Chapter 2: An Unlikely Ally

Dear Diary,

It has been one week since the disappearance of our precious Scamp, Annette, Collette and Danielle. On the night of the Second of January, my husband and I put them to bed in the usual place - that little dog-basket which we keep in the corner of the sitting room. Alas, when we came to feed them on the morning of the Third, they were all gone without a single trace.

During the six days since their disappearance, I, my husband Jim Dear, and the pups' loving parents, Lady and Tramp, have been searching all over for them. We have tried placing notices on every lamp-post in town, as well as visiting all of our neighbours' houses, but - alas again - it seems that no-one knows where they may have been, not even the local Dog Pound.

This has been a sad time in all of our lives...

Yours truly, Darling.

"What do you think of those ones, then?"

The grey-and-white mongrel pressed his paw against the painted window of the pet shop. The gesture indicated a trio of small black-and-brown pups, with soft, floppy ears.

"They're nice... I guess..." replied the orange Cocker Spaniel who was standing next to him. "But do you really think that we should be looking to adopt?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call it 'adopting'," said the mongrel.

"What I'm saying, Tramp," the Spaniel explained, "is that it's far too early to be looking for a new litter. If our children had been gone for, say, two years, then maybe I would have considered it - but not now."

Tramp had nothing to say to this; he simply looked down at the floor, with a sorrowful look on his face.

"There is still a chance of our pups coming back," Lady continued. "Even if it does take two years."

"But what are we going to do while they're gone, huh?"

"Well... nothing! If we had those puppies in the window in our house, what would we do with them, if - and when - our own puppies were to come back?"

Again, Tramp had no answer. Lady gave a quick hmph, before walking away from him, making her own way back to the neighbourhood.

January 10, 0500 Hours Sodor Time; January 9, 2100 Hours Pacific Time.

In a secret place high above the clouds, the doors of a golden elevator opened. Inside, there were standing a very different pair of dogs. The first of the two, a German Shepherd cross, stepped out on to the cloudy floor. At the other side of the room from him, a pink Whippet was sat at her desk.

"Welcome, Charles," she said. "I must apologise for summoning you at this time of night, but strange things have been happening down on Earth."

After this, Charles's friend Itchy, the Dachshund, left the elevator, and took his place next to the Shepherd.

"Strange things, huh?" said Charles, in a curious manner. "We're all ears, Annabelle."

The elevator then closed its doors, and began to slowly descend.

"Of course," Annabelle continued. "But we cannot possibly begin until we are all present."

Suddenly, another lift came up. In direct contrast to the other, it had shot up at a dizzying rate. It came to an abrupt stop, and the doors sprang open like a Venus fly-trap in reverse.

"Uuuuunngghh..." groaned the female Irish Setter who was standing inside. Well, perhaps not 'standing' as such, but rather, stumbling about on two legs.

"I," said Annabelle, "must also apologise for the elevator mechanism being so horribly unbalanced. If you are feeling nauseous, Miss La Fleur, then you have every right to complain to the Worker Angels."

"It's all right, Ms. Annabelle," the Setter replied. "I wouldn't say I'm feeling nauseous - just a little shaken, that's all."

"That's fine. Now, could the three of you please make your way to my desk? I have an important briefing to give."

Once Charles, Itchy, and Sasha La Fleur had taken their seats, the briefing began.

"I have received news," Annabelle introduced, "that a terrible incident has occurred on a small island in the Irish Sea."

She then took out a slip of parchment from underneath the desk, and started to read from it:

"On the Ninth of January, at a time of 2300 hours, Greenwich Mean Time, a locomotive driver named Ernest Shanks was shot in the head by an unknown assailant. Afterwards, his train, led by the locomotive Henry, was commandeered. Using information provided in an eyewitness report from a Mister Adrian Jepson, we have arrived at the suspicion that the one who commandeered the train may be the infamous Carface Carruthers."

Upon hearing that name, each of the three canines gave a small gasp.

