Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chapter 7: Shirley the Medium
'I know I put it here, somewhere.' Courage whined as he kept digging.
"Are you sure about that Courage?" I asked him as I stopped digging for a moment to catch my breath. "I mean, we pretty much already dug about a hundred five-foot-deep holes. Are you certain you buried your yoyo here?"
'I am sure Jaune. Just keep digging.' Courage said as he began to dig again.
Yes, we did make about a hundred holes in the ground all around the house just to find a yoyo that Courage thinks he buried. Sighing, I went back into the hole and helped Courage keep digging. After a moment of digging, I found out that Courage will bury anything he finds. Mainly because we found a soccer ball, an anchor and a vacuum. But it was the net item that caught our attention.
"What's this?" I asked as I picked up a seemingly ordinary box. It seems like a safe of some kind as evident by the lock in the front that's preventing us from opening it.
'I don't know. I didn't bury it.' Courage said as he began to sniff the box all around.
"Perhaps Eustace or Muriel might know?" I suggested.
'Doesn't hurt to ask.' Courage said as he got out of the hole and shook off all the dust on him.
Getting up out of the hole, I dusted myself off as well. Grabbing the box, I was about to pick it up only to struggle a lot as it was much heavier than I thought. But I was able to carry it after a bit of struggling. Turning around, we went back inside the house. Though, I did make a mental note to find a gym nearby in town and sign up for a membership. Entering the house, we went to the living room where Muriel and Eustace were. As we neared them, we managed to catch the tail end of their conversation.
"-Where he hid his box full of money. So, happy birthday to nobody." Eustace said as he threw his crumpled-up newspaper across the room.
'That's right. Today is Eustace's brother's birthday. I completely forgot.' I thought as we approached them. About a week after I moved in with them, Muriel told me all about her family and Eustace's family. Thought, I could not help but feel that I have heard the name Horst Bagge before. Hearing Courage mumble a bit snapped me from my thoughts. Looking over at him, I saw that he had taken the box and placed it in his mouth and walked over to Eustace.
"Get away from me." Eustace warned but Courage kept on trying to get his attention. "What's the matter with you dog? One little clue is all I- Ahhhhh!"
Eustace could not finish what he was saying as Courage, fed up with him, dropped the heavy box onto Eustace's feet causing him to scream in pain. Quickly going over, I reluctantly picked up the box and moved away from him. Now that his foot was free, Eustace stood up angry at Courage.
"You stupid-" Eustace began about to berate Courage but stopped himself when he actually paid attention to the box. "That's it! That's the box I've been looking for."
"Good dog Courage." Muriel said patting him on the head before turning to face Eustace. "I wonder what's in it Eustace?"
"I'll tell you what's in it. His money!" Eustace answered smiling as he took the box from me. He then walked into the dining room all the while saying. "My good for nothing brother's money."
Curious, I looked over at Muriel and Courage to see that they were equally confused about the whole thing as well. Entering the dining room, I saw Eustace place the box on the table and proceed to open it. Only to fail as he did not realize it required a key. But it did not stop him at all as he proceed to bit on the box and put his foot on it in desperate attempts to open it. With the only effect it having was making me struggle not to chuckle at how foolish Eustace was for thinking he could open the box that way without the key.
"I'm getting' me tools." Eustace said putting the box down and moving to fetch wherever he put his tools.
As soon as Eustace left the room, Muriel went in and gave a light dusting to the box before leaving as well. Turning to Courage, he shrugged in confusion as well before walking over to the box with me right behind him. Courage then for some reason, decided to look into the keyhole of the box. I was about to ask what he was looking for but jumped back a bit when Courage suddenly screamed in terror. Concerned, I was about to go and have look myself but Eustace came back with a wrench.
'No!' Courage whined as he stood in front of the box to stop Eustace from attempting to open it again.
"What's the matter with you dog?" Eustace yelled at him. Courage then proceeded to try and explain what he saw by putting his paw to his eye, screaming and then transforming into a demon of some kind.
'Don't open that.' Courage begged before diving towards Eustace's feet.
"Stupid dog!" Eustace said before grabbing Courage by his back and sliding him towards the wall where he would have hit had I not caught him beforehand.
'Thanks.' He said as I placed him back on his feet.
"No problem. Now, what did you see in that box Courage that caused you to scream?" I asked him.
