This is the story of Peter and the Wolf

Scarecrow and the Wolf

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Chapter Two

Grandfather came out of the house and through the open gate. He was puffing on his pipe. He never liked Peter to go out into the meadow. "Not really the place for you, grandson," he said gravely. "Wolves and things. Do you know anything about wolves? A dangerous lot, wolves."

Peter said nothing. Of course, he was not afraid of wolves, but he really couldn't argue with his Grandfather.

Grandfather led Peter home and locked the gate securely.

**********

"Scarecrow, I told you to stay away from this case. It's FBI business, and we have no reason to get involved." Billy was fuming.

"But, Billy, I didn't go out with the intention of getting involved," Lee protested. "I don't know how Schmutzig found me. I was just dropping off some typing for Amanda to do, and the next thing I knew, he was there." Lee had bent this particular rule on more than one occasion, but he wished Billy could understand that he was innocent this time. "I had no idea that he even wanted to talk to me, much less what he had to say."

"And it's probably a good thing he did find Lee," Francine interjected. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have known about the drop tomorrow afternoon."

"All right," Billy sighed. "Tell me again what's supposed to happen."

"Schmutzig says he's to be the middleman for tomorrow's drop in Rock Creek Park. He's delivering a new set of engraving plates to a fellow named Wolfgang Wildehund. He's the head of the counterfeiting ring, Billy, and he has connections to the Stasi. If we could get him, we'd stop the whole operation cold."

"Yes, and we might do just that, if it were our case," Billy answered. "But it's not, and I want you to stay out of it. I put you on the line often enough for cases that are our concern. I don't want you sticking your neck out when it's none of our business. Stay out of it, Scarecrow, and that's final. I'll let the FBI know what Schmutzig told you, and they'll take care of it."

Lee didn't bother to respond. As squalid a character as Schmutzig could be, he was part of his family, and Lee didn't want to lose him in some kind of an FBI foul-up. The drop was tomorrow afternoon. Billy had made his mind up to keep Scarecrow out of it, but that didn't mean that Lee couldn't just 'happen' to be in the vicinity, keeping an eye on things.

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No sooner had Peter gone than a big, gray, hungry wolf came out of the dark forest. The cat turned and saw him. In a twinkling, the cat scampered up the tree. And the duck quacked hysterically, but in his panic, foolishly jumped out of the pond.

The wolf spotted the duck and went for him like a shot. And no matter how hard, how fast the duck tried to run, he could not escape. The wolf in hot pursuit was getting rather angry. Catching up, catching up with him… And then he got him, and swallowed him hungrily with one enormous gulp!

**********

The next afternoon, Lee arrived at the parking lot just as Schmutzig got out of his car. Dressed in a t-shirt and jogging shorts, the agent pulled a baseball cap down over his eyes as he walked to intercept the pudgy little man. "Vhat are you doink here?" the snitch asked in a panic. "If he sees you, he vill kill me."

"Nobody's going to get killed," Lee replied cooly. "And what are you doing here? You told me that the meet was going to be down by the old mill."

"It is not my fault," 'Hands' protested, wiping his brow with a soiled handkerchief from the pocket of the grimy tuxedo. The garment now showed definite signs that it could have stood on its own. "Volf called me early dis mornink und changed der place."

"Then it's a good thing that I followed you instead of believing you. I just wanted to be nearby to watch over things. Where's the exchange going to take place now?"

"Der." Schmutzig replied, pointing to the picnic table behind the cabin. "Look, I must get ofer der. Volf vill be here any minute."

"Go ahead," Lee agreed, turning to jog slowly back and forth next to the parking lot, stretching his muscles to play the part of a Saturday afternoon jogger. "I'll be watching you."

Schmutzig hurried down the path to the appointed meeting place, his nerves settling a little. Of course he'd be better off with Scarecrow on the lookout. He sat down at the table but couldn't help casting a glance back toward the parking lot. Panicking when he didn't see Lee, he stood up to have a better look. The agent was nowhere to be seen. What was he going to do now?

No one else was in the area. Looking over his shoulder one last time, Schmutzig took the two plates, wrapped in a protective cloth bag, from his pocket and slipped them to the ground underneath the picnic table. A couple of quick kicks and they were buried in the thick layer of dry leaves. At least Wolf wouldn't kill him until he had what he wanted, right?

As Lee began to jog away from the parking lot, Francine peered out from the utility building she'd been hiding behind. With disgust, she watched Schmutzig coming her way. How had the man managed to stay alive this long? She'd followed Lee, leaving her car out of site a little further down the road when he'd pulled into the parking lot. Now she crouched behind the utility building, determined to do what she could to keep Lee from getting himself into trouble this time, and it looked as if he'd need the help. Schmutzig was sure to give him away.

Before she could take action, though, a long black car pulled to the side of the road near the cabin, and a lanky, gray haired man emerged from the driver's side. He stood near the car for a few moments, looking around the area until he had satisfied himself that nothing was out of the ordinary. There were a few cars in the parking lot a couple of hundred yards away, and one lone jogger was making his way along the roadside, heading in the opposite direction. There was no one else in sight.

