Ode to Oddity
By the Chronicler
----------
Chapter Five
----------
Pinky Carruthers continued to stare at the man, waiting for him to agree.
But his fellow gatekeeper continued to be a disbeliever. "But... but everyone knows he said it!" he protested.
Pinky crossed his arms over his chest. "Everyone knows wrong." he pointed out. "Sherlock Holmes never, ever, not once said `Elementary, my dear Watson.'"
The man continued to frown. "If that's so, then why doesn't everyone know?" he wanted to know.
"Well..." Pinky said slowly, carefully, making sure the man was paying close attention to him, "that would explain why they are called `Unknown facts,' right?"
His friend's eyes narrowed. "If they're unknown, then how do YOU know them?"
Pinky Carruthers opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Mrs Eunice Johnson.
"Now, that is the million dollar question, isn't it?" she teased as she slauntered up to the gate, Oddity on a leash at her side. She grinned up at Pinky, waiting for his response.
But Carruthers was too big brotherish to let the goading get in the way of more important issues. "And just exactly where were the two of you headed?" he inquired, eyeing both dog and girl suspiciously.
"Oh... let me see." She held her arms out and turned in a circle looking down at her blue sweat pants, BB t-shirt, sweat bands, white jogging shoes, and walkman. "I'm going to the queen's ball." she answered with a wry smirk.
One eye brow raised over Pinky's eyes, a somewhat odd version of a Spock expression when, once again, struck with humanity's strangeness. "And he?" was all he said, indicating the dog with a twitch of a finger.
"Oddity?" Mrs Johnson shrugged. "You don't expect a knock out like me to go to the ball without a prince, do you?"
The other gatekeeper chuckled. "You'd better kiss that prince of yours mighty quick 'fore you catch his fleas." he advised.
Both Pinky and Eunice glanced at him, then turned away, choosing to ignore him rather than bother with a come back.
When Pinky didn't open the gate, Mrs Johnson sighed. "Rawhide isn't going riding today, doesn't have time to give Oddity a good run. And if someone doesn't ware him out, someone else loses shoes. So, I thought I'd take him for a jog around the neighborhood."
The gatekeeper frowned at her. "You know bad guy activity has been on a high of late."
"Yes, I know." she answered in a bored sort of tone, like a teenager explaining to an over protective parent that she was old enough to go down the slide all on her lonesome. "And I happen to be armed, I have my go-phone, and I have Oddity." She leaned forward, while winking down at the dog who waited patiently at her side. "You know, Oddity has had a pretty good record thus far when it comes to the bad guys of late." she pointed out.
"Thus far of late." Pinky Carruthers repeated, unconvinced. But he looked down at Oddity.
The dog sat back on his haunches, looking up at him with his blue eyed grin, his tail kicking up dirt as it wagged back and forth in a steady rhythm. Sensing that he was the decision maker, Oddity lifted a front paw and waved it at the gatekeeper.
Carruthers sighed. "Think so, huh?" He turned back to the girl. "Don't go far, keep in touch, and I give you fifteen..."
"Thirty."
"Twenty."
"Twenty-five."
Pinky looked down at Oddity. "Twenty." he repeated.
Oddity barked once.
"Good man." Pinky responded. He eyed Mrs Johnson again who was now glaring down at her jogging partner. "TWENTY minutes. Have a nice run." He stepped aside and opened the gate for her.
"Yes, daddy." Mrs Johnson cooed, stepping up on her tippy toes to kiss the gatekeeper on the cheek. Then she jumped back, stuck her tongue out at the man, and ran out the gate before he could change his mind.
Excitedly, Oddity bounced around her, barking and pulling on his leash.
Pinky watched a moment as the pair jogged out of sight.
"What part?"
Frowning, the Cavalier glanced back at his fellow gatekeeper. "What?"
"Did Sherlock not say the who thing?" the man pressed. "Or did he not say only part of it? I mean did he go around saying `elementary' or did he go around saying `my dear Watson'... which would be pretty weird, but, hey, the dude was pretty weird. So, what part didn't he say?"
Pinky closed that gate, asking "Do you know what they call a pregnant goldfish?"
----------
Eunice Johnson enjoyed the time to herself. She so rarely left the Institute, always busy doing this and that, and a little more of that, with a few spare moments spent on this.
