Windfall
Chapter VII
House Arrest
Pop came back to himself after a few minutes of mourning. He had killed his son—accidentally—too many times, and saw him revived too many times, for it to have more than minimal effect. The first time his son got killed in Happy Tree Town, he mourned the entire day, and into the next, until he discovered that his Cub miraculously came back. He taught it was a fluke. The next time it happened, he accepted that death was not permanent.
He took a scattered sheet and covered his son with it. He made a silent prayer for his son before he made preparations for his burial. Unlike the others, who simply dump and cover the bodies of their friends until they revived, when Cub was killed, he buries the body on the same plot of ground in his backyard and puts Cub's tombstone over it. The tombstone is kept on his house until Cub dies, then put on the ground on burial, and retrieved and kept when he was revived.
But first, he must find Petunia. Maybe she was asleep, or hiding somewhere in the house, and she didn't hear him the first time or was too afraid of Shifty and Lifty to respond?
"Petunia! It's Pop! There's nothing to fear! Shifty and Lifty are dead!" Pop shouted.
Petunia could clearly hear the deep loud voice of Pop. Pop was standing just in front of the walk-in closet where she was bound and gagged when he shouted. It was frustrating to the skunk to say the least. He was so close, yet so far away. She again screamed, and sighed when she could hardly hear her own voice.
Pop began to search the house. He searched each room on both floors, the basement, the attic, the bathroom, but no Petunia. He did not bother to look on the walk-in closet for the simple reason that he shouted his call right in front of it, and she would have heard and signalled him if she was there.
He came back to the living room and began to shout again. "Petunia! Are you okay? Please respond!"
Pop heard a knock on the front door, and thinking it was Petunia, rushed to open it. It was Cuddles, Flippy, Giggles, and Sniffles.
"Pop! What are you doing here? Where's Petunia?"
Pop told them what happened, but neglected to inform them of his call to the police.
"How about you? What are you doing here at this late hour?" Pop asked in turn.
"Well, Shifty and Lifty tried to kidnap Giggles earlier in the night," Cuddles said. "We stopped them. Giggles fainted and when she woke up, she told us that Shifty and Lifty told her that they are going to Petunia next."
"Yes, but is that all?" Pop asked.
Cuddles decided to come clean. "Well, you know the two previous attacks on Giggles, right? I was concerned. I know they wanted to kidnap Giggles!"
"Cuddles!" Giggles chided. "It's robbery—"
"Oh stop it!" Cuddles shot back. "You should know by now it's not robbery. It's about kidnapping! They are after you! The events of the night prove it! They didn't even try to rob your house for crying out loud!"
Giggles couldn't really argue the point since Shifty and Lifty themselves threatened to take her with them.
"Well, as you can see, Giggles did not want to believe that they are after her, so she did not accept my offer of help. I decided I'd keep watch over her whether she liked it or not. However, Toothy and I were busy, so we asked Flippy to watch over her."
"What? You asked them to watch over me without telling me about it?" Giggles answered, hurt.
"If I asked you, you would've refused, and if I didn't, you'd still be in the hands of Shifty and Lifty!" Cuddles answered.
Giggles looked apologetically to the yellow rabbit. "I'm sorry. Sometimes, my pride gets in the way of my common sense."
"And we spotted Shifty and Lifty in Giggles house. They escaped but we prevented them from taking Giggles," Cuddles said. "The rest you already know."
"What should we do then?" asked Sniffles.
Flippy glanced around the room and saw, just behind the couch, the dead bodies of Shifty and Lifty. He again nearly flipped. "I suggest disposing the bodies of those thieves. I'll do that! The others can clean the house, and look for Petunia."
Before anybody could reply, they heard a police siren.
"Did anybody call the police?" Giggles asked.
"I did," Pop said.
Everyone looked at the door as a harsh knock was heard. Pop opened the door, and Police Chief Lumpy, wearing a police chief's uniform, entered arrogantly. Lumpy normally was friendly, kind, warm-hearted and simple, but when his job requires it, he can be greedy, arrogant, thoughtless, and bossy. In his job as Police Chief, he was bossy, arrogant, but decisive, even if a bit lacking in brilliance.
Lumpy looked around. "Okay. There's a crime that's happened here, and you're all at the scene of the crime. This is Petunia's house. You're not supposed to be here. As of now, all of you are under suspicion. You are suspects of conspiracy. Unless you tell me exactly what happened!" He said it with authority that brooked no dissent. The others perfectly knew that he's capable of throwing them in jail on mere whim, as he did with Handy and the Mole when their car was stolen by the raccoons. He's not brilliant, smart, but he has doggedness, and if he's on your track, you better watch out. After all, he was actually one of few of the Tree Friends (aside from Flippy) who had killed somebody on purpose to do his job better (i.e. Toothy when he worked as a Toy merchant during one Christmas Season).
