way!" Skip stated..

"Never could happen," Afghanna shook her head stubbornly.

"Yep, yep, yep, yes way, and yeah it could happen," Fang sneered with a nod at every answer. "I saw 'im with my own eyes. They even called him Tramp."

"So?"