MISSING

CHAPTER 4-The Framing Truth-CHAPTER 4

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"Ribbot... being... Bessie... cutting... chopping... metal... got, pieces..." Meg spoke up. She was panting pretty hard.

"What were you saying?" Hector asked.

"I'll tell the story," Amoon told them. "Okay. We were taking a walk to Tom Nook's store, when we heard screaming and some kind of machine," she started.

"We got very curious," Meg said. She was still panting, but only slightly. "We decided to follow the screams and see what was going on. If it was serious, we'd report it to Officer Copper."

"And then what?" Goldie asked curiously. Megan's ears perked up to hear the next part.

"It was VERY serious, you guys wouldn't believe us," Meg stated. "Say... have you seen Ribbot all day at least once?"

"That's the reason we came here for," Hector replied. "No one in Brampton has seen or talked to him today. We got pretty suspicious, so we came here to look."

"What's next?" Whitney asked, her face shaking in horror. She had predicted that Bessie had done something to Ribbot, and it was NOT going to be pretty.

"We found Bessie cutting Ribbot's metal pieces in half," Amoon said, knowing they weren't going to like it.

"Ew, ew, ew..." Goldie said, shuddering and covering her eyes.

Whitney, Megan, Amoon, Goldie, Meg, and Hector were walking by the beach. An eerie silence hung in the air, after they all heard what had happened to Ribbot.

Meg watched the waves splashing on the shore. It reminded her of her parents, back at home in a small town called Sedgegrass. The people were very friendly and nice, the area was clean and not a weed was in sight, and the Mayor always gave free presents on the first day of each month. She sighed, remembering the old, good days.

Until she was forced to move to another town like this.

It was a long time ago. She was only a small little girl, maybe at the age of four years old. Hanni and Amoon hadn't been born yet.

She was just playing with seashells and relaxing by the beach with her friends, Maria: a human who was very friendly but tough, and Amy: a pink hedgehog who people always saw her as sweet and kind.

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard, and the docker, Kapp'n, told them, "Hurry up, children! Quickly get back home and pack up! An evil force has attacked us!" Then, he added, "I'll come with you."

Amy dragged Kapp'n towards their houses to start packing. Maria had already gone ahead, clearing the way with her karate moves.

After a few seconds, they reached their houses and Kapp'n started packing. Their parents were already carrying bags over their shoulders and beckoning their children to hurry up and get in the boat by the dock.

After they were done, they all headed towards the beach. They arrived in a few minutes with a few more neighbors waiting. Everyone piled into the boat as Kapp'n and his friend, Swabber, rowed the oars away from the town.

They rowed for a long time, till it was clear they were stuck in the middle of the ocean. Swabber looked at a map and pointed out that there were three islands to the west, and a few villages and towns to the northeast.

They headed off to Artail Island, the nearest, and made a bunch of new friends. There was a family of foxes, the twin rabbits named Hannie and Bunnie, Poncho and Punchy the cats, and Stella the human and resturant owner of Artail. There was also the twin rabbits' cat, Sceptar, and Poncho and Punchy's tough dog, Peanut, that looked like a squirrel.

They spent a few weeks. After a month, they left and came across more villages and islands, finding more and more people and friends. Finally, they reached The Windmill, a small town, where Amy, Maria, her parents, and Amy and Maria's parents decided to stay there.

She grew up to become seven years old. Amoon and Hanni were now born. The three of them all ventured out together to different towns, finally coming across DinoTown.

The three girls settled in with the neighbors, buying houses and upgrades from Tom Nook, keeping the town healthy and clean, and always helping their friends.

But today, of all days, Bessie had killed Ribbot.

The question stuck up in her mind like a splinter on a finger. Why? Why did Bessie kill Ribbot? There HAS to be a logic explanation. Hmm... maybe Ribbot did something that made her mad... No, couldn't be that... How 'bout...

Her thoughts were interrupted when Hector hissed, "Lookit!"

Everyone took cover behind the lighthouse and nearby trees as they watched Bessie, Purrl, Pinky, and Leigh walking and chatting with each other. Whitney couldn't believe it, and neither could Goldie. Bessie had actually escaped from the jail?

Suddenly, without any warning, Hector jumped out and startled them all. The girls screamed and jumped back, waiting to face the consequences.

"Hey!" Leigh shouted when she realized she was only facing a blue chicken. "Who do you think you are, scaring us all like that?"

"Who does Bessie think she is when she escapes from jail?" Hector countered. There was an akward silence. Then, Bessie shouted out, "ME? Escaping from jail? Don't tell me this is some kinda prank, right?!"

"No, it's not a prank." Goldie, Megan, Whitney, Meg, and Amoon finally came out of hiding. "It's true!" Amoon shouted. "It was really true! We saw you cutting Ribbot, and we took the metal, and..."

"No," Pinky said. "It's not true. We were at Purrl's house the whole time. We swear! You can even ask Kabuki and Alfonso. They were there, too."

There was a moment of silence. Then, Meg asked in a soft voice:

"If the real Bessie wasn't cutting Ribbot's metal, then who did?"

Next Chapter--Preview:

Town of DinoTown--12:09 PM August 4th: Police Office

"Oh, my!" Goldie shouted, looking at the fake Bessie, which was now embedded with a tangle of wires and a tiny computer screen.

There was a silence. Finally, Purrl shouted, "SEE? We didn't do anything! Kabuki and Alfonso... we swear, they have proof! We were with them, we swear..."

"Okay! We believe you!" Officer Copper shouted. "In the meanwhile, I'll ask Officer Booker to try and find the user for this. We might pick a few clues and find some suspects." He turned to the others. "In the meanwhile, I suggest you all keep an eye out for each other, your friend, and the killer. I'll just put up a notice on the bulletin board so people'll be aware."

After that speech, everybody left without going their own ways. Goldie, Hector, and Megan went back to Brampton to stay in Whitney's house. Meg and Amoon promised that they would be careful as they searched for Hanni. The girls, meanwhile, said that they were having a sleepover anyway, and they would have a few boys as well for protection.