"But where could he have gone?" asked Mia for perhaps the hundredth time. "We've looked absolutely everywhere," she went on.

Uncle Fred gloomily. "Your mother is never going to forgive me."

"Don't be silly, it wasn't your fault," said Mia. "I should have known he wouldn't stay there. Milo never stays put anywhere - unless you stick him in a cage. Hey, wait, maybe that's it!"

"What? Where?" Uncle Fred was bewildered.

"If you were a dog," said Mia excitedly, "wandering around loose, and someone spotted you, who would they call to come and get you?"

"Well," said the lady at the desk. "What does he look like?"

Mia turned to Uncle Fred in dismay. They hadn't seen Milo since he turned from a cat into a dog. They didn't have a clue what he looked like!

"Um, well," said Mia awkwardly, "he's just a, well, a sort of a mutt. It's hard to describe. Can we just come in and call his name to see if he answers - I mean, barks?"

To her relief, the woman said, "Certainly, honey." When Mia saw the rows and rows of cages, all full of barking and yipping dogs, she nearly groaned aloud. They walked down the rows calling, "Milo! Here, Milo!"

Suddenly they heard a loud frenzied barking from the end of one row. It was a large tan dog, who flung himself at the his door when he saw them.

"Milo?" Mia leaned close to the cage. "Is that you?"

"Yes," growled Milo. "Get me out! The noise is driving me crazy!"

The Humane Society lady insisted that he be put on a leash. 'This is embarrassing," grumbled Milo. But in one cage, Milo suddenly caught sight of a chocolate-colored dog who jumped up and began yipping happily.

"Buddy!" yelped Milo. "Stop, Mia! Wait! We have to get him out!"

Mia yanked on Milo's leash, but he pulled back, hard, and sat down.

"I'm not leaving until we save that dog," he insisted. "He's my friend. If we leave him here they'll put him to sleep. Please!" Milo begged.

"Oh, all right, let's just take him with us and get out of here," said Uncle Fred through his teeth. Soon Buddy was free.

"Mom's going to kill you for bringing home a dog," said Mia.

"I don't care," said Milo, hanging his head out the car window. "It feels so good to be out of that place. I couldn't leave Buddy in there."

"Oh, no!" gasped Milo. "It's Mom! She's home early!"

Uncle Fred turned down the alley behind the shop. "I'll let you off at the back door," he said quickly. "I'll drive around and delay her somehow, while you change Milo into a boy here in the back garden."

"If we can do it," said Mia as he drove off. "We never solved the last part of the riddle." They both read the last part of the riddle again.

Only a golden talisman, and words of kindness will break the spell.

"What words of kindness?" groaned Mia.

"Let's just try every one we can think of," said Milo.

Together, they both pronounced all the "Kind" words they could come up with-"Please" and "Thank you", "You're nice" and even "I love you", though Milo made a terrible face at that one.

Nothing worked. "Do something!" barked Milo desperately. "This is all your fault, anyway! You're the one who wished this on me!"

"I did not!" yelled Mia. "You caused it yourself by being so greedy!"

Buddy suddenly shoved his way in between them, barking and growling in their faces. Both Mia and Milo stopped arguing in surprise.

"Okay, boy, take it easy," said Milo. "We won't fight any more."

"That's so weird," Mia said. "He was really trying to stop us."

"He was," said Milo. "I told you, he's a really smart dog. Hey, I've got an idea." He leaned over towards Buddy until their doggy noses were almost touching. "Buddy, old boy, do you know what we should do?"

"Yes, indeed, it is I, my dears," said the old man, eyes twinkling. And then he turned to Milo and flung both arms around Milo's doggy neck. "Milo, my good friend! Congratulations! You've passed the test!"

"What do you mean? What test? What did I do?" Milo asked.

"You saved me, young Milo, and then I knew for sure that you have learned compassion at last!"

"I don't get it," said Milo. "What do you mean, compassion?"

"Kindness, my dear boy, kindness!"

"But who are you, and why am I still a dog?" demanded Milo.

"Patience, my son," beamed the old man. "First things first."