'I couldn't see clearly as it was very dark. But I saw a creature and heard some horrifying sounds.' He answered with a shiver.
"Damn. That's not good. Whatever it is, we cannot let Eustace open the box." I said after thinking what it could be. Courage agreed with me. Turning back to Eustace, we saw him place his wrench around the lock and tried to remove the lock from the box but was unsuccessful.
"Stupid box! I can't open it without the stinkin' key." Eustace said after giving up and removing his wrench from the box.
Twenty minutes later
We were in the living room watching the television. I was sitting down next to Muriel with Courage in my lap as I scratched right behind his ears. Normally, he would love this but our attention was focused solely on Eustace who was grumbling and still trying to come up with a way to open the box. At least for the moment, he stopped trying which allowed us to figure out what exactly was in the box and how to prevent Eustace from opening it.
"Perhaps if we find the key first, we can hide it somewhere where he will never find it." I whispered into Courage's ear.
'That could work. But what should we do in the meantime and if he finds the key before we do?' Courage asked as he continued to look over at Eustace.
"We'll cross the bridge when we get to it. But if he does find it before hand, I'll try and get it away from him and distract him long enough so you can bury it somewhere far from here." I answered.
'Okay. I'll do it.' Courage agreed but I could tell he was still nervous about the whole thing.
"Darn that horst" Eustace suddenly said getting our attention. "He hated me."
"What a shame you and Horst never settled your troubles." Muriel said with a frown.
'The Channeling Channel will return after a word from our sponsor' The television suddenly said cutting in. 'Are you trying to contact the dead? Are you trying to-'
"Blah! Blah! Blah!" Eustace interjected annoyed at what was being said.
'Shirley the Medium can put you in touch with the hereafter.' The television continued while showing a wired creature behind a crystal ball. 'So, you can all live- and die- happily ever after.'
"What a wonderful idea." Muriel said as soon as the commercial ended. "We can hire Shirley. You and your brother can lay your troubles to rest once and for all."
"Our differences are settled. He's dead and I ain't." Eustace said hating the idea.
'Truly an ass.' I thought as I heard him say that.
"Come now Eustace." Muriel said trying to convince him to go along with it. "Isn't there anything you'd want to talk to him about? It is his birthday"
"Yea. Now that I think of it, there is." Eustace said agreeing suddenly. "Heh, heh, heh."
"Don't worry Courage." Muriel said as she picked up the phone to dial Shirley but Courage tried to stop her from doing so. However, she mistook it as him being hungry. "Jaune, be a dear and feed Courage."
'Oh, I just know something bad is going to happen. Or my name is Archibald. And it's not.' Courage said after hearing what Muriel said.
"Looks like it's going to get much harder to stop him from opening the box. Right Courage?" I asked him. He nodded before shivering in fear at what might happen once the box is opened.
Eight P.M.
It was night time. And it was getting really close to when Shirly was supposed to arrive. Me and Courage had attempted a few times to hide the box but Eustace refused to leave the box for even one minute. Which made it harder for us to take it away from him. And with each passing moment, we felt our nerves and stress rise. We soon heard a knock coming from the front door. Heading over to it, I opened the door with Muriel and Courage right behind me.
'Must be Shirley.' I thought as I opened the door and saw what looked to be a green chihuahua wearing green shirt, purple cape, blue hood and had a few earrings on both of her ears.
'Hmm?' Courage hummed in confusion once he spotted Shirley.
"One thing: If you contact the dead for personal gain, there will be tragic consequences." She warned while already glaring at Eustace.
'Well, that's a world record for quickest rule ever broken regarding the dead.' I thought as me and Courage already knew the real reason Eustace wants to contact his brother.
"Just dial my dead brother and shut up." Eustace shouted at her angrily.
We then entered back inside and went towards the dining room. Shirley then placed a crystal ball on the center of the table. She then got onto the chair next to her and motioned for the rest of us to sit down as well.
"Join hands." She ordered once we were all sea. We did as sha said so with me grabbing onto Muriel's left hand and Courage's right paw.
Looking back over at Shirley, I saw her stick her hands out towards the Crystal ball before lowering her head as well. She then opened her mouth wide and the sound of a telephone ringing came out. This certainly caught me off guard for a moment. And it seems like Courage was caught off guard as well. But it seems like Eustace did care for what is happening as by what he said next.
