"Jailbreaks and Captures"
(A.N. The only time I've ever been to New York City was while switching flights at JFK airport, so I had to use an atlas at home to pinpoint all the landmarks in the last chapter. Just to let you know.)
The road from New York to Boston is not as long as one might think. With no traffic, the trip takes about an hour and a half. With stops and traffic, it takes at least thirty minutes longer. The Greyhound bus fell victim to the latter scenario.
As the bus traveled closer and closer to their destination, something was happening to the canines. Deep inside their minds was a very faint call for help. The sensation felt familiar. Then it hit them. It was the same SOS call that caused the dogs to travel on the bus in the first place. Any doubts the dogs had about others being held in Cape Cod were gone now. The dogs didn't even need to announce it. One look at any other dog's face and they could see that all the dogs sensed it.
And the closer they got to Cape Cod, the clearer the message became.
"Hey," said a voice from behind the canines. They all turned and saw Tom coming towards them down the aisle. "You all don't look so good."
The dogs did look a little pale, but that was because a possible dog-napper was heading right at them!
Tom continued. "I need to use the restroom, so could you all excuse me?"
The dogs breathed sighs of relief as Tom stepped by. Before he closed the door, Tom asked, "Are you sure you guys are okay?"
"Uh, yeah," muttered T.D. "We're just a little…um…"
"Bus-sick," interrupted Cat.
"Oh," responded Tom. "In that case, I'll just be a minute." He closed the door.
"Nice comeback, Cat," said T.D. The other dogs agreed. Cat thanked them. He kind of enjoyed the fact that the dogs were acknowledging him, the only cat on the bus, for a brief moment.
As Tom was in the lavatory, the dogs peeked over to where Wanda was sitting. She was yapping on her cell phone again. She looked like a normal, regular bus passenger…it seemed hard to believe that she was capable of kidnapping dogs. Then again, some of the most normal-looking people on Earth can also the most evil-minded.
When Tom left the lavatory, T.D. asked him, "Just out of curiosity, when you get to Boston, how are you gonna get to Cape Cod?"
"Well, there's a van waiting for me at the bus depot. I imagine Wanda has a ride home too. What about you all? Do you have rides?"
"Not really," said T.D. The other dogs nodded and mumbled words of agreement..
"Well, that's not cool. Tell you what," said Tom, who put his hands on his knees. "There's plenty of room in the back of my van. Why don't you all hitch a ride with me, and I'll drop you off at wherever it is you want to go. How about that?"
The dogs looked at each other. Could they trust this guy?
"Sure, thanks," said T.D. "We could use a ride."
"Great. I'll see you soon." Tom walked down the aisle.
"What did you do that for?" Runt asked T.D.
"Ryeah," chimed in Scooby.
"Don't worry," reassured T.D. "This will prove if Tom is really going to Cape Cod to help his friend or not."
"And what was his friend's name? If he can remember," muttered Cat.
"I remember," said T.D. "But I'll see if Tom does. HEY, TOM!" shouted T.D. "What was the name of that friend in Cape Cod that you said you were gonna go help?"
"Daniel!" answered Tom.
"He's right," admitted T.D. "But nevertheless, don't bring your guard when we're traveling with that guy, understood?"
The other dogs agreed.
(After being a minor character in the PPG show, Talking Dog appears to be getting some much needed recognition.)
The sky turned a bright orange as the sun headed for the horizon. At this time, high on a cliff located on the easternmost tip of Cape Cod, not a creature stirred in the huge holding room that housed the kidnapped canines. Every dog's cage stood solitary and locked. Well, almost all the cages.
Without warning, a "click-ching!" sound echoed throughout the room. Every dog's ear perked up and looked out their respective cage.
Someone had busted out!
In the far east corner of the room, a male German Shepard stepped out of his cage. He turned and saw his chain-link cage door, which was hanging wide open. He quickly closed it and looked at his collar which he held in his paw. His master, who was a genius with electronics, had installed an electromagnetic device into his dog's collar. It was originally designed to activate the dog's self-feeding dog dish at home, but the German Shepard found, to his surprise, that it could also deactivate the electronic lock on his cage! He made that discovery yesterday, but he waited until now to make his escape.
As he crept down the aisle, other dogs reached out through the cage and begged him to let them out. Unable to resist their pleas any longer, the German Shepard began unlocking as many locks as he could. He freed Porkchop first, then Blue, Enrique Jr., Friskett, Buttons, and Santa's Little Helper. He was just about to free Spike, when they suddenly heard someone coming on the other side of the room.
"Hey," whispered Spike (He can talk now.) "Can you hurry it up? I'd like to be outta here in time for dinner."
The German Shepard fiddled with the tiny controls on his collar and the cage door popped open. As Spike stumbled out, the footsteps came closer.
The German Shepard abruptly began climbing the cage door. He knew that if they climbed onto the roof of the cages, they would be well hidden. Spike clumsily scaled the door with the other dogs right behind him.
"Hey, don't get too close now," muttered Spike to the canines below him.
