Even though he wasn’t sad, Max couldn’t help but whimper as he watched the woman approach.

Cats leaped at her loose pants, meowing, “Pet me, lady!” and “No, feed me first!” One yowled, “You kept me waiting a long time. But I’ll forgive you if you put food in my bowl right now!”

Dogs large and small spun in excited circles, their bodies trembling in uncontained glee, their tails a blur. They barked, “You’re the best!” and “Pet my head, please!” and “Ball! I saw a ball! Want to play?”

“You’re all so eager today,” the woman said. She scratched the underside of a tawny cat’s chin, and it closed its eyes in ecstasy. “I’ll have food for you very soon. The livestock need tending first, my dears.”

Next to Max, Gizmo danced from paw to paw, while Rocky leaped up and down.

“I can’t believe it’s a real, live person,” Gizmo said. “And she seems so nice!”

“Oh, I could really go for a belly scratch,” Rocky said. Looking up at Max, he asked, “Do you think she gives out belly scratches?”

Georgie chuckled. “She does give belly scratches,” he said. “At least, she did to me. I never thought I’d see her again. I’m glad I came with you three.”

Grass squelched beneath the old woman’s white sneakers as she drew closer. Dixie sat at full attention, all professional.

Max considered leaping onto the woman and licking her face.

The woman paused a few feet from Max, Rocky, Gizmo, and Georgie, and a look of confusion briefly crossed her face.

“My, my, what have we here,” she said.

Her voice was the sweetest, most beautiful thing ever to grace his ears, Max decided.

“You three are new.” Her eyes falling on Georgie, she said, “And you, my friend, seem to have followed me from the beach.”

She rubbed Georgie’s head, then carefully held her hand out to Max, Rocky, and Gizmo. They sniffed it one by one, inhaling her perfect scent and absorbing her calm manner. Instinctively, Max licked her hand.

The woman smiled and wiped her hand on her pants. “You seem like friendly dogs, though much too skinny. And your fur…” She shook her head. “I’m Dr. Lynn, and we shall find out your names soon enough. A pleasure to meet you.”

“You, too, Doc!” Rocky barked.

“Yes,” Gizmo yipped. “Lynn is such a pretty name! I’m Gizmo, and this is Rocky.”

“And I’m Max,” Max woofed.

“Oh, you’re chatty dogs, aren’t you?” Dr. Lynn said. “I bet you haven’t heard a human voice in some time. Well, once everyone is fed, it’s time for you three to have a checkup.”

“Oh, a checkup?” Rocky said. “Well, maybe it will end with belly rubs.”

Leaving the dogs behind, Dr. Lynn strode toward the backyard of the vet’s office, where Max had heard the sounds of farm animals. Many of the waiting cats and dogs bounded after her. Some cast suspicious glances at Max and his friends.

“That was strange,” Georgie said to Max, Rocky, and Gizmo as the horde of pets raced away. “You were talking like you knew what the old woman was saying.”

Dixie looked at Max with narrowed eyes. “Yes, how did you know the word she spoke was her name? It takes the rest of us a long time to understand how humans say sit or stay, let alone figure out their names!”

“It’s nothing, really,” Max said carefully. “The three of us just… Well, we’re a little smarter than the average dog.”

Dixie scoffed. “Oh, you think you’re smarter than us?”

Max said, “It’s nothing like that. It’s a long story, and it involves why the people left.”

“There was this pig we met, on the river, see,” Rocky said. “And an elephant.”

“An ele-what?” Georgie asked.

“Big animal. Gray. Long nose and big ears.” Rocky spread his front paws wide. “And when I mean big, I mean big.”

Dixie rolled her eyes. “Never heard of them. But what do they have to do with being smart?”

“Well, they took us to this laboratory,” Max said. “And they put us through a process that made it so we can understand human words and writing.”

Dixie said, “That’s impossible. Is this some sort of trick?”

“No!” said Gizmo. “We’d never do that to you after you’ve been so nice.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, even though we can understand her, it doesn’t seem like she knows what we’re saying. I guess they didn’t make a Praxis that let humans understand dog barks.”

