DISCLAIMER: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and their worlds belong to Disney.
Chapter One—The Show Biz
In an old New England town with fences around every tree, there was a quiet contented feel of small town life. Children were frolicking with hoops and running outside, couples were embracing each other while rocking on their porch swings, and the weather was just right for a nice stroll outside. With an end-of-summer breeze in the air everybody could feel that autumn was coming over the town. For many, this meant picking apples and raking leaves and enjoying life. But for the Brown family, which was famous for owning seven dogs at once, life was a completely different story.
The Brown family consisted of Jim Dear and Darling, their son Junior, and their seven dogs. The household was in a frenetic atmosphere because Jim Dear and Darling were planning on participating in a dog show that was open to all dogs. They decided to put their three young triplet dogs, Annette, Danielle, and Colette, into the show to compete. The three girls were all young cocker spaniels, but each had a slightly different appearance. Annette had short ears and a blue collar, Colette had long ears and a red collar, and Danielle had ears that had relatively unkempt fur and a white collar. The girls, who always loved attention and being fussed over, loved the prospect of competing in a dog show. They were regularly talking in the kitchen, usually with great excitement in their voices.
Every day, Annette, Danielle, and Colette practiced for the show. The sisters practiced dazzling poses designed to impress the judges and they also played with makeup and tried out bows and hats. Few dogs ever did these things, but the sisters had a strong fashion sense and loved dressing up. All the time, they posed for Jim Dear and Darling's camera, hoping that their friends would see their unbelievably adorable photos. As everyone in the house knew, the dog show would be starting the very next day. Not surprisingly, Annette, Danielle, and Colette were the first ones to wake up; as they have been for every day in the past week, since they were so happy with all the attention and time preparing for the show.
"Oh, excellent!" Annette giggled loudly as she saw that Jim Dear and Darling crossed another date off on the calendar. "I can't wait for the show! All that glory and glamour will be ours!"
"Me too!" Danielle loudly laughed. "We're gonna have so much fun!"
"Oh, why, this is going to be wonderful when we wear those adorable ribbons!" Colette squealed.
The sisters spent a few hours giggling happily, anticipating the show, and eating the food that Jim Dear and Darling left out for them. But then they stopped and turned abruptly as the kitchen door creaked open and Lady, their mother, stepped onto the kitchen floor. She looked like her daughters, and had feathery, tan fur that was very beautiful. She also had silky long brown ears and deep dark brown eyes, and was known as the prettiest dog in town.
"Girls, it's your bath time," she told them gently, yet at the same time, she could not disguise a note of exhaustion in her voice. Her daughters cheered exuberantly and rushed into the bathroom where Jim Dear was setting up a warm tub of water, filled with bubbles brimming to the top. As the girls giggled with joy, Lady yawned and felt her eyes droop. While she felt happy to be a mother and loved her children, the responsibility of taking care of her boisterous puppies made her exhausted.
Deciding that she needed a rest and that her daughters wouldn't be needing her at the moment, Lady, still yawning, sauntered into the living room, and placed her head on one of the pillows and closed her eyes.
"How are ya doing, Pidge?" came a voice next to her. Lady opened her eyes a little bit and saw her husband, Tramp, sleeping lazily on a couple of pillows. Tramp was a grey, scruffy dog, and he was once the top street dog around town. She was not too surprised that she could detect a hint of boredom in his voice and pose. He still wasn't entirely used to being a housedog.
"I'm sleepy," Lady answered back, smiling affectionately at him and feeling her body relax.
"Yeah," Tramp told Lady. "It's been kinda dull around here. How 'bout we go and have some fun while the girls are at their show? I can show you some of the finest restaurants in town and we can explore beyond those far off hills! How about it Pidge?"
Lady smiled gently, for she knew that lazing around in the house and preparing for dog shows were not activities that were Tramp's cup of tea. But then she thought about how Annette, Danielle, and Colette would feel if she and Tramp didn't show up for the show, and how Jim Dear and Darling would feel if they ran away. She shook her head, and sighed, "But who will watch our daughters at the dog show?"
"You win Pidge," Tramp told Lady, yawning again in resignation.
A few minutes later, Lady heard some scrapping noises nearby, and tearing down the stairs came their only son, Scamp. He was rushing into the living room with Jim Dear's pillow in his mouth. Scamp looked like his father in miniature, and as Lady saw him with that pillow, she thought about how he acted like him too. His girlfriend, Angel, who also lived in the house, followed Scamp down the stairs. She was a blonde puppy with bright blue eyes, a puffy tail, and a large tuft of fur on her head. Lady smiled, she knew that like Tramp, neither of them were at all interested in being fancied up for the show. Instead, Scamp and Angel spent their time playing games like chase, tag, ball playing, and their favorite, pillow fighting. The two puppies were fighting over a pillow with intensity, which Tramp watched amusedly.
"Watch this," Scamp told Angel, growling ferociously and biting at the pillow.
"Oh, that was so smooth," Angel replied sarcastically, biting at the pillow, tugging it away from Scamp, which resulted in him falling to the ground. Angel teasingly laughed, "You're weird, tenderfoot."
"Oh yeah?" Scamp asked daringly.
