He clapped his hands. “Come along, puppies. Come with me! You’re going outside!” We scrambled after him, tripping over our big paws. We were big now, two months old. I came up almost to Mother’s knee. Have fun, children! Mother called after us. I think she was secretly happy to be rid of us. By then, we had begun to eat food instead of drinking her milk. The cellar was getting too small to hold us. We spent our days romping and snarling and battling each other. We were excited and ready to get up and go. We followed at Michel’s heels, up the stairs, along the hall, down the steps, and out the front door into the great wide world! Phoebe and Jupiter tumbled out the door, but I stood on the sill. Wait just one moment, I said slowly, looking around. I wanted to give myself a chance to take it all in—the sights, the scents. I did not want to rush headlong into this new world. Wait? Who wants to wait? There’s so much to see! Phoebe said as she followed a black beetle until it disappeared down a hole.
