(AN: Sorry for the wait. I had a bad case of writer's block. Usually I write a chapter in one sitting, but this one took me three. I just kept on getting stuck. And being busy with other things didn't help. Well, anyway, here's chapter two for your reading pleasure. :) )
"Odie… do you HAVE to sniff every fire hydrant we pass?"
Odie gave Garfield an annoyed look. "At least I don't bury my turds."
"Oooh, sting!" Garfield clutched his chest and pretended to fall. "Look, there are great reasons for why we cats--"
"Yeah, just like there's great reasons for why we dogs sniff fire hydrants. Come on, I'm done."
"Alright." Garfield pulled out the sheet of paper with the instructions written on it. "We should be almost there. And we're still about fifteen minutes early." He looked up. "Whoa, no way!"
"What?" asked Odie.
Garfield pointed to the abandoned building looming in front of them. "This building… this is where my family lives! This is where I was born! Of all the meeting places, this is the one that they chose…"
"Well, come on!" said Odie happily. "If you're family's around, maybe you can introduce me to them."
Garfield crawled through the boards that covered the doorway. "Well, sure, if I see them I'll introduce them to my sidekick--"
"It's the other way around!" growled Odie, following Garfield. "I'M the one they wanted for the mission!"
"Aah yes, the drooling wonder." Garfield waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and looked around. "Now, if I remember correctly, my family lives just through that little hole in the wall."
Odie cocked his head in confusion. "You fit through that?"
"Be quiet, bone-breath," muttered Garfield. He knelt down and tried to force his bulk through the hole, with little success.
Odie grinned maliciously. "Need help, Lardo?"
Garfield tried to push himself through. "When--I--need--your--help--I'll--ask--for--it!"
Still smirking, Odie whirled his leg and, with one mighty kick…
BLAM!
Odie squeezed through the hole in the wall, grinning at Garfield, who was flattened against the opposite wall. "Did I ask for your help, Wonder Mutt?"
"No, but I figured you would have if your lungs weren't crushed," grinned Odie.
Garfield looked around. "Strange… there's no one here."
"Maybe they all moved," offered Odie.
"Maybe." Garfield stopped. "Wait, did you hear that?"
Odie's nose perked up. "Yeah, and I smell something, too." He sniffed the ground, following the trail to…
A box, turned upside down.
"Flip it over!" urged Garfield.
Cautiously, Odie raised his paw, pushed the box over, and--
"YAAAAAAH!"
"YIPE!"
Odie leapt in fright, as the silvery-blue cat sprang from underneath the box and perched on a nearby ledge, looking terrified.
"If you're here for the olives, then I'm telling you for the last time, I don't know where they are! I think that they might be in the secretary's dumbwaiter, but I'm telling you I just don't know for sure! But if you haven't checked the dumbwaiter, then go to the tobacco store in Maui and--"
"Hold it!" cried Garfield. He gave the cat an odd look. "We don't care about your olives… or whatever. Didn't… didn't a lot of other cats live here?"
The strange cat nodded. "Oh, sure they did. Times were tough, though. Some died. Some moved off somewhere else. I stayed, however. I knew that they wouldn't think to look for me here, since they would have thought that I moved with the others. But I was wrong!"
"We're not out to get you," said Odie. "We don't even know who you are!"
"But the other cats," said Garfield. "Did you know… was one of them named…" Garfield snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name. Finally, he cried out, "Harriet!"
"Harriet, yeah, 'course I knew her!" The strange cat smiled. "Such a nice cat too."
"Well, what happened to her?"
"She died," said the strange cat with a shrug. "Sad yes, but she was old. And she had a rather heartbreaking life, too. She had four kittens, you know. The first one she had ate this old restaurant out of business, so he was taken away from her when he was just a tiny… well, I guess he was born huge, so tiny probably isn't the word… when he was just a very young kitten! Can you imagine, eating out a whole Italian restaurant?" laughed the cat.