Yet he did not lack charisma. He had enough to win Cuddles' adulation when he decided to form a band with Handy, Russell, and Sniffles. He also was admired by Toothy, Giggles and Petunia as a champion surfer. He had enough abilities to be willingly followed by the others when he appointed himself leader—even if those lead to disaster.
"Well? Don't just stare there like idiots! Talk!" Lumpy demanded.
Flippy, Pop, and Cuddles told Lumpy what had happened.
"Oh I see. Well, before anything else, clean up this mess! Flippy, you clean up those bodies! Cuddles, you clean up the mess those raccoons made! Sniffles, well, make yourself useful by writing what you've just heard into a report! Giggles, search the house again for Petunia!" Lumpy ordered in a loud voice.
They scampered around to do their assigned tasks. Lumpy himself helped Cuddles by gathering some scattered dirty bed sheets on the floor of the living room. Looking for a place to dump it, he saw the walk-in closet. He opened the door, and without looking in, quickly threw the sheets in and closed the door.
Petunia was hopeful when he heard more of her friends arrive. She was very happy when the door to the walk-in closet opened. She shouted for all she was worth when she saw Lumpy, but she saw that Lumpy didn't even look in. Given that she barely heard her own screams because of her enormous gag, she realized he can't hear her. Plus, Lumpy dumped on her white dirty bed sheets, covering her entire body.
Lumpy thought he heard something in the closet. He flicked the light, looked inside, but all he saw was the bedsheet he threw earlier draped over a chair with pillows and bags on it.
The "bags" and "pillow" moved a little.
"Petunia?" he loudly called.
He heard faint sounds that he could barely hear. "Are you there?"
Even though he was standing next to Petunia, all he could hear were very weak whimpers.
"Rats! I thought she had gotten rid of those pests in her home?" Lumpy concluded when he heard nothing more a few pathetic whimpers. He closed the walk-in closet and continued to help Cuddles clean the room.
Petunia, the "pillows" and "bags" and the "rats" that Lumpy saw, sunk into further disappointment. The ropes had prevented her to do any movement significant enough to draw Lumpy's attention, the bedsheets covered her, and the gag made only the faintest sounds possible. Luckily, the ropes were unusually thick, or she would have cut herself by now by her incessant struggling.
However, she realized that the sheets that Lumpy dumped on her were dirty, and she began to have an OCD attack. "Oh no, not this time," she said to herself. She could choke on her gag and die. She struggled mightily, if not to free herself, to rid the dirty sheets covering her. She was unsuccessful. She nearly fainted from lack of oxygen, but at the last moment, she was able to control her breathing and warded off falling into unconsciousness.
Lumpy, Flippy, Pop, Giggles, Cuddles, and Sniffles met in the living room to discuss their situation. It was already clean, and the bodies were buried by Pop in the backyard. They haven't found Petunia yet. They were all tired, sleepy, and wanted to go home, but they knew they cannot rest until they settled the matter.
"Any luck in finding Petunia?" asked Lumpy.
"No," Giggles replied.
Sniffles, who was holding an electronic tracking device, replied, "Unfortunately, no."
"There's no sign of her," Cuddles said.
"Not a clue on where she could be," Pop said.
"I don't know," Flippy opined. "Where could she have gone? She could have been kidnapped, but Lifty and Shifty are dead. She could've run away. Or she could've been killed earlier in the night and her body was disposed by the raccoons. If she runs away, she'll come back when she learns what happened here. If she's dead, well, we'll simply wait for her to revive!"
"That's good thinking, Flippy," Lumpy said, impressed. "Can you write that on a report for me?"
"Of course!" the veteran replied.
"Thanks. Now that Flippy here has answered the question of what to do about Petunia—"
"Wait! I know why I wasn't able to use this device to locate Petunia!" Sniffles shouted.
"Well?" Lumpy asked impatiently.
"It doesn't have enough power!" Sniffles replied. "If it does, I'll be able to find her in a jiffy!"
"Well, let's get you power then!" Lumpy said as he went out and came back with a power cord and a screwdriver. Give me that device!"
Without waiting for Sniffles to give it to him, he took the tracking device, opened it up, attached the power chord to it, and screwed it back.
"There! Switch it to a socket and it'll have enough power!" Lumpy said.
