104R 31: The Runaways.
Keegan was in the kitchen with Ewen, who was bent down to two open doors of the kitchen cabinets, looking for something.
"Mr. Ewen, what are you looking for?" Keegan asked.
"I promised your aunt Candace a blue berry pie last month and i don't wanna disappoint her." Said Ewen.
"Two weeks ago she said she wasn't gonna eat anymore pie 'cause she thought she was getting fat." Said Keegan.
"Well, that was two weeks ago." Said Ewen before he resumed looking inside the cabinets. "Now what did i do with all those berry cans?" He look at Keegan. "Come on, help me look for them."
Keegan got down in front of the cabinet doors, next to Ewen, and helped him search for the berry cans.
"Here they are." Said Ewen before getting a berry can out of one of the cabinets. "I knew i had them in here somewhere." He and Keegan stood up and the british man and Canadian boy faced each other. "Let's get to work."
"Full?" Keegan asked.
"You bet." Said Ewen.
"Mr. Ewen...do you think my aunt Candace is gonna be alright?" Keegan asked.
"Why would you ask that?" Ewen asked.
"Oh, no reason. I'm just worried about her, i guess. I mean no one has seen or heard from her since the night of the ball when she found out that my Mom, her sister, was dead. And that two weeks ago. She doesn't even work here at the 2nd Chance Dog Shelter anymore. My Dad and i have tried calling her...but she won't return any of our calls. Do you think she hates us?" Said Keegan.
"No, of course not. Who told you that?" Said Ewen.
"My stepmother, Linda." Said Keegan.
"The Mayor of London?" Ewen asked.
"That'd be her." Said Keegan. "She said that my aunt Candace hated me and my Dad for not telling her about my Mom's death and that she never wanted to see either of us again. More-so me than my Dad."
"Now Keegan, you know that's not true." Said Ewen.
"Isn't it? She hasn't called or talked to me for two whole weeks, and i haven't seen her around at all lately. It's like she just vanished off the face of the Earth. What if this means she's not coming back? What if i've lost her all over again? What if everything my stepmother said to me is true? What if my aunt Candace really does hate me?" Said Keegan.
"Keegan, you know what your stepmother said to you isn't true. Your aunt Candace is upset right now. Not with you, but with herself." Said Ewen.
"Why?" Keegan asked.
"Well, from what you've told me, it's been six years since your Mum passed, and your aunt Candace never knew about it until now. She just found out she lost her older sister. Someone she grew up living with. Someone she admired, respected, looked up to and loved very much. That's not exactly something you get over in a day." Said Ewen.
"But what if she never gets over it? What if she can't get past losing her sister? What if it destroys her life? What if..." Keegan asked.
"Okay, that's enough with the 'what if's.' Your aunt Candace is gonna be just fine. She just needs time to grieve and then she'll come around." Said Ewen.
"You think so?" Keegan asked.
"I know so. Before you know it, she'll be back out on the streets of London in no time. She may even ask for her job here back. And you know what? If she does...i will gladly give it back to her." Said Ewen.
"You really mean that?" Keegan asked.
"Of course i do." Said Ewen.
"Thanks, Mr. Ewen. You're the best." Said Keegan.
"And don't you forget it." Said Ewen.
"I'm curious. How do you know so much about this kind of stuff?" Keegan asked.
"Well, like me Mum always said: "When there aren't hopes, hope comes knocking." Said Ewen.
"Aren't hopes?" Keegan asked.
As if on cue, Keegan and Ewen heard knocking coming from outside the front double doors.
"Hope comes knocking." Said Keegan. The 11 year old then ran out of the kitchen and up to the front double doors as the knocking continued. That had to be his aunt Candace. The kid opened the left door, and to his horror, it wasn't Candace standing on the other side...it was his father, Jerry, his stepmother, Linda, his two stepsisters, Adriana and Donna and...some other guy he didn't know. "Dad. Everyone. How did you know i was...Look, i can explain."
"Oh, save it! Your stepmother here told me everything!" Said Jerry.
"You told him what?" Keegan asked.
"Don't play dumb with us, Keegan, you know exactly 'what.' Where's Copper?" Linda asked.
"What are you talking about? Copper's back in Canada, at the animal shelter." Said Keegan.
"No, he isn't. He's here and we know he is. And so do you." Said Adriana.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about." Keegan asked.
"Enough with the lies, Keegan. You and your friends have been stopping by here after school to see Copper everyday for the past two weeks." Said Jerry.
"No, i haven't." Said Keegan.
"We saw you, so you can't deny it." Said Donna.
"What?" Keegan gasped.
"That's right. We know all about it. How you've been hidding your dog away in this dump and how you and your friends, and your aunt Candace, have been lying to all of us for the past two weeks." Said Donna.
"What's your point?" Keegan asked.
"The point is that you still have that dog right after your father and our mother made you get rid of it. Well, now she's gonna get rid of it herself once and for all. With a little help from this guy." Said Adriana.
"Who are you?" Keegan asked.
"My name is officer Smith. I work for the London city pound. I'm here to collect your dog." Said the man known as officer smith.
"See, i told you. They're gonna take away your stupid dog." Said Adriana.
"Let the officer handle this, Adriana." Said Linda.
"Yes, mother." Said Adriana.
"I'm sorry, kid, but your stepmother is the mayor of London, and what the mayor says goes. Also, she filed a complaint against your dog." Said officer Smith.
"What kind of complaints?" Keegan asked.
"Well...she believes...that, somewhere along the way here to London,...your dog may have contracted Rabies." Said Smith.
"What?! That's rediculous, Copper's not Rabbied!" Said Keegan.