Francine ducked back behind the building. She was stuck now. There was no way she could get out without Wolf seeing her. She watched as the tall, lean man approached Schmutzig. The strained greetings turned quickly into an argument, and then the sordid little man turned and ran. Francine snorted to herself in amazement. 'As if he thinks he can get away.'

She watched as the snitch circled the cabin, with Wolf hot on his heels. Before he'd rounded the first corner, the gray man caught him. Grabbing Schmutzig around the neck like a chicken destined for the dinner table, the tall man shook with anger as he dragged his prey back to the car.

Francine fingered the handle of her gun and looked down the road. The solitary jogger was slowly heading this way, and as he approached, she recognized Scarecrow's determined face in the shadow cast by the brim of his cap.

'Damn it,' Lee thought. 'Where's the FBI when you really need them?" He slowed his pace even more. If he approached too closely with Wolf so near the car, he'd just jump in and drive away. 'Keep it cool, Scarecrow, Wolf hasn't pulled a gun yet,' he told himself quietly, watching as Wolf opened the trunk of the car and shoved a wildly gesticulating Schmutzig inside before slamming the lid shut again and heading back toward the cabin. Lee slowly made his way closer, his eyes on Wolf the whole time.

Back in the parking lot, unnoticed by any of them, a station wagon pulled to a stop in one of the parking places and a tall brunette headed down the path toward the cabin.

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Now, this is how things stood.

The cat was up a tree, sitting on one branch. The bird up the same tree, on another branch. But not too close to the cat. There was no affection between them.

The wolf walked round and round the tree, staring at the both of them with greedy eyes. He was licking his hungry chops.

Peter saw it all, thinking, 'So the wolf wants one of them. Well, two can play this game. I'll trap him. Yes, that's how it should be done. That's how it must be done.'

So Peter went to his room and found a strong rope, which he worked round and round smoothly until he made a noose. He slipped it through his fingers and tried one or two quick throws.

He went out, and noiselessly climbed up the stone wall, over which one of the branches of the tree stretched. Silently, he took hold of the branch. Peter eased himself onto the tree.

**********

It was all Lee could do to keep from jerking his head around when he caught a glimpse of Amanda out of the corner of his eye. What the hell was she doing here? She was nearly to Wolf, who was walking through the area behind the cabin, furiously kicking at the leaves covering the ground. He couldn't do anything with her so close - she'd probably get close. Why, oh, why did she always seem to show up at such inopportune times?

He had to come up with a plan. He'd keep one eye on Amanda of course, as long as she was anywhere nearby, but surely she'd leave soon, and he'd be able to catch Wolf by surprise. He left the jogging trail and silently took position around the corner of the cabin from where Wolf was still kicking up a cloud of dust.

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He whispered to the bird, "Be a good little bird. Fly down and tease the wolf a bit, but not too close. Just enough to keep him busy for a moment or two."

The bird obeyed and fluttered overhead, almost touching the wolf. The wolf ducked and struck upwards and sideways, snapping his huge sharp teeth. But she was a clever little bird, and the wolf couldn't catch her.

**********

'C'mon, Amanda, just walk on by and get out of here.' The exhortation was, of course, made silently, but he prayed that somehow she'd hear his thoughts. She had no idea of what she was getting herself into. Still, if she distracted Wolf's attention for a moment . . .

Amanda neared the cabin, smiling as she looked down at the creek running nearby. 'Another beautiful day,' she thought to herself. She was at the cabin now, and she suddenly realized that she wasn't alone.

"Hello," she called perkily. "You must have lost something in the leaves, too."

Wolf spun around. He'd been so intent in his searching that he hadn't noticed her approach. "Yes, you could say so," he replied, with an attempted smile that somehow looked more like a toothy snarl. "I was walking around, enjoying the scenery, but I somehow managed to drop my sunglasses, and now I can't find them anywhere."

"Oh, I know just how you feel," Amanda replied brightly as she began her own search underneath the picnic table, where she'd dropped her purse the day before. "I met a friend here yesterday and . . . Well, let's just said that things got pretty confusing, and before I knew it, I'd dropped my purse and dumped everything out on the ground. I thought we'd found everything, so I left to get back to the class - I was here chaperoning my son's field trip, you know - but I must not have gotten everything, because this morning when I was getting ready to go out, I couldn't find my favorite lipstick, and I had to use the old one, which really isn't all that much of a disaster, I suppose, but I really don't care much for that color any more, and I thought that, just maybe, if I came back down here and looked again, I could find it and I wouldn't have to go out and buy a new one - do you have any idea how much they charge for nice lipstick these days? - and . . ."

Wolf stood stock-still at the other end of the table, his search momentarily forgotten as he listened in amazement. What on earth was this crazy woman chirping on about?

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Meanwhile, Peter took the rope firmly in his hand and, without the wolf knowing it, he slid the noose over the wolf's tail ever so gently.

