Chapter 25—An Unexpected Reunion

Scamp and Angel nervously stood on the side of the barrel with the soot, not daring to move in order to remain hidden. They looked at each other tensely, waiting for their visitor to pass. Then, abruptly, a loud, whooping holler emerged from the entrance of the yard. Scamp and Angel quickly figured out that the voice was that of a tomboy's. "Woohoo! This place is awesome, look at all these toys! And maybe we can find some steak scraps from your steakhouse in the trash here! That steak was the best!"

"They always serve it like that," a boy's voice cheerfully replied. "It's really good stuff. It probably almost tastes like house food. I just wish they'd give us baths too."

The tomboy replied, even louder than before. "Nah… I've heard of house food. It's so awful! And baths aren't that great..."

"How'd you know about baths?" the boy asked.

"Oh, just cause!" the tomboy laughed loudly, and with a note of discomfort. "But this stuff…it's the best!"

The voices drew louder and louder. Suddenly, the voices grew so loud that Scamp and Angel could hear every word perfectly. The two of them heard the puppies' footsteps approach closer and closer, but they were trapped, if they moved, they would certainly be discovered. The tomboy spoke again, "That food was awesome, I think… huh?"

Scamp and Angel gasped. Standing in front of them was a little brown puppy who looked awfully familiar. She was accompanied by a black and grey puppy who had long, very furry black ears, a short black tail, large green eyes, and a light grey body covered with dark grey speckles. She then stuttered, "Wh…wh…aah! Run!"

"Hey, why?" asked the black and grey puppy.

Then, Scamp and Angel gasped. They recognized who the brown dog was. But they could only barely recognize her, for her diamond-shaped tag was dangling dangerously off of her white collar. She was far muddier than they could've ever imagined. Her once perfectly clean coat grew untidy and matted, and she had a piece of steak stuck in between her teeth.

"It's Danielle!" Scamp gasped to Angel.

"How did she find us?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Yeah, how did you find us?" Danielle shouted abruptly.

"Dani, how do they know you?" Danielle's friend asked.

"He's my brother Scamp," Danielle told her friend. "And she's his girlfriend, Angel."

Scamp then turned to Danielle and asked, "So tell me, where are Mom and Dad?"

"You're gonna tell on me, aren't you? And you'd know that, not me!" Danielle answered indignantly. "How'd I know? I'm a runaway!"

"You ran away from home? But… you didn't tell me!" Danielle's friend asked her incredulously.

"Yup," Danielle answered simply, chuckling. Her friend rolled his eyes.

Scamp and Angel were speechless. They stared at each other for a few seconds. During that time, the puppies didn't hear any footsteps approaching the yard. Then Scamp uncertainly stepped forward, and asked Danielle, "You mean… you've had enough?"

"That's right!" Danielle shouted passionately. "I'm sick of being a prissy girl. I'm sick of stupid rules. I'm sick of baths. I'm tired of being with my whiny sisters. And no chains for me! I'm done with it all. I'm off on my own!"

"What happened to you?" Scamp asked, bewildered.

Angel stared at Danielle curiously. "I didn't know you ever felt this way," she marveled.

"Hey, you two had it right from the get go," Danielle said simply. "I heard you two talking about your adventures. I've heard Dad talk to you two about his. You two were going to have fun yourselves. I want to have fun and be free too. And it's been a blast!" Danielle chuckled. "I've been only out for two days. But I now have a boyfriend!"

"Don't say my name, Dani, don't," Danielle's boyfriend interrupted.

"And we didn't run away for fun," Angel told Danielle.

Then all of a sudden, Patch returned. He was still covered with soot, and he was carrying some sausages. "Scamp, Angel, I, uh got…"

Then he paused. He nervously looked at Danielle and her boyfriend, and asked, "Who are they?"

"Oh, I'm Danielle," Danielle friendlily bounded up to Patch. "Scamp's sister."

"You're coming to take us home, aren't you?" Patch told Danielle suspiciously.

