you see, we're all in danger!"

Lily's tail tucked. "Where will we go? Further into the forest?"

"No. No, just follow me." Chestnut immediately turned and began jogging through the forest, long, milk-brown legs pumping, paws splayed out, tail straight.

"Come on, little one," Lily bent her head and scooped her son up by the scruff of his neck, not biting too hard, but enough to have a good grip on him.

"Where're we goin'?" the puppy squeaked.

"We're following Daddy," Lily replied, voice muffled by her son's neck-fur.

They loped through the trees, sticking to the shadows. After at least twenty minutes of non-stop running, Chestnut skidded to a halt by a bush.

Lily stopped next to him, sniffing. She was still holding her son. "I smell rain," she murmured worriedly.

"Lemme go!" the puppy squirmed in her jaws. "I c'n do it myself! Urrghh! Urgh!" His scarlet eyes were squeezed shut.

Lily carefully set him down, raising her head to look into Chestnut's eyes. "I smell more than rain," she growled.

Chestnut blinked.

"'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, Ches'nut, my dog!"

The Golden Retriever family swung their heads toward the bush. A large, black pitbull with white paws stepped out of the foliage, stub tail wagging, fur matted.

"Cudgeon?!" Lily gasped. She glared at Chestnut.

"Lily, doll, you're lookin bettah than evah!" Cudgeon smiled a doggie grin, tongue hanging out. His New York slang-accent was just the thing to raise the hair on your neck. One look at this dog and you thought one word: Trouble.

"Yes..." Lily gave Cudgeon a hard, dissaproving stare. She was always polite, but Cudgeon tested her patience in a way no other canine could. "Excuse us for a moment." She nudged her husband to the side, out of the pitbull's earshot. Their son, tripping over his long ears, followed them, bouncing around their paws.

"I thought we agreed you'd never associate with that..." she wrinkled her nose, "...that thief again! He steals from humans with cheap big-eyed looks! He cons puppies into..." she looked down at their son, who was gazing up at them, and left her sentence unfinished.

"I know, I know, and I haven't. Well, not usually. But we need his help, Lillian, and--" Chestnut glanced at Cudgeon over his shoulder. "And he knows where we could be safe. He'll take us there."

"Of all the--" Lily began furiously, tossing her head upward and bringing it back down again, her front paws lifting hardly an inch off the ground as she did so.

"Is that bad?" the puppy asked.

"Is what bad, darling?" Lily asked, rather impatiently. You must remember, they were in a dangerous situation and very worried.

"Lookin' at humans with big eyes."

"Oh," said Lily, smiling weakly, "no, dear. It's why Cudgeon does it is what's wrong."

"What does he do?" The puppy cocked his head, one eyebrow lowering comically.

"He does it to trick the people into giving him the food they need to survive. It isn't right, and no dog should do it. It's called begging, and you must never, ever, beg to humans. Do you understand, puppy?"

"I guess. Yeah." The puppy blinked twice, large red eyes clearing with real understanding.

"'Hey, not t'interrupt, Ches'nut, but is this yer li'l tyke you been tellin' me so much about?" Cudgeon lumbered up, grinning down at the pup.

"Tyke?" the pup stood on all four paws now, refusing to sit and trying to make himself taller. "I'm not a tyke!"

"'Course not, 'course not. 'Ey, it was a compliment, kiddo." Cudgeon glanced from Lily to Chestnut. "No name yet?"

The pup arched a brow.

"Not yet." Lily answered curtly. "Listen, Cudgeon, it's very kind of you to offer to help us, but we really can take care of ourselves."

"Yeah, yeah, Lil', but you don't got the connections I got, y'get what I'm sayin'?" Cudgeon wiggled his eyebrows, but he looked frantic. "I never really been there fer you two, an' now--wit'cher kid an' all--" he scuffed a forepaw. "Look, I know where it's safe. Those slayin' net-carriers won't never find ya there."

Lily exchanged a look with Chestnut. Her eyes flashed. "Well, I suppose..."

"We'll come." Chestnut promised. He pressed his side against Lily's, trying to comfort her wordlessly.

"Hey, great!" Cudgeon grinned, tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Let's get a move on, huh? This way, stick t'the shadows." He began trooping through the woods.

