Street Chains

Chapter 1

"Git outta here, mutt!"

There was the shattering sound of glass hitting a tile floor followed by a ton of crashing as small tan-and-brown puppy skidded onto the sidewalk outside of a butcher shop; he tried his best not to drop the link sausages between his teeth as he did so, and took off down the paved street. The puppy smiled through the meat as he thought about how easily he'd snuck into the butcher shop and stole the sausages.

Humans, he laughed to himself, they're all the same: big, dumb, and-

"WOAH!" The tan mutt leapt out of the way of as a meat knife smashed into the sidewalk. He turned his head back and caught a glimpse of the big-boned butcher whom he'd just stolen the meat from shaking a fist that held another gigantic knife at him.

"An' don't come back, mutt!"

"I'll be back tomorrow, Fatty!" the puppy barked through a mouth-full of meat. "Like always, y'know that!" He knew that the butcher wouldn't understand anything that he'd just barked out, only that he'd better lock up his meat cases before noon the next day. Laughing to himself, the young dog ran around the corner at the end of the block and headed for home.

Across from the old abandoned train station far from Snob Hill, a young black, brown, and white puppy sat in front of a rusty, lidless trash can, looking up at it with a worried expression on his face. "Iggy, are 'ya O.K in there?"

A dainty light cream paw rose out of the abyss of the metal cylinder, flashing the other dog a thumb's up, then was sucked back into the tin can. There was a scratching noise and the black puppy knew that his friend was, once again, scavenging for food. The black puppy sighed heavily and hung his head as he mumbled,” Iggy, I don't like you being in that big thing by yourself; ya'could get hurt 'n I'm not big enough to get in there 'n save ya . . .

"Yo! What's up my 'home dogs'?"

Lifting his head up, the young mongrel turned and saw an older, cream and brown dog trotting up to him. The cream and brown pup wore an amused smirk on his face; obviously he liked the way his new word sounded. "So, what'cha doin', Dex?"

The younger dog glared at the cream mutt and growled, "The name's "Dexter". Not "Dex", got it, Jeremy?"

"Yeah, yeah. O.K, Dexter."  Jeremy stretched and shook his floppy ears from side to side.

Dexter rolled his eyes. "Iggy's diggin' around in that can for some leftover food. I hope the humans threw out some doughnuts, I'm so wanting ta eat at least one of those right now!" Dexter licked his lips at the thought of munching into a delicious doughnut; the little oval dough balls were extremely rare to come by and, like all other food, there was a one in a million chance that someone threw one out as trash. Those humans liked doughnuts as much as any old stray, so they usually ate them all up. It was unfair, but that's the way life was when you choose to live on the streets.

Across from the two dogs, on the train tracks, another brown and cream puppy laid on a piece of wood that sat across the rails. The mutt gnawed on a large bone as she listened to the other's conversation. When Dexter said that he really wanted a doughnut, she rolled her eyes, hopped from her post, and trotted over to the other dogs. She knew that they'd never find any doughnuts in this part of town, they'd have to go and sniff in Snob Hill trash, but a bone was something better than any old piece of bread.

"Here," the brown puppy said, placing the half-chewed bone in front of Dexter and Jeremy. A slight smile crossed her muzzle when the black puppy looked up at her happily, his tail was going almost eighty miles an hour. "'An share this 'cuz I don't want you guys fightin' over it." With a snort, the pup sat back on her hunches and started scratching at the annoying blue collar around her neck.

"Gee, thanks, Owl!" Dexter exclaimed, causing the female dog to roll her aqua green eyes at his kind comment. "Whatever." Owl started scratching at her collar again, causing the little ivory bony-shaped tag to click noisily against its metal clip. Though she wasn't  owned by anybody, Owl had kept her collar on when she'd ran away from her previous home on Snob Hill. The family there had treated her well, except for the dolly games and dress up she was forced to play with the two little girls, but, if she had a choice between there and life on the streets...Owl had absolutely loved the kids but if anybody except for her friends had found out that she was living on Snob Hill...She'd never hear the end of it so she ran away.

