It's good to be a firefighter. Housing is given out, fed, official clothes. Yes, but many people forget that fires also need to be extinguished. And it becomes absolutely unimportant at whose expense you live when the fire blocked your only way to the exit. And not only fire can be the enemy of a firefighter.
In Adventure Bay, it could have been an ordinary day without any incidents, if not for a huge forest fire, the smoke from which enveloped the entire city. Residents did not wait long and called the Puppy Patrol, which quickly went to put out the fire.
The fire area was very large and the members of the rescue team had to split up. Citizens also participated in extinguishing the fire and everyone helped as best they could: someone brought water, and someone sand, some dug trenches to stop the spread of flames.
It was quite possible to extinguish the fire with such a coordinated work of the whole city, but new sources of ignition inexplicably appeared in various places. They began to find canisters from under the fuel. It became clear that this was deliberate arson. But who did it and why?
Struggling with another recently appeared hearth, Marshall coped very well. The fire was completely extinguished before it could spread. Marshall was about to go to another place where there was still fire, but he found an almost empty canister. And next to it are footprints. Marshall decided to check where they led and very soon came to the edge of the country road. There was a jeep in which there were many such canisters. It became clear that this was a car of arsonists, but where were the attackers themselves? It didn't take long to find the answer - two men in closed camouflage clothes came out of the bushes. Marshall realized that these were the very arsonists. One of them took out a box and lit a match, but the fire pup did not watch as they set fire to the forest again. Marshall took out his water cannon and filled the match, and with it the arsonists, with water. Of course they were shocked and frightened - they were caught. But looking in the direction from which the jet of water flew, they saw a small puppy in a firefighter uniform. They were furious. One ran up to the jeep and took out a long cane knife from the back. Marshall was about to call Ryder and the others on his collar, but the man cut the collar off the puppy's neck with a quick flick of his knife in one stroke. And with a second swing, he slashed the blade across Marshall's face, leaving a deep cut on his forehead and left cheek. There was a wild cry in the forest. But the man did not stop there and with a kick of his boot sent the puppy to the nearest tree. After a strong blow, Marshall could not even stand up, he could hardly remain conscious. The arsonists took Marshall and put him in the back of a car. When committing a crime, every criminal observes the rule: never leave witnesses.
For half an hour they drove through the forest. We went out into a large open space and stopped near a large ravine about ten meters deep. The cliff was very steep, and at the bottom lay a lot of stones. Marshall no longer had the strength to resist, he could not even scream when he hit his body against large stones. Only a pitiful whine came from the falling puppy. Leaving the puppy to die, the attackers got into the car and disappeared.
Marshall did not know how long he lay at the bottom of the ravine. He thought he was going to die from blood loss; the last thing he heard was the sound of a helicopter flying past.
The hospital room was quiet. There was not even the usual beeping from the instruments. On the bed lay a Dalmatian, all in bandages: on his head, on his paws, on his chest. When Marshall woke up, he could not understand where he was; it didn't feel like heaven, but it was soft and warm. Turning his head to the side, he saw Chase's head with a sad smile on his face.
A month has passed since that fateful day. Marshall's injuries had already healed and the doctors allowed him to return home. And then the morning came. The news reported that the arsonists were caught, it turned out that they were trying to hide illegal logging by fire.
A nurse in a white coat entered the room. She looked at the grown-up Dalmatian without a single scratch. Only a black patch hung in place of the left eye. At the entrance to the hospital he was met by the entire puppy patrol. Marshall was glad to be home, but he was also sad at the thought that he would no longer be able to do his job as a lifeguard. The left paw, although it looks healthy outwardly, will never fully recover, and it will not be possible to restore vision either.
At the base of the PAW Patrol, everything was as before, with one exception: Marshall, who returned from the hospital, was met by an unfamiliar Dalmatian puppy with black paws. Marshall's booth was in its old place, but next to it was another booth, also red, but different.
It has been a week since I returned home. Everyone thought that Marshall would get better, but from the realization of a new reality in which Marshall can no longer do his favorite job, and in his place is another puppy Marshall fell into depression. The new puppy's name was Marlin. Marshall quickly became friends with him and was pleased to communicate with him. Marlin turned out to be a very kind and cheerful puppy with a sense of humor. Everyone laughed at his jokes, but Marshall only smiled faintly.
That evening Marshall was sitting on his favorite spot, a high cliff behind the trees overlooking the sea. It was getting dark. The sun was already halfway down and the sky was pink. Marshall, out of habit, sat on the edge of a cliff and watched the sunset. Racer approached Marshall. He sat down beside him and looked sympathetically at the Dalmatian. Marshall smiled weakly at this, a tear leaking from his good eye. The racer looked at the horizon, and then lowered his head and said:
- I'm sorry, Marshall!
