In the cellar Miss Dashwood finally stood up. She was terribly cold and wanted to get a bit warmer. She decided to walk along the wall. Perhaps she could find a way out. A weak hope lightened her mind with this thought. As she walked, she thought of her friends. The first one in her mind was Emperor Zurg. How funny it was to chat with him always! He was just the company of right intelligence – and he was not even spoilt with vanity. She remembered how she had enjoyed their last argue about Mira Nova's home planet's location. She had not had a slightest clue about the matter herself; but still she had firmly convinced Zurg otherwise than he had thought. Aw…(Miss Dashwood bite her lower lip) he had been so charming when he had ran furious after hearing how she had cheated him.
It was so dark that Miss Dashwood couldn't see the shelving to which she next hit her head. It hurt! Then she realized what it was. A shelving! She jumped for joy and keenly started to feel for something useful on it. Like matches. No, not on this particular shelf… maybe on the next one…Oh, no! It was too high for her! She couldn't possibly get there. She collapsed for disappointment. Her hope of being found before the spring cleaning was fading down. No, she would not give up! She jumped down from the lowest shelf, straight to something wet. She felt icky for it smelled awful. Muddy water! She tried to get out of the dirt with no results. Her dress has got so heavy. Suddenly she fell down. She went pale as she felt a hairy corpse of a dead fly under her hand. She screamed heart-brokenly and continued to reach the dry floor.
Meanwhile the rescuers were searching for her downstairs. The corridor where they had just arrived was silent, except the hollow of the wind from the dog-hatch. Zurg yelled Marianne's name but didn't get an answer.
"Lets check out mom's room. Maybe she is there, fallen asleep on a soft pillow and cannot hear us!"
Matt pushed the door a little more ajar than what it was. He peeped into the room from the doorway but saw no marks of life there. Katie, who knew the room best, stepped before him and led the others in.
"Alrighto now, buddiez… We must spread. Buzz, ya look unda the bed. Due to yar phosphor parts the gloominess won't botha ya. Matt, sweetie, ya could look there, on, unda and behind that desk. Zurg, yar so tall that ya could peek into those baskets there in the corn'r. I will climb onto the bed."
Everybody gave a nod of approval to Katie and went to their tasks.
Buzz fought under the bed with some poodles but saw no sign of the missing lady. He sneezed because of the dust and got himself covered with it. He left the place annoyed and went to Zurg who was just turning upside down the last of the three baskets.
"No sign of her?"
"No. Just this stupid Nobody -parrot-fur-toy." Zurg murmured.
Buzz smiled lightly. Zurg was about to throw the bird away but right then it spoke:
"Kopoot! You've got bananas in your ears!"
Zurg looked at it a little perplexed and answered bored:
"No I haven't."
But Nobody was anxious and didn't want to stop the conversation just yet.
"You've got bananas in your ears!"
"I already said that…"
"You've got bananas in your ears! You've got bananas in your ears! Kopoot kopoot!"
"Oh, shut up! Stupid parrot!"
"Banaaanas! Banaaanas! A swante swaana schwash banaana…"
"I said: shut up! Or do you want to get plucked?"
Nobody trolled further, still. Buzz was in verge of a laugh and said:
"It has almost as simple brains as Mira Nova…!"
"Dusting stars! You get rid of it, Buzz, for I have no time for this!"
Meanwhile Matt had searched Miss Dashwood everywhere near the table. He had even peeped in every drawer, but with no results. Now he sat near the edge and tried to see Katie.
"Katty, chérie, where are you? Have you found her?"
"Nah, she is not here! Sufferin' cacti, I found only a Gootchy-Goo –doll which started to weep instantly after seein' me. Matt, hon, come here and help me da get it silent!"
"Me? What have I to do with a crying bébé?"
"Matt, don't try to be funny now, it'z slobberin' me all over!"
"Hey, I think I found its sucette! Catch this, my future Mrs Murdon!"
"Thank ya…krhm…", Katie got crimson red and turned abashed back to the baby, "Now, ya li'l poo-diaper, suck this!"
Zurg was already shouting them down.
"Let's get moving! To the living-room, this minute!"
In the living-room the toys got to breathe some fresh air: the window to the backyard was open. Zurg got scared:
"Oh no, she has fallen outside! And it is thundering! She will be all wet and cold! And what if some spine-chilling animal –like a stray dog- has napped her and taken her away! Exploding quasars!"