Not that she didn't just absolutely loved her life. She lived the dream: gorgeous men, geniuses in every pocket, excitement in every breath, and rock 'n' roll a constant.
But sometimes, she just really needed a minute or two of quiet.
And, with that in mind, she snapped the CD cover in place, hit play, and blasted her ear drums with the latest, not to mention loudest, of the Hong Kong Cavaliers' releases.
The run was uneventful. It was a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, with an elementary school over there, and a church here, a park for the local kids with a fountain and picnic area, and lots and lots of suburban housing with big, well groomed yards. Every few blocks there was a pair of children manning a lemonade or KoolAde stand. A few teenagers stood out on the sidewalks for any chance to see one of the famous Cavaliers. They were all too excited to see her and her BB t-shirt jog pass. But, when they couldn't place her immediately, turned their attention to the towering walls that encircled the Banzai Institute, as if Perfect Tommy or Thunder or Banzai himself might come flying over and make all their FAN-tasies come true.
Mrs Johnson smiled at herself, remembering Rawhide's description of the surrounding area when they had first bought the land for the Institute. The land had been industries, factories and such, and the neighborhood had been rough and tough, poor worker housing. But When the Banzai Team moved in and started to clean up the land, it attract money and investors into the area. Thus more jobs, better pay, thus a better, greater neighborhood. One of those many little BB positive influence of society that was so rarely noted... sorta like saving the world every other day, fighting off evil hordes of evil doers doing evil deeds (evil, evil, evil...)... But, hey, as long as the Cavaliers kept turning out hit records, who cared what they did in their spare time.
Oddity suddenly yanked back on his leash, pulling his human to a halt.
Startled, Mrs johnson stopped and looked down at the dog.
Oddity caught his leash between his teeth and began to drag her back the way they had come.
Eunice sighed. "Already?" she groaned glancing down at her watch to see that she had already been out for a little over fifteen minutes. if she headed back now, she'd still be late and would receive a stinging glare from the overprotective gatekeeper.
'Course, if she ran back at top speed, acted completely out of breath and exhausted at the gate, pretend to be near fainting, she might, just maybe, squeeze pass Pinky without a lecture. If she was lucky.
So, they headed back.
Pinky Carruthers was leaning against the outside of the gate, tapping his watch when girl and dog paused across the street.
"So much for luck." Mrs Johnson mumbled to herself. She glanced about to make sure the street was safe, then started across.
An engine suddenly roared from a park car to her left.
Startled, she paused to look about again.
Tires squealed, and the car was suddenly speeding right toward them.
"Eunice!" Pinky yelled.
But, before the car hit her, it swerved around her, struck Oddity, and sped away.
Mrs. Johnson screamed when she felt the leash yanked away. "No!" She spun about to try and find the pet, but Pinky grabbed her and threw her bach toward the Institute where more security had appeared to usher her inside. From behind the safety of the door, she watched as Pinky Carruthers knelt beside the dog.
Oddity laid in the gutter, legs kicking as if trying to run, wining and whimpering. Blood stained the white fur of his hip a deep, ugly red. Frantic blue eyes looked up at Pinky with a heart wrenching plea.
Pinky desperately thought of what to do as his men established a perimeter around them as if they were guarding a wounded human being. if it had been human, Pinky would of known exactly what to do. But, this was a dog... not just a dog. This was Oddity, the Hong Kong Cavaliers' dog, Knuckles' dog!
Making his decision, the gatekeeper scooped the dog up in his arms and carried him back through the gate. "Mrs Johnson, get the boys down here!" he ordered. But the girl was already frantically calling into her go-phone for help.
----------
Rawhide stepped out of the vet office and stopped. Looking across the street he saw the group of eager faces, waiting for word on their beloved pet. He sighed when their nervous looks turned to panic when they saw him leave the vet without the dog. `When did Oddity go from being Knuckles' dog to the Team's?' he wondered.
Again he sighed and, after a very careful look this way and that, he crossed the street to join them at the sidewalk cafe.
Mrs Johnson practically leaped on him. "Is he alright? Where is he? Aren't we taking him home? He IS alright, right?" She kept looking around him, as if expecting the dog to come running behind.
Rawhide took her by the shoulders and focused her on him. "Oddity is banged and scraped up. But the doc said he should be fine. He wants to keep him overnight for observation."