Jeremy got up and slid between Dexter and Owl, he snuggled up a little close for Owl's consent "Hey, Owl, how 'bout we go out and scavenging for our own food; I know the best place to go." He raised his eyebrows and Owl growled, "If that place is Tony's then no. 'N git offa me." She quickly stepped over Jeremy, causing him to fall into the space where she was just sitting. Sitting up, Jeremy glared at both a laughing Dexter and Iggy, who was hanging half way out of the trash can, and growled. The mutt quickly ran over, purposely bumped the tin can and it wobbled. Iggy yelped as it flew down and landed right by Jeremy's toes with a loud crash.

"YIP!" Jeremy took off and ducked into a barrel by the tracks; behind him, Owl, Iggy, and Dexter were laughing their heads off.

"That's what 'cha get, "Spooky!”" Owl called as she turned and picked up another bone that had fallen from the trash can. She trotted off to her wooden slab and began gnawing on it.

Jeremy was still quivering in the barrel as he mumbled, "That's not funny, guys..."

"Well it wasn't funny or nice that you knocked Iggy outta the can," Dexter chimed in. "'N Owl's right, that's what ya get." Turning to his friend, Dexter asked, "Ya O.K, Iggy?" The little cream, gray, and black puppy nodded her head and sent the tuff of black hair on her head bouncing back. She flashed Dexter a grin, her olive-green eyes shining, as a sign that there was nothing to be worried about. The black dog let out a sigh of relief; he went and pick up the bone Owl had given him and began gnawing on it. Dexter was pretty worried about Iggy, like he always was, and he always made it his responsibility to keep her out of harm's way. He liked his friend really much, but he was too shy to tell her the truth about how he felt. She likes spooky ol' Jeremy more than me anyways. Poor Iggy, on the other hand, was mute, so she couldn't tell her friends what was bothering her orally, but only by body language. She might have been unable to speak, but Iggy was the smartest, yet youngest, of all eleven pups; she was funny and a loyal friend.

Dexter looked up from his bone and saw Iggy rummaging through the trash and she found a piece of left over meat. The black puppy sighed heavily as she devoured it in one gulp. She's gonna be so hungry...

As the three dogs sat and ate, the science was interrupted by the padding of paws on the rough gravel. "What's fat, red, and delicious ta eat?"

All of the pups looked up simultaneously at the owner of the voice. Iggy and Dexter's eyes were wide with excitement, but Owl had a scowl on her face. "What took ya so long, T.P?" she asked in an irritated voice.

In front of the trio stood a small tan-and brown puppy with cat-like green eyes.

"Sausages!" Dexter yelled as he and Iggy scrambled to their friend.

"Woah, woah! Calm down, kids; lemme get 'em offa my neck first before you bite me!" T.P shook the link sausages off and stood back as the two youngest members of the gang dug in. "Ha, kids," he said as he ruffled the fur on top of Dexter's head.

"And to answer your question, Owl. I might have taken the wrong short cut." He smiled as the brown mutt's fur ruffled up. "WHAT!?"

"I told you, I took the wrong shortcut. Y'know I don't know these parts of the streets; the ways you take." Sitting down, T.P scratched behind his large, floppy ears. "Where's everybody else anyways, Owl?"

The brown and cream puppy rolled her eyes. "I dunno...Jeremy's over there," she gestured to the wooden barrel," Iggy 'n Dexter's right here, but the rest..."

An annoyed expression crossed T.P's face.  "Aw, Owl. Ya' were supposed to keep up with 'em!"

"Hey! I may be the oldest, but they're not my siblings, so I don't have ta' keep an eye on 'em!" The force behind the words was enough to make T.P pounce on his friend.

"I don't care if you're the oldest or not," he growled through clenched teeth. "Your job was to keep an eye on our friends till I got back home! Where are they now, Owl?!"

A string of saliva dripped onto the older puppy's face and she tried her best to lift the heavier male off of her.

"I ain't got no freakin' idea, T.P! But ya better get offa me 'for-"

There was a loud screech, like when a big, white van hits its breaks a little bit too hard. Looking up, Iggy's mouth dropped open and he eyes went wide with fear. Jeremy stepped outside his barrel and froze in place.

"DOGCATCHER!!!" Dexter's high-pitched bark filled his friends' ears and they all took