Chapter 4: First Impressions
Cap'n Turbot finally spotted it! He had lost track of a dolphin he was trying to photograph for a few minutes, but there it was! It was a good ten yards off the starboard side of the Flounder. With a steady hand, Cap'n Turbot zoomed in with his camera. The dolphin gave a good strong leap into the air. Click went the camera. Click, click, click. The dolphin leaped again and spun around before splashing back in the water.
"What superb spiraling spins!" he exclaimed to himself. The dolphin swam a few more feet away toward one of his companions. The two swam side by side like rockets in the water. Then they vanished for a brief time. "Hmmm… I wonder where they have gone off to." He took out his binoculars and scanned the seas surface. Skimming left to right no dorsal fins could be spotted.
"Water… water… buoy… something tangled in a lifejacket… Wait a minute. What is that? And, where did that lone lifejacket lug it from?" He put down the binoculars and made his way toward the strange object. Upon getting closer, he could make out the golden fur of some battered animal wrapped in the safety straps of the floatation device. After cleaning his glasses and squinting to make sure that he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing he gasped. Right at that moment, one of the dolphins emerged and arched over the strange orange and gold jumble filling Cap'n Turbots mouth with seawater. Coughing and sputtering, he cleaned off his glasses once more and closed in on the lifejacket.
"I can't believe it," he whispered. "How did a pup end up floating all the way out here and all mangled in a mess of such magnitude?" He saw how injured the pup was and tried to lift her, lifejacket and all, onto his boat. He then gently picked off slimy strands of seaweed from on top of her. Seeing that the lifejacket was old and broken, he decided it would be best to cut away the twisted straps in order to free the pup from those bindings. He knew she was still alive but breathing just barely. When the pup and her little blue bear were finally separated from the orange menace, Cap'n Turbot climbed up the stairs to the upper deck of his boat laid the pup down on a towel with her bear in the shade. After collecting the remnants of the old lifejacket and disposing of it, he picked up his phone and made a call.
"Hello, Cap'n Turbot," came a young cheery voice. "Have you gotten a good picture of those dolphins?"
"Oh yes, Ryder, but that is not why I called."
"What's wrong?" asked Ryder noticing the distress in the captain's voice.
"Well, I was observing a rather odd object out here in the ocean, and when I got a closer look turned out to be a pup fastened to a rather flimsy floatation device. She's definitely not deceased, but she is not doing well."
"Oh wow! Where are you right now?"
"I'm a couple miles north of Seal Island, close to the Cape Catfish Pier."
"Alright, just keep the pup in a shady spot and offer her some water if she is able to take it. The PAW Patrol will meet you out there as soon as we can."
"You got it, Ryder! I'll start making my way back to Adventure Bay and meet you half way." He hung up the phone and turned the Flounder around.
Ryder finished talking with Cap'n Turbot and immediately called in all his pups. "PAW Patrol, to the lookout!"
"Ryder needs us!" came their unanimous response from different area's around the lookout. Chase and Marshall tugging a rope toy, Rubble was taking a nap, Rocky was rummaging through some things in his pup house, and Zuma and Skye were practicing some hula moves they learned on Pup Pup Boogie for the big Luau that night. All the pups dropped their activities and ran over to the lookout elevator. As expected, everyone got to the elevator before Marshall. He would have been there right behind Chase if it weren't that his front paws plunged into an old bucket Rocky had left out. The force of his run sent him into a summersault and then a sideways roll toward the elevator. Fortunately for the pups, Marshall slowed down right before reaching the elevator door. Nevertheless, when he finally managed to free his paws from the cramped bucket, he lost his balance and landed on his back right in the middle of the pups.
"Are you okay, Marshall," asked Rubble.
"Why? Am I looking a little pail?" The pups all laughed as the elevator doors closed and transported them to the Change Room where they suited up and then to the Observatory. Lining up in their usual order Chase gave the word.
"PAW Patrol ready for action, Ryder, Sir!"
"Great timing pups. Cap'n Turbot just called us with an urgent mission for us. While he was out taking pictures of some bottlenose dolphins, he found a badly hurt pup floating in the middle of the water," said Ryder pulling up the footage on the big screen.
"Oh no! How's the pup doing now, Ryder?" asked Skye worriedly
"I'm not sure. That's why for this mission I'm going to need Zuma," he said displaying Zuma's profile. "I need you to use your hover craft to meet Cap'n Turbot on the Flounder half way between Seal Island and the Cape Catfish Pier. We need you in case there's trouble out on the water."
