Tramp."

"So?" asked Skip.

"What's he like?" Afghanna breathed.

"Y'know those stories ol' Sparky used to tell us?" Fang scratched at his side with his back left paw.

"Yeah?"

"Forget 'em." Fang glanced at each of them in turn. "He's a pillow-sleepin', bath-takin', collar-wearin' dipstick with a cushy little family and a house with a fence. He's got no class, no moves, an' no mind of his own. That's what the Tramp's become." Fang finished dramatically, satisfied.

Afghanna lowered her head, eyes downcast. Even Fang looked dissapointed, and his expression was almost always grumpy.

"Listen," Skip growled. "Forget the Tramp. He's just an old alpha's tale. He never did exist, and if he did, he's not a mutt I'd wanna meet anyway."

Afghanna didn't answer.

Fang felt like cheering his pals up. He got an idea, and his eyes lit up. "But," he announced with a pause, waiting for their reactions.

Afghanna's head shot up. Skip's ears lifted. "But?"

"But he has pups." Fang wriggled his eyebrows. "Four of 'em. And a stunnin' beauty for a mate they call Lady."

"Really?" Afghanna panted, smiling. "Can we see them? Do you know where they live?"

"'Course I do." Fang threw up his head, letting the sun catch his fur and turn it fiery yellow. He loved to show off. He thought of Skip, Afghanna, and any other pups who cared to hang around him as part of his gang. And he considered himself their leader. "I've been there, remember? When d'ya wanna go?"

"Now?" Afghanna glanced at Skip.

"Yeah, now!" Skip nodded to Fang. He could be grumpy, but right now he was too excited. "Let's see this Tramp. Prove he's real."

"And you'll take back everything you said about him? About how he ain't real?" Fang leaned close to the yellow lab pup.

"Deal." Skip grumbled.

"Okay," Fang lifted his nose into the air, sniffing. "Follow my lead."

"This is it, gang, home of the Tramp." Fang nodded to the magnificent house in front of them.

Afghanna drew her head back. "I've been here! I've seen the pups that live here!"

Skip stiffened. "You have, have you?" He sneered at Fang. "And is the Tramp here?"

"I--I've never seen him. He might be." Afghanna glanced at Fang. "Are you pulling our tails, Fang, or are you serious about this? The pups I've seen here are nothing short of liscensed purebreds."

"Which one's have ya seen?" Fang asked smoothly.

"Only three of them. They all looked the same, Cocker Spaniel girls."

"Then that's only half the family," Fang began deepening the hole by the opening in the fence, digging with his front paws to let all three of them through at the same time, with more room. "No, better yet, make that a quarter of the family." He paused his digging to look at Afghanna. "You'll see what I mean in a sec."

Afghanna nudged him aside with her long, refined nose and began digging where he had left off. "Step aside and let a pro show you how it's done."

She dug until it was big enough. The three pups squeezed through the opening in the fence and hid behind the doghouse.

"Careful," warned Fang. "They might run us out."

"House Dogs, run us out?" Skip growled. "I'd like t'see them try."

"Not the dogs, you moron," Fang snapped over his shoulder at him. "The humans."

"They'll be even easier than the mutts," Afghanna muttered, agreeing with Skip.

"Put a muzzle on it, you guys," Fang hissed. "They're comin'."

A creaking sound came from the front porch as a dog stepped out. It was Lady.

"Doggie door," grunted Afghanna, whispering. "Typical."

"Shhh!" Fang glared at her uncharacteristically.

Lady poked her head back inside the house through the dog door. "Tramp!" the pups heard her call. "Tramp come out here! It's a beautiful day!"

Afghanna and Skip tensed at the name of the ledgend.

Then, in all his tall, nimble glory, the Tramp appeared. He looked just as the three stray puppies had imagined him. Fang, who was seeing him for the second time ever, showed his teeth at the pale-red collar around the Tramp's neck.

"Morning, pigeon," Tramp yawned and stretched next to Lady. "Some day, huh?"

"Absolutely," Lady agreed. "Will you bring the pups out.

"No problem." Tramp disappeared into the house through the dog door.