"That truly is terrible," said Charlie. "But how could it have been Carface? I mean, after we - or rather, he - put a stop to the plans of... well, you-know-who, didn't he become a good guy?"

"I guess so," Sasha replied. "Heck, I even kissed him on the cheek afterwards. Perhaps there's something larger going on now, that not even we know about."

"Or perhaps," Itchy chipped in, "it, you know, might be something to do with Be-"

"Shhh!" Sasha hissed. "Don't say it!"

"Oops, sorry... you-know-who..."

"Ahem - anyway," Annabelle continued. "Before you go, I have something to give out to the three of you."

She then reached under the desk a second time, and took out what appeared to be a set of pink collars.

"These," she said, "may look like collars, but they are, in fact, Invisibility Devices."

After that, the Whippet got up from her seat, and motioned for the other dogs to do the same, before passing one of the devices to each of them.

"So, how do we use these?" Charlie asked, before slowly raising his device up towards his neck.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" said Annabelle, in a slight panic. "First things first, Charles. Once you have fastened the Invisibility Device in place, you cannot take it off."

"Whoops. Sorry."

Annabelle then took a step back, and began her proper explanation to Charlie and the others about the devices.

"When the switch on the side of the small box is set to the on position, the wearer will become completely invisible to the naked eye. Likewise, if you slide it back to the off position, you will become visible again. However, the devices produces a loud noise whenever it is toggled, so be careful when using it within earshot of others."

She then helped each of them to fit their devices.

Once hers was fastened, Sasha gave a little twirl, showing off the Invisibility Device as though it were a fashion item.

"How do I look?" she asked Charlie.

"You look... great," he replied. "The pink looks good on you."

"Ha, ha. Then again, you two boys are wearing pink ones too. I hope you don't get embarrassed!"

"Cooolll..." said Itchy, as he flicked the switch on his device. The loud whirring noise started up, as he began to slowly fade out...

Once he was completely invisible, he started to jump about, saying "Yippee! It's just like old times," as he went.

"Now, now," said Annabelle. "There will be a time and a place to be using the Invisibility Devices. I hope that you will use them responsibly."

"... Yes, Ms. Annabelle..." Itchy sighed, as he flicked the switch back, before fading back in.

Annabelle then picked up a small horn-shaped mouthpiece, and prepared to speak into it.

Somewhere downstairs, another two dogs were sat around a small, cloud-shaped table. Near them, was the other end of the voice tube.

"No, no," said the first dog, a Chihuahua. "For me, it sounds more like, 'Yahúúú!'"

"Come now, that's not a howl," replied the Basset Hound opposite him. "A real howl sounds like this... Harooooooooo!"

Then, Annabelle's voice came through the tube.

"Prepare portal 984C," she spoke. "The Island of Sodor - 984C."

However, the Basset Hound's howling had drowned out most of the message, and he and his Chihuahua friend had only heard the last three syllables.

"Eight-four-cee!" said the Basset. "Put that on the board, Alfonso!"

"Sí, Señor!" Alfonso replied, as he began to slide around the marble beads on the table-top. The beads were positioned on something that resembled a Go board, and the arrangement of the beads corresponded to the digits of the portal's code.

"It's ready, Señorina!" he shouted back up the tube, once the last bead was in place. "Ocho-cuatro-ce!"

Back in Annabelle's room, a small portal opened up in the floor underneath the hero-dogs' feet.

"Wait a moment," said Annabelle, trying to interpret Alfonso's Spanish. "Ocho means eight, and cuatro means four... but I did not hear a nueve..."

She then continued speaking into the mouthpiece. "I think you might have missed out one of the digits!"

But it was too late. The heroes had already fallen into the portal, and were now swirling into the spiralling, pink void.

"Oh, no..." the pink Whippet sighed, shaking her head, as she looked down the hole. "This is not good."