"Hysterical," muttered Garfield. "So tell me more about my mom."
The cat stopped laughing abruptly. "Your mom? Then that would make you… Ooohhhhhh. Well then, after you were taken away from her, she had three other kittens. Two of them were killed in fights with the Claws." He thought for a moment. "I think. Harriet didn't like to talk about that much. Anyway, the other one, Raoul, now I knew him. He had problems."
"I know," said Garfield. "I met him once. So… Mom's dead." He sighed. "I should have figured. I mean, I'm no spring chicken myself, which would make my mom even older…"
"Hey, sorry I had to break it to you," said the cat sympathetically. "But I'll make you feel welcome here. Any son of Harriet's is a friend of mine." He offered his paw. "The name's Schwartzkoff."
Garfield stared. "Schwartzkoff?"
"Yeah, ain't it a great name?" said Schwartzkoff. "So what's your name?"
"My name's Garfield, and this dumb mutt here is Odie."
"Hey!" cried Odie.
"Schwartzkoff…" Garfield raised his eyebrow. "Is it just me, or do you look like a Russian Blue?"
Schwartzkoff gave a dashing grin. "I should, because I am one!"
"What's a Russian Blue?" asked Odie.
"A rare breed of cat," said Garfield. "A lot of people would pay big money for one, even an insane one. So why are you a stray, Schwartz?"
"Well, I wasn't born a stray," said Schwartzkoff. "I was born to a Russian Blue breeder. I lived there for a few months. But then I realized that the people who owned me were plotting to sell me off to an evil communistic organization, and all my siblings were sided with them! I could feel their eyes boring into me every minute," cried Schwartzkoff, his voice growing hysterically loud and his eyes becoming bloodshot and crazy looking. "I knew I had to escape before they captured me! So I ran away."
Garfield shook his head in shock. "You've got major problems, kid."
Schwartzkoff snorted indignantly. "I do not! I was the only one to see the evil being plotted! It's everyone else who is insane!"
"Is anyone here?"
Schwartzkoff leaped eight feet in the air in fright. Garfield just rolled his eyes. "That's probably just that dog Odie's supposed to meet."
"Right," said Odie, squeezing his way through the hole. Garfield crouched down, tried to force his way through the hole… and got stuck.
"Oh, great," muttered Garfield.
"Let me help!" cried Schwartzkoff, giving Garfield a powerful kick in the rear.
"YAAAAAAHH!" screamed Garfield, flying out from the hole. The skinny Russian Blue squeezed through the hole easily.
It was indeed a dog that had spoken, a somewhat large dog with brownish red fur, tipped black on her muzzle and the tips of her ears, and with a fluffy, lighter colored tail. She cocked her head inquisitively. "Okay… I was told I was going to meet one dog. One. Dog. And yet I meet one dog and two cats?"
Odie blushed. "Well, my friend Garfield insisted on coming with me. And Schwartzkoff just lives here."
The dog shrugged. "Whatever." She offered her paw to Odie. "My name's Winnie. I guess we'll be traveling off to the far reaches of the Alps together, huh? What fun."
"The Alps?" cried Schwartzkoff. "Wow, that DOES sound like fun! And the enemy would never find me there!"
Winnie stared at Schwartzkoff. "You're crazy," she scoffed. Looking at Garfield, she added, "So are you. I can't understand why two cats would want to go to some freezing mountain range on the other side of the world to rescue some puppies. To be honest with you, the only reason I'M going is because I have too strong of a conscience. I'd much rather just…" She stretched her paws out and yawned contentedly. "…stay at home… sleep… maybe eat some table scraps my masters give me…"
"Wow, a dog after my own heart," marveled Garfield. He blinked. "I cannot believe I just said that."
"I'm probably too old for this, anyway," sighed Winnie. Garfield noticed that her muzzle had hints of silver fur against the black. Other than that, though, Winnie didn't particularly look very old… but then again, Garfield did not show his age like one would expect, either.