Afghanna and Skip turned to Fang, awe-stricken. "The Tramp!" they both whispered excitedly.

"What'd I tell ya?" Fang rolled over onto his back, turning left and right to get at an itch on his left side.

"Can we go and meet them?" Afghanna pleaded.

"Not yet, Affy--I mean, Afghanna." Fang checked himself quickly. "Wait a while."

Tramp and the pups were soon out, romping in the grass. Fang and his friends had to duck a few times to avoid being seen.

"You didn't tell us the Tramp had a son!" Afghanna whispered to Fang, batting her eyelashes when she saw Scamp. "I wonder if he's anything like his dad?"

"We should find out," Skip growled, beginning to walk out into the open.

Before he could be seen, Fang grabbed Skip's tail in a flurry with his teeth and dragged him back.

"You meathead!" Fang snarled between a mouthful of yellow labrador fur, crouching, muscles bunched. "You're gonna get us caught!" His words were muffled.

Skip yelped in sudden pain as Fang's famous sharper-than-the-average-retriever teeth closed around his tail.

Afghanna flinched.
 

Lady raised her head, hearing the yelp. The rest of her doggie family hadn't seemed to hear. She padded down the porch steps and trotted to the side of the doghouse, sniffing. She stopped dead. She had caught the scent of stray dogs. She trotted carefully around the corner of the doghouse, peering behind it. She stiffened. There, in a crouching, quivering bundle of matted fur and garbage-smelling scents, were Fang, Afghanna, and Skip, who was licking at his bruised tail. He stopped midlick when he saw Lady staring at them.

"Tramp!" Lady began barking. "Tramp, come over here and have a look at this!"

The Tramp came at a run. "What is it, pidge?" Then he spotted the three pups. "Uh-oh," he chuckled. With his voice, it sounded like 'oh-oh'.

"What's up, Pop?" Scamp joined his parents, tongue hanging out in a doggie grin. The grin faded and his mouth closed as he saw--and recognized--Fang. "Uh...er..." He crouched, ears drooping, chuckling nervously with his teeth showing by the side of his mouth, and began to back away slowly.

Presently Angel and the three triplet Cocker Spaniels, Colette, Annette, and Danielle joined them.

Angel gasped. "Fang?"

"Looks like we got a couple of stray pups joining us for breakfast," Tramp winked at the family slyly.

"Uh, uh, yeah," Scamp continued to nervously laugh.

Danielle, the one with the white collar, cackled mischieviously. Her tongue hung unattractively out of the side of her mouth as she spoke: "Hiding from Jim Dear, I bet! They are in so much trouble!"

Annette, the one wearing the blue collar, rolled her eyes and curled her lip. "They smell like they need baths--every hour for a week!"

Afghanna came out of her stupor and went nose-to-nose with the prissy Cocker Spaniel pup. "You don't smell like a bowlful of roses yourself, pedigree-warbler," she growled low, warning Annette to steer clear.

"Calm down now," Tramp pushed himself in between the stray and his daughter. "So," he said to the street pups, "Tell us about yourselves. Matter of fact, you can stay here for a while. Just play with the pups in the backyard."

Fang strolled forward, pulling one paw slowly in front of the other. His eyes closed with care-free expression, he drawled, "Name's Fang, and this's Skip." He gestured with his tail toward Skip, who grunted at the House Dogs and looked away.

Then Fang nodded towards Afghanna with a wink. "An' that's my girl Affy--goes by the name of Afghanna most of the time."

Afghanna moved forward as if to pounce on him, eyes flashing, but Angel padded up to her side and smiled. "Lemme guess," said Angel. "You're not his girl."

Afghanna smiled back.

"Lovely to meet you all," Lady announced sweetly. "These are my daughters. The one with the red collar is Collette, and the one with the blue is Annette. That's our youngest girl, Danielle."

The triplets either nodded or smiled to the strays politely, but Fang could see the three gorgeous Spaniel pups clearly dissaproved of having the mutts over for the morning. He'd turn on the charm for them later.

"My name is Lady, and this is my husband, Tramp." Lady nodded to the pups. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"Tell you what," Tramp interjected. "We'll have breakfast together, and if you stay long enough, lunch