Disclaimer: The Fox and the Hound is the property of Daniel P. Mannix and Walt Disney Studios, not mine.

The Next Political Dynasty: Thanks! Um, okay, you kinda scared me there for a minute, but lol yes I know I am your friend and thanks for reading!

Anonymous but Impressed: Yeah, they will eventually get their acts together, I just haven't decided WHEN yet, lol. Keep reading!

Forever Young: Too bad they don't have a teacher, lol! Don't worry, what happened to Chief will be explained soon, so keep reading!

The Fox and the Hound 3: The Next Generation

Part One: The Younger Years

Chapter Eight: Different Paths

Copper and Tod were still in the woods, trying to follow the trail left by the tires. They just had to find it before the poachers did anything harmful to the kids! With Tod's keen eyes and Copper's excellent sense of smell, they were sure to find them in no time. The following of the tire tracks had been easy—up until they found out that the tracks suddenly disappeared into the river.

"Maybe it just continues on the other side," Copper reasoned, wading into the ankle deep water. Tod went in after him, sure his friend was right. Imagine their surprise when there were no more tracks to follow once they did reach the other shore. For once, Copper was completely baffled at this. What happened to the truck? It couldn't just disappear into thin air.

Tod started laughing, causing the hound to give him a funny look. "And just, pray tell, is so humorous about this? We just lost the trail. There's a million different paths they could have gone from here!"

"Oh, come on! This is such an old trick!" the red fox chuckled. "The poachers pulled an old escape trick that foxes and racoons use to escape dogs and hunters. They wade in the water to lose the scent, then travel upstream. That's what the truck did, so in case the law found out about them, they wouldn't be able to follow them after the river."

Copper looked embarrassed. He knew the old escape trick, so why hadn't he thought the truck could do it too? No matter, the two of them began to travel upstream along the shoreline in hopes of coming across the kidnappers.

Belle was outside on the porch while Amos stayed inside and talked on the telephone. When it crossed his mind that perhaps Chief and the puppies had been stolen somehow, he called the sheriff from town.

"I'm telling you, the four dogs were here in the front yard when I left. An hour or so later, I come home to a deserted house. And I think they were stolen!"

"All right, sir, could you give me a description of the dogs?"

"Yes, the older dog is a gray Trigg hound, male, wearing a red collar. The three puppies are about two-and-a-half months old, two boys and one girl. One of them is blue-ish with black spots, another one is off-white with tan and dark brown, and the other is black and tan."

"Okay, sir, do you know of anyone who may have kidnapped the dogs, if they were indeed kidnapped?"

"Not that I know of—well, maybe my younger brother, but he's in prison."

"What's his name?"

"Calvin Slade. But he's in jail, I don't see how he could possibly do anything like this in there. Besides, he doesn't even know about the puppies."

"He could have connections to people who do his dirty work for him. Besides, we're just looking into the different paths this investigation could go. We'll ask around about your brother, and we'll keep an eye out for the dogs."

It was getting dark outside. The full moon was the only thing that kept the warehouse from being pitch black. All the animals were asleep—all of them except Smoky. He had his nose pressed against the gate that kept them from wandering free, staring out into space. His conscience had been bothering him all day. He knew it was his fault that they had been kidnapped. It was just so hard to admit it! He felt awful now that he had gotten his siblings to join him on that escapade beyond the fence. Perhaps if he had been a good little puppy they would still be at home with their parents and Uncle Chief. Who would not be lying in some ditch at that moment lifeless.

Smoky felt contempt towards the two men. They had inflicted pain on a loved one. Why did some humans have to be bad? Why couldn't they just leave things alone? Pondering upon this, he suddenly felt that it was the two men's fault that this all happened. It wasn't like Smoky had asked them to build a trap for them to step into. He hadn't told them, heaven forbid, to kill his uncle in cold blood. The dog was only trying to protect them from getting hurt by the humans.

But what about his brother, Ace? Oh, he had really made Smoky's heart stop when he put the blame on him for Uncle Chief's death. He must have really hated him then, when he told him that. And when Smoky thought about it, he could see some truth in that. If he had only obeyed his rules, Chief never would have had to come to their rescue, and he never would've gotten killed trying to save them. If only he could go back in time and take a different path. It's all my fault . . .

And for the first time in his life, tears of remorse ran down his little face.

Oh man, sorry, I almost cried writing that last paragraph! I'm so sentimental grabs tissue and yeah, I really did just grab a tissue. Will anything go back to "normal"? How am I going to make a happy ending out of this? You'll just have to keep reading to find out, so stay with me!