"Excuse me, interrupted Mia, "but can you turn him back into a boy before you discuss all this? Because our mother."

"Ah, yes," said the wizard hastily. "Your uncle has already told her you are out taking a walk, so she is not worried about you."

"But how do you know that?" demanded Mia, "And who are you?"

"As to who I am, that is far too long a story to tell at the moment," said the wizard. "Suffice to say that I have been given a gift," and here he smiled at Mia, " a marvelous gift that enables me to do many unusual things. But only for good," he added, "only to teach or to help, never to harm. Which is why I am so glad you passed the test," he added cheerily to Milo, "If you had not, things would have become rather complicated."

"But why me?" asked Milo.

"Well, that's a bit complicated as well," said the wizard. "I came here because I wished to do your uncle a good service, as he had done for me. But then I met you, and I saw that you had a need as well-a need to understand animals better, and to be able to treat them with more kindness. And you have learned that, have you not?" he asked Milo. "You see what it is to be small and helpless, and to depend on others for your care?"

Milo nodded, ashamed. "I never realized. But I sure do, now."

"Splendid!" cried the wizard. "I was certain of it. And you," he said to Mia, "You had a need as well, young lady."

"Me?" asked Mia in astonishment. "But I thought."

"You thought all this was happening only because of your brother?" asked the wizard, and she nodded. "Ah," said the wizard, "but all human lives are intertwined, and what affects your brother affects you. You were quite concerned about him, were you not, when he was missing?"

Mia nodded. "Yeah, I was pretty worried about him. I guess I care more about him than I like to admit-sometimes."

The wizard smiled. "Then you, both of you, have learned the lessons that were needed. It should be quite simple now for you to break the spell."

"But we can't," wailed Mia. "We don't know what the 'words of kindness' are supposed to be."

"Can't you just change me back?" woofed Milo.

"Oh, I'm afraid not," said the wizard, shaking his head. "Only those who set the spell in motion can end it. And you must discover the words by yourselves. What were you both doing before Milo became a hamster?"

"Oh, I know," exclaimed Mia. "We were fighting, right?"

"Do you recall what I said when I gave you the coin?"

Mia thought, and remembered. "You said that words are more valuable than gold, because they can harm or-or heal!" she exclaimed. She went on, "So if we wanted to heal or undo what we did, we should say-no, that can't be it," she said, realizing the truth. "Not just 'I'm sorry'!"

Milo said in amazement, "But that can't be all-it's too easy!"

"On the contrary," said the wizard quietly, "It is perhaps one of the hardest things in the world to say. Most people have a great deal of trouble saying it. But now that you know, the solution is simple, is it not? You must share the talisman, and then simply say the words."

Milo and Mia both found it hard to believe that this was all they needed to do. But Mia held out her hand, with the coin in her palm, and Milo rested his paw on top of it. Then Mia said softly, "I'm sorry, Milo-sorry for getting mad at you, and saying you belonged in a cage."

And Milo responded, "I'm sorry, too. Sorry for eating all the crackers, and for pushing you. And for being rough with the animals, too," he added, looking at the wizard. And then they both waited.

For a moment, nothing happened. Fear filled Milo's heart. But then, just as he was about to panic, he felt the familiar dizziness come over him, and he fell down into darkness. When he came to, he looked up to see the wizard smiling down at him. Milo held out his hand-and saw that it really was his own human hand! The wizard helped him up off the ground.

"Sorry about that," said the old man, "I'm afraid transforming from one animal to another is a very rough process for beginners. It took me many years to do it without falling down myself."

"Oh, Milo," cried Mia, hugging him. "You're back!" After a moment she recovered herself, let go of him, and said gruffly, "Don't ever do that again!" Glancing at the wizard, she smiled and added, "Please."

"Well," said the wizard, "I must be off. I've great many things to do."

"Wait!" exclaimed Mia. "We've got a lot more things to ask you. For one thing, where is your magic shop?"

