Toby ran as fast as his legs could carry him to his mother's house. "Mom!" he barked, scratching at the door.

Terry came out and stared at him in wide-eyed alarm. "Toby, what's wrong?"

"It's a long story," Toby panted. "I'd be happy to explain it later. But right now I need you and Dad to be witnesses at a trial."

"A trial? Who's on trial?"

"Me and Terra."

Terry blinked. "You I can understand, but why Terra?"

Brushing aside a brief thought about wishing for once that his mother did stay up-to-date on gossip, Toby beckoned her to follow him. "Trust me," he said, "you'll never believe what's going on when I tell you."

"When a dog like you came along, life's surprises packed up and left town."

"I hope you're right," Toby answered. A few minutes later, they had convinced Rex to come with them and had returned to the granary, where the dogs still had Terra surrounded. "All right, I'm back," said Toby. "And I've got the witnesses. Now, please let us through."

The dogs allowed Toby to enter the ring, along with his parents. The three of them took their place next to Terra. "Now," said Toby, facing the crowd, "I understand that you think I've been cheating on Luna."

"We heard you two going at it!" barked several of the gossips before a loud bark from Rex silenced them.

"Let my son speak," he ordered.

"Thanks, Dad," said Toby. Focusing on the crowd again, he continued, "Now, first of all I want to say that perhaps I've given you some reason for suspicion. But anyone who knows me also knows that I would never think of hurting Luna. And I certainly wouldn't go with Terra, of all dogs."

"Why not?" asked one of Luna's brothers. "She's slim, silky-furred…"

"And his sister," Terra put in.

A landing snowflake could have been heard in the silence that followed. "Say that again?" asked Luna, hope rising in her voice.

"Toby is not my boyfriend," clarified Terra, "and there's not a chance in the world he ever could be, because he's my brother." Terry and Rex nodded, confirming Terra's revelation.

"Wait a minute," said Luna as a thought struck her. She focused her gaze on Toby. "I feel so stupid for not thinking of this before. Didn't you tell me you freaked her out with a dead rat once when you were puppies?"

Toby grinned. "They all freaked out," he clarified. "She just screamed the loudest. I'm glad you remembered that, Luna. Especially because that's what we've been doing this whole time."

"Which was…?" asked Phoebe.

"Chasing rats," answered Terra.

If the crowd had been confused before, now they were downright baffled. "Chasing…rats?" asked one of Luna's brothers slowly.

"That's right," said Toby. "You see, Terra's owner recently inherited the granary from his brother. So he took over running it, and tried to have Terra deal with the rat infestation."

"The problem is that I'm…" Terra hung her head. "Afraid of rats."

Two of Luna's brothers started laughing, but the girls in the crowd quickly shushed them. So, for that matter, did the third brother.

"That's right," Toby said, picking up the story. "Ever since she was a puppy, she's been terrified of rats." Rex and Terry nodded, again confirming his defense. "So," he continued, "she asked me to teach her how to chase and kill them so he wouldn't be upset with her."

"Then all that running and barking…" murmured Phoebe.

"Was just us chasing the rats," finished Terra.

"What about all that stuff we heard you saying?" asked Haley. "I remember you called her a feisty one."

Toby paused for a moment, then laughed. "I wasn't talking to her. I was talking to a rat that had just bitten me."

"And all the secrecy?"

Terra hung her head. "I didn't want it to get out that I was a rat catcher," she admitted. "I was afraid that everyone would think I was some kind of lowlife."

"She usually hangs out with a crowd that's more into talk than action," Toby explained. "More into conclusions than facts, too, much like two other ladies whose names I won't mention," he added with a hard glance at Phoebe and Haley, who by now were hanging their heads and looking extremely guilty.

"Then why did you always shut the door?" asked one of the gossips.

"So the rats wouldn't escape through it," Luna put in. "Duh!" Toby smiled, glad to see that she was finally back on his side.

Phoebe and Haley stared at the ground, but then Phoebe abruptly raised her head. "What about the girl you kissed the other day?" she demanded.

Toby groaned. "I was hoping nobody saw that," he murmured. Seeing the renewed expressions of anger from the dogs, he quickly added, "I can explain that too. See, that kiss was one-sided: She kissed me, but I didn't kiss her. I only got another dog to leave her alone; she just read it the wrong way."