"Observation?" Perfect Tommy questioned. "What's to observe? Is his tail doing that sweeping all flat surfaces thing it does? He's fine! lets take him home."
A chorus of agreements came from the crowd.
But Buckaroo had come out of the cafe then, holding a cup of coffee for Rawhide. "Alrighty, folks." he called as he stepped up to his big friend's side. "You all've spent enough times banged up to know that some ouches just don't show up right off the bat. Oddity was hit by a car. What do you say we give him the night off?"
Perfect Tommy grumbled something under his breath, but turned and headed toward the hummer.
Rawhide wrapped an arm around Eunice's shoulders and steered her toward the waiting vehicle, pausing only long enough to claim the coffee Buckaroo held. "Don't worry your pretty little head, girl." he assured. "Nothing takes out a Cavalier THAT easy."
Pinky Carruthers huffed as he fell in step beside Buckaroo. "I'd just like to know who the hell would go to all that trouble to just run down a dog."
Buckaroo frowned. "You sure they weren't after Mrs Johnson?"
Pinky shook his head. "The target was Oddity." He looked at his employer. "And he got him right under my nose."
----------
The vet watched out the blinds as the Blue Blazes and Cavaliers piled into their vehicles. When the last hummer pulled out and disappeared around the corner, he sighed and turned back to his staff. With a self satisfied grin, he nodded to them and ordered "Get to work. We don't have much time." Then he hurried passed the reception counter and into the examination room. Bowing his head slightly to the person within, he waited to be acknowledged.
"Speak." the musical voice ordered.
"The Cavaliers and their mongrel master has left, my lady." he offered.
Lady Oran de Nathair looked at the man and smiled. "You have done well, child. Now, continue to do well and you will be rewarded." Her brilliant green eyes narrowed full of meaning. "If you fail, it goes without saying, that you will be punished." And with that, she spun about and glided out the back door, her flame red hair floating around her shoulders as if she was enveloped in her own personal fire, burning across the scene.
The vet was left to stand alone in the cold examination room. He swallowed hard, breathing a silent prayer to Athair that he did not fail. And if he did... let him be struck down cold dead, before the Lady Oran de Nathair got her vengeful hands on him.
By the Chronicler
----------
Chapter Five
----------
Pinky Carruthers continued to stare at the man, waiting for him to agree.
But his fellow gatekeeper continued to be a disbeliever. "But... but everyone knows he said it!" he protested.
Pinky crossed his arms over his chest. "Everyone knows wrong." he pointed out. "Sherlock Holmes never, ever, not once said `Elementary, my dear Watson.'"
The man continued to frown. "If that's so, then why doesn't everyone know?" he wanted to know.
"Well..." Pinky said slowly, carefully, making sure the man was paying close attention to him, "that would explain why they are called `Unknown facts,' right?"
His friend's eyes narrowed. "If they're unknown, then how do YOU know them?"
Pinky Carruthers opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Mrs Eunice Johnson.
"Now, that is the million dollar question, isn't it?" she teased as she slauntered up to the gate, Oddity on a leash at her side. She grinned up at Pinky, waiting for his response.
But Carruthers was too big brotherish to let the goading get in the way of more important issues. "And just exactly where were the two of you headed?" he inquired, eyeing both dog and girl suspiciously.
"Oh... let me see." She held her arms out and turned in a circle looking down at her blue sweat pants, BB t-shirt, sweat bands, white jogging shoes, and walkman. "I'm going to the queen's ball." she answered with a wry smirk.
One eye brow raised over Pinky's eyes, a somewhat odd version of a Spock expression when, once again, struck with humanity's strangeness. "And he?" was all he said, indicating the dog with a twitch of a finger.
"Oddity?" Mrs Johnson shrugged. "You don't expect a knock out like me to go to the ball without a prince, do you?"
The other gatekeeper chuckled. "You'd better kiss that prince of yours mighty quick 'fore you catch his fleas." he advised.
Both Pinky and Eunice glanced at him, then turned away, choosing to ignore him rather than bother with a come back.
When Pinky didn't open the gate, Mrs Johnson sighed. "Rawhide isn't going riding today, doesn't have time to give Oddity a good run. And if someone doesn't ware him out, someone else loses shoes. So, I thought I'd take him for a jog around the neighborhood."
The gatekeeper frowned at her. "You know bad guy activity has been on a high of late."