The old man chuckled. "I carry it with me," he said. He reached under his robe and pulled out a small "snow globe". Inside the glass globe was a tiny model of the Last Stop Pet Shop, with nearby buildings and trees!. As the wizard waved a hand over it, the miniature scene changed from summer to winter, and tiny snowflakes began to fall. He handed it to Mia. "For you," he said. She thanked him, her eyes shining.

Milo was not so easily pleased. "I thought you said you came to do Uncle Fred a favor," he said. "But you haven't even talked to him."

The wizard smiled. "I think, when you go inside, you will find that he has just what he always wanted," he said. Then he added, "I wish you well, all of you. Be kind to each other." Moments later, he began to shimmer, and slowly faded away until he was gone.

Milo sighed. "I give up," he said. "We'll never really know who he is. He never stays around long enough." Then he and Mia went inside.

They found their mother and Uncle Fred talking in the living room. When Uncle Fred saw Milo, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Hey Milo, welcome back," he said meaningfully. Milo glanced in the living room mirror. It was true. He was really back to his old self again!

Milo's mother, of course didn't guess the truth. "Hello, you two!" she exclaimed, hugging them. "Did you have a nice walk? Were you surprised to come home and find me here early? How was your week?"

"It was - ah - very interesting," said Milo.

"Yeah - it was - well - kind of an adventure," added Mia.

"I'll say," said Uncle Fred with a sigh.

Their mother looked at him with concern. "I knew it," she said suspiciously. "Something did happen while I was gone, didn't it?"

"NO!" Said Mia and Milo together.

"Yes," said Uncle Fred firmly. Both kids turned to him in alarm, but he didn't seem to notice. "Something did happen," he went on, "but it happened to me, not to Mia and Milo." What was he talking about? "I found out something important this week," he went on. "Maybe you've wondered why I've always been such a drifter, wandered around so much, and had so many different jobs. It's because, when I was a young man just out of college, I fell in love with a girl, but she married another man."

"Oh, poor Uncle Fred," said Mia in sympathy. "Who was it?"

"Your father," said Uncle Fred.

"What?" gasped Milo and Mia. Their mother gasped too.

"Yes, Mary," said Uncle Fred, looking at her. "it was you I wanted to marry all those years ago. But you were happy with my brother, so I went away. I ended up coming back here because I missed my family. But even after Bob died, I never could tell you how I felt-until now," he said.

"Oh, Fred!" said their mother softly. She was blushing.

Fred was turning red, too, but he went on, "Working here and watching over these kids, made me realize how hard things are for you. I've been worrying all week about you and how awful it would be for you, if something happened to - (here he glanced at Milo) - well, to one of them. They need a father, and - and I need you. Will you marry me, Mary?"

Mia and Milo held their breath. Would she say yes?

"Yes," said their mother. Milo and Mia cheered, and then left the room so they wouldn't see any kissing!

They went out in the hall and stared at each other in amazement. "Is there anything that weird old man doesn't know about?" said Mia.

"He did do Uncle Fred a favor," said Milo. "If he hadn't started this whole thing, Uncle Fred wouldn't have told Mom how he felt. Hey, if Uncle Fred helps run the store, maybe I won't have to clean cages any more."

Mia shook her head. "You'll never change," she said. She took out the little snow globe and shook it. Inside, the scenery around the miniature Last Stop Pet Shop turned to autumn, and tiny leaves began falling from the trees. "I never got to tell him "Thank You," she murmured. "Hey, Milo, why do you suppose he gave this to me, when he didn't give you anything?"

"It doesn't matter," said Milo. "Being myself again is a gift." He walked over, looked out the window into the back garden, and sighed.

"What's wrong?" asked Mia.

"Buddy!" cried Milo, flinging his arms around the dog's neck. The dog yipped happily and licked his face. "But it can't be him, can it?"

For an answer, Mia reached over and unpinned a note from the dog's collar. She read it, and then wordlessly handed it to Milo, who read:

Dear Milo,
It took me a while to conjure up one that was just like "Buddy". I hope you like him! P.S. This one is a real dog - and he doesn't read minds!

"Well, thank goodness for that!" said Mia.

The End