Men at Arms (Discworld 15)

His forepaws touched the slates, clawed for a moment on the slick surface, and found no hold. In silence he skidded backwards down the roof, over the edge—

—and hung.

He turned his eyes upwards, to the dog that was gripping him.

'Gaspode? Is that you?'

'Yeff,' said Gaspode, his mouth full.

There was hardly any weight to the poodle but, then, there was hardly any weight to Gaspode. He'd darted forward and braced his legs to take the strain, but there was nothing much to brace them against. He slid down inexorably until his front legs were in the gutter, which began to creak.

Gaspode had an amazingly clear view of the street, three storeys down.

'Oh, hell!' said Gaspode.

Jaws gripped his tail.

'Let him go,' said Angua indistinctly.

Gaspode tried to shake his head.

'Stop ftruggling!' he said, out of the corner of his mouth. 'Brave Dog Faves the Day! Valiant Hound in Wooftop Wefcue! No!'

The gutter creaked again.

It's going to go, he thought. Story of my life . . .

Big Fido struggled around.

'What are you holding me up by?'

'Yer collar,' said Gaspode, through his teeth.

'What? To hell with that!'

The poodle tried to twist, flailing viciously at the air.

'Ftop it, you daft fbugger! You'll haf uff all off!' Gaspode growled. On the opposite roof, the dog pack watched in horror. The gutter creaked again.

Angua's claws scored white lines on the slates.

Big Fido wrenched and spun, fighting the grip of the collar.

Which, finally, snapped.

The dog turned in the air, hanging for a moment before gravity took hold.

'Free!'

And then he fell.

Gaspode shot backwards as Angua's paws slipped from under her, and landed further up the roof, legs spinning. Both of them made it to the crest and hung there, panting.

Then Angua bounded away, clearing the next alley before Gaspode had stopped seeing a red mist in front of his eyes.

He spat out Big Fido's collar, which slid down the roof and vanished over the edge.

'Oh, thank you!' he shouted. 'Thank you very much' Yes! Leave me here, that's right! Me with only three good legs! Don't you worry about me! If I'm lucky I'll fall oft before I starve! Oh yes! Story of my life! You and me, kid Together! We could have made it!'