Eventually, the eight dogs made it to the roof just in time to see a big, buff guard walking down the aisle. To the dogs' dismay, when he got to Spike's cage, he saw that Spike wasn't there.
"Uh-oh," said the guard. "Da boss ain't gonna like dis." He turned and ran back down the aisle.
"Great. Now what?" asked Spike.
"Psst," went the German Shepard. He motioned over to a large air vent on the other side of the cages. The cover was pulled aside, which created the perfect escape route. One by one, the dogs climbed down to the floor and entered the vent, the German Shepard in the lead.
Spike looked at all the caged dogs looking at them. "Don't worry guys. We'll get you all out soon." Spike turned and leaped into the vent. "I feel so…spy-like," he laughed.
At that moment, the Dogcatcher was watching TV in his huge warehouse building. He was watching CNN and drinking a beer in the lounge when he suddenly began to wonder when that associate of his would call back. He was just about to get up and call his associate, but a news report caught his eye and he froze. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
"Today is Day Four of the nation-wide 'canine kidnappings' that have left dog owners across the country in terror," said the reporter. "Fortunately, this string of kidnappings appears to be drawing to a close. Police have identified the kidnapper as Hank Michelson, a retired dog pound curator from Boston, Massachusetts."
The Dogcatcher spit out his beer as his mug shot appeared on the screen.
"Hank was arrested three years ago on a trespassing charge, apparently for trying to take a neighbor's newborn puppy. Since then, he has been living by himself somewhere in the Cape Cod area. Authorities are still combing the area, trying to apprehend this criminal. We will keep you updated as this story develops."
Before Hank the Dogcatcher could get into a good state of panic, two guards burst into the room yelling, "Boss! Boss!"
"What is it?" snapped Hank.
"Some dogs have escaped, sir," muttered one of the guards.
"What?!" shouted Hank. "Those locks were electronically made! How is that possible?"
"Duuuuh," went the two, low-IQ guards, trying to think.
"Never mind," grumbled Hank. "Just…get me a darn phone. I need to contact my associate as soon as possible. We're getting out of here. All of us."
At 8:05 PM, the bus exited the interstate and drove down the off-ramp. The evening sky was just beginning to darken, and vehicle headlights were beginning to snap on along with the streetlamps.
Several minutes later, the bus pulled into the Greyhound station. The station wasn't technically in Boston, but in a subdivision called Quincy, which was just south of Boston. Danny came on the intercom one last time. "Attention passengers. We hope you have enjoyed your trip from Townsville to Boston. As you exit the bus, please watch your step on the way out. Thank you and have a great stay."
The bus parked into its parking space as Tom and Wanda got up and grabbed their luggage from the shelf above their heads. As the dogs followed them out of the bus, T.D. had an idea. He whispered the idea to CatDog and the two of them walked up to Danny.
"Listen, Danny," pleaded T.D. "Those two people that were on this bus…we think they're trying to kidnap us."
"Really," said Danny.
"Yeah, they've got a whole houseful of dogs that they're holding capture in Cape Cod somewhere. Could you try and get in contact with our previous bus driver, Pam, and see if either of you can help us?"
From the look on Danny's face, he was not buying the story. "So, you expect me to just drop everything that I'm doing, go and find that Pam driver, and help rescue a bunch of dogs?"
"I told he wouldn't say yes," whispered Cat.
"Nothing personal," continued Danny in a forceful tone of voice. "But I've got this thing called a job. All I do is drive this bus all day and take people where they want to go. That's the only thing I care to do, see? I don't have time for anything else."
"Well," said T.D. with a frown. "Maybe you should stop thinking about yourself and start caring about others for a change."
"C'mon," said Cat, tugging on T.D.'s shoulder. "Let's just go." The two animals exited the bus.
"I care about the passengers!" shouted Danny.
"Yeah?! Who else?!" yelled T.D.
Try as he could, Danny couldn't come up with an answer. Engulfed with frustration, Danny slammed the bus doors shut.
Inside the bus depot's restaurant, the dogs sat around a TV screen with Tom and Wanda. A news channel was talking about the latest news overseas. A fast-food pizza chain and a hamburger stand stood side by side along one wall.
"So, who's gonna order?" asked T.D.
Before anyone could say anything, Dog suddenly yelled, "Look!" and pointed at the TV screen. Everyone turned and stared. Along the bottom of the screen, the following sentence rolled across the banner: "Cape Cod dogcatcher soon to be found; authorities are closing in on his location."
"Turn it up! Full blast!" shrieked Gir.
Astro lifted up Courage, who pushed the "up volume" knob.
At that moment, the reporter picked up on the ongoing coverage of the dognappings. The dogs were thrilled to learn that authorities were closing in on the suspect, and some of them booed when they saw the mug shot of Hank for the first time.
When the reporter changed the subject, the dogs began muttering to themselves. The cops appeared to be taking care of everything. But they still hadn't found the suspect yet, so the canines knew they had to keep going.
It was at that point that the dogs noticed Tom, who had wandered off into a corner of the room and was dialing a number on his cell phone.
