Courage awoke from his trance to find himself alone on a mountain trail.
He was beginning to feel weak and he found himself struggling to get to his
feet as his eyes quickly adjusted to the dim moonlight. On one side of the
trail was a rocky mountain wall. Trees lined the other side of the trail.
After taking a minute or two to regain his strength, Courage ventured a
little ways down the trail to a spot where the trees disappeared as the
land on the other side of the trail dipped down into a valley. From here
he could see the lights of Nowhere streched out in the distance. It was a
truly peaceful sight.
Courage stared out at the lights for several minutes before noticing a strong feeling of being watched. He turned to look behind him and saw Mr. Worth standing there alone.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mr. Worth glided over to stand next to Courage.
Courage nodded. "Uh-huh"
Mr. Worth sat down next to Courage. "I used to love coming up here."
Courage looked over at the ghost. "Is this where you and the children..."
Mr. Worth found himself almost understanding the words. "Say that again slowly."
Courage repeated his question much more slowly and clearly.
Mr. Worth listened carefully, half understaning the words and half reading the dog's mind. The ghost nodded. . "Yes ... this is the place where we died."
Courage's surprise at Mr. Worth's understanding was overshadowed by the feeling of sadness that he could sense coming from Mr. Worth. Courage leaned up against the ghost trying to comfort him. Mr. Worth smiled and put his arm around the dog. Courage looked up at Mr. Worth's face and saw that there were tears in the ghost's eyes.
Courage whined softly.
Mr. Worth wiped the tears from his eyes and gathered his thoughts. "I have always felt guilty for bringing those children up here that weekend. I should have waited until the next week but I wanted us to come when the trees were still just beginning to bud. I wanted the children to see the springtime rebirth of nature. I should have known better. I should have waited."
Courage turned and gave Mr. Worth a hug. He wanted to tell him that he shouldn't feel guilty. He wanted to tell Mr. Worth that it wasn't his fault. But, even with Mr. Worth being able to understand him a little bit, there was no way that Courage could get him to understand everything that he wanted to say.
Mr. Worth hugged Courage back. "You truly are man's best friend."
Courage wagged his tail.
"Now, let's get back to business. You know the two that broke into your house. Who are they?"
Courage thought for a moment then turned into Eustace then into Ma Bagge. He fell to the ground panting as he returned to his normal self.
"She is related to that grumpy old man, Eustace?"
Courage nodded. He tried to think of another charade but he was feeling too tired so he decided to try and get his point across with words. "Ma", was all he could say.
"Ma?"
Courage nodded.
"That's his mother?!" Mr. Worth looked stunned as Courage nodded. "She would do something like that to her own son?!"
Courage nodded again.
"No wonder he is such an ass."
Courage was surprised at Mr. Worth's choice of words.
"I may be a teacher and I may spend most of my time watching over those children but I'm only human .. at least I was only human. You should realize that by now, Courage."
Courage gave Mr. Worth a big toothy grin.
"So who's the other bad guy?"
Courage thought about it for a moment then said something that sounded almost exactly like, "Katz"
"Katz?"
Courage nodded.
"So do you have any idea why this Katz ...um... fellow wants to eliminate you?"
Courage nodded. By now he was feeling too way to weak and tired for charades so he found a small stick and began writing something in the dirt.
Mr. Worth looked down at what Courage was writing. "So he is an old enemy of yours because you tried to rescue Muriel and Eustace from him."
Courage nodded.
"Okay, one more question. How did you get that gold coin?"
Courage drew a picture of the fountain in Nowhere park.
"You found it in the park?"
Courage nodded.
"Eustace's mother mentioned something about a gold coin, didn't she?"
"Uh-huh"
Mr. Worth considered this for a moment. "Did anybody see you pick that coin up?"
Courage just shrugged. There had been a lot of people walking around the park that day.
Two small shapes appeared behind Courage and Mr. Worth. Mr. Worth seemed to realize that they were there. "Have they left the house?" He didn't bother to turn around as he asked the question.
"Yes, they left just now." A boy said as he knelt down to pet Courage.