One of the gossips in the crowd raised an eyebrow. "You didn't happen to catch her name, did you?"

Toby nodded. "I did, actually," he said. "I think her name was…Violet."

The gossip nodded. "I thought so. Her family moved here last week; she's been trying to get a boyfriend ever since." Shrugging, she added, "It's a pretty good bet that the dog you chased off was just sick of trying to make her leave him alone."

Toby nodded. "That sure fits with her attitude," he agreed. "When I managed to get out of her liplock and told her that I was spoken for, she just asked what my point was."

Luna stared at the gossip in surprise. "Why didn't you mention this sooner?" she asked. "Or you, for that matter?" she added, turning to Toby.

Toby seemed embarrassed. "Would you believe me if I told you I didn't want to get you worked up about it?"

Luna stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Yeah, that fits." She turned to the gossip. "What about you?"

The gossip shrugged. "When the Toby scandal came along, Violet was old news."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Sorry, Toby," murmured Haley.

"Yeah," agreed Phoebe. "We really made a mess of things for you and Luna."

Toby snorted. "That's an understatement!"

"Indeed," agreed Rex. He glowered at the group. "You motormouths have done far more damage than you realize. Not only have you blackened the names of two of my children, but you nearly destroyed Toby's relationship with Luna." He paused for a moment to let this sink in. All around the room, every gossip was looking at the floor in shame. "So, here's the deal: Either all of you young ladies get out there and tell everyone the real story right now, or I run you all in for public slander."

Without bothering to question or even wonder how Rex would go about locking them all up, the group scattered as if someone had tossed a grenade into their midst. A moment later, only Rex, Terry, Toby and Luna remained. "Well," Terry remarked with satisfaction, "I guess that takes care of that."

Luna glanced at Toby and lowered her eyes. "I guess I owe you an apology," she admitted. "I know I always said I believed you, but for a while there I thought you really were leaving me."

Toby nuzzled her. "Hey, there's nothing to forgive," he replied. "If I'd been in your place, I would've been worried too." Luna looked up at him and smiled a bit.

"Rex," Terry whispered, AI think we need to give them a little privacy."

Rex nodded. "I think you're right," he agreed. "We'll be outside if you need us."

Toby thought he heard one of them comment about something as they left, but he didn't dwell on it. Probably nothing important anyway, he told himself. He looked back at his mate. "I'm so sorry, Luna," he said softly.

"Next time, I'll take your word for it, no matter what anybody says. But I still feel guilty for not believing you."

"Well, that's in the past now."

Luna hung her head. "That may be," she admitted, "but there's still one thing I need to tell you."

Toby looked at her, inclining his attention. When she didn't say anything, he said, "Well, don't leave me hanging."

Luna hesitated, still trying to get over the cold, hard truth. "You know how we've…been trying to have puppies?"

Toby gasped and felt his heart jump, and his tail started to wag. "Luna, are you…?"

She shook her head. "No…" Toby's tail stopped wagging. "And I don't think I ever will be."

Toby was dumbfounded. "What?" he asked. "Why?"

Luna fought hard not to cry. "Well, yesterday Connie took me to the vet because I was so upset I couldn't eat."

Toby nodded. "Go on."

"The vet said that I wasn't sick, and Connie asked if maybe I was expecting a litter. The vet said no, because the damage to my back would make that impossible."

"So you can't have puppies?" asked Toby.

Luna's eyes filled with crystal tears and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "No," she whispered. "The vet said it'll never happen." She lost her composure and began to sob.

Please, no, thought Toby. After everything that had happened, he couldn't handle Luna crying twice in two days because of things he had caused. What can I say? he wondered. Seizing on the first thing that came to mind, he told her, "Luna, it doesn't matter."

Luna caught a breath and stared at him. "What?" she asked.

"For me, it doesn't matter if we never have kids. I know you wanted them, and I was hoping it would happen too. My parents are probably going to feel a bit let down, but if I can't manage it without your help, I'm not doing it. Period."

Luna sniffed and drew back. "Are you serious?" she asked.

"More than I've ever been," he assured her, nodding. "I'd take you over a hundred pups any day."

Luna wiped her eyes with a paw. "Thanks."

Toby smiled. "That's more like it. Now, what do you say we go find Violet and take care of that little problem?"

Luna smiled, even though her heart still felt like a lead weight. "Sounds like a plan to me."