"You're on my payroll now. Wake up and get my brother on the line." Eustace demanded while slamming his fist on the table. The ringing continued for a few moments. We all leaned forward to see if she is someone would actually answer.
"The party is not answering." Shirley said after a moment and closing her mouth.
"He never took my calls." Eustace complained as he slammed his fist again onto the table.
'...Yoyo?' Courage mumbled a bit before asking if she could find his yoyo.
"I shall try." She said as she focused on the crystal ball.
'Wait. She can understand Courage as well?' I thought surprised and relived to see that someone else could understand him fully.
"I see, I see, I see!" She said as she placed her hands on the Crystal ball. Courage gasped when she said this. "A yoyo."
'Yes!' Courage shouted happily.
"I see a yoyo. It is under the sofa." She said before pointing to the next room.
'Really Courage. Under the sofa.' I thought a bit irritated at the fact that his yoyo was under the sofa and we did not need to dig and fill back up all those holes we dug up earlier. Turning to Courage, I saw him leave the room and enter the living room. Presumably to grab his yoyo. Luckily, he came back a moment later and sat back down.
"Try my brother again." Eustace demanded after growling angrily at not getting what he wanted. And hopefully, it remains like that as his greed will most likely get us into a lot of trouble. Shirley tilted her head again and the sound of a ringing telephone came again. But it was short this time as someone quickly answered.
"Hello? Hello?" A mysterious female voice answered.
"Aunt Gertrude?" Muriel asked shocked at hearing her voice again.
"Oh, for Pete's sake." Eustace said while bringing his hand to his head in frustration.
"Muriel. Oh, Muriel. How are you?" Gertrude asked.
"I'm just fine, thank goodness." Muriel answered.
"Hang up! You're tying up the line." Eustace demanded. Clearly upset at not getting his way.
"You are using vinegar, aren't you?" Gertrude asked.
"Vinegar? In raspberry jam?" Muriel asked clearly not expecting that.
'Not too sure about that combination.' I thought. And judging by the sound of Courage gagging, I could tell he did not like it either.
"WILL YOU TWO QUIT JABBERIN!?" Eustace yelled out in frustration as he stood up. He then sat back down and turned to Shirley again. "Now, get my stinkin' dead brother horst on the line."
"The dead should not be bothered for personal gain." Shirley warned him. But it fell on deaf ears again.
"What? Oh, just do it." Eustace said annoyed.
Courage jumped onto the table and tried to stop Eustace again. He even transformed into a phantom to try and get his point across. But like usual, Eustace was too blinded by his greed to even pay attention.
"Sit down you stupid dog!" Eustace yelled at him. Courage whined and sat back down. Shirley tried again and the call was answered this time by a gruff sounding man.
"Hello?" The voice asked.
"Isn't this wonderful Eustace?" Muriel asked. Completely unaware of the danger that is about to come. "Finally, you can settle your differences."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Eustace replied. Not at all interested in that. He then got up and walked over to Shirley and lifted her up. "Where's the key to the box.?"
"Muriel. Is that you?" Horst asked ignoring Eustace.
"Yes. It is Horst. And you won't believe what happened recently." Muriel answered with a smile. "We took in a kid and he's now part of the family."
"Wonderful. What's his name?" Horst asked.
"His name is Jaune Arc." Muriel answered.
"ARC! He's from the Arc family?" Horst asked.
"Yes sir. I am from the Arc family." I answered confused but a bit sad at remembering the Arc family before adding. "Well used to be. They disowned me for not being able to be what they wanted me to be."
"Wouldn't surprise me. I knew your grandfather. We worked together on a few expeditions. They always wanted to have the fame for themselves and would do anything to get it. And you being disowned isn't the first time it happened in the Arc family. They have a long secret history of disowning family members who did not meet their standards." He said and even though he was not here with us, I could tell that he was possibly shaking his head and possibly clenching his fists. "Let me give you a piece of advice kid."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Don't let anyone guide your life. Live your life how you want to. And if someone says you don't mee their standards, work hard and prove them wrong." he answered. And for some reason, even though I have never seen him before, I could easily tell that he spoke from experience.
"Thanks. I'll definitely follow that advice." I said while I scratched my head a bit in nervousness.
