Fire on Fire

Chapter 10

"That's right guys, I caught young Verdad here single-handedly," Snowball boasted, puffing his chest out. As he and Mel came over covered in mud, Buddy noticed that the white rabbit was soaking wet. One would think he must've fallen into a body of water. This proved to be the case when Max barked, "No, Gidget and I caught him. You fell into the lake!"

"It is very true sir. They caught me by telling me to stay," Verdad chimed in. Sitting next to the young xolo dog, Gidget remarked, "Huh, I guess you're living up to your name." The puppy nodded his head excitedly. "That's great guys, really great. Can we go home now?" Duke piped up from where he was sitting nearby scratching himself. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Max grumbled, "Please don't tell me you walked through poison ivy..."

"I think I did."

"That's just great..."

"And suddenly I feel a lot better after falling in mud," Buddy commented. Nodding his head, Mel added, "Yeah, me too." All of the sudden, the pug shook himself clean without warning. As a result, mud went flying everywhere. Noticing how everyone was now glaring at his best friend, Buddy did the only thing he could and did the exact same thing. Satisfied, the dachshund declared, "Perfect. Now you guys can glare at both of us."

"Thanks man," Mel whispered. Nodding his head, Buddy replied, "No problem." Nearby, the dachshund could hear Max berating Snowball about something. He could care less what it was about. Staring at Mel's face, he found himself completely lost in his thoughts. The dachshund noted that the pug's brown eyes seemed to glow when the sun hit them just right. It was absolutely stunning.

"Oh good you all found the pup! Let's go home!" Chloe's angry meow snapped Buddy out of his thoughts. Everyone looked to see the tabby cat marching her way over with Tiberius flying overhead. Landing on a tree branch above, the hawk rolled his eyes and growled, "Aren't you just peachy. Don't call for me if you need help again." Glaring at the red tail, Chloe hissed, "I won't!"

"Yeah, can we go home? I'm so itchy," Duke pointed out, still scratching. Sighing heavily, Max muttered, "Yeah, let's go. Duke, go see Pops. He might have something for you." The animals headed off for the park entrance, each longing to go home. Taking up the back of the pack, Buddy felt someone fall into step beside him. A moment later, Mel piped up, "Sorry I bit your tail."

"It's okay, if you hadn't Chloe and I would've fallen into the pond," Buddy reassured his best friend. Mel let out a sigh of relief. Walking beside the pug, the dachshund smiled quietly as he thought of that moment. Mel had pretty much saved him. He also recalled when they were laying by the mud puddle, his pal was going to say something. Biting his lip, Buddy asked, "Hey Mel, you were gonna tell me something earlier. What was it?"

"Oh, uh... I uh... I don't remember," Mel stuttered, looking nervous. He refused to meet Buddy's gaze. Confused, Buddy didn't say anything else. He was just as confused as his friend was right now.