To this point, Chance had assumed the creature dwelt in the woods, like any wild thing. And so, he'd been at the back of the house, facing away from it and also away from the road. He didn't expect trouble to come from that side. That is, until he heard a sound at the front door.

A scratching, as of a dog asking to get out or come in. This was accompanied by a snuffling. Chance got to his feet, an uneasy growl in his throat. He wondered if he should go investigate. On the one hand, it was safer here. On the other hand, this was exactly why he was outside in the first place.

He stepped out of his house, into the pale moonlight. Cautiously, he made his way around the house, stopping every few steps to listen and scent the air. The thing was definitely nearby, and the scratching at the door was continuing. Chance was almost around front when an ominous clicking noise ahead told him that the door had been unlatched.

Suddenly frantic, he threw caution to the wind and launched himself around the corner, barking ferociously. The thing was getting in the house!

His eyes locked on a massive shadowy form on the porch. A slitted pair of luminous yellow eyes glared at him. A puff of white exploded outward from a point beyond those eyes as the creature exhaled. It turned away from Chance, toward the house. The door was hanging wide open.

The creature was still standing as though undecided by the time Chance reach the porch. But in the time it took him to leap onto the porch, it vanished from sight, into the house. But it was not there for very long. Even as Chance slid to a halt to try and spot the creature in the darkness of the house, there came from inside an ear-splitting roar, echoed by furious snarling.

There was a breath of silence, and then a deafening crash, followed by more snarling. Chance bobbed his head, trying to see in the dark, to get an idea of what was happening in the house. But he couldn't see, and dared not enter when the creature could be right next to the door, waiting to take his head off the moment he stepped across the threshold. Even he wasn't that foolish.

The shattering of glass around back made Chance whirl and race to the other side of the house to investigate. As he did so, the lights went on upstairs and there was the sound of feet running downstairs, along with lots of shouting.

The change of light blinded the dog as he careened around the corner. He slid and struck against something, which instantly lashed out at him, cutting a slash down his side. He yelped, lost his balance and fell onto his back. More barking, more snarling, and then the sound of something large and heavy running away.

Chance raised his head just in time to glimpse the creature as it paused at the edge of the yard and looked malevolently over its shoulder. It stood leaned forward on two legs, about eight feet high, bristling dark hair silver-tipped by the moon's light. It would have looked almost human aside from that, except for the glowing eyes and bulky misshapen head that was just above its broad shoulders. And then it was gone.

Painfully, Chance rolled onto his belly and got to his feet, unable to hold back a whimper as he did so. A short distance away, he noticed a shaggy lump lying motionless on the lawn. Beneath the blood, he recognized the soft reddish gold of Shadow's fur.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no!" He ran over to where Shadow lay, praying the old dog wasn't badly hurt.

Sniffing at his friend, he was relieved to find the old dog still breathing. A moment later, Shadow opened his eyes and rolled onto his belly slowly. The blood had come from a deep tear in his right shoulder and a slash across the opposite side of his neck.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry, I should have been watching- are you alright? You okay? You're gonna be okay, right? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should-"

"Chance," Shadow interrupted wearily, "Shut up."

"No!" Peter shouted from the back porch, startling them both; he then called to those in the house, "Come help me, Chance is attacking Shadow!"

The two dogs understood a handful of the words Peter said, but all they could make of it was that they must be supposed to come. Looking towards the house, they were forced to assume they were being told "no!" because of the broken window or maybe the open door. They knew the house was supposed to be shut up at night. Beyond that, it was only given to them to understand that they were meant to come. Chance hesitated, waiting for Shadow to get heavily to his feet, and then pacing right beside the other dog as he limped slowly to the house.

"Chance! Bad dog!" Jamie came out yelling.

Chance at once halted, and lowered himself shamefully to the ground. He'd failed to protect the house, and that definitely made him a bad dog. Seeking forgiveness, he crawled to Jamie and then rolled to expose his vulnerable belly, tail tucked between his legs.

"Bad Chance!" Jamie repeated vehemently.

Chance rolled onto his belly and crept to the dog house, looking over his shoulder only once. He knew a bad dog was banished from the house, banished from the affection of his family, the security and comfort of the indoors. He did not argue.

When Jamie had run from the house, Shadow had also stopped in his tracks.

"Come, Shadow. Come here, boy," Peter called.

Shadow had no inkling that the humans believed Chance had assaulted him. All he knew was that he was as much to blame as Chance for what had happened, if not more so. He did not deserve to come in the house any more than Chance did. If Chance was a bad dog, then Shadow was too. Peter was calling him. But he had acted inappropriately. For once in his life, he had done very, very wrong. Not just breaking a rule, but failing in his duty as protector of family and home. The window was broken, the house was exposed to the outdoors. And the thing was still out there.

With a heartsick groan, the old dog sat down where he was and hung his head. He was hurting, and wanted nothing more than to seek forgiveness and healing from his beloved boy. But he knew that Chance was hurt too. His sense of loyalty bade him remain where he was.

"Come on, Shadow, come inside," Peter repeated.

Shadow whined, started to rise, and then stopped. He looked from Peter to where Chance had disappeared into his house. Jamie was standing nearby to intercept the bigger dog if he went after Shadow again. All Shadow could see was that the boys were outside, when they ought to be inside. Shadow and Chance belonged outside. They had done wrong, and they must remain on their guard in case the creature returned. The house was broken, but it was safer than the indoors. The creature was bound to return, to try and get in again. It had been startled by all the lights and noise. But it would be back. Maybe in a few minutes, maybe not until tomorrow night. But it would return, of that there could be no doubt whatsoever.