A girl knelt down beside the boy and scratched the itchy spot behind Courage's ears. Courage wagged his tail in appreciation of the kind attention he was recieving. "They searched through almost everything in that house. We were getting so sick of them tearing things apart that we wanted to scare them but we didn't."
Mr. Worth turned to face the children. "So everybody kept quiet and watched just like I told you to?"
Both of the children looked back at him and nodded.
"Did either of them say anything that might be useful to us?" Mr. Worth reached down and patted Courage as he questioned the two children.
"They just kept arguing about when that ugly lady was going to get the coin. She kept saying that the coin was supposed to be given to her after she made sure that the two people were out of the way. But that weird looking cat said that she would get the coin as soon as they found the dog because the dog was the one who had it." The girl stopped to take a deep breath. "The cat was also mad because somebody - I didn't hear the name - had dropped the coin in the first place. He said something about needing all the gold they could get."
Mr. Worth looked at the girl. "Did he say why he needed the gold?"
The boy spoke up. "I heard him say something about a machine that couldn't be finished unless he found enough gold or something like that."
Mr. Worth looked down at the ground as he thought about what they had said. "Did he say anything else?"
"I heard him say something about having to break into somewhere because some of the gold was lost."
Courage looked up at the girl in surprise. "So that's how they got into the antique shop!"
The two children looked down at Courage not understanding a word. But Mr. Worth just stared off into the distance. "Antique shop?"
Courage nodded. "Uh huh!"
"So you think it was Katz?"
Courage jumped up and down excitedly. "Uh-huh uh-huh!" He gathered what strength he could and quickly turned himself into a very large cat's claw then into a lock before falling to the ground exhausted.
Mr. Worth turned and watched Courage's charade. "You think the cat picked the lock at the antique shop just like he picked the lock at your house."
Courage nodded weakly.
Mr. Worth rose to his feet. "Make's sense. Come on, let's get back to your house. I want to see if we can figure out what was in those apples and what that cat and Eustace's Ma are planning."
The children looked up at him. "That ugly old lady is that mean old man's Ma?"
Mr. Worth nodded and reached out to take the children's hands. They formed a circle around Courage. "Relax Courage, it will be easier for us to take you back this way."
Courage remained still and relaxed in the middle of the circle while Mr. Worth began to chant something. Slowly the children joined in the chant and Courage began to feel sleepy.
Courage stared out at the lights for several minutes before noticing a strong feeling of being watched. He turned to look behind him and saw Mr. Worth standing there alone.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mr. Worth glided over to stand next to Courage.
Courage nodded. "Uh-huh"
Mr. Worth sat down next to Courage. "I used to love coming up here."
Courage looked over at the ghost. "Is this where you and the children..."
Mr. Worth found himself almost understanding the words. "Say that again slowly."
Courage repeated his question much more slowly and clearly.
Mr. Worth listened carefully, half understaning the words and half reading the dog's mind. The ghost nodded. . "Yes ... this is the place where we died."
Courage's surprise at Mr. Worth's understanding was overshadowed by the feeling of sadness that he could sense coming from Mr. Worth. Courage leaned up against the ghost trying to comfort him. Mr. Worth smiled and put his arm around the dog. Courage looked up at Mr. Worth's face and saw that there were tears in the ghost's eyes.
Courage whined softly.
Mr. Worth wiped the tears from his eyes and gathered his thoughts. "I have always felt guilty for bringing those children up here that weekend. I should have waited until the next week but I wanted us to come when the trees were still just beginning to bud. I wanted the children to see the springtime rebirth of nature. I should have known better. I should have waited."
Courage turned and gave Mr. Worth a hug. He wanted to tell him that he shouldn't feel guilty. He wanted to tell Mr. Worth that it wasn't his fault. But, even with Mr. Worth being able to understand him a little bit, there was no way that Courage could get him to understand everything that he wanted to say.
Mr. Worth hugged Courage back. "You truly are man's best friend."
Courage wagged his tail.
"Now, let's get back to business. You know the two that broke into your house. Who are they?"
Courage thought for a moment then turned into Eustace then into Ma Bagge. He fell to the ground panting as he returned to his normal self.