"Make sure you do." Horst demanded. Before I could say anything, Eustace shouted in anger and frustration.
"WHERE IS THE KEY TO THE BOX!" He demanded again.
"There is nothing in the box for you Eustace." Horst replied.
"You would say that you cheap-" Eustace began but got cut off by Horst.
"Bury the box Eustace." Horst demanded. Eustace growled at this and got even angrier when Courage tried to warn him again. He responded by grabbing Courage's nose and pushed him away into me.
"Money, Money! Where's the key?!" Eustace asked again.
"There's nothing in there for you." Horst said not budging.
"GIVE ME THE KEY" Eustace persisted.
"Ok." Horst said relenting.
"Okay?" Eustace asked not expecting him to actually answer.
"Check the lining of your hat." Horst said with a sigh. Eustace placed Shirley back on the chair and then took off his hat and searched it.
"So, that's where it was." Eustace said as he pulled out a key.
"You have been warned brother." Horst said in a tone that clearly said he hated the greed that Eustace had. He then 'hung up' the call. Ignoring him, Eustace picked the box back up.
"You should heed your brother's word." Shirley said getting his attention. Instead of answering, Eustace picked her up and took her out of the room. Concerned, we followed them and saw that Eustace had opened the door and pushed her out of the house.
"We don't need you anymore lady. Take off." Eustace said before slamming the door on her. Eustace then went back to the dining room and placed the box on the table and was about to open it but got annoyed when Courage started jumping up and down again in warning.
"What's wrong with you dog?" Eustace asked. But instead of giving Courage a chance to answer, he grabbed him and threw him into the kitchen. He then picked up the key and was about to open it when the phone rang behind him. Going over to it, I picked it up and was about to answer but Eustace snatched it from me.
"Hello?" Eustace answered.
'Don't open the box.' The voice of Courage came through. Going over to the window, I looked outside and saw Courage was in a phone booth across the street,
'How the hell he got over there so fast and since when was there a phone booth there?' I thought as I turned back to see Eustace reaction.
"You're not getting my money. Whoever you are so just shove off." Eustace said before slamming the phone back down. Hearing the door open, I went to the kitchen and saw Courage run up to Muriel. I went over to him and was about to ask him something but couldn't as without warning, Muriel shoved a spoonful of some food into both of our mouths.
"What do you two think of that?" She asked. Instead of answering, we swallowed and tried not to gag. Luckily, that in of itself was enough of an answer for Muriel.
"You're right. Too much vinegar." She said as she went back to the pot on the stove.
'Way too much vinegar!' I though as I struggled to keep it down.
'What should we do Jaune?' Courage asked.
"I'm not sure Courage. I mean, we don't even know what's inside the box. For all we know, it could just be money and what you saw was a trap to ward off robber." I answered.
Courage seemed unconvinced and was about to say something but the sound of Eustace laughing sinisterly caught our attention. Racing back to the dining room, we saw the Eustace had opened the box and an ominous green glow came from it.
'Oh, this is not good.' Courage said as he placed his back against the wall next to the wall.
"Your right about that Courage." I said agreeing with him as I placed my back to the wall as well.
"I knew it. We're rich! We're rich." Eustace happily said. Though anyone could tell that he was actually saying that he alone is rich.
"Did you say something Eustace?" Muriel asked as she opened the door and entered the room. Fortunately, Courage managed to push her back into the kitchen.
"Keep the door closed Courage. Can't risk Muriel getting hurt." I said as I moved in front of the door so she could not enter again. Turning back to Eustace, we saw that the green glow vanish suddenly.
'Where did the light go?" I thought confused. Eustace walked up and picked the box up confused as well. But we got our answer in the form of two giant demonic hands with a green glow around of them come out of the box. Eustace responded by throwing the box away.
"Hey! What are you doing in my box?" Eustace demanded. Ignorant of the fact that a demon is in the box. "With my money?"
'Really you old man.' I thought in irritation.
The demon answered by slapping the table and chairs away. Eustace screamed as the hands came closer to him. Courage screamed and ran towards Eustace and managed to pick him up and dodge the demons attempt to grab him. He then ran over to me where we realized that we were essentially trapped with the demon. The creature then surrounded us with its hands.
