The bite that penetrated the dog’s chest came quickly, causing him to fall off the injured snake while the other hissed in excitement, “There, that’sss it. Let the poissson sssoar through the veinsss of your weakened body. One little bite and your entire kingdom is finished!”

The dog lay still, looking up at them. “My—my kingdom?” he asked, feeling the effects of the poison as it pulsed through his aching body. “I’m only one member… . There are … hundreds more.” He coughed, then breathed deeply.

“They’ll all be eaten by our massster,” the mauled rattlesnake hissed.

“Ben…Benjamin…” King Pugsly could no longer speak and stared straight ahead.

The snakes hissed happily, their long trails moving through the grass away from the dying pug. Soon a small grass trail, that of the pitiful mouse, approached the site of the attack.

An owl awoke in his nest as the sun fell behind the faded gold treetops.Hoo! Hoo! He launched himself and flew into Persly’s Woods. That dream—the murder he’d witnessed a month ago, while flying over the pastures—continued to haunt his sleep.