Chapter IV: A Tabby in Downtown City
"At least it's no longer Monday," said Garfield to himself as the truck rolled down the Pennsylvania Turnpike over the river Susquehanna south of Harrisburg, "but that was quite a nightmare!" He wondered if his latest bad dream was going to prove an omen like the one he had had the night before back in Muncie. Later that morning, the truck arrived in the suburbs of Philadelphia, but rather than chance the traffic of the inner city for the time being, the driver wisely turned onto I-276 at King of Prussia so that he could reach Downtown City before noon.
The truck crossed the river Delaware without stopping in the Philadelphia area, reaching the outskirts of town at 10 in the morning on the New Jersey Turnpike. Garfield could sense that traffic was becoming heavier as Downtown City approached because the truck was slowing down. Even so, by 11:00 the semi was crossing Downtown City Harbour. Hence, although the semitrailer would be emptied at a loading facility on the edge of town, it would be only an hour or so before Garfield could get out and look for a phone to call Jon as to his whereabouts.
Shortly after that, the semi arrived at a warehouse that could contain the one in Muncie one hundred times over. Garfield knew this from the sound of the engine ceasing. Nearby stood a Costco, which Garfield spotted as soon as he had peered out the hatch of the semitrailer. However, he knew that he hadn't a membership with the store, let alone money to buy food there. In order to shop there, he always had to go through Jon, who was now hundreds of miles away and might become very reluctant to shop there anymore in the wake of what Garfield had done to Nermal. His ideal in the situation was to find a phone somewhere, somehow to call Jon, but he knew nobody who might help him. His only option, therefore, was to try to convince a total stranger to come to his aid.
As Garfield started to make his move, though, he heard the driver of the truck out of which he had jumped scream: "WHERE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE IS MY RAVIOLI?!"
"Oh no!" cried Garfield. "I've been caught and have nowhere to go! I must get out of this warehouse area—but how? As a cat, I obviously can't drive, so I'll have to hitch a ride somewhere. I guess I'd better run."
Despite his weight, Garfield was able to escape the irate truck driver and his coworkers. He ran towards the northeast for as long as he was able, covering two miles. By the time he had gotten that far, the offended party had lost him. But there still remained the issue of finding a phone somewhere—and now, he had digested the ravioli that had kept him going until now. Then, he spotted an Italian restaurant on the other side of I-278. He crossed under the highway to the restaurant, and in an alleyway nearby, there lay some unused bread! It was a bit stale, to be sure, but as with the ravioli in the truck, it was better than nothing. "How I enjoy the simple things in life," declared Garfield with a mouth full of Italian bread.
But then, he remembered what he needed to do: find a phone and call Jon, who must be worried to the point of losing sleep. At that point, a thought popped into his head: What if the pet shop in my bad dream last night is actually my best hope? Surely they must have an available phone, seeing as they have to have some way of reserving places for the pets that their workers look after when the pets' masters have things to do. Being unfamiliar with Downtown City, Garfield made his way along a narrow street to another main road called Kent Avenue. At the corner, he found a map of the area, which had been set up to guide bus riders to their destination. He charged down Kent Avenue before running into a policeman, asking the officer: "Do you know the way to Oak Street? I saw a pet shop on it in a dream."
At first, the policeman was confounded by Garfield's ability of sentient communication. But, seeing the cat's eyes of desperation, he replied: "Let me take you there. I've been to that establishment many times, especially when our squad dogs were puppies."
"Thanks, officer." Unknown to the cop was the fact that Garfield was not from Downtown City, while Garfield didn't object to riding with a dog. All that he wanted to do was get to the store and find a phone. At length, the squad car reached Oak Street, and Garfield hopped out at a building numbered 72. It was a modest yet glassy two-story building. This was the edifice Garfield had seen in his dream the night before, so he hesitated to step inside. He decided after a few moments to enter the building.
When he did, there was nobody at the counter. He wondered if it must be abandoned or something along those lines. Then, without warning, he heard a dumbwaiter being lowered. As it descended, a girl of sixteen emerged from the vault.
It was the same girl Garfield had seen in his dream. "I must have some ability to see omens!" he said under his breath.