Sniffles did as was suggested. However, when he pressed the button to operate the device, he was electrocuted. It only took a few seconds. Flippy quickly cut the power cord using his knife, but it was too late. Sniffles was dead.
"Well that's too much power. Maybe I should have used a voltage regulator," Lumpy said, shocked, but, already used to accidentally killing others, moved on. "Pop, get rid of Sniffles' body!"
Pop immediately complied with Lumpy's orders. The blue moose then turned his attention to Giggles.
"So Giggles," Lumpy began. "Cuddles believes Shifty and Lifty are after you and Petunia. Do you know why?"
"No, I don't," Giggles lied.
"Well, we have to catch Shifty and Lifty—alive—and throw them in jail," the blue moose concluded.
"But until then, what? They will be revived, and would continue to come after Giggles and Petunia!" Cuddles argued.
"Perhaps, Chief Lumpy, you should extend police protection to the girls," Flippy suggested.
"What? No. I'm not in danger," Giggles insisted. "I can take care of myself!"
"No you can't," Cuddles contradicted, "at least not against Shifty and Lifty. This is the second time you've been tied up by them, and the third time they took you, and what have you been able to do? Nothing!"
"Look! I resent that! Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I'm not tough like you guys!"
"Who says anything about you being a girl having anything to do with this?" Cuddles shot back. "Look at the facts. When they attacked you, you spent the time tied up and gagged in a chair!"
"Okay, break it up, you two," Lumpy interceded. "This is no time for a lover's quarrel. I'll lay up my offer, Giggles. I'll assign two police officers to you and Petunia. They won't enter your house. They'll hang around outside. They'll follow you whenever you go, but otherwise would respect your privacy. But they'll make sure that Shifty and Lifty won't get to you."
"That's very generous, and thanks for the concern," Giggles said, who, though irate towards Cuddles, was respectful to Lumpy and the others. "But Lumpy, I can't accept. I don't believe they are really after me! They're thieves, not kidnappers! And I'm not rich enough to be held for ransom."
"But Lumpy, Flippy, and Russell are rich, and they're your friends," Pop, who just finished disposing of Sniffles' body, pointed out.
"So that's why they want to get you!" Cuddles snapped. "The know that you two along with Russell are rich, and decided to take the weakest among us!"
"Petunia and I are not weak!" Giggles protested. "Look, you can all be chauvinistic about this, but we can take care of ourselves! I'm not afraid to die!"
"Well duh!" Cuddles replied. "In this down, not being afraid to die means nothing. It's being kidnapped, not being killed, that we're concerned about!"
"I'm not going to let them take me!" Giggles shouted to the yellow rabbit.
"Giggles, calm down," Flippy interjected. "It's not your willingness or unwillingness that concerns us. It's your ability to resist them, which, by light of recent events, admit it or not, is pitiful. Please, accept the offer of police protection."
"Yes," Pop said. "We're all concerned about your safety. Look, level with us. Is there anything you know that might make those raccoons come after you? I mean, it's not like those two to be persistent. They usually attempt something once, and if they fail, move on to their next project."
Giggles hated to lie, but until she can make Petunia agree to divulge their secret, she had to. "I don't know! I have no idea what they are after us!"
"Giggles, please, for your own sake, and for our peace of mind, accept the protection we offer," Lumpy pleaded. "I'll even authorize the officers to do chores for you if necessary! They'll wash your clothes, clean your house, carry your groceries! It'll only last until we catch the raccoons!"
Giggles was touched. But she cannot accept. "I'm sorry. You're all very kind. But I must reject it."
"But why?" Cuddles asked.
"Because I don't need it! I'm a big girl, and I need to prove that I can stand on my own!" Giggles proclaimed. "And Cuddles, I won't tolerate, from you or from anyone else, organizing protection squads behind my back! I just won't have it!"
"So nothing we would say would change your mind?" Lumpy asked.
"No," she replied.
In truth, Giggles was scared, really scared, especially after the events of the night. She desperately wanted to accept their help, but it would be unfair to Petunia and Flaky. She wanted to talk to them first, and they would decide together what course of action to take. If Petunia agreed to the boys' plans for their protection, they would ask them to provide it. So what she's doing now was rejecting it with plans to accept it as soon as Petunia and Flaky were available to give their consent.
The Police Chief's face became focused. "Giggles, would you please excuse us? We have some matters that we need to discuss. Oh don't leave yet. I'll need to ask some questions after this."
The rest of them looked at Lumpy quizzically. What did he need to discuss? Still, he was the authority around here—among all them, only he has the law behind him.
