Chapter 2: The Neirath Family House

At about seven o'clock the next morning, Charlie and Sasha were beginning to wake up. As Charlie rotated towards the side of the bed, and placed his feet on the floor, Sasha gave him a light pat on the shoulder.

"Come on," she said, as she looked at the time on the alarm-clock. "It's about time we got ready to go."

"But it's seven o'clock," Charlie replied. "Since when did we get up this early on Sundays?"

"Charlie!" the Irish Setter said sternly. "We're going to see my parents, remember? It's going to take an hour on the bus, and they're expecting us this morning."

"Surely they can wait a little bit longer?"

"Only if you want to wait 'a little bit longer' for your breakfast," she replied. "Not to mention missing the bus!"

"I thought we were having breakfast here?"

"Nope."

The two canines climbed out of the bed, and started to get washed and dressed, which took them about ten minutes.

Charlie was now wearing a grey button-shirt with brown trousers, and Sasha had put on a fashionable green-and-white dress.

"You stay here and make sure Arnold's okay," said Charlie. "I'm going to make sure Itchy's up."

He then left the room, walked over to Itchy's door, and knocked. It took ten seconds for his friend to get to the door, and open it.

"Hey, man," said Itchy. "Are we getting ready to go?"

"Yes," Charlie replied.

He then noticed that Itchy was still wearing his usual clothes - the green T-shirt, and red cap.

"Are you going to change?"

"Change? Uhh... what's wrong with what I'm wearing now?"

"It's too casual, Itch. Come on, you could at least put some shorts on."

"Okayyy..." Itchy groaned, as he went to change his clothes, while Charlie stood waiting outside his room.

A few minutes later, Itchy came out again. This time, he was wearing a blue doggy-jacket, and, as Charlie had advised, a pair of dark grey shorts.

Next, Sasha went out into the corridor, while carrying Arnold under her arm.

"C'mon, guys," she said. "Let's go."

The four dogs then went downstairs to the lobby, walked outside, and sat down to wait at the bus-stop.

Ten minutes later, the bus arrived, and the group of dogs got on. During the hour-long journey, they looked out the window, and observed the beautiful landscapes of the towns and countryside of Ireland.

In the end, they arrived in a small town in County Sligo. The dogs jumped off the bus, and walked over to a small house with a white front wall, and a green door. Sasha knocked on the door, and she and the other dogs waited side by side.

When the door opened, another two Irish Setters were standing behind it.

"Hey, sister!" they said at the same time. "Welcome back!"

"My gosh..." said Sasha with a bright blush on her cheeks. "I haven't seen you two in a very long time."

"Neither have we, sis," said one of the Setters, and he gave Sasha a big hug. Once he had done that, he then turned towards Charlie, and said, "Who do we have here, then?"

"Charlie Barkin," the Shepherd cross replied, offering his paw for a handshake. "And you?"

"Riley Neirath Junior," the male Setter replied, as he accepted the handshake. "In case you hadn't figured it out, I'm Sasha's brother."

Riley Jr. had a similar appearance to Sasha, except that his body was much more masculine in build, with a narrower pelvis and a stockier torso. Also, his face was sharper than his sister's; his eyes were brown rather than green, and he had less hair on his ears and head. He was wearing a pair of light grey shorts, but not much else.

Then, the third Setter stepped forward. She was Sasha's twin sister, and the only obvious difference between the two females was the colour of their fur; unlike Sasha, she had yellow fur. She was wearing a white T-shirt, with blue jeans.

"Hey, Charlie," she said. "Who's your friend?"

"Me?" said Itchy shyly. "Oh, yeah... I'm... Itchy Itchiford... I'm Charlie's friend. Yeah."

"Oh, okay. My name is Sarah La Fleur."

She then gave Charlie a hug, before turning her attention to Arnold.

"So, who's this little guy, then?"

"This is little Arnold," Sasha replied. "Charlie and I are babysitting him."

"Awww. He's so... squee!"

Sasha then passed the puppy over to Sarah, and she and Riley gave him some cuddles.

