104R 34: The Outskirts Of London.
Suffolk
Later, after traveling through the rest of the countryside, the delivery truck was now in Suffolk, the outskirts of London. The vehicle was parked on the right side of the road, near a forest, where Keegan and the puppies were standing.
"Thanks again. Bye." Said Keegan.
"Bye." Said the british male truck driver before driving off down the road.
Keegan waved goodbye to the driver, then looked down at the puppies. "Let's go."
The Canadian boy and the five Dalmatians then headed into the endless forest. After walking through the woods for a while, the group came to a long tree that was lying on the ground, blocking their path.
One by one, the five Dalmatian puppies jumped over the tree and Keegan climbed over it.
Later, Keegan, with Copper in his backpack, and the Miller pups were walking through another part of the forest.
"Hey, guys, have you ever been to this place before?" Keegan asked.
"No. I mean we traveled around the city of London, but that's it." Said Dice.
"It's pretty easy to forget when you move so fast and been to so many places. Maybe you'll forget about me and Copper some day too." Said Keegan.
"Us dogs do forget things...but it'd be impossible for us to forget you guys." Said Mickey to Keegan and Copper.
Keegan looked down at the Miller pups. "You mean it?"
"Of course we do. How can we forget someone who's gotton us into so much trouble?" Said Max.
"Max!" Said Dice and Mickey.
"Well, he has." Said Max.
Keegan gave the puppies a toothy grin and began running on ahead and the Miller pups ran after him.
Later, out of the forest, Keegan was sitting on a bentch with Copper, Dice and Mickey, and Max and Olive were sitting on the ground.
"I guess everybody's looking for us." Said Keegan, eating a bag of chips.
"We won't be too easy to find. It's a big country." Said Mickey.
"Yeah. We could hide out for a long time. They might stop looking for us. Even...my family." Said Keegan. The Canada born kid stood up. "Let's go."
The gang then walked off, heading for their next destination.
Later on, Keegan and the five puppies were walking through the forest again. As the walked, the boy looked back and noticed that the pups were right behind him. To prove that he could run just as fast as they could, the kid ran on ahead of the puppies.
Copper and the Miller pups stopped and watched Keegan as he rushed up a slope hill.
As Keegan ran, he lost his balance for a split second before regaining it. The boy then stepped on a rock and lost his balance again and fell face down on the ground.
"Keegan!" Said Dice, Mickey and Max.
Dice, Mickey, Max, Olive and Copper as rushed up the hill and ran to Keegan's aid.
"Here, let me give you a paw." Said Dice, offering a paw to Keegan.
"I don't need a paw, i can do it myself!" Said Keegan as he got to his feet. "Come on." He said before resuming running ahead of the puppies. The 11 year old rushed up the rest of the hill and stopped in his tracks when he reached the top.
Copper and the Miller pups ran up to the top of the hills where Keegan was and they and the boy all staired at the scene in front of them.
"We've never been here before." Said Max as he and the others staired at a beautiful lake and mountains that were right in front of them. "How'd you know about this place, Keegan?"
"I use to come here every summer with my Mom and Dad when i was a little kid. My real Mom, that is." Said Keegan. "And look. There's the cabin right over there." He said, pointing.
The five Dalmatians looked in the direction where Keegan was pointing and saw a big, beautiful, wooden, luxurious cabin.
Keegan and the pups were now standing on the woode poarch of the wooden cabin, and the boy was trying to open the front door, to no avail.
"It's no use, it's locked." Said Keegan before looking inside through a window in the darkened home. "After my Mom died, my Dad and i just stopped coming. He kept saying we'd come back the next summer...but he was always too busy."
Later, that night, Copper and the Miller pups were gathered outside, waiting for Keegan to return.
"Hey, you guys!" Came a voice.
The puppies looked and saw Keegan running towards them, carry some firewood.
"I collected some firewood!" Said Keegan. The boy then tripped over a rock, but quickly regained his balance, only to lose it again by stepping on a log and fall to the ground, dropping the firewood.
"Keegan!" Said Dice, Mickey and Max before they, Copper and Olive, ran to the boy's aid.
"You okay, Keegan?" Dice asked.
"I'm fine." Said Keegan.
"Want some help?" Mickey asked.