"Let's dive in!" announced Zuma.
"… and Marshall, I need you to use your EMT gear and give this pup a proper checkup. She's got a lot of scrapes and may be dehydrated."
"I'm ready for a ruff, ruff rescue!" cried Marshall eagerly.
"The rest of you pups keep preparing for tonight's luau. I'll call you if I need your help. Alright! PAW Patrol is on a roll!" Zuma, Marshall, and Ryder exited the observatory and strapped themselves into their vehicles as quickly as possible. A mission like this was pretty time sensitive. The rest of the pups stayed up in the lookout dawning worried expressions.
"I wonder how that pup ended up out there?" asked Rocky.
"I wonder if someone is looking for her?" pondered Skye.
"I hope Ryder and the other pups get to her on time. She seemed to be in pretty bad shape," remarked Chase recalling the image of the badly bruised and bleeding pup.
"Yeah," agreed Rubble as the others nodded. "I guess we should start setting up for the party until Ryder, Marshall, and Zuma get back."
Although the pups were concerned about the mystery pup, Mayor Goodway was counting on the PAW Patrol to help her host a special luau for Adventure Bay in honor of the start of summer vacation. She was so proud of how well Adventure Bay's student's had done that school year, she decided to give the kids a fun treat. There would be a limbo competition, coconut carving, hula dancing, lei making, fun music, great food, and even a professional fire juggler, with permission from and under the watchful eye of Marshall, of course. The party was going to be held in the town square. The decorations and equipment were already there. All that was missing were the pups to help set everything up. The mayor had requested the pups be there after lunch and it was already noon. Chase, Rocky, Skye, and Rubble hopped into their vehicles after a quick lunch and headed toward downtown still thinking about the pup they had seen on the big screen.
After a few minutes of zipping northward, Ryder and the pups spotted the Flounder. Ryder contacted Cap'n Turbot.
"We're coming up at your 11 o'clock Cap'n Turbot."
"Ay, ay, Ryder. I've spotted your ATV and Zuma's hovercraft." As soon as they were close enough, Ryder and the two pups quickly climbed aboard Cap'n Turbot's boat. "The pups up here!" hollered the captain from the top of the steps. When the pups and Ryder got up there, he explained to them how he had to cut away the straps of the lifejacket to untangle the pup.
"Using a bwroken lifejacket is totally not safe," said Zuma, "especially if a pup is using one made for humans."
"Right you are, Zuma," commented Cap'n Turbot. "I made sure to put that old thing in the trash." Looking back at the still unconscious pup he said, "She looked very overheated and wasn't waking, so I soaked a towel and placed it on her forehead."
"That was a good idea," Ryder said encouragingly. "Let's have Marshall check her out more thoroughly. Marshall?"
On command, Marshall took out his x-ray screen and checked the pup for any broken bones. Then he checked her pulse and examined all her injuries. Right when he was about to suggest something, the golden retriever began to stir a little and open her eyes. "She's waking up!" announced Marshall joyfully. After taking a dry gulp of air, the pup began coughing. "That's good. Go ahead. Cough as much as you need to," said Marshall gently.
"What…" asked the pup weakly, still in a daze.
"My name's Marshall. I'm here to help you. Can you tell me your name?"
"A-amber," said the pup trying to turn from her side onto her four paws. However, the motion made her scrapes sting horribly and she ended up just laying on her belly with a moan.
"Try not to move too much. You're scraped up pretty badly. I'm going to take your temperature now. Can you open your mouth for me please?"
Amber slowly opened her mouth and saw something come out from the red pack on the pup's back. While the thermometer was in her mouth, Amber looked around. She spotted another pup that looked kind of like her, but with darker fur and a couple of humans, a young boy and a tall man. She noticed that the ground was swaying slightly and could hear the wind and water. Am I still in the ocean? Where did the lifejacket go? Who are these pups? She had so many questions, but before she could say anything Marshall took the thermometer out of her mouth and continued his checkup.
"You still seem to be pretty warm, but Cap'n Turbot has done a good job at cooling you down. You should definitely get rehydrated, but first I need to clean up you cuts and bandage them up so they don't get infected," Marshall told her. "It might sting a little."
Marshall took out some antibacterial cleaning swabs from his pup and a large bundle of bandages. He and Ryder went straight to work. Normally, Marshall would do this on his own, but due to the number of cuts on poor Amber's body, it was a job for two. Amber winced every time the cleansers touched her torn up skin. She braved it as best she could. She knew that she would feel much better after they were done. She could help feel hesitant about having the young boy helping her out. Up until now, most of her experiences with humans hadn't ended very well.