"She is related to that grumpy old man, Eustace?"
Courage nodded. He tried to think of another charade but he was feeling too tired so he decided to try and get his point across with words. "Ma", was all he could say.
"Ma?"
Courage nodded.
"That's his mother?!" Mr. Worth looked stunned as Courage nodded. "She would do something like that to her own son?!"
Courage nodded again.
"No wonder he is such an ass."
Courage was surprised at Mr. Worth's choice of words.
"I may be a teacher and I may spend most of my time watching over those children but I'm only human .. at least I was only human. You should realize that by now, Courage."
Courage gave Mr. Worth a big toothy grin.
"So who's the other bad guy?"
Courage thought about it for a moment then said something that sounded almost exactly like, "Katz"
"Katz?"
Courage nodded.
"So do you have any idea why this Katz ...um... fellow wants to eliminate you?"
Courage nodded. By now he was feeling too way to weak and tired for charades so he found a small stick and began writing something in the dirt.
Mr. Worth looked down at what Courage was writing. "So he is an old enemy of yours because you tried to rescue Muriel and Eustace from him."
Courage nodded.
"Okay, one more question. How did you get that gold coin?"
Courage drew a picture of the fountain in Nowhere park.
"You found it in the park?"
Courage nodded.
"Eustace's mother mentioned something about a gold coin, didn't she?"
"Uh-huh"
Mr. Worth considered this for a moment. "Did anybody see you pick that coin up?"
Courage just shrugged. There had been a lot of people walking around the park that day.
Two small shapes appeared behind Courage and Mr. Worth. Mr. Worth seemed to realize that they were there. "Have they left the house?" He didn't bother to turn around as he asked the question.
"Yes, they left just now." A boy said as he knelt down to pet Courage.
A girl knelt down beside the boy and scratched the itchy spot behind Courage's ears. Courage wagged his tail in appreciation of the kind attention he was recieving. "They searched through almost everything in that house. We were getting so sick of them tearing things apart that we wanted to scare them but we didn't."
Mr. Worth turned to face the children. "So everybody kept quiet and watched just like I told you to?"
Both of the children looked back at him and nodded.
"Did either of them say anything that might be useful to us?" Mr. Worth reached down and patted Courage as he questioned the two children.
"They just kept arguing about when that ugly lady was going to get the coin. She kept saying that the coin was supposed to be given to her after she made sure that the two people were out of the way. But that weird looking cat said that she would get the coin as soon as they found the dog because the dog was the one who had it." The girl stopped to take a deep breath. "The cat was also mad because somebody - I didn't hear the name - had dropped the coin in the first place. He said something about needing all the gold they could get."
Mr. Worth looked at the girl. "Did he say why he needed the gold?"
The boy spoke up. "I heard him say something about a machine that couldn't be finished unless he found enough gold or something like that."
Mr. Worth looked down at the ground as he thought about what they had said. "Did he say anything else?"
"I heard him say something about having to break into somewhere because some of the gold was lost."
Courage looked up at the girl in surprise. "So that's how they got into the antique shop!"
The two children looked down at Courage not understanding a word. But Mr. Worth just stared off into the distance. "Antique shop?"
Courage nodded. "Uh huh!"
"So you think it was Katz?"
Courage jumped up and down excitedly. "Uh-huh uh-huh!" He gathered what strength he could and quickly turned himself into a very large cat's claw then into a lock before falling to the ground exhausted.
Mr. Worth turned and watched Courage's charade. "You think the cat picked the lock at the antique shop just like he picked the lock at your house."
Courage nodded weakly.
Mr. Worth rose to his feet. "Make's sense. Come on, let's get back to your house. I want to see if we can figure out what was in those apples and what that cat and Eustace's Ma are planning."
The children looked up at him. "That ugly old lady is that mean old man's Ma?"
Mr. Worth nodded and reached out to take the children's hands. They formed a circle around Courage. "Relax Courage, it will be easier for us to take you back this way."
Courage remained still and relaxed in the middle of the circle while Mr. Worth began to chant something. Slowly the children joined in the chant and Courage began to feel sleepy.