“But if you can understand humans,” the German Shepherd said, almost to herself, “then that means you can be better police dogs than us.” She met Max’s gaze. “You have to take us to this lab.”

“Uh, hold on, sister,” Rocky said. “That place is miles and miles from here, in the complete opposite direction of where we’re going.”

Dixie stomped her front paw. “Then we can find a way to do it here!”

Max cleared his throat. “Um, maybe,” he said. “But, Dixie, right now we need to be with Dr. Lynn—with the old woman. Thank you for guiding us through the city. Julep, too, and all of you police dogs.”

“Julep!” Dixie barked. “Yes, I should go see Julep.” She turned and ran back down the street.

“Why would an ele-what need a nose that long?” Georgie mumbled.

Rocky laughed. “Don’t worry about it, big guy. You’re not going to meet one anytime soon.”

Though Max was concerned by Dixie’s strange reaction to learning about their Praxis abilities, he had more pressing concerns. Dr. Lynn had returned from feeding the farm animals in the backyard. All the animals watched her in hushed excitement.

She unraveled a hose from the side of the building, then turned the spigot and filled a few dozen large, plastic bowls with clear, sparkling water. That done, she briefly disappeared behind the house and reappeared carrying a big bag of kibble. Surprisingly, all the dogs waited patiently as she scooped out servings, even though the pinging of food into the bowls made Max want to dive right into a meal.

The good doctor had these pets well trained.

Finally, Dr. Lynn filled the remaining bowls with kitty chow. When she was finished, she whistled, and the dogs and cats surged forward to lap up the water and crunch down mouthfuls of food. Georgie barreled forward to enter the fray without a single thought, until the only animals not eating were Max, Rocky, and Gizmo, who sat waiting on the sidewalk.

“Still waiting for me, I see,” Dr. Lynn said as she strolled across the grass. “I’d have expected you to go for the food, but you three seem awfully obedient.”

Behind her, the dogs and cats woofed and meowed as they shoved past one another to get their fill. Max wondered if a fight might break out, but any animal inclined to hiss or growl glanced at the old woman and calmed down.

Max’s tail set to wagging again as the doctor rubbed the top of his head with one hand and the underside of his jaw with the other, and he almost collapsed to the ground with pleasure. He closed his eyes, enjoying every stroke of his golden coat, imagining Charlie and Emma were there to tousle his fur along with Dr. Lynn.

Fingers massaged his neck, and Max realized she was sifting through his fur. He opened his eyes to find the woman looking puzzled.

“Hmm, no collar,” she said.

Max sighed as she pulled her hands away from him, then watched with longing as she scratched Rocky’s ears. The Dachshund fell onto his side, exposing his belly. Dr. Lynn laughed and scratched his stomach, and Rocky’s hind leg scrabbled at the air.

“Oh, yeah,” Rocky barked. “Maybe up a little higher. Between the shoulder blades, too, if you don’t mind.”

But Dr. Lynn only shook her head at not finding a collar on Rocky, either. Gizmo received her own round of petting before the old woman stood up and crossed her arms.

“Not a collar among the three of you,” she said. “Let’s hope you either lost them or your owners decided to go high-tech.” Backing away, she held out her hand. “Do you know come?”

With a nod from Max, all three dogs climbed to their feet and followed the old woman onto the lawn.

“Very good,” she said. “Come! Follow me!”

She turned and walked toward the front entrance of the vet’s office, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the dogs were behind her. Max decided he was not going to let the woman out of his sight.

“What’s so special about them?” a slender gray cat asked, casually swiping a paw over its face. Nearby lay the black cat, Minerva, sunning herself after her meal.

“Oh, them?” Minerva asked, tail twitching. “I don’t rightly know. They look all raggedy, though I’m sure they can’t help it, being dogs. Bless their hearts.”

Dr. Lynn led Max, Rocky, and Gizmo up the front walkway and onto the porch. They sat as she opened the front door.