"Well, okay, see you later," Giggles said as she retired to one of Petunia's guest rooms.
"Okay Chief Lumpy, what is this all about?" Flippy asked as soon as Giggles was gone.
"Oh I have a suggestion, but I want to clear it out with you first. I don't want Giggles to hear it because she'll object, but it won't matter," Lumpy said with a smile in his face.
"Go on, we're listening!" Pop replied.
"First of all, I'd like to ask, do you agree that Shifty and Lifty are really after her? That they intend to kidnap her?"
"No doubt about it," Cuddles replied.
"I agree," Flippy replied.
"No other explanation makes sense," Pop added.
"Good! Now tell me, do you think Giggles should have protection, until at least those two are caught?" Lumpy asked.
All three gave the answer in the affirmative.
"And what do you think of her rejection of our offer to protect her?" Lumpy asked.
"She's stubborn! Obstinate!" Cuddles ranted, though he kept his voice low to keep Giggles from hearing him. "She's not herself. She usually is the soul of common sense, but now, she's lacking it in spades!"
"She's caught in a fantasy world where she thinks she can handle things on her own," Flippy said. "If we don't do something, those two raccoons will eventually get her."
"She's not being totally honest with us," Pop said. "She's hiding something."
"So, you won't object to my plan for Giggles," Lumpy stated. "I plan that she and Petunia would stay here at her house. Some of us are to stay with them to deter Shifty and Lifty."
"She won't agree," Cuddles said.
"But that wouldn't matter. She doesn't know what's good for her, right? If she doesn't, then she can't decide what's best for her! We'll decide for her," Lumpy said. "She won't have a choice in the matter!"
"She'll flip!" Flippy argued. "She won't take it kindly."
"So what? Here's what I'm going to do," Lumpy said, smiling at his own cleverness. "She and Petunia would live here together until this is over. They won't leave this house unless I say so. At least two of the male tree friends should be living with them at all times. She can choose that. If not, then I'll throw both of them in jail where they'll be absolutely secure from Shifty and Lifty."
The three looked at Lumpy with stupefied expressions.
"You can't be serious! You'll throw them in jail just to protect them?" Cuddles asked.
"If they choose it, I would," Lumpy said.
"But that's unfair!" Pop protested.
"Look! Do you have any better ideas?"
There was silence.
"So my plan is the best. Now do you agree with my plan, or not? If you don't, then we'll leave it as it is. She'll get no police protection because she refused, and if you attempt to do a stakeout like what you did, I'll arrest you for stalking her."
Lumpy was talking in an authoritative manner, making sure that everyone knows he's in charge.
"I hate to say this, but you're right. Unfair or no, she needs to be protected, and if this is the only way, well, I'm on," Cuddles said.
"Only for Giggles and Petunia," Flippy said. "Yes. Your plan is the most sensible."
"Okay. I'll agree to it," Pop said.
"Good! Now, for this mission, I, Lumpy, currently Chief of Police of Happy Tree Town, appoint the three of you deputies for this mission!" he began. He took three badges from his pocket and pinned it on Cuddles and Pop's chests, and a bigger badge to Flippy's chest.
"What's this for?" asked Pop.
"Oh that gives you legal authority to do what you need to do," Lumpy said. "What you did earlier is stalking, and I could arrest for that, but that's over now. You are now officially part of the police, and thus, you take orders from me. Flippy, you will by my chief lieutenant, my second-in-command, and you will exercise my authority in my absence!"
Flippy's soldier instincts prompted him to stand straight, salute, and say, "Sir, thank you, sir!"
Lumpy saluted back before saying, "At ease, Flippy. Cuddles, Pop, I'll deputize Handy, Sniffles, and Toothy to give us extra manpower. Do you think we should tell Giggles now?"
"Might as well call Giggles," Cuddles replied.
"Giggles!" Lumpy greeted as soon the pink chipmunk was with them again. "Listen. I've got an offer you can't refuse! Oh I'll let Flippy tell you what it is."
"Well, what the Police Chief proposes," the green bear began, "is that you and Petunia would live here in this house until this is over. Two of the tree friends will live with you in order to ensure that the raccoons won't try anything. In the meantime, to better protect you, you—including Petunia—are forbidden to leave the house. Or you could choose the alternative."
"Any alternative has got to be better than that," Giggles said, thinking they were joking.
"You'll be thrown in jail, where you'll be absolutely protected, and only released when this is over. If you reject the first option, you and Petunia would be automatically jailed, whether you like it, or not."