"Yes, I know." she answered in a bored sort of tone, like a teenager explaining to an over protective parent that she was old enough to go down the slide all on her lonesome. "And I happen to be armed, I have my go-phone, and I have Oddity." She leaned forward, while winking down at the dog who waited patiently at her side. "You know, Oddity has had a pretty good record thus far when it comes to the bad guys of late." she pointed out.
"Thus far of late." Pinky Carruthers repeated, unconvinced. But he looked down at Oddity.
The dog sat back on his haunches, looking up at him with his blue eyed grin, his tail kicking up dirt as it wagged back and forth in a steady rhythm. Sensing that he was the decision maker, Oddity lifted a front paw and waved it at the gatekeeper.
Carruthers sighed. "Think so, huh?" He turned back to the girl. "Don't go far, keep in touch, and I give you fifteen..."
"Thirty."
"Twenty."
"Twenty-five."
Pinky looked down at Oddity. "Twenty." he repeated.
Oddity barked once.
"Good man." Pinky responded. He eyed Mrs Johnson again who was now glaring down at her jogging partner. "TWENTY minutes. Have a nice run." He stepped aside and opened the gate for her.
"Yes, daddy." Mrs Johnson cooed, stepping up on her tippy toes to kiss the gatekeeper on the cheek. Then she jumped back, stuck her tongue out at the man, and ran out the gate before he could change his mind.
Excitedly, Oddity bounced around her, barking and pulling on his leash.
Pinky watched a moment as the pair jogged out of sight.
"What part?"
Frowning, the Cavalier glanced back at his fellow gatekeeper. "What?"
"Did Sherlock not say the who thing?" the man pressed. "Or did he not say only part of it? I mean did he go around saying `elementary' or did he go around saying `my dear Watson'... which would be pretty weird, but, hey, the dude was pretty weird. So, what part didn't he say?"
Pinky closed that gate, asking "Do you know what they call a pregnant goldfish?"
----------
Eunice Johnson enjoyed the time to herself. She so rarely left the Institute, always busy doing this and that, and a little more of that, with a few spare moments spent on this.
Not that she didn't just absolutely loved her life. She lived the dream: gorgeous men, geniuses in every pocket, excitement in every breath, and rock 'n' roll a constant.
But sometimes, she just really needed a minute or two of quiet.
And, with that in mind, she snapped the CD cover in place, hit play, and blasted her ear drums with the latest, not to mention loudest, of the Hong Kong Cavaliers' releases.
The run was uneventful. It was a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, with an elementary school over there, and a church here, a park for the local kids with a fountain and picnic area, and lots and lots of suburban housing with big, well groomed yards. Every few blocks there was a pair of children manning a lemonade or KoolAde stand. A few teenagers stood out on the sidewalks for any chance to see one of the famous Cavaliers. They were all too excited to see her and her BB t-shirt jog pass. But, when they couldn't place her immediately, turned their attention to the towering walls that encircled the Banzai Institute, as if Perfect Tommy or Thunder or Banzai himself might come flying over and make all their FAN-tasies come true.
Mrs Johnson smiled at herself, remembering Rawhide's description of the surrounding area when they had first bought the land for the Institute. The land had been industries, factories and such, and the neighborhood had been rough and tough, poor worker housing. But When the Banzai Team moved in and started to clean up the land, it attract money and investors into the area. Thus more jobs, better pay, thus a better, greater neighborhood. One of those many little BB positive influence of society that was so rarely noted... sorta like saving the world every other day, fighting off evil hordes of evil doers doing evil deeds (evil, evil, evil...)... But, hey, as long as the Cavaliers kept turning out hit records, who cared what they did in their spare time.
Oddity suddenly yanked back on his leash, pulling his human to a halt.
Startled, Mrs johnson stopped and looked down at the dog.
Oddity caught his leash between his teeth and began to drag her back the way they had come.
Eunice sighed. "Already?" she groaned glancing down at her watch to see that she had already been out for a little over fifteen minutes. if she headed back now, she'd still be late and would receive a stinging glare from the overprotective gatekeeper.
'Course, if she ran back at top speed, acted completely out of breath and exhausted at the gate, pretend to be near fainting, she might, just maybe, squeeze pass Pinky without a lecture. If she was lucky.
So, they headed back.