"Rut's he rooing?" asked Scooby.
"He's calling someone, but who?" murmured Cat.
"Very suspicious, if you ask me," T.D.
"Duh, who's that?" asked Runt, who thought that 'very suspicious' was a person's name.
As T.D. explained, Gir said, "Hey, where the nice old lady go?"
The dogs looked around for Wanda, but she was nowhere in sight.
"She's in the restroom," said Cat. "I saw her go in there."
Courage began shaking. "Oooh, this is getting really strange, or my name isn't Polanski."
"But it's not," laughed Dog. "It's Courage."
Courage sighed and shook his head as he walked over to a seat and sat in it next to Scooby.
At that moment, a phone rang in Hank Michelson's office. The dogcatcher scrambled over to the device and answered it.
"Hello?" said Hank.
"Yeah, it's me," said the voice on the other end.
"Finally," said Hank. He placed his hand over the phone and turned to the two guards. "It's my associate." He talked back into the phone. "I thought you'd never call. Did you hear the news?"
"Yes, I just saw it. You're going to have to leave right away."
"Not until you get here and help me with the proper preparations," argued Hank. "Where are you?"
"In Quincy, just south of Boston," answered the associate's voice.
"Great. Get over here ASAP."
"Hank, wait," said the associate. "I have something to tell you. I'm traveling with a group of very…interesting dogs."
"How so?"
"Well…they can talk."
"Talking dogs?" asked Hank in a disbelieving tone.
"It's true, I swear."
"Awright, awright. Make sure those dogs are with you when you arrive, okay?"
"Right. See you soon." The person hung up.
Hank put down the phone. "Talking dogs," he muttered to himself.
"You think it's true, boss?" asked one of the guards.
"If it is, I'll be very surprised. Now c'mon, let's go," said as he got up and left the room with the guards.
"Who were you talking to?"
Moments after Tom hung up his phone, T.D. asked the question behind Tom's back. Tom spun around and saw T.D. staring up at him with a suspicious look on his face. Several other dogs were looking at him as well.
"Oh…I was just getting in touch with my family. It's been over a day since I called them. Now, who's up for pizza?"
As Tom went to order some pizza, the dogs had a brief discussion about what to do after they ate. It seemed the only option was to go with Tom in the van, but he was acting very suspicious for some reason. Wanda came back from the bathroom, and by that time the dogs were also wondering if they should tell Wanda about Tom's odd behavior.
All the dogs managed to eat all their food and began heading out the door with Tom.
"That's my van over there," said Tom. He pointed to a white van way out in the parking lot.
"And my car's over there," replied Wanda, who pointed to a station wagon sitting about fifteen feet away from the van.
Ten figures walked down the vacant parking lot. The streetlights created multiple shadows of everyone. Everyone stared ahead at the two vehicles, except for Gir who was transfixed by the masses of moths and bugs that flew around the lights. The dogs glanced at one another, wondering what would happen once they were inside Tom's van.
"Well, I'll see you all later," said Wanda, who waved and began walking to her car.
Tom walked over and opened up the two backdoors of his van. "Everybody in," Tom announced.
The dogs didn't like what they saw. A plain, grey room lay before them inside the van. A rug covered the floor, and a small window on the opposite wall near the ceiling was the only indication of there being a cockpit up front. Reluctantly, the dogs stepped up onto the rear bumper and entered the back room. When everyone was inside, Tom closed the doors halfway and said to the dogs, "Now, it should only take an hour until we get to Cape Cod. Until then, just stay on the rug and try to relax. And could one of you close these doors for me? Sometimes they pop open when you close them from the outside." Tom smiled at the dogs for a moment before he suddenly walked over to the driver's side.
"So," said Courage. "Who's gonna get the door?"
Before anyone could answer, there was a "SLAM!" The dogs jumped and looked around.
Someone had slammed the doors shut from the outside!
Scooby and Astro ran over to the doors and tried to open them. "Rit's rocked!" they said.
Just then, Tom started the engine and put the bus into gear. The other dogs began pounding on the wall, trying to get Tom's attention. Goddard extended his neck and tried to look through the window. Unfortunately, it was an opaque window and the radio was blaring anyway, so Tom wouldn't have noticed.
"I should've known Tom was a dognapper!" shouted T.D.
Runt, Courage, Scooby, and Astro began whining and quivering with fear. Gir and Goddard tried unsuccessfully to come up with a plan of escape.
"Hey, look on the bright side!" announced Cat. "At least, we'll get to see where all the other dogs are being held."
T.D. sighed. That was true, but this wasn't how he expected to get there. It also looked like his predictions about Tom were true as well.
At the first stop light, a car honked beside Tom's van. It was Wanda, in the left-turn lane. She smiled and waved at Tom. Tom forced a smile on his face and waved back as Wanda's car turned to the left and pulled into a gas station.
Tom sighed. "Well, looks like this one-way trip to Cape Cod is finally coming to an end," he mumbled to himself as the van zoomed down the road in the direction of Hank's warehouse.
Next chapter: Hank's Associate