"All done," said Marshall with a friendly smile.
"Hey, Mawrshall. I think you'wre forgetting someone," said Zuma pointing to Amber's bear. Little Blue also had a few cuts, and stuffing was coming out of her arm and side.
"I don't think I've ever had to bandage a teddy bear before, but I'll do my best."
"Oh no Little B- I mean…" started Amber.
"Your bear will be alright. Marshall's the best medic pup I know," said Ryder patting Amber softly on the head mindful of the bandage by her left ear. "When we get back to the Lookout I'll have Katie clean it up and sew back together for you."
"Um, thank you…" said Amber trailing off.
"Oh, my name's Ryder. And, you already know the Dalmatian pup, Marshall. This is Zuma and that's Cap'n Turbot. He's the one that found you and rescued you from the water." Ryder handed Amber a bowl of water. After taking a few small sips, she turned her sore head in the direction of the other human.
"That's right. You were in quite a tight tangle when I found you," he told her.
"What happened to you, Amber," asked Ryder squatting next to her on the floor.
Amber stared down at the specks of light and shade that were made by the sun hitting a portion of the clean towel she now lay on. What was she going to tell them? What would they do if she told them the whole truth? They seemed nice enough, but that's what she thought about her old owner and the family at the pier. She finally managed to speak up. "I was just playing at the beach when I got tangled in that old lifejacket and fell down this rocky into the water. I don't remember anything else," she lied.
"Wow, it's a good thing we got to you so quickly. A few more hours like that out on the ocean could have been really bad for you," Ryder pet Amber gingerly again. She could help but feel comforted despite her stereotype for humans. Amber's stomach growled just then prompting Ryder to say, "You must be hungry. How about the pups and I take you back to the Lookout and we can all have some lunch?"
Amber nodded, embarrassed that her stomach growled so loud. She was definitely hungry and just talking about food was making her mouth water. She slowly got up and tested her legs. It hurt to walk but the bandages made a big difference from how she had felt earlier. Zuma and Marshall were first to walk down the steps. Amber didn't notice that those steps were there and was glad that the other pups went first. She noticed that as they stepped off the edge, they were getting shorter and shorter. Then, went Ryder, but he waited for her on the second step down. "Come on, Amber. I'll take you on my ATV and Marshall will ride with Zuma."
She walked slowly toward the steps and carefully went down them staring down at her paws to make sure she knew where the steps were and when she reached the bottom. Ryder noticed this but thought, maybe, it was just something she was doing because she was hurt and tired. Ryder got into his vehicle and then helped Amber. When she was stepping on the edge before climbing into the seat, she lost her footing and slipped. Ryder caught her but not Little Blue. The bear slid into the water. Amber gave a small whimper.
"It's alright. Zuma, can you dive in after it?" Zuma and Marshall had watched it sink into the water from the hovercraft.
"Wready, set, get wet!" said Zuma already sporting his scuba gear and jumping into the water. Before Amber could turn and see what he was doing, Zuma had disappeared under the water.
Little Blue hadn't sunk very far, only a few feet or so. Although the bear was already a little soaked from before, making it heavier, Zuma caught it before it went too deep. Within just a couple of minutes, Zuma bobbed back over the surface and handed Ryder the drenched bear. Thanks to Marshall's handy work, the bandages still clung tightly to the droopy teddy. Ryder tried squeezing most of the water out and handed it to Amber.
"Hold on tight to it," he said with a small laugh. "We don't want it falling out again."
"Little Blue," whispered Amber hugging her tightly.
"Oh, and Cap'n Turbot, don't forget about the Luau tonight!" shouted Ryder toward the flounder.
"Wouldn't miss it! I can't wait to try Mr. Porter's Polynesian platters and test my luck at the limbo competition," said Cap'n Turbot enthusiastically while pantomiming going under a limbo stick and then slipping on water and falling on his back.
Ryder laughed and waved good-bye. Amber was a little scared about how fast they were moving through the water and not being able to see if they were going to run into anything. She trusted that Ryder knew how to drive well. He did make it to Cap'n Turbot's boat from the Lookout on his way over to rescue her. Her heart pounded as they zipped across the blue water. She wasn't sure what she would find when she got to the… Lookout. What kind of a place was that? Who would be there when they arrived? Where would she be by tonight when everyone would be at the luau? Amber tried to settle her thoughts by staring off the side of the ATV and looking at the water spouting and spraying as they cut through it.