Holding the door open, Dr. Lynn looked down at the three dogs and said, “After you.”

Max nodded at her, then walked inside, followed by his two small friends. As they sat on the cool linoleum floor of the lobby, the old woman laughed.

“Aren’t you three smart!” she said, offering Max another blissful scratch behind his ears.

The lobby was similar to the one at the vet’s office back home. There were chairs lining the walls and a big front desk. Everything gleamed bright and clean.

While the three dogs waited, Dr. Lynn took off her big straw hat and tossed it on a chair in the waiting area. She shook her head to let her white hair fall in soft waves to her shoulders.

“Back this way, my friends,” she called as she walked past the front desk and down a hallway.

The three dogs followed her into an examination room. She carefully picked up Rocky and Gizmo to set them atop a metal table, then sat down on a stool in front of a computer.

Max studied the room. Like the front lobby, the surfaces glimmered beneath the fluorescent lights. There were counters and cabinets along two of the walls and a big metal sink. The acrid smell of bleach lingered in the air, along with the barest scents of other animals.

After so many months on their own, it seemed almost strange to be in the company of a human again. For the first time in ages, Max was able to relax and just be a dog. He’d almost forgotten what that was like.

Strange, yes. But also very, very nice.

“This might sound weird, but I’m actually kind of looking forward to this,” Rocky whispered.

Gizmo giggled. “Me, too! Mostly I just want to feel her hands on my fur again. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like, to have a human.”

The doctor spun on her stool and smiled at the two small dogs. “I hear you vocalizing; I know you must be bored. This won’t take too long, I promise.”

The old woman climbed off the stool, then picked up a device that sat next to the computer. It looked like a long, flat gray spatula with a screen that showed a bunch of red zeroes.

The woman waved the device over Max’s back, just between his front shoulder blades. The thing beeped, and she lifted it up to look at the numbers.

“Excellent,” she said, turning back to the computer. “Your owners put a microchip in your back.”

“They did?” Max said.

“You have a chip in you?” Rocky asked. “Like a potato chip? How? Did you eat one?”

Max shook his head. “No! But even if I did, I don’t think it would be in my shoulders.”

Dr. Lynn ignored their barking and typed into the computer. The screen flashed, and Max could see a photo of himself next to a bunch of words.

“So you’re Max,” Dr. Lynn said. “Good name, Max. And you’re from… Oh, my.”

She peered down at Max.

“You’ve come an astoundingly long way, my friend,” she said. “I wish I’d seen you walking about when I was up there weeks ago. You must be looking for your family, huh, boy?”

Max whimpered and placed his head on her lap.

“There, there,” Dr. Lynn said as she petted the sides of his neck. “You won’t be alone much longer, Max. I’m going to fix this mess I caused, one way or another.”

Dr. Lynn stood once more, then ran the scanning device over Gizmo’s back and frowned when it did not beep.

“I guess you weren’t chipped,” she said. “For today, I’ll call you Jane. It’s a lovely name, yes? It’s from Jane Goodall, a scientist like me who loves animals.”

Gizmo wagged her tail and licked Dr. Lynn’s hand. “Thank you! Jane is a great name.”

Dr. Lynn laughed. “You like it! If you don’t mind, Jane, I must turn my attention to your handsome Dachshund friend.”

When the old woman scanned Rocky’s back, the device beeped once more, and she returned to the computer. In seconds the screen showed a picture of a much fatter Rocky.

“Oh, you’re Dr. Walters’s dog!” she said. “I remember you.” Turning back to the dogs, she added, “And Max, too. You were at the same kennel where I put up Madame. In fact, that’s why I came through those parts. I was trying to find her.”

“How sad,” Gizmo said softly. “She doesn’t know what happened to Madame.”

“I think I’m glad we can’t tell her,” Max said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lynn set about with the rest of the checkups. She began by washing the dogs one by one in the big basin, marveling at their obedience and intelligence as each of them calmly let her scrub them with the foul-smelling soap that kept the fleas away.