Pinky Carruthers was leaning against the outside of the gate, tapping his watch when girl and dog paused across the street.
"So much for luck." Mrs Johnson mumbled to herself. She glanced about to make sure the street was safe, then started across.
An engine suddenly roared from a park car to her left.
Startled, she paused to look about again.
Tires squealed, and the car was suddenly speeding right toward them.
"Eunice!" Pinky yelled.
But, before the car hit her, it swerved around her, struck Oddity, and sped away.
Mrs. Johnson screamed when she felt the leash yanked away. "No!" She spun about to try and find the pet, but Pinky grabbed her and threw her bach toward the Institute where more security had appeared to usher her inside. From behind the safety of the door, she watched as Pinky Carruthers knelt beside the dog.
Oddity laid in the gutter, legs kicking as if trying to run, wining and whimpering. Blood stained the white fur of his hip a deep, ugly red. Frantic blue eyes looked up at Pinky with a heart wrenching plea.
Pinky desperately thought of what to do as his men established a perimeter around them as if they were guarding a wounded human being. if it had been human, Pinky would of known exactly what to do. But, this was a dog... not just a dog. This was Oddity, the Hong Kong Cavaliers' dog, Knuckles' dog!
Making his decision, the gatekeeper scooped the dog up in his arms and carried him back through the gate. "Mrs Johnson, get the boys down here!" he ordered. But the girl was already frantically calling into her go-phone for help.
----------
Rawhide stepped out of the vet office and stopped. Looking across the street he saw the group of eager faces, waiting for word on their beloved pet. He sighed when their nervous looks turned to panic when they saw him leave the vet without the dog. `When did Oddity go from being Knuckles' dog to the Team's?' he wondered.
Again he sighed and, after a very careful look this way and that, he crossed the street to join them at the sidewalk cafe.
Mrs Johnson practically leaped on him. "Is he alright? Where is he? Aren't we taking him home? He IS alright, right?" She kept looking around him, as if expecting the dog to come running behind.
Rawhide took her by the shoulders and focused her on him. "Oddity is banged and scraped up. But the doc said he should be fine. He wants to keep him overnight for observation."
"Observation?" Perfect Tommy questioned. "What's to observe? Is his tail doing that sweeping all flat surfaces thing it does? He's fine! lets take him home."
A chorus of agreements came from the crowd.
But Buckaroo had come out of the cafe then, holding a cup of coffee for Rawhide. "Alrighty, folks." he called as he stepped up to his big friend's side. "You all've spent enough times banged up to know that some ouches just don't show up right off the bat. Oddity was hit by a car. What do you say we give him the night off?"
Perfect Tommy grumbled something under his breath, but turned and headed toward the hummer.
Rawhide wrapped an arm around Eunice's shoulders and steered her toward the waiting vehicle, pausing only long enough to claim the coffee Buckaroo held. "Don't worry your pretty little head, girl." he assured. "Nothing takes out a Cavalier THAT easy."
Pinky Carruthers huffed as he fell in step beside Buckaroo. "I'd just like to know who the hell would go to all that trouble to just run down a dog."
Buckaroo frowned. "You sure they weren't after Mrs Johnson?"
Pinky shook his head. "The target was Oddity." He looked at his employer. "And he got him right under my nose."
----------
The vet watched out the blinds as the Blue Blazes and Cavaliers piled into their vehicles. When the last hummer pulled out and disappeared around the corner, he sighed and turned back to his staff. With a self satisfied grin, he nodded to them and ordered "Get to work. We don't have much time." Then he hurried passed the reception counter and into the examination room. Bowing his head slightly to the person within, he waited to be acknowledged.
"Speak." the musical voice ordered.
"The Cavaliers and their mongrel master has left, my lady." he offered.
Lady Oran de Nathair looked at the man and smiled. "You have done well, child. Now, continue to do well and you will be rewarded." Her brilliant green eyes narrowed full of meaning. "If you fail, it goes without saying, that you will be punished." And with that, she spun about and glided out the back door, her flame red hair floating around her shoulders as if she was enveloped in her own personal fire, burning across the scene.
The vet was left to stand alone in the cold examination room. He swallowed hard, breathing a silent prayer to Athair that he did not fail. And if he did... let him be struck down cold dead, before the Lady Oran de Nathair got her vengeful hands on him.