"Matthew, watch it!" Buzz warned as he stood defensively in front of Jessie.
"Look out!" Woody exclaimed. Slinky stepped up beside him, hunching his coils.
"Of what?" Matthew and his friends shrugged, confused.
"For that brute!" Jessie angrily pointed her finger at the window as the Falcon hopped down to the floor and slowly approached them. Mitsy trembled but stood firmly in her spot. Jack on the other hand, threw himself in front of all of them and cringed in an attacking stance. He snarled dangerously. The Falcon halted behind Matthew and his other friends.
"What are you all getting your tails all twisted about?" Katan asked, cocking his head.
"What are you doing here?" Jack growled ominously at Falcon.
"Guys, what's the matter?" Matthew asked.
"Matt! Do you know who that no good fowl is?" Buzz asked with a glare.
"He's my friend." Matthew answered.
"That's it!" Potato Head hollered, waving his arms. "Throw them out! Hey, you," he growled up at Matthew and his friends. "Get the heck out of here! We don't want your kind in this place. You're not welcome here!"
"Darling, who is it? What's wrong?" Mrs. Potato Head wailed.
"I'll tell you what's wrong. He's a low, black-hearted buzzard. He was part of the ne'er-do-well's who tried to kill us a while back!" Potato Head explained. His wife gasped and cluing to him.
"Oh, Woody. Make him go away!" She wailed. "Do something before he hurts us!"
"Watch your step, pal." Trixie glared at the bird.
"Oh, this is terrible!" Rex yelped. "Please, please don't hurt us! We mean no harm. Please don't hurt us!"
"Just hang on a sec, guys." Woody gulped, scouring around his noodle for the best way to handle the situation. "Uh, we...let's just...I think we need to talk."
"What's there to talk? I say we string the guy up by his heels, over the trash can in the kitchen!" The angry spud spat.
"It is a thought." Slinky whispered, backing up and protectively surrounding Mitsy, his pal with his spring. She stood inside his safe circle, biting her lip worriedly.
"Woody may be right." Buzz said uneasily, never once taking his eyes off the intimidating fowl that had hurt his family not that long ago. "We...need to keep our heads."
"He has a mouth, let him speak for himself." Jack said, baring his teeth. "What are you doing here?" Falcon cleared his throat.
"J-Jack...i...it's been a while." He stammered nervously. "I...I didn't expect to see you again!"
"Don't change the subject! Answer his question." Buzz commanded and Woody stepped up next to Jack, as did the others.
"Like the sergeant said, we're friends." Falcon scratched his head. "I...I didn't know you all lived here, honest I didn't. I...if I had known, I wouldn't have come. I had no intention or meeting you and bringing back reminders of the terrible things we did to you all, and I'm sorry that I have."
"How cordial." Jessie rolled her eyes with her arms crossed and Bullseye snorted next to her.
"I don't blame you for not believing me." The fierce-looking bird continued. "Matt's kid bought me from the flea market and I must say that I was shocked when I found out that the soldier was one of the toys that Keith had! He knew about my recent former low-life, but I told him that I wanted to start over, and well, he gave me a chance."
"Is that true, Matt?" Woody asked skeptically.
"Yes! It's all true, and he has repented." Matthew answered emphatically. "Believe me, I know!"
"I still say we don't trust vandals like you!" Potato Head spoke up, glaring icily.
"Old spud-head is right." Buttercup spoke up.
Jack, still standing strong and ready to attack if needed, sighed heavily and raised his head. His eyes were still angry, but his tense shoulders slowly became less rigid. He glanced at Woody and Buzz who were both staring at each other, still trying to decide what to do. "Maybe...maybe it'd be best right now if..." he started to speak.
"Matt, I think it might be a good idea at the moment if you guys went back to your new house. At least for right now." Woody gulped, feeling bad for treating their old friend so rashly, yet the need to calm and protect his family urging his mind. He couldn't get to the bottom of this, not right now. There were too many unanswered, wild questions and thoughts racing through their minds. "At...at least until we've all gotten our heads screwed back on properly." Matthew sighed heavily.
"He's right, Matt." Buzz agreed, thankful that they'd come to a solution. "We'll talk later, all right?"
"Yeah." Matthew mumbled. "I see. All right. We'll go, but I would like very much to see you all again. I hope we can still be friends!"
"Aww, you're still our buddy, Matt." Jessie spoke a little softer now. "And it'd be fun to talk of old times."
"Thank you." Matthew smiled sadly.
"And can I come back and play with your hat?" Katan asked Woody excitedly.