"No, thanks." Said Keegan before getting up. The boy picked up the firewood, including the log he had tripped on. "I can do it myself." He said as he walked off.
"Okay." Said Max.
"The pups are probably mad at me for dragging them into all of this. I wonder why they came with me and Copper?" Keegan thought to himself.
Keegan and the five puppies were now in the forest, gathered around a campfire that was made from the firewood the boy had collected. Keegan and Copper sat on a big log on the right, with his backpack sitting on the ground next to them, up against the log, and the Miller pups sat next to each other on a long log on the left.
Dice sat next to Mickey, who sat next to Max, who sat next to Olive on the long log on the left.
And Copper was sitting next to Keegan on the right side of the long log on the right.
"Guys?" Said Keegan.
"Yeah?" Dice, Mickey and Max said.
"You haven't said anything about how i roped you all into this fiasco." Said Keegan.
"We were waiting to hear what you had to say." Said Max.
"Guys...why did you come with me and Copper? Are you gonna stay?" Keegan asked.
"That's up to you." Said Mickey.
"Uh...so if i say 'i don't want you to go back home'...will you...stay here with me and Copper forever?" Keegan asked.
"We'll do whatever you tell us to do." Said Dice.
"Huh?" Said Keegan.
"You saved us when we ended up here in London. You might have even kept us from going to the pound. Thanks a lot, Keeg." Said Mickey.
An angry Keegan stood up. "So that's it! You've been acting like my friends this whole time, cause you thought you owed me!"
"That's not true!" Said Dice.
"You felt like you had to be my friends because i saved you from the streets!" Said Keegan.
"What?" Dice asked.
"(Crying) And you paid me back...by pretending to be my friends. My gosh, you guys are no better than my stepmother! No, actually, i take that back. You're nothing like my stepmother. At least i know where i stand with her! You guys are two-face!" Said Keegan.
"No, Keegan. You know that we really are your friends." Said Mickey.
"You are?" Keegan asked.
"If you need us to stay here with you, we will. You just have to decide. It's up to you." Said Max.
"We can go home...or stay. The decision is your's." Said Dice.
"Well...i'm not sure." Said Keegan. "I'd be happier if you stayed here in London. If we stay on the run, Copper and i can stay together forever. Our friendship would never have to end. But you guys,...don't stay here...if it's gonna make you unhappy."
"Don't worry about us. As long as there's somewhere to run and play, we'll be happy. We really wouldn't mind staying here with you. Honost." Said Mickey.
"But...you can't stay here, guys. It wouldn't be right, would it? I can't keep you guys here with me just 'cause i don't wanna lose Copper. It was wrong of me to let you guys come along with me and Copper. It's just...(Crying) i wasn't ready to say goodbye to him again." Keegan picked up Copper and held the pup in his arms. "You've always been there for me when i've needed you." He looked back at the Miller pups. "But in the end, i let you guys down. I'm sorry. I was just selfish. Please forgive me." Said the boy as tears ran down his face.
Copper licked the tears off of Keegan's face as the Miller pups went over to boy's side.
"Hey, no tears." Said Max.
"When you guys and Copper are gone, i'll be alone again...like i was before you came." Said Keegan. The poor boy was doing everything he could to protect his dear friend, Copper, from his evil stepmother, but he knew that his 'doing everything' would not be enough to ensure his little furry friend's safety. After all, Linda was the Mayor of London, and Mayors were not so easy to shake off. And even if they did manage to save Copper, there would still be a sad outcome. The Miller pups would be going back home, and chances were Keegan would never see them again. "Ever since my Mom died in that car wreck six years ago...i've been waiting for a friend like you guys and Copper. It's just so hard to say goodbye to the four of you."
"Maybe this isn't goodbye." Said Dice.
"What?" Keegan asked.
"Maybe we were meant to meet each other some how. If that's true, then we will see each other again...someday." Said Dice.
"Yeah...someday." Said Keegan.
"In the mean time, until this is all over, we stick together and protect Copper at all cost." Said Dice.
Just then, it started to thunder, and Keegan felt a drop of water land on his shoulder.
"Huh? A storm?" Said Keegan as he and the pups looked up at the night sky.