"Hey, dog, I bet I'm older than you, and I'm going. For a slice of the glory," said Garfield, grinning egotistically.
Winnie also grinned, but maliciously. "Oh really? How old are you?"
"Don't you think that's a bit of a personal question?" asked Garfield.
"Come on, I asked you a question," said Winnie. "How old are you?"
Garfield pouted, realizing that Winnie wasn't going to give up until he told her. "Fine. Twenty-six."
Winnie barked out in laughter. "Wow, you really are older than me!" she cried.
"Obviously," snapped Garfield. "How long do dogs live, anyway? Twelve?"
To his surprised, Winnie nodded. "Big dogs usually only live to about twelve. At least, that's what I've heard. I don't quite believe it, though. I'm rather large, eleven years old, and I still feel like I've got a few more years left in me." She smiled open-mouthed and Garfield, in shock, noticed that she had a black tongue.
"Hey, you're part chow, aren't you?" cried Odie.
Winnie nodded. "Yep. I'm proud of my chow chow heritage. It means I'm a good watchdog and that I don't like kids. And also, I like to chow…"
"I saw that one coming," muttered Garfield and Schwartzkoff simultaneously.
"Anyway. Enough chattering," snapped Winnie suddenly. "Let's get this over with. We've got some puppies to rescue." She pulled out a sheet of paper and looked at it. "It instructs that we are to board a certain airplane flight that will go to Europe, and we'll get further instructions there." She looked at her three companions. "Well, let's do it!"
"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this," mumbled Garfield. "Something's going to happen that'll make me regret this for the rest of my life… although luckily that probably won't be too much longer."
"Ahh, cheer up Gramps!" cried Schwartzkoff cheerfully. "We're going on a vacation! Although I don't have my passport…"
(AN: In case you're wondering, Winnie is based off of my dog. Actually, she IS my dog. Schwartzkoff, however, sprang up from my head all by himself. See you at chapter three!)
"Odie… do you HAVE to sniff every fire hydrant we pass?"
Odie gave Garfield an annoyed look. "At least I don't bury my turds."
"Oooh, sting!" Garfield clutched his chest and pretended to fall. "Look, there are great reasons for why we cats--"
"Yeah, just like there's great reasons for why we dogs sniff fire hydrants. Come on, I'm done."
"Alright." Garfield pulled out the sheet of paper with the instructions written on it. "We should be almost there. And we're still about fifteen minutes early." He looked up. "Whoa, no way!"
"What?" asked Odie.
Garfield pointed to the abandoned building looming in front of them. "This building… this is where my family lives! This is where I was born! Of all the meeting places, this is the one that they chose…"
"Well, come on!" said Odie happily. "If you're family's around, maybe you can introduce me to them."
Garfield crawled through the boards that covered the doorway. "Well, sure, if I see them I'll introduce them to my sidekick--"
"It's the other way around!" growled Odie, following Garfield. "I'M the one they wanted for the mission!"
"Aah yes, the drooling wonder." Garfield waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and looked around. "Now, if I remember correctly, my family lives just through that little hole in the wall."
Odie cocked his head in confusion. "You fit through that?"
"Be quiet, bone-breath," muttered Garfield. He knelt down and tried to force his bulk through the hole, with little success.
Odie grinned maliciously. "Need help, Lardo?"
Garfield tried to push himself through. "When--I--need--your--help--I'll--ask--for--it!"
Still smirking, Odie whirled his leg and, with one mighty kick…
BLAM!
Odie squeezed through the hole in the wall, grinning at Garfield, who was flattened against the opposite wall. "Did I ask for your help, Wonder Mutt?"
"No, but I figured you would have if your lungs weren't crushed," grinned Odie.
Garfield looked around. "Strange… there's no one here."
"Maybe they all moved," offered Odie.
"Maybe." Garfield stopped. "Wait, did you hear that?"
Odie's nose perked up. "Yeah, and I smell something, too." He sniffed the ground, following the trail to…
A box, turned upside down.