"We...we'll...we'll see." Woody cleared his throat.
"Well, it was really nice to meet you all." Alice the elephant smiled sweetly. "I hope we can get together soon."
"We'll try to work that out." Dolly waved.
"We should go now." Matthew said, starting to shuffle his band back out the window. Falcon was the first to go, and tried to assist Iris as Matt also helped her up.
"Ohhh," Mitsy exhaled heavily. Her knees wiggled and she dropped on the floor. Slinky nudged her arm.
"Whoa! You okay, Little Bit?" Woody asked, kneeling down next to her.
"Are you all right?" Buzz added.
"Y-yeah." Mitsy nodded with a slight smile but her teeth were chattering and she still trembled. "I...I'm all right. I guess." She chuckled, trying to stand up. "Just...I don't know."
"I think I do!" Jessie huffed. Woody took the princess's hand and tried to help her stand. She smiled but slipped again.
"Whoops." Woody said with raised eyebrows. Her struggle was making him feel uneasy.
"Here you go." A voice said beside him and Woody glanced over to see...Matthew! He'd sprang to her side to help her up.
"Th...thank you." Mitsy stared at him, grateful but confused.
"Aw, that's all right." Matthew smiled widely.
"Jack?" Woody beckoned the dog over. "Why don't you take Mitsy for a stroll? The rest of us need to unwind." Woody said, rubbing the back of his neck. Buzz raised his eyebrows and fully added his agreement.
"Of course." Jack nodded. "Come on, Precious. Let's go somewhere peaceful." Mitsy nodded and was surprised when Matthew helped her climb onto her dog's back.
"Thank...you." She stared at him.
"Sure." Matthew grinned, and didn't realize that he was still holding her small, feminine hand. Jessie couldn't pry her eyes away from the exchange and she squinted in delight. "Well, I'd better go. Uh, talk to you later, Woody?"
"Yes." Woody nodded and Matthew departed.
As the soldier clambered up to the window with his band, Iris's sparkly violet eyes clouded darkly. She scowled back at the group of toys on the floor and shook her head in disgust. She glared at Mitsy, then turned on her heel.
"What do you intend to do about this, Sheriff?" Dolly asked with her hands on her hips.
"Yeah. What do you think?" Trixie inquired.
"If you ask me, we've got a conspiracy on our hands." Hamm chided.
"It ain't no conspiracy." Slinky interjected. "But I still ain't pleased to see that foul fowl again."
"None of us were." Buzz shook his head. "Especially Mitsy."
"Well, I don't blame her!" Jessie announced with her fists on her hips. "After the awful, rotten mess they put her through, put us through that night, I'm all upset too!" She stomped her boot. Bullseye lowered his ears and hung his head whimpering.
"Could you all give Buzz and me a minute or two?" Woody requested. "Please?"
"Let us know when the plan is in motion." Hamm cocked his head then started to waddle away. Buttercup followed him to finish their browsing through the Consumer Reports catalog. The other toys filed away too, except Bullseye, Slinky, Dolly, and Jessie. They lingered near Woody and Buzz.
"So, what do you think, Woody?" Buzz asked, rubbing his chin.
"I don't exactly know, Buzz." Woody sighed, rearing back his head. "What do you think?"
Buzz shrugged. "Beats me. Though I think Matthew had a lot of guts...er, uh, courage to even associate with that old blasted buzzard after he knows of the things he did."
"I think he's crazy to." Jessie chimed in. "And what did that old hawk mean that he was surprised to find Matthew at Keith's? What's that about? Had they met before?"
"And how about Jack?" Dolly added. "They didn't explain how he and Matthew had met either."
"I have no clue, fellows." Woody shook his head in exasperation. "It sure is a tangled knot. Man, this morning I sure wasn't expecting a bomb like this!"
"Do you think you can trust Matthew?" Dolly asked cautiously.
"Matt we can trust." Slinky barked. "But I ain't too sure yet, of that scaring looking criminal."
"Me either." Jessie huffed. Bullseye cocked his head.
"Well, just remember what happened when we did meet him!" Buzz exclaimed. "We jumped to conclusions about Jack, and...look what happened." He said grimly. "Let's do our best not to make that mistake again!"
"Buzz is right!" Woody declared, wide-eyed.
Do you think the Falcon was telling the truth? Is he just putting on a front? Is he part of a dark, secret plot? Why does Iris seem so offended? Is the Falcon the only old Spikes Gang member who will be in this story? Have all of them repented? Will they show up? Will Matthew have any information later about...Bo Peep? Have to keep reading! Katan is Hebrew for small.