Jenny reached over and unlocked the back door, then slid outside and yanked it open. Peaches still hadn't moved, but as she leaned in, she saw that Peaches was breathing. Barely. "Oh, Peach!"

Heat stroke. She'd read about it, knew the dog might as well have been shut in an oven, knew she was dying. Jenny heard a horrible, rasping sound and realized it was her own ragged breathing. She reached for the dog, tears filling her eyes, and felt the hot fur in her hands. Dying. Peaches was dying. Would die, unless. . . .

A vet. There was a veterinarian around here someplace, but where? Where! She'd have to drive around until she spotted it. She pulled back out of the car, hitting her head so hard on the roof that everything went black for a sickening moment. Gasping in pain and terror, she stumbled toward the front seat. Have to hurry, she thought. Can't stop. Can't waste a second.

Just as she was about to slide in, Jenny spotted a woman coming down the sidewalk. "The vet's!" she shouted, her throat thick with tears. 'Where is it? Where's the vet?!"

The woman must have seen the panic on Jenny's face because she didn't waste words. "Middle of the next block, the sign's out front. Dr. Jacobsen."

Faster on foot. Jenny reached into the back seat, slid her arms under Peaches and pulled her out. The dog was limp and heavy, but Jenny cradled her as close as she could, then half trotted, half shuffled

her way down the sidewalk. "It's okay, you'll be okay," she crooned over and over. Hurry! She had to hurry. Oh, God, poor Peach!

The waiting room was empty, but Jenny knew someone must be around because she could hear a cat meowing pitifully and a man's voice saying something soothing. She hurried over to the desk and called out, *Tlease, I need help! It's an emergency!"

The cat kept yowling, but Jenny heard footsteps, and in seconds a man in a white coat, liberally sprinkled with animal hair, came into view. They ought to wear brown coats, Jenny thought wildly, the hair wouldn't show so much.

"It's my dog!" she said. "She was in the car and it was hot. ..."

The man, Dr. Jacobsen, she figured, lifted a hinged section of the desk and stepped out. Without a word, he took Peaches from Jenny's arms and strode back into the examining room, out of sight.

Jenny's shirt was pasted to her chest and her arms were shaking. She let them hang limply at her sides until they stopped. Then she sat down in a chair and waited.

The doctor was back in half an hour. He didn't waste words either. "She'll make it," he said.

Jenny didn't know she'd been holding her breath until she let it out. She stood up. *Thank you," she said in a shaky voice.

Dr. Jacobsen was about her father's age, she thought, with graying-blond hair and bright blue eyes. He would have been handsome if he'd smiled,