Then he pulled the rope with all his might. Done! The wolf was caught! Caught by the tail, the wolf jumped wildly, trying to escape.

Peter tied his end of the rope to the tree, so the more the wolf struggled, the tighter the noose became.

**********

This was his chance! Scarecrow crept out from behind the cabin and, in seconds, came up behind Wolf, pressing the barrel of his pistol into the side of the man's head. The lanky man spun around ferociously, knocking away the gun with one hand while delivering a sound punch to Lee's face with the other. They struggled for a few minutes before Scarecrow regained control of the situation, twisting one of Wolf's arms high up behind his back. The more the man struggled, the closer the arm came to breaking. He slipped a pair of handcuffs on the captured counterfeiter, cuffing him securely to a nearby tree, then retrieved his gun and went to stand by Amanda.

"What in heaven's name were you doing here?" he almost shouted. "You could've gotten yourself killed! You have to stay away when I'm on a case."

"Lee," she returned, looking up at him with wide eyes. "I had no idea that you'd even be here, much less that you'd be on an assignment. I just came back to look for my lipstick."

"Well, Amanda dear," Francine offered as she neared the pair, "lipstick can be very important, but I've never thought it was worth risking your life over. Did you find it while you were turning the world on its ear?"

"Not exactly," Amanda admitted. She continued with a grin at Lee. "But I think I might have found something you'd be interested in."

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Just then, Peter saw the hunters come striding out of the woods, moving towards him, their double-barreled shotguns gleaming in the sunlight, poised and ready.

"Stop shooting!" Peter shouted, but the hunters couldn't hear him. Again he shouted, "Stop! Put your guns away! Birdie and I have caught your wolf. Now take him to a zoo."

**********

Lee reached for the cloth bag that Amanda was holding out to him when a half dozen men, dressed in camouflage gear, descended on them from all directions. "This is the FBI," a voice announced over a bullhorn. "Drop your weapons and place your hands on your heads."

Lee carefully placed his pistol on the table, then turned to face the man in charge. "Richardson, is that you? Where the hell were you guys when all the excitement was going on? Amanda could have been killed."

The short, stocky man lowered the bullhorn and stared malevolently at Lee. "Scarecrow, what do you think you're doing? I heard you were told to stay out of this." Richardson's face was turning an interesting shade of vermilion, despite his struggle to control his anger. "This was an FBI case, Stetson. The Agency had no business getting tangled up in it."

"Maybe so," Lee agreed. "But if we'd waited for you, this guy," he nodded towards Wolf, "would've gotten away. Face it, Richardson, you weren't here, and we had to catch the bad guy for you."

"Just wait till I file my report," the irate agent told his counterpart, his voice threatening.

"Personally, I can't wait to read it," Lee replied with an insouciant grin. He winked at Amanda as he took the bag she still held. "Be sure you include the part about the civilian who retrieved the bogus plates for you, okay?"

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And then, the victory parade.

Peter at the head, followed by the hunters, leading the wolf. And at the rear of the column, the cat and Grandfather, still puffing on his pipe and shaking his head quizzically. "Well. And if Peter hadn't caught the wolf? Hrmph. What then?" But he decided to let it pass. Pussy said nothing.

Above them flew Birdie. She was quite pleased with herself. "Just look at what Peter and I have caught," she chirped.

**********

Shortly thereafter, Billy pulled his car to a screeching halt near the cabin, his lips held tightly together as he held himself in check. Scarecrow had done it again! Not fifteen minutes earlier, he'd received the call from the head of the local FBI office, explaining how his most intractable agent had wound up in the middle of their case. The only saving grace was that not only had Scarecrow managed to catch the crook, he and Mrs. King had come up with the evidence needed to put him away for a long time, too.

He sighed and popped a handful of Tums into his mouth, then got out of the car and headed for the rowdy group. Lee was leading Amanda back toward the parking lot, trying to keep her from fussing over the bloody nose and rapidly-swelling split lip that he'd received when he'd let Wolf get in the surprise punch. Behind them, five of the FBI agents formed a ring around the handcuffed Wolf as they led him toward the car that would carry him off to jail.

Shaking his head, Billy caught up with Francine and walked with her at the tail of the procession back to the parking lot. "He'll never learn," the Section Chief said quietly. "If he doesn't start being more careful, someday he's going to get himself into real trouble." He looked again at his favorite agent and his new "partner", then shook his head again, this time in amusement. "But, somehow, I think that situation might just take care of itself."

Francine walked beside him, keeping her thoughts to herself.

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And if you care to listen, you might still hear that dumb duck quacking away, inside the wolf. You see, in his hungry attack, the wolf had swallowed him alive.

**********

"Help me! Somebody get me out of here." The muffled sounds couldn't be heard above the talking of the retreating group. Schmutzig gave up and lay back down in the trunk. 'At least it is not too varm,' he thought. 'It is kind of comfy in here. Might as vell catch a qvick nap. Dey will find me when dey come back for das auto . . .'

Finis