Poppy and the puppies are waiting for me when I slide through the boarded-up window and into the darkened interior of an abandoned building. She doesn't make a sound, just runs to me and hugs me around my neck, face pressed into my hair as she clings as if she'll never let me go.

The dog bounds forward, butts his head against my thigh. Our second reunion goes about the same as the first with him glued to me from that moment on.

Oh how I've missed him.

The puppies ...