Lady watched the situation tiredly, but then she rushed over as Scamp caused the pillow to begin loosing feathers. She was worried that Jim Dear might not like his favorite pillow being torn apart. "Oh Scamp," she told him, rather concernedly. "Don't damage that one… that pillow was in our family for ages. It has been Jim Dear's favorite pillow for as long as I can remember…" She indicated a living room pillow that was already half torn up. "Why not try that one?"
"Come on, Mom!" Scamp told her unconcernedly. "It's just a pillow."
"Besides, it's fun!" Angel added, before she resumed playing with a play-growl, saying, "That's mine, tenderfoot!"
Tramp stretched, stood up, and walked over to Lady. "Pidge, give them a break. They're bored in here, they already ripped up that other pillow, and they're not interested in dog shows. See Pidge, you'd never understand, you've never been a street dog. You'd have no idea what it's like. You'd be happy to be part of a family, but at the same time you'd lose all those chances for fun and adventure, and you'd always be feeling cooped up. "
"I suppose you're right," Lady told Tramp, and the two of them returned to their pillows. "But it is kind of sad, I was a good girl during my puppy days and I always did what Jim Dear and Darling would want. And… I'm worried for them, Tramp."
"Relax, all our kids have a tramp in them," Tramp added, and the two of them laughed and Lady smiled in relief, appreciating his comfort.
But at the next moment, Jim Dear walked into the living room. He didn't look very pleased at Scamp and Angel, who were still fighting over his pillow.
"Oh no, not my pillow!" Jim Dear declared. "I knew that seven dogs would be too many," he added, glowering at Scamp and Angel. Angel hung her head, while Scamp smiled guiltily. "Outside, you two."
Jim Dear picked them up and took them outside as Scamp and Angel squirmed. He put them out on the front porch. As Jim Dear shut the front door and left to the kitchen to resume giving the sisters their baths, Lady stuck her head out the front door's dog flap, watching Scamp and Angel, who both looked very upset.
"We shouldn't have done that," Angel sighed. "It was stupid of us, really."
"But we don't deserve this!" Scamp shouted. "We just wanted to have fun! I told you that families are horrible sometimes! Look where going home got me! In trouble again! Sometimes families are just rules, rules, rules," Scamp spat angrily. "Maybe we should just leave."
"Oh, tenderfoot, it's still better in here than to live in the street," Angel told him firmly. "You don't know what it's like to have no family… and be an orphan."
Scamp stopped as Angel sighed, looking up at the skies. "It's been rough for me. My daddy died before I was born. And my mama has been locked up in the pound; and from what I've heard, she's no longer here with us. So ever since I lost Mama I haven't really had a family...and your parents searched for you when you ran away and took me in. I'm sure they care about us, don't you think? Now that I no longer have Mama, they're the best I can do for parents. So I don't know about you, but I'm not leaving."
"What about the humans?" Scamp asked. "They set up all these rules. They can't care about us!"
"Well, at least they feed us and give us a warm home… that's more than Buster ever did." Scamp resigned, and realized that Angel was never going to run away from his family.
Back inside, Jim Dear and Darling were talking impatiently. "Those two ripped up another one of our old pillows," Jim Dear told Darling annoyed. "This is the… fourth? I believe?"
"Yes, Jim Dear," Darling told him serenely, but with a tone of impatience in her voice.
"And that was my favorite pillow," Jim Dear complained, holding up the torn pillow. "Now I'll never get any more sleep."
A few hours passed, and it was getting to be mid-afternoon. Angel and Scamp were still fuming about being locked out, and Lady came out to join them. She smiled at Scamp and Angel, and brought out their food dishes. "Scamp, Angel, here are your food dishes," Lady told them, placing them gently in front of them.
Angel replied, "Thanks," and she and Scamp voraciously began to eat.
"How could you stand being locked out all the time?" Angel asked Scamp, with food on her face as her fur stood up irritably. Lady gasped in horror. Apparently, the lengthy punishment's frustrations were even getting to her.
"I couldn't," Scamp answered angrily. "Angel, don't you understand now? That's why I ran away."
Angel nodded slowly, pondering what he was saying. Lady could tell that Scamp's words were impacting Angel, so she hurriedly told them, "You two, Jim Dear and Darling don't feel that good. Your sisters are heading to a grand dog show, so Jim Dear and Darling are nervous and overworked with all of the preparations. We've had so many good times together, and it will get better once the show is over, I promise."
Lady softly nuzzled Scamp, and then she went back into the house.
Angel and Scamp were silent for a bit, before Scamp said, They never change from this."
"Yeah," Angel sighed. On a slightly brighter note, she added. "Well, at least we can talk about our old adventures. They're always something to cheer up about."
"Hey… why don't we just have some new adventures ourselves!" Scamp cried, standing up and wagging his tail. "We can just sneak out and have fun!"
"But Jim Dear and Darling will catch us! We'll be in real trouble!" Angel cried. "Then we'll lose our home, we'll be thrown back out on the streets and no one will take us in!"
"Not quite," came a soft, slow drawl. "Someone will always take you in, Angel…"
Scamp and Angel instantly turned, and then, a small, scruffy blonde dog with a large, puffy tail and bright blue eyes came out of the bushes and walked up to the steps in front of the house, smiling. Scamp didn't recognize her. But Angel froze, stared at her for a moment with surprise, with her eyes widening, before gasping, "Mama!"