'Okay you can have him.' Courage said before tossing Eustace into the air. The demon grabbed Eustace with one of his hands. It then tried to grab Courage with its other hand but I managed to grab Courage and pull him away just in time. I then opened the door to the kitchen and entered it where we saw Muriel was stirring something in the pot in her hands.
"What's wrong you two?" She asked. But before either of us could answer, we were sent flying towards the other side of the room because the demon punched the door open with incredible force. So much so, that I was seeing stars for a moment.
"Oh! Courage! Jaune! Help!" Muriel shouted when the demon hand grabbed her and pulled her into the dining room.
We immediately ran into the room and saw that the demon was trying to pull them both into the box. But it was struggling as both Muriel and Eustace had latched onto the nearby heater. But it seemed like the heater was going to give any moment. Thinking quickly, I remembered the cloths line and how it could help us at this moment.
"Courage. Go get the clothes line. Hurry!" I told him. He nodded and quickly went outside and less than a moment returned with the clothes line. "Good. I'll tie them together to the heater. You tie the other end around the house."
He nodded and quickly went back outside. I moved over to Eustace and Muriel and tied the clothes line around each of them before tying it to the heater. Just as I finished tying it, Courage came back inside.
"My clothes line. Did you fold the clothes?" Muriel asked. Courage quickly nodded. "Such a good dog."
'Now what Jaune?' Courage asked.
"Um. Um. Give me a mo- I got it. Shirley. She might know what to do. And I know where we could find her." I answered.
'Okay. Let's go find her.' Courage agreed.
We then rushed out the door and towards the building where Shirley's commercial was shot at. Arriving there, we quickly entered and looked around for her. We eventually found her flossing her teeth. Getting ready for another commercial. Rushing over to her, we were about to tell her that we need her help. But she beat us to it.
"The stupid one." She began. "He opened the box. Yes?"
"Yup. He opened the box and stupid does not even come close to how idiotic he is." I answered.
Courage then moved and picked her up. We then raced as fast as we could back to the farmhouse. It seemed that the house was about to collapse any moment. Kicking the door open, Courage let go of Shirley once we were in the dining room. She calmly moved towards Eustace was.
"You had to open the box." Shirley said in irritation. She started mumbling in a language I did not know and moved towards the box and kicked it close. The demon screamed in pain, let go of Muriel and Eustace and then receded into the box. Racing over to them, we saw that the demon had essentially squeezed them so much that their bodies looked like tubes now. Turning back to the box, we saw that a hundred-dollar bill come out of the box which was then grabbed by Shirley who then left the house and went back to her work.
"I knew there was money in that box." Eustace said as he got up. He then ran to the box and opened it again despite what just happened. Luckily, instead of the demon hands coming back out, Eustace was instead pulled into with the box closing right after.
"Idiot." I mumbled under my breath.
"Look at all this money. I'm rich. I'm finally rich." The voice of Eustace faintly came out of the box.
"Look at all this mess. Better start cleaning." Muriel said as she got up and went to the kitchen to grab the broom and shovel.
"Least everything is safe now." I said turning to Courage. He just smiled and went and picked up the key that was near the box. Instantly, I knew where he was going with this and just gave a thumbs up in approval.
Next day Nine A.M.
We were in the living room watching some t.v. Me and Courage were sitting in Eustace's chair. Courage was playing with his yoyo while I was drinking some tea. Muriel was in her chair with a pot of raspberry jam. In between us, on the small table was the box that Eustace was trapped in.
"Eustace. Aunt Gertrude was right. This jam tastes heavenly." Muriel said to the box.
"Can I buy some from you?" Eustace faintly asked from the box.
"You can have some when you get out. But first we have to find that key." Muriel said before taking another bite of the jam.
Turning to Courage, he looked at me and opened his mouth to show that he had the key in his mouth. I smiled and patted his head back. Ready to just enjoy the peace and quiet a little bit longer and maybe, maybe one day let Eustace out.
Note:
Changed Horst a bit in this chapter. Even though his personality was never set, some do speculate that he does care for Eustace to an extent.
In the reviews, someone suggested that I have Horst know about the Arc family so I went with it here.
Next chapter is King Ramses curse.
Nora and Ren will appear in the episode.
Which brings up a question. Should Nora be able to understand Courage as well. And if so, should it be fully or only to an extent?
Should Port make an appearance as well in the episode alongside the red mustache man?