Grace and Phoebe! Book 6: A Wild Adventure!

Shelter.

       The couple knew that they would have to build a shelter.  Since Cooper used to live in a wild place, he knew by the smells and the looks of the sky that rain was coming.  Phoebe said that she wanted to explore until they found a tropical island paradise.  Cooper said that probably wouldn't happen and that they had to lower their expectations to somewhere that would have a roof over their heads.  Phoebe said that Cooper wasn't lowering the bar, he was completely destroying it.

       It was almost dark and their progress so far: zero.  They were glad that they hadn't encountered anything dangerous or uncomfortable, but they also wanted to find the purse palace and go home.

       "All right Phoebe!"  Cooper shouted, bossily, even surprising himself.  "If you want to beat the rain, we are going to have to build a shelter!"  He picked up a log and began to measure how much he would need mentally.  He seemed to be having a conversation with himself, and finally, he nodded silently to himself, as if he had just figured out exactly what they were going to have to do, and how long it was going to take to do it.

       "I'm going to try to carve this log into a saw, to make it easier to cut down trees and cut more precisely.  What I need you to do is be my eyes.  Tell me what's going on around us.  Make sure to tell me if there is any danger you can even remotely smell or sense."  Cooper picked up the small log in his jaws and began to carve sharp grooves into it with his teeth.

       A while later, Phoebe looked over and saw a perfectly carved wooded saw.  She couldn't believe Cooper was so talented at carving.  She lifted her nose towards the sky and breathed in the scents: trees, grass, plants, wood, Cooper, and... danger?  Danger!  "DANGER!" she yelped.  Her tail, a blur, was almost immediately in between her legs.  Her ears were pinned to her head.  The hair on her back stood up.  She was in such a panic she couldn't even see or smell.  "HYSTERIC BLINDNESS!  HYSTERIC SMELL LOSS!"  she yelped which senses she was losing.

       "It'll be ok Phoebe!  Just calm down!  I'll be right there!"  Cooper shouted.  Cooper was a dog of his word.  He ran as fast as he could in Phoebe's direction, his paws pounding hard against the overgrown grass.  He guessed the shelter would have to wait...