At the other end of the portal, Charlie, Itchy, and Sasha tumbled out of a large mirror, and crashed on the floor in a heap.

"Ooooff..." Itchy groaned. "Well, that was a crash landing..."

"Ugh!" Sasha snorted, trying to shake Charlie off her. As she got to her feet, she tried to take a look around... but it was pitch black.

"Where the heck are we?" Charlie asked.

"I have no idea," Sasha replied. "Where's the light switch?"

Then, the three of them heard a voice.

"... Huh? Hold on, Pidge. I think I heard something."

A door then opened somewhere, allowing a small amount of light into the hallway - just barely enough to read by.

The heroes watched as a medium-sized mongrel dog advanced towards them. He had grey fur, with an off-white underbelly, and even though he had some of the features of a Giant Schnauzer, the shape of his body suggested otherwise.

"What the..." he whispered, as he walked up to the trio. "What are you doing in my house?"

The heroes then quickly exchanged glances, hoping to come up with an explanation that would convince the mongrel.

"We... are here... to investigate something," Itchy responded.

"Investigating? Is this anything to do with the disappearance of a litter of puppies, by any chance?"

"Sorry?" said Charlie. "No, not that I... er, we, know of."

"Shh," said Sasha, clasping her paw over his mouth, before turning back towards the mongrel. "Have you been hearing about any... commandeerings in your area?"

"Commandeering? What...? Frankly, I have no idea what we're trying to get at here."

Itchy then whispered in Sasha's ear:

"Annabelle said our destination was... this 'Island of Sodor' or something? I don't know."

Sasha gave a small nod, before speaking to the mongrel again, in the most polite voice she could manage.

"Is this the Island of Sodor, my good sir?"

"... I'm afraid not," came the reply. "This is the State of Connecticut, in New England."

The heroes then exchanged glances again, and had a short whispering discussion about what could have caused them to end up here.

"Connecticut," Sasha whispered, "is most definitely not in the Irish Sea."

"Wait a second," said Itchy. "I think... I just think, I heard Annabelle saying... err, something about missing out one of the digits?"

"Of course!" said Charlie, raising his voice slightly above the level of whispering. "We must have been sent to the wrong portal. Nice work, Itch - I guess those flappy ears have some use after all."

Itchy looked at him with a stern gaze, before going back to the mirror.

"Huh... flappy ears... heh!"

He was about to place his paw on the glass, when the image of Annabelle suddenly faded in, almost as if she had read his mind.

"Oh, Mr. Itchiford! Thank Heaven you're still all right. It appears that Alfonso here was messing about on the job!"

She then turned around to speak to the Chihuahua.

"Connect portal 84C to portal 984C," she commanded. "Double time!"

"Sí, Señorina Annabelle, sí!" he acknowledged, as he frantically re-positioned the beads on the board.

Before long, the mirror in the hallway had become a swirling whirlpool of pink, and it was beginning to suck in the dogs who were standing before it. The trio of heroes were swept off their feet, as they flew into the void once again.

But, the mongrel was being pulled in too...

"Tramp!" came a shout from the opened door. "No, Tramp! Don't go!"

Tramp tried to hold on to the carpet, but it was no use. The gravitational pull of the portal was so great, that it separated his claws from the fibres.

"Piiiiiiiidge!" the mongrel yelled, as he disappeared through the mirror. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

Lady tried to chase after him, but the portal quickly closed up. The Spaniel failed to stop in time, and she crashed into the glass, leaving the mirror badly cracked.

"Oh, dear..." she cried, as she observed the damage. "How in the world am I going to explain this to Jim Dear?"

"Uh, oh..." said the Basset, who was now looking at the portal map. "There were meant to be three dogs inside that portal, right, Alfonso?"

"Sí?"

"Then why are there four?"

"Oh, no... I closed the portal too late..."

"Alfonso, you nincompoop! Annabelle is going to have you fired when she finds out about this!"

He then walked away from the table, and before making his way to the elevator.