Shadow slowly stood up, and turned to go and join Chance.

"Shadow, no. Come here," Peter called desperately, thinking Shadow was going to try and defend his place at the top of the animal pecking order, "You can't win a fight with him. Come here."

Shadow stopped at the word "no". But he did not come. He could not. He trembled where he stood, wracked more with the pain of disobedience than his wounds.

The retriever stood uncertainly halfway between the back porch and the dog house, his head and tail down, mouth open and tongue hanging out in stressed panting. He looked over at Peter, then at the dog house, then the broken window, and finally towards the woods. He kept looking from one to the other, trying to make Peter understand his part in the events, to understand that he too was a bad dog and should therefore remain outside.

Peter took a deep breath and his face assumed a stern expression. He didn't want to have a contest of wills with Shadow. The dog was old, and had been peacefully living by the rules for years. Peter couldn't remember when Shadow had last disobeyed. Possibly not since he was a pup.

"Shadow," Peter spoke in a command tone, "Come. Now."

A shudder passed through the old dog. Reluctantly, he turned towards his boy. With heavy steps, he limped to the back porch. He halted at his boy's feet and dropped into a lying down position, refusing to seek the forgiveness which had been denied to Chance. If Chance did not deserve it, neither did he.

"Inside," Peter ordered, pointing.

Shadow flinched, but did not disobey. He lifted himself off the ground just enough to get his legs under him, and slunk into the house. He'd barely gotten across the threshold before he turned around to try and go back outside.

"No," Peter said, and the dog stopped, "Stay."

After assuring himself that his dog did as commanded, Peter went out to help Jamie chain Chance up. They'd never chained their dogs before, so Peter had to find a chain and figure out how to secure it to something near the dog house.

But it was evident that Chance had somehow broken through the window and attacked Shadow. Peter had read that this sort of thing happened with bully breeds sometimes. It also sometimes happened that young dogs would turn on their elders to try and gain a higher position in the pack. He'd never expected it of Chance, especially not against Shadow, but that was clearly what had happened.

Or maybe Chance had just been trying to get inside and Shadow, knowing Chance was supposed to be outside, had tried to drive him back out, and Chance had resented it. In any case, Chance would have to stay out here, tied up, until Mom and Dad got home and sorted this mess out.

"Chance, sit," Jamie commanded.

Chance sat, and Peter attached the chain to his collar. In spite of the fact that he was in trouble, Jamie still rewarded his dog for sitting on command. As he ran his hand down the dog's side in silent praise, he found the gash which started just behind Chance' shoulder and ran almost all the way down his side.

"Chance is hurt," Jamie said quietly.

"We'll look at him in the morning, when it's light out," Peter said, "Come on, let's go back in the house."

Jamie frowned, reluctant to leave his injured pet, not fully believing in his heart what the evidence said, doubting the guilt of his beloved dog. Chance was very naughty, but he'd never been vicious. But he finally sighed, patted Chance on the head and followed his brother into the house, where Shadow was waiting.

Before releasing Shadow from 'stay', Peter put his leash on, fearing that the dog would jump out the broken window. Another fight with Chance would surely finish him. And Peter didn't want his dog to go out that way. Shadow deserved to live to a ripe old age, and die peacefully in his sleep, not be mauled to death by the dog who, until recently, had been his friend.

"Get the first aid kit," Peter told his brother, "Bring it to the kitchen, the light's better in there. And go get Uncle Jim and Aunt Tracy too."

As his brother set off to do all that, Peter bade his dog follow him into the kitchen. Shadow trailed behind his boy, head down and heart-sore. He didn't understand why he was being brought in the house. Was it to be his punishment to not be punished? That didn't make any kind of sense at all. Least of all the human kind of sense, which was the kind which mattered most.

"You're gonna be fine, Shadow," Peter told him, thinking his dog's behavior was due to pain, "We'll fix you up, good as new. It's just some scratches, you'll be fine... just... fine."

There was a tremor in his boy's voice. Shadow looked up and saw tears in Peter's eyes. Whining, he crept to his boy and leaned against Peter's leg. He licked Peter's hands, and tried his best to make his boy feel better. He would not ask forgiveness for his failure, but whatever he may have done wrong tonight, he wasn't about to forget his duty to comfort Peter when he was sad. That would only make all the rest of it that much worse and more unforgivable.

Meanwhile, Chance was lying outside in his dog house. He knew he'd been bad, and knew that he could not be permitted in the house. But why was he chained up? Now he couldn't get away if the creature came back. Nor could he get to the either of the doors to the house. He could not defend his home, or himself. Was his punishment to be eaten?

He couldn't believe that. Perhaps he deserved that. But surely Jamie wasn't that harsh. No, Jamie was a good kid, a loving, sweet kid. He wouldn't abandon Chance, not like this. It was only then that it finally dawned on Chance what had happened.

He remembered when he had once tried to alert Shadow to the presence of a cougar. Unable to see it, Shadow had not believed it was really there. Neither Peter nor Jamie had seen the creature. They didn't believe it existed. They thought Chance had attacked Shadow, and broken the window. And opened the door, which was fully impossible because the door had been locked.

But wait... if the door had been locked...

How had the creature gotten in?