"You're joking, right?" Giggles said, not believing the audacity of the four. But looking at their faces, it became clear to her that they are deadly serious about this.
"We're not," said Pop. "You are so stubborn, and too blind to see the consequences of your own actions, that we had to take the choice away from you."
"You can't do this! You can't throw me in jail for that!" Giggles shouted.
"Oh, ask Handy and the Mole and the time their car was stolen by Lifty and Shifty," Lumpy said with a smile. "I could throw you in jail for whatever reason I want, and you know I'd do it too."
"That's not fair! That's not right! You can't do this! This violates my rights!" she shouted.
"Oh restrain yourself," Lumpy shouted. "Or I'll have you thrown in jail right now for disturbing the peace. This is for your own good. It'll only last until we catch Shifty and Lifty alive! So, do you accept my earlier offer? Keep in mind that rejection of it automatically means jail time!"
Giggles gritted her teeth and shouted for all she was worth at the blue moose. The moose was unaffected, even if the others were a bit terrified. This was a battle of wills between Giggles and Lumpy, and there's no doubt in their minds that Lumpy was going to win this.
"I suppose that scream means no, and that you'd rather be in jail?" Lumpy asked.
"No. How about your earlier offer of police officers simply following me around, but allowing me to go out?" Giggles hopefully asked.
"That's off the table. You rejected it before. Now you must pay for your stupidity! Choose!" Lumpy harshly replied.
"Do I really have a choice? Okay, I'll choose the first one, where I stay here with Petunia," Giggles said. She then looked around the others. "And you! Cuddles, Pop, Flippy! I thought you were better than this!"
"We're sorry," Flippy said. "But you left us no choice!"
"You're idiots!" Giggles screamed. "I'm going to sleep!"
"That went better than expected," Lumpy said as Giggles marched off to the guest room where she planned to sleep.
Russell was jumping and singing as he began to make preparations for his treasure hunt. He first organized his ship, put in the necessary equipment, made a careful study of the offshore islands, etc. He in particular studied the treasure map. He noted that this hunt is like the treasure hunt he and Lumpy had before. The difference was that before it had been underwater, now it was on an island.
His smile vanished upon remembering the first treasure hunt. It had gone smoothly until his hard earned treasure was stolen by those two thieving raccoons.
"Yarr! I be needing help!" he thought. Perhaps his old friend Lumpy would like a share of the treasure? But he needed another crewmate. Lumpy was good and all, but he can be a bit stupid and careless sometimes.
He looked at his clock. It was midnight. He'll call tomorrow first thing in the morning. Then he remembered. Lumpy was working night shift as Police Chief. He was awake at this hour. Quickly, he grabbed his cellphone and gave a call.
"Now, I know you won't like this, but at least two of you must always stay here to guard the girls," Lumpy instructed the three men. "I myself am moving here to set an example! But I need two assistants! Tonight, all of you will sleep here! Starting tomorrow, I'll decide which two will work the night shift here!"
Pop, Cuddles, and Flippy agreed. It was Lumpy who was their leader now, and like it or not, they accepted it.
"So how do we keep them here?" asked Pop.
"Yeah Chief," Cuddles said. "Giggles is not going to take this lying down."
"Oh it's really simple," Lumpy answered. "If she tries to get out of the house, lock her in. Grab her and physically prevent her from getting out. Tie her up if you must. If she got out, take her back. However, remember that we're not doing this to hurt her. We only want what's best for her. In all your actions, be kind to her."
"Well, Giggles would really hate us after all of this is over," Flippy observed.
"Oh she'll understand. Giggles—" Lumpy was interrupted when his cellphone rang. "Excuse me for a minute."
He quickly went to another room. "Hello?"
"Avest ye matey!" Russell greeted.
"Russell! So what's up, ole' buddy!"
"Yarr! I found a treasure map! Ye want to go treasure huntin'?"
"Treasure! Sure!" Lumpy, who became excited, replied.
"But bring ye one trusted friend," Russell said. "I don't think only two can do the mission. And bring ye arms!"
"Arms? It's not as if I'm going to chop it off," Lumpy said.
"I mean weapons," the sea otter said. "A blunderbuss, a flintlock, a derringer, a cutlass, any would do!"
Lumpy did not understand any of Russell's archaic terms, but understood what he meant. "Don't worry, I'll bring a friend and some guns!"
"Yarr! And don't tell anyone else!" Russell instructed.
"Oh a secret hunt!" Lumpy whispered. "Don't worry. I'll keep my mouth zipped!"