"I'm sorry, mate, but this is a complaint against him. The law says we have to empound him." Said Smith.
"You're arresting Copper? For what?" Keegan asked.
"I believe i just told you. Because there's been a report filed by the mayor here that your dog is Rabbied." Said Smith.
"Why, because she said so?" Said Keegan before stepping outside. "No. Wait...wait a minute, Copper is a healthy liver-spotted Dalmatian." He said as he ran a hand through his long brown hair. "I think i would know if my dog had Rabies. My stepmother is lying to you about Copper. How 'bout i press charges?"
"Are there witnesses?" Adriana asked.
"Yes. Us." Said Charlie as he, Ewen, Isabella and the dogs, with Waddlesworth on Dottie's back, stepped outside.
"(Laughing) Oh, officer, clearly Keegan, this man, and these two kids are trying to cook up a story about this." Said Donna.
"Does my stepmother have any proof of this?" Keegan asked.
"Your dog traveled all the way here from Canada. Are we simpley suppose to believe that he made it all this way without catching anything?" Said Linda.
"There! He's foaming at the mouth!" Said Adriana, pointing at Copper, who had white stuff all over his snout and was barking at her, Donna and Linda, bearing his teeth.
"See!? He's menacing us! Officer, clearly this dog has to be destroyed." Said Daonna.
"You can't do that!" Said Keegan.
"The law is the law. I'm the mayor of this town and as mayor it is my job to protect the citizens from anyone or anything that might pose a threat to our society. Including Rabbied, vicious dogs who can't be controlled." Said Linda.
"What about Rabbied, vicious people? I mean you guys can't just go around killing dogs!" Said Keegan.
"Easy, mate. All i want to do is take him to the pound, they'll do a few test to see if he has Rabies, and then there will be a hearing. Your dog will have his day in court, just like everybody else." Said Smith.
"And he'll get the death sentence." Said Donna.
"How...how come my stepmother doesn't have to go to trial? How come no one's talking about her getting locked up, huh?" Said Keegan.
"Hey, our mother's the mayor of London, so don't get cute!" Said Adriana.
"Look, does the dog have a leash?" Smith asked.
"Can you at least give me and Copper a few minutes alone, please?" Keegan asked.
"I'm sorry. Look, don't make this any harder than it has to be okay?" Said Linda.
"Excuse me. Does your dog have a blanket that he likes to sleep with or maybe a couple of toys or something?" Smith asked.
"They don't let you have toys in prison!" Said Donna.
"Wait a second, how 'bout his dinner bowl? I'm sorry, Keegan. I...i know this is tough." Said Linda, pretending to be sempathetic.
"Excuse me, sir." Said Keegan, looking at officer Smith. "Can i...Can i, uh, just get a couple of cans of his favoret dogfood?"
"Yeah. Sure, sure." Said Smith.
"Okay, who's gonna feed him?" Keegan asked.
"I will see to it myself. Okay?" Said Smith.
"Okay, thank you. Charlie, Isabella, Mr. Ewen, you guys stay out here with them. Come on, Copper." Said Keegan. The 11 year old and the liver-spotted dog went back inside the dog shelter, with the Miller pups following.
"Officer, how are you planning to subdue the creature?" Linda asked.
"You have a stungun, right?" Said Donna.
"You can kill a puppy with a stungun." Said Charlie.
"He's gonna be killed anyway. Officer, surely you're not planning on putting that dog in your patrol car." Said Adriana.
"Ladies, i am handling this, okay? Your mother's already filed a complaint against the animal. There's really no need for you all to stick around here." Said Smith.
"Yes there is, Keegan's our son. Linda and the girls and i love him and we just wanna help." Said Jerry.
"If you really wanna help your son, then why are you letting your wife do this to him and his dog? Why did you let her hurt Candace by telling her that her sister had been dead for six years?" Said Ewen.
"Just because you've decided you don't like our mother, there's no reason to make trouble for her." Said Donna.
"Donna's right. Our mother has always alicited jealousy because of her superior wisedome for her age. She's had paticular difficulty with other women who are around our stepfather." Said Adriana.
"Because she's a jealous, spiteful witch!" Said Ewen.
"Excuse me, sir? Do you and these children know the legal defenition of slander?" Linda asked.
"No!" Said Ewen, Isabella and Charlie.
"Oh, for pete sake, Mayor Lewis, the kids are 12 years old." Said Smith.
"10." Said Isabella and Charlie.
"How long do we have to stand out here, waiting?" Linda asked.
Jerry walked over to the opened door. "Keegan, hurry it up!" But there was no answer from his son. "Keegan?"
Elsewhere, Keegan was running through an alley, away from the dog shelter, wearing his pale brown backpack on his back. He then stopped in his tracks and took his backpack off and opened it, revealing Copper, who stuck his head out. "It's okay. I won't let them take you away, alright? I'm gonna take you some place where they'll never find you, alright? Is that okay?"
"Can we help?" Came a voice from behind.
Keegan turned and saw the Miller pups standing behind him. "Dice? Mickey, Max? Olive? What are you guys doing here?"
"We're here to help, what else?" Said Dice.
"Please let us come with you and Copper, Keegan. We really wanna help." Said Mickey.
"But this is our problem. You guys don't have to get involved." Said Keegan.
"We know, but we also know that you're gonna need all the help you can get. And plus...we can't just turn away when we know that there are friends of our's in need." Said Max.
Olive barked in agreement.
"Okay then, let's go." Said Keegan. The boy closed his backpack, hidding Copper inside, put it back on his shoulders, and he and the Miller pups took off down the rest of the ally, venturing off into the city of London.
104
DALMATIANS
RETURNS
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