Buzz looked him maliciously:
"Don't be silly! It is not thundering and it does not rain. And what comes to that dog-thing: only your wild imagination could believe that something like that could ever happen to any one of us. Get real!"
However, Zurg had to check the yard; just in case.
Katie and Matt approached the shelving, which was full of books, CD-records and videos. Katie trotted in front of the video apartment and shouted to Buzz and Zurg:
"Now stop tha bandy words and come da lookka this! Mrs Davis hasn't got the DVD playa just yet, she'z really outta date! And whaddabout these videoz then! Zurg, ya should really see this one called 'Sense and Sensibility'!"
"And why is that?"
"Perhaps ya could come da undastand Missus D a li'l betta…"
Buzz read aloud some names of the other videos:
" The Adventures of Felix the Cat, Dog and its Plastic Head, Phantom Menace, Pajama-Bananas and Lost Pajama, Dove Festivals in Never-Never Land, Sing Along Tin-Tin and Ti-Ti –bear… Golly, who watches these!"
Matt was on another shelf with the records:
"Those are Molly's, most likely. But these records are not hers, I am sure. Gee, what contains a triple-CD box called 'Shades and Shadows by Faline Deer'? Or this special edition of the soundtrack called 'Beauty and the Beast'? It is for you, Zurg, I am sure."
"Why do you all tease me about Miss Dashwood? Don't you have some better things to do?"
"Actually…no!"
"Mrrrgh…"
Just then Katie jumped in air very excited:
"I found a book
from Emma Tennant! It 'z called 'An Unequal Marriage'! It tellz
'bout a couple of eighteenth century which…"
"Hardy-har, Katie!" Zurg rolled angrily and rapidly away to look after
Miss Dashwood somewhere else. The atmosphere was hilarious.
Finally the whole living-room was explored. But no sign of Miss Dashwood could be found.
"Come on, guys, she is not here. I think we should check the kitchen!"
Katie went first. The kitchen was a new place for them all. It was quite scary in their opinion, though Zurg hardly even noticed where he was; he could only think of Miss Dashwood. Sometimes he stopped and wondered why on earth was he looking for her, but couldn't find a single reasonable reason. Maybe he was just so good a friend to her. With this deduction he was satisfied enough and went on searching.
Matt and Buzz jumped via a chair to the dishwashing table.
"Good heavens! This smell kills me!"
Matt was not accustomed to see food around; especially not old and spoilt one on dirty plates.
Buzz laughed at him:
"Take care that you don't fall there! It is lucky for me to have this invisible little plastic thing – without which I once thought I would die. Now I am sure that I really would have died if only I would've taken it off here!"
Then they heard Zurg darning under the kitchen table:
"These crumbs! I can't get forward, they lock my wheels! How come it is so dirty here?"
Buzz laughed again. Zurg looked very funny when he tried to wipe off the crumbs of bread out of his wheel system.
"Why, I didn't know that your hands go as far as there!"
Katie climbed up to the counter with the help of some drawer-handles. Matt and Buzz found her a minute later, staring stiff in front of her.
"What is it, Katie?".
"What the heck is THAT?!"
Matt didn't know and Buzz wasn't sure.
"Maybe it is a…I'm almost convinced that…It must be….a…a…"
"That is a Poky Steamer."
Zurg was certain of his information. All the others shouted in a choir:
"A WHAT?!"
"A Poky Steamer. It was invented a couple of years ago but was never a success."
Matt stepped next to it.
"I do not wonder why!"
"Why doez Andy's motha own such a thing?", Katie was wondering, "What izzit for? Perhaps people use it for dish-washin'?"
"No, it is for cooking."
"Hey Zurg, how come do you know so much about this gadget?"
"What?…Oh…I was with Andy at the car at the same time that it was bought. I read the booklet about it in order to kill some time on the backseat."
"Zurg, you were not bought a couple of years ago. Don't try to joke on us!"
"Andy's mother bought it from a jumble sale!"
"Ok…holy cow, here's a pic of some unrecognizable dog-toy-lookin' bunch of gum! And it'z put inside this thing!"
"Don't be silly, Katie! It is a callow, plucked chicken, of course! Now come on, Miss Dashwood may be in some danger! We can not lose a minute!!"
The group headed next to the washing room.