"No!" Danielle shouted as her boyfriend sighed and shook his head. "I'm a runaway puppy. And he's my boyfriend, Puffball. Oh, oops…" Danielle hung her head guiltily

Puffball frowned, and then hurriedly explained, "Hey, I didn't pick that name! It was those mean street dogs…I'm no puffball…"

"Yeah you are," Danielle smiled affectionately. "You're such a cute little…"

"Hey, stop it! That's enough!" Puffball gasped, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

Danielle chuckled, and continued, "We met on the street. Then we found this great steak place where we fell in love. And now we found this cool place. Enough about us, what about you?"

"Didn't Mom and Pop talk to you all about us?" Scamp asked.

"Nope," Danielle answered simply.

"Cowards," Angel muttered.

"My sisters and I thought you were just pulling a prank so Mom and Dad couldn't watch us in the show," Danielle told them.

"Well, I'll tell you why we really ran away, and it isn't a prank. We ran away because your father is a lying and heartbreaking jerk. We found out from my real mother everything about him," Angel told Danielle.

"So, that is the reason?" Danielle gasped as Puffball looked skeptically at Angel. "Oh, never mind. Mom told me then. I thought it was some sorta joke."

"Then they found me," Patch told Danielle and Puffball. "My name's Patch, and I ran away too. But we all got caught by this vicious old hag who wants to skin us. We escaped yesterday. Only thing is, we're still being followed. That woman, her name is Cruella De Vil, she's after us. She followed us all the way from London. And our parents are still after us too, along with two of my siblings. They ran away with me, but they became traitors," Patch explained, then he sighed at the gate. "I still can't believe that Penny actually left me. Figures about Lucky though, everyone knows Lucky is dad's favorite kid."

Scamp meanwhile, couldn't help but to stare at the sausages. He exclaimed, "Hey, let's eat!"

"I'll eat later," Puffball explained. "I just had steak with Dani. I need some exercise. 'Scuse me!"

"Oh, I'll eat!" Danielle told Scamp, Angel, and Patch eagerly as Puffball ran off, and the four of them happily ate the sausages.

"Hey," Angel told Danielle when she finished her sausage. She held out a paw. "Let's all live on our own together."

"So… you're serious?" Danielle asked.

"We think it's weirder for you to run away," Scamp told Danielle, and Angel nodded.

"Oh all right then," Danielle nodded, and they all agreed, and the four of them, rejoined by Puffball after a while, had another day's worth of fun and games in their new playground. Late in the evening, Puffball remembered something that he had to do something he forgot about, and so he ran off again. Scamp, Angel, Patch, and Danielle meanwhile continued to play games and finally went to sleep well after their bedtime at home.

The next morning, the puppies woke up early. Puffball rejoined them in their sleep. "Morning," Patch sighed. "I'm hungry. Who wants to get the sausages?"

"I'll get them," Puffball volunteered brightly. Then, he took off once again.

"Mmm… this is just awesome!" Scamp sighed as he looked at the yard. "Let's have some fun!"

The four puppies had a playfight over a pillow, tugging it back and forth. Then they had a rope war, pitting Scamp and Angel against Danielle and Patch. The puppies play growled with intensity, and they all tugged on the rope as hard as they could.

"We're not letting go," Scamp warned Patch.

"No, we're not either!" Patch yelled.

"Of course not!" Danielle yowled. "We're not finished yet!"

But then, Angel gasped. She put down the rope. And then she muttered, "Yeah, we are."

"What do you mean?" Scamp asked. The other three puppies all put down the rope.

"Look who it is," Angel growled in a threatening voice.

Danielle, Scamp, and Patch turned. There, standing in front of them, was Pongo. He was walking over to them.

"That's your dad, right?" Angel asked Patch.

"Yeah," Patch grumbled. "That's him all right."

"Hi kids," Pongo told them. "Long time, no see."

You're not going to make us go home with you, so don't even try it," Patch warned. Then he and the other three puppies leered at Pongo and growled threateningly at him.