The Golden Retrievers followed him. Chestnut brought up the rear, and Lily was in front of him. She offered to carry her son, but the long-eared pup shook his head wildly and insisted that he could walk on his own. So he was up front, walking next to Cudgeon and pestering him with questions.

"So, kid, how's pickings?" Cudgeon asked.

"What's pickings?" The pup replied.

"It's a thing a great Street Dog ledgend taught the rest of us, somethin' we use t'greet each other."

The pup bounded forward to catch up to the pitbull. "Was it The Tramp?" He asked, eyes sparkling.

"Wuh-ho, nothin' gits past you, champ!" Cudgeon cackled. "Sure was. What's he, some relative 'o yours?" he leaned down as they walked. "I ain't seein' a resemblance."

"Nah," the pup shook his head. "He's my hero!" He grinned, panting.

The sickly cuteness of the puppy made Cudgeon want to vomit--but, if vomiting could be a sign of something good, this would be that type.

"Ver-ry good, fluffy, we all need a hero, don't we?" Cudgeon laughed. "'Ey, uh, watch yer step there, kid."

Too late--the pup tripped on a root and splashed into a puddle. Cudgeon stopped. So did the pup's parents, Chestnut coming over and pulling his son out by the scruff.

The pup wriggled until his father let him go. The young Golden Retriever child sat up and shook his head back and forth, making his ears flap around, water flinging from their tips, a droplet still visible on the end of his nose.

"Urrggggghhh," the pup growled in frustration, showing his teeth.

Cudgeon peered at him, then elbowed Chestnut and let out a husky, hearty laugh. "Hey, hey, Ches'nut, check out th'fangs on that kid!"

Chestnut nodded, forcing a half smile. He looked around, trying to see any dogcatchers. "Yes, he certainly does have some sharp little--" he trailed off, blinking. Then his eyes brightened. He turned to Lily excitedly. "Lily--" he burst out.

"Yes, dear?" Lily was busy scouting their immediate area of the woods. The trees towered over them, mostly pine, but they seemed safe.

"Did you hear what Cudgeon said?" Chestnut nudged his mate's cheek gently with his nose.

"I didn't have the pleasure," Lily said distractedly.

"He said our boy had a nice set of fangs, darling. Fangs!"

Lily finally tore her gaze from her surroundings and stared blankly at her mate. "His what?" Now, normally, she was an extremely intelligent and proper female dog, but she really wasn't paying attention up until now.

"His fangs, Lillian, his fangs. Say! Now wouldn't that be the perfect name for a bonified Street Dog?" Chestnut's tail wagged ferociously.

"It's a bit dark, isn't it, dear?" Lily replied, but she was smiling. "A bit savage?"

"Are we going to spend the rest of his life calling him 'Puppy', Lily?" Chestnut pushed his head against hers, nuzzling her fondly. "After all, darling, he won't be a pup forever."

"No," she said thoughtfully. "No, he won't, you're right." She smiled. Then she lowered her head and brushed her cheek against the pup, licking the top of his now-wet head. "All right. Fang it is then."

"Perfect!" Chestnut barked. He bounced on his paws. "From now on, he'll be called Fang!"

Fang let out a bark, excited by his father's movements. He grinned, tongue hanging out and showing his two sharpest canines--his sharpest fangs.

Lily laughed.

And Cudgeon just looked on, blinking.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chestnut pushed up against Cudgeon, glaring at him. "It's storming. We're in the middle of town. Where are you taking us? When will we get there?"

"Hey, 'ey, 'ey, calm down!" Cudgeon hissed. "It's right aroun' the corner. Geez, y'ferget t'ask fer directions an' they jump all over ya. Give a dog a break!"

What Chestnut said was true; they had been travelling from the Park until they were all over town, then to the outskirts, passing by a chicken farm and a bridge with muddy streets underneath. Now it storming fiercely, thunder, lightning, the works--and they had no shelter! Plus it was nighttime, so there wouldn't be any daylight to warm them up anyway. Wouldn't that make you more than a little irritated?

Behind the two males, Lily was ducking her head against the wind, clutching Fang by his scruff in her jaws, because he had finally announced, in a