Chapter 80: JackPot
At the calico's answer, King Candy felt his eyes involuntarily flash wide. A subtle yet tense shiver went racing down his slender spine- one that went practically unnoticed by the animals around him. One that he knew no one would think twice about or think was odd if they had noticed it...
But one that he immediately reprimanded himself for having right then.
Swallow it, he growled harshly within himself, swallow that instinct down now!
Before it seemed to overtake him, King Candy roughly shook the tremble down by a demanding and hard shake. Forcing out a calm smile, he eagerly nodded Taffyta's way.
"Yes," he finally confirmed slowly, successfully gulping down his strange instinct to growl in delight. "The shiniest object you each could find."
"They all paid their fees, sir," Sour Bill pulled the distracted king out of his thoughts by stating dryly. His long ground-length ears swaying slightly, the basset hound motioned behind the two of them. "The objects the young ones found are hidden over by a trash can on the left of the stage."
"Excellent!" the king crowed in response- a sharp look of a sudden longing deep in his handsome brown eyes. He turned to face the hound and tagged his tail, his face glowing. "Thank you for collecting them, Sour Bill!"
Not waiting for his assistant to give a monotone, perfunctory rely, the cocker spaniel subtlety eyed behind him, seeming eager to pick through the fees hidden from sight. All at once, he faced forward again- abruptly eager to excuse the young, excited animals before him.
"While I...uh, check around the stage for any unwelcomed animals, why don't you all go and practice real quick?" King Candy suddenly rushed out, his tone revealing his loss of interest in the young animals. "Uh...Taff, I think I heard you'll be on first."
As the participating animals obliged and dispersed to found ample room to practice their unique skills, the cocker spaniel rushed to the left side of the stage. His paws couldn't seem to get there fast enough as he forgot his grace and nearly tripped several times.
Finally getting to the trash can, the king eagerly peered behind it- and saw what Sour Bill had promised. A small hodgepodge of items was hidden there- ranging from lost, mismatched earrings to broken, slightly tarnished watches. Silver money coins and reflective marbles were collected and paid as well- and there were even a few polished paper clips in the pile, taken from some unlidded trash cans all around the city.
Regardless of what the item was, whether gold or silver, big or small, they all had one thing in common: all were indeed shiny, each nearly reflecting the cocker spaniel's wide, suddenly greedy eyes as he struggled to take in his loot.
All at once, the king sense his assistant was nearby- and without completely looking away from his treasure, he saw in the corner of his eye that the basset hound was found by his side yet again. His mind suddenly infiltrated with thoughts of the very animal that could destroy his dubbed kingdom, the cocker spaniel tensed up.
"Sour Bill," King Candy suddenly inquired, "did you survey the area for...well, you know who?"
"I checked every trash can in the city this morning, sir," the basset hound answered dryly. "She was nowhere to be found."
"Excellent!" The king quietly cheered, his lisp all the more evident as greedy joy consumed him. "Now there's no way she can sneak onto the scene and try to disrupt the show."
In an ecstasy all too familiar to him, the spaniel took a deep, calming whiff of the collection of items at his paws- his body seeming to melt at the various types of metal smells as they reached his nose. The aroma of sharp sterling silver earrings made his stubbed tail wag with delight; the scent of magnetic yet ever shining paper clips causing his smile to tugged at his lips even more.
At the visually and olfactory pleasing objects, the king felt his eyes flutter shut. As he continued to take in the smells of the entrance fees, he found that that instinct he was trying to keep down was getting harder to contain.
This is perfect! his mind screamed in delight, making his body melt all over again. These are some of the shiniest objects the youngsters have paid yet! I've really hit the jackpot this time-
When his mind was abruptly cut off from its line of thought.
All at once, the king stopped thinking -feeling, really- for a moment in time as a suddenly new mixture of smells slowly began to drift up to his nose. Smells that made him want to gag...and panic in his place.
Feeling sick to his stomach, the cocker spaniel felt his long, fluffy ears go back in fear. His eyes jumping up immediately, he briefly scanned his collection of shiny objects to see just where the new smells were coming from.
Unable to spot the source, he bent down and took a strong whiff- trying to convince himself that maybe his mind was just playing a deceptive trick on him...
But within seconds, his perfectly shaped nose was immediately assaulted by the alarming mixture of various odors once more- but even stronger this time.
Inhaling the unwelcomed scents all the more, the king disgustedly found some were odors that he could regrettably identify. Ones that instantly repulsed him, making his blood boil in anger and fear...
But it was the one odd, faint odor -the one that he couldn't quite pinpoint where it was from- that troubled him the most. Nosing the scent more, he determined quickly that it was from a fellow dog- a large fellow dog, at that...
And on top of that disturbing revelation, he was shocked to find that it was an odor he swore he had smelt before- something that was rarely, if ever, a good sign.
Wanting to desperately unearth the mysterious object attached to the awful smells -but still not wanting to mess up his treasures in the process- King Candy delicately pushed the innocent shiny objects around with a manicured paw. After a moment of his meticulous maneuvering, an odd object at the bottom of the reflective pile finally appeared- the guilty item that was no doubt the source of all the very worrying odors.
His body tense, King Candy slowly turned to his equally startled assistant to demand an explanation- although the spaniel's modified face made it clear he already knew how his dreaded question would be answered.
"Sour Bill...," he finally mused out cautiously, "w-where did this...filthy camouflage collar with the shiny golden tags come from?"
