Because the lake is waist-deep at one end and well over my head at the other end, it was fine for Wolves but not much fun for the Crows. So when Simon took over leadership of the Courtyard, he, Henry, and Blair created a connected wading pool where the water is only a few inches deep so that the Crowgard can splash around and play.

When it was time to go into the water, no one knew what to do. At least I didn’t. After staring at us for a moment, Simon, Blair, and Nathan jumped into the water, then climbed out and shook water all over us.

It was cold! Merri Lee, Ruth, Theral, and I hopped around, making noises and saying, “It’s cold, it’s cold, it’s cold.”

The Wolves jumped in, climbed out, and shook water all over us again! The third time the Wolves shook water on us girls, we were sufficiently wet that it didn’t feel that cold anymore—and the Squeaky Dance game was done. Unfortunately, I think this is a game the Wolves really enjoyed, so I suspect we’re going to be on the receiving end of surprise soakings for the rest of the summer.

But once we got in the water, it felt so good! At one point, Nathan bumped into me and I went under and came up sputtering. That’s when Ruth asked me if I could swim, and I said no.

Simon shifted to human form and just stared at me, shocked. How could I not know how to swim? All the puppies knew how to swim.

I pretended that Simon was wearing swimming trunks like Michael and Karl, and even though the water was pretty clear, the shade of the nearby trees kept the obvious from being obvious.

Michael offered to teach me how to dog paddle. He got snarled at from three directions, because no one was going to teach me to paddle like a dog! The Wolves don’t mind dogs; they just don’t want to be mistaken for a dog, and I guess they don’t want me to be mistaken for one either.

I think Michael deliberately exaggerated the movements because Simon huffed, shifted back to Wolf, and began paddling around us to show me how to do it. Michael held me up while I tried kicking with my legs and paddling with my arms. Then I tried on my own with Simon and Nathan swimming on either side of me. When I got tired, we all climbed out and sat on blankets under the trees.

I must have fallen asleep for a little while, because I woke up feeling so content.