After that, they all went into the house. They were met with a fully-laid table, with two other dogs sitting down at it.

"Welcome," said the female of the two. From hearing her say just that one word, anyone could have told that she was a French dog.

"Oh, Mother," said Sasha, stepping quickly towards her. "What happened to you?"

Sasha's mother, Susan, was wearing a large blue dress. Unfortunately, her body was very obese, and this was what had caused Sasha to despair.

"A lot has happened since you flew the nest," said the other dog who was sitting at the table. "My dear Susan and I have both retired, Riley Jr. has a job and a family of his own, and Sarah has a part-time job at the off-licence."

"But what about Mama Susan?" said Sasha. "What happened to her bo-... I mean, her..."

"You see, Sasha, for the last few years, your mother has been spending her days in a retirement home. She always used to say they had great food there, but... that was the problem, you see."

Once he had finished his speech, Susan's husband got up from his chair, and walked over to fetch some plates from the kitchen.

"Hey, Junior," he called. "Can you help me carry the breakfasts?"

"Yes, Father."

Before long, everyone was sitting at the table, and each dog now had a plate stacked with sausages and eggs in front of them.

Once they had all finished, the dogs resumed their conversations.

"So, you must be Sasha's father," said Charlie to the older of the two male family members.

"You're right, lad," he replied. "The name's Riley Neirath Senior. I see you've already met my son."

"Yes," Charlie replied.

"The only survivor of our first litter, our Junior. That was one year before Sasha and Sarah came along."

Riley Senior was, to describe him in simple terms, like an older version of his son. Charlie guessed that, when he was Riley Jr.'s age, he would have looked pretty much the same as his son did now.

Riley Snr. was dressed in a beige buttoned shirt, coupled with a pair of dark green dungarees.

"What's your name, laddy?" he continued.

"Charlie Barkin. I'm Sasha's boyfriend."

"Heh, heh. You must be pretty lucky, then."

"I know, right?"

Later on, the family and their visitors were all sitting in the lounge. Susan and Riley Snr. were both sat in rocking chairs, the other adults were on the sofas, and little Arnold was resting on Sasha's lap. The rest of the morning was spent talking about everything that had happened in the years since Sasha had left Ireland. By the end of it, Charlie had recounted his entire life story, which had ended up dragging on for several hours...

"Oh, gosh, look at the time!" said Sasha. "It's two o'clock."

"My goodness," said Riley Snr. "You've been through a lot, haven't you, Mr. Barkin?"

However, before Charlie could respond, a voice suddenly came, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Charles! Can you hear me?"

"Yes, Ms. Annabelle. What seems to be the problem?"

Everyone turned towards the window, which Annabelle was now projecting her image on to.

"Listen, everyone. A team of Angel scouts has found some very strange sounds coming from a castle in County Galway. Charles, Itchy, and Sasha, your mission is to go over to the castle and investigate."

The projection then changed to show a map of Ireland, with the location of the castle indicated by a glowing red dot. After a few seconds, it changed back to showing Annabelle's face.

"I expect that the castle will be filled with hidden dangers, so I advise you three to keep your wits about you whilst you are inside. Also..."

She then raised up a pair of glowing swords, and held them out in front of her.

"I believe these are yours, Mr. Itchiford."

Itchy reached into the window, and the swords passed from Annabelle's paws into his.

"Gee, thanks," he said, as a scabbard magically formed over the blade of each sword.

"Come on," said Charlie. "Let's get moving."

"We can take my car," said Riley Jr. "It's going to be about one-and-a-half hours' drive."

"But what about Arnold?" Sasha asked.

"I'll ask your family to take care of him," Charlie replied. "Riley, Susan, and Sarah. Can I trust any of you to keep Arnold safe?"

"You can trust me," said Sarah.

Charlie passed the little puppy over to her, and waved good-bye. Along with Sasha, Itchy, and Riley Jr., he walked out of the house, and they all got into Riley's car.

"Let's drive!" said Sasha's brother, as he started the car, and drove the vehicle roaring out of the driveway.