Then, without warning, the sky began to pour down rain none stop, putting out the fire and soaking Keegan and the puppies wet from head to toe.
"Aw, great, it's rainning cats and dogs!" Said Keegan.
A flash of lightning, with a loud sound of thunder, appeared in the night sky, scaring Copper and the other pups.
"Don't worry, you guys, we'll be safe. No one ever comes out here. Especially in the middle of the night." Keegan then got up from the log and placed Copper on the ground. "Come on." The boy and the dogs then walked away from the camp sight and head off into the forest. They soon stopped in their tracks when they came to a big puddle of water that was blocking their path. "Aw, shoot. Look at this. The rains coming down so hard, it's already beginning to make puddles. Aw, shoot."
"Is that bad?" Mickey asked.
"It's not good news...but, uh, as long as we keep our eyes open for rizing water, i think we'll be alright." Said Keegan.
"I second that notion." Max added.
"Ugh, this makes me so mad! I mean, we wouldn't be stuck out here if it werent for my jerky stepmother, Linda! And her jerk daughters! We didn't do anything wrong, you know? I mean, my stepmother started it." Said Keegan before noticing how sad his little liver-spotted friend was. "I'm not mad at you, Copper. You did what you thought was right. You escaped from that animal shelter in Canada and made your way here to London and found me. I just wish your being here would've stayed a secret until we got a place that did allow pets."
The rain then began to pour down even harder.
"Aw, shoot. The rain." Said Keegan before looking down at the puppies. "I think we should move somewhere else where we can stay dry. For a while, anyway."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Said Dice.
Copper then started whimpering.
"It's okay, Copper, nobody's out here. You can stop crying. Oh...unless...unless it's the ghost of the Forest boy."
"The forest boy? Who's he?" Mickey asked.
"It's a story my Dad use to tell me when he, me and Mom would come out here for the summer. The forest boy was a 10 year old American boy, named Toby Union, who disappeared in these woods back in (1972). Anyway, he and his parents were here on vacation for the summer, and one day, while they were here, Toby ran into the woods and disappeared...and was never seen or heard from again. My Dad says his ghost is still living in these woods. He's been wondering around with no parents...looking for someone to be his friend. But it's just a story. We don't believe it. Okay?" Said Keegan.
"Okay." Said Dice, Mickey and Max.
Copper and Olive barked in agreement.
"Come on, we should get going. Let's see if we can find another way inside that cabin." Said Keegan, picking up his backpack by the right strap and placing it on his right shoulder.
The soaking wet puppies followed the soaking wet boy through the forest and back towards the cabin.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest, a white jeep drove down the dirt road, with the headlights on, and the windsheild whipers on.
As Keegan and the pups walked through the forest, they heard a weird sound.
"Whoa." Said Keegan as the five puppies shook themselves off.
"What was that?" Dice asked.
"I don't know, it sounded like a car...or some kind of vehicle. Maybe we should go check it out, you guys. You first." Said Keegan.
"No, no, honestly, we couldn't. Not before you." Said Mickey.
"Why do i have to go first?" Keegan asked.
"Well, you're the only one who's human." Said Max.
"We'll all go together." Said Dice.
Keegan and the puppies then headed back for the camp sight.
The white jeep soon arrived at it's destination where the cabin was and parked.
"Come on, you guys. Come on. Come on, you guys. Come on. Come on. Come on." Said Keegan as he and the puppies walked through the forest. When they made it out of the forest, they saw that a jeep was parked in the area. "Holy..." That jeep wasn't here before. What was it doing here now? Was it possible that someone could've lived here after all? There was only one way to find out. "Wait right here." Keegan walked over to where the jeep was as it's driver got out of the vehicle. "Hey, mister! Mister, can you help us?!" He asked as he ran towards the person.
"Keegan?" Asked the person, revealed to be none other than Candace Davis.
Keegan stopped in his tracks. "Aunt Candace? What are you doing here?"
"What am i doing here? What are you doing here?" Candace asked.
Before Keegan could answer his aunt's question, barking was heard and the two humans looked and saw the five Dalmatian puppies run towards them, stopping at the boy's side.
"Uh...puppysitting?" Said Keegan, with a guilty grin on his face.
104
DALMATIANS
RETURNS
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