The car wash had rid them of some of the muck they’d crawled through, but there was nothing like a good, deep scrubbing, and Max soon felt cleaner than he had in ages. The woman ran a brush all through his fur, talking soothingly as she gently prodded his limbs, checking them for injuries.

“Ouch,” she said as she discovered the recent cut on his forehead. “It looks like you hit your head. I’ll put something on it to keep out the bacteria.”

By the time Dr. Lynn was done with them, Max, Rocky, and Gizmo had never looked better. Max couldn’t remember when Rocky’s black fur had been so shiny, but Gizmo proved the real revelation. She’d been traveling for weeks or months on her own before Max and Rocky met her, so her tan-and-black coat was always a tangle of fluff. But now, every tuft and curl was in the right place.

“We all look so nice!” Gizmo said.

Rocky pranced in a circle on the metal tabletop. “Why, thank you,” he said. “You look pretty amazing yourself.”

Now that they were clean and their outsides all examined, Dr. Lynn turned her attention to their insides. She pressed a cold stethoscope against their chests and sides to listen to their heartbeats and breathing, shone light into their eyes and noses, and lifted their lips to examine their gums, teeth, and tongues.

Finally, she produced a long needle attached to a small plastic tube. A syringe. Max winced, but he trusted Dr. Lynn, so he did not flinch as she approached.

“Sorry about this, Max,” the doctor said. “It’ll only prick for a second, I promise.” She gently propped Max against her leg, prepared to grab him if he tried to run. Then, she stuck the needle into his skin and pulled back the plunger on the syringe, drawing his blood.

Letting out a breath, Dr. Lynn put a cap on the syringe and set it on a nearby countertop. She then did the same to Rocky and Gizmo, who both clenched their teeth and closed their eyes to make it as easy as possible for their new doctor friend.

Shaking her head in amazement, Dr. Lynn began to label vials for the freshly drawn blood.

“I have never once had a checkup go this smoothly,” she said. “Not even Madame could get through one without squirming a little bit. I don’t know if Dr. Walters was Jane’s vet, too, but I’ll have to find the man and learn his secrets.”

Producing some more vials and bottles from the cabinets, Dr. Lynn said, “Now all we have to do is get your current weight, and we’re done.”

“Hey, down there,” Rocky said, gesturing to a metal slab near the door. “That’s probably the weighing machine, if I remember my other vet visits right.”

Max wandered over to the machine while Rocky and Gizmo jumped off the table and onto the linoleum. Together, the three dogs crowded around the slab and sniffed at it.

“I think you might be right,” Max said.

Behind them, Dr. Lynn gasped.

All three dogs turned to face her. The old woman stood next to the examination table, a hand in front of her mouth.

“It’s not possible,” she whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Gizmo asked.

Rocky’s head darted from side to side. “Did we do something bad? Were we not supposed to move?”

Dr. Lynn stared at the dogs, then ran her hands back through her wavy white hair.

“Max,” she said. “I need a ball from behind the front counter in the lobby. It’s in a box with several other balls, but only two are red, and only one of those balls has little nubs on it. I need that ball. Rocky and Jane, you two stay right where you are.”

Max barked and wagged his tail. While Rocky and Gizmo sat down in front of the scale, Max ran out of the examination room and back to the front desk in the lobby.

There, just as the old woman had said, was a cardboard box with several balls inside. There were plain blue, yellow, and green balls, and an orange one that had holes in its side to show a shiny bell in the center. Max nosed them aside until he saw flashes of red at the bottom of the box. One ball was smooth, and one was covered in dozens of nubby spikes.

Max grabbed the spiked red ball in his jaws, then ran quickly back into the examination room. He dropped the red ball at Dr. Lynn’s feet, then sat down and looked up at her, tail wagging as he waited for her approval.

A smile spread across the old woman’s face. “My, oh my,” she said softly.

Crouching down, she scratched beneath Max’s chin, then stared directly into his brown eyes.

And she said, “You three can understand me.”