“The man and the girl, as I said, were near death,” Bones said.

“Did he say that part before?” Puppy #3 said.

“I don’t think so,” Puppy #4 said. “If he had, I’d surely have remembered.”

“Bones,” I said, “do you think we might have some names for the man and the girl? I think it will get confusing, calling them ‘the man’ and ‘the girl,’ if there are other men and girls in the story.”

“Quite so, my dear Catson. For while there is just the one girl, there are as yet many men to come in the tale. We shall call the man … ” Here he tapped his paw against his chin thoughtfully. “Joe Fur.”

Fur. Now, there was a fabulous name!

I have a lot of fur myself, all over my body, and I am very fond of it.

“And the girl?” I prompted.

“Well, since there’s only one of her in the story, I see no point – ”

“Yes, but what if she grows up during the course of the tale? It will be odd calling her ‘the girl’ if she becomes an old woman at some point in the telling.”

“Fine. We shall call her Lucy. Lucy Fur.”

“And why does she have the same name as the man? They weren’t related, right?”

“They weren’t, but since all of her family died before the tale begins, the man, Joe Fur, claims her as his daughter.” Bones sighed. “May I go on now?”

I stared at him blankly. “Who is trying to stop you?”