"Flip it over!" urged Garfield.
Cautiously, Odie raised his paw, pushed the box over, and--
"YAAAAAAH!"
"YIPE!"
Odie leapt in fright, as the silvery-blue cat sprang from underneath the box and perched on a nearby ledge, looking terrified.
"If you're here for the olives, then I'm telling you for the last time, I don't know where they are! I think that they might be in the secretary's dumbwaiter, but I'm telling you I just don't know for sure! But if you haven't checked the dumbwaiter, then go to the tobacco store in Maui and--"
"Hold it!" cried Garfield. He gave the cat an odd look. "We don't care about your olives… or whatever. Didn't… didn't a lot of other cats live here?"
The strange cat nodded. "Oh, sure they did. Times were tough, though. Some died. Some moved off somewhere else. I stayed, however. I knew that they wouldn't think to look for me here, since they would have thought that I moved with the others. But I was wrong!"
"We're not out to get you," said Odie. "We don't even know who you are!"
"But the other cats," said Garfield. "Did you know… was one of them named…" Garfield snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name. Finally, he cried out, "Harriet!"
"Harriet, yeah, 'course I knew her!" The strange cat smiled. "Such a nice cat too."
"Well, what happened to her?"
"She died," said the strange cat with a shrug. "Sad yes, but she was old. And she had a rather heartbreaking life, too. She had four kittens, you know. The first one she had ate this old restaurant out of business, so he was taken away from her when he was just a tiny… well, I guess he was born huge, so tiny probably isn't the word… when he was just a very young kitten! Can you imagine, eating out a whole Italian restaurant?" laughed the cat.
"Hysterical," muttered Garfield. "So tell me more about my mom."
The cat stopped laughing abruptly. "Your mom? Then that would make you… Ooohhhhhh. Well then, after you were taken away from her, she had three other kittens. Two of them were killed in fights with the Claws." He thought for a moment. "I think. Harriet didn't like to talk about that much. Anyway, the other one, Raoul, now I knew him. He had problems."
"I know," said Garfield. "I met him once. So… Mom's dead." He sighed. "I should have figured. I mean, I'm no spring chicken myself, which would make my mom even older…"
"Hey, sorry I had to break it to you," said the cat sympathetically. "But I'll make you feel welcome here. Any son of Harriet's is a friend of mine." He offered his paw. "The name's Schwartzkoff."
Garfield stared. "Schwartzkoff?"
"Yeah, ain't it a great name?" said Schwartzkoff. "So what's your name?"
"My name's Garfield, and this dumb mutt here is Odie."
"Hey!" cried Odie.
"Schwartzkoff…" Garfield raised his eyebrow. "Is it just me, or do you look like a Russian Blue?"
Schwartzkoff gave a dashing grin. "I should, because I am one!"
"What's a Russian Blue?" asked Odie.
"A rare breed of cat," said Garfield. "A lot of people would pay big money for one, even an insane one. So why are you a stray, Schwartz?"
"Well, I wasn't born a stray," said Schwartzkoff. "I was born to a Russian Blue breeder. I lived there for a few months. But then I realized that the people who owned me were plotting to sell me off to an evil communistic organization, and all my siblings were sided with them! I could feel their eyes boring into me every minute," cried Schwartzkoff, his voice growing hysterically loud and his eyes becoming bloodshot and crazy looking. "I knew I had to escape before they captured me! So I ran away."
Garfield shook his head in shock. "You've got major problems, kid."
Schwartzkoff snorted indignantly. "I do not! I was the only one to see the evil being plotted! It's everyone else who is insane!"
"Is anyone here?"
Schwartzkoff leaped eight feet in the air in fright. Garfield just rolled his eyes. "That's probably just that dog Odie's supposed to meet."
"Right," said Odie, squeezing his way through the hole. Garfield crouched down, tried to force his way through the hole… and got stuck.
"Oh, great," muttered Garfield.
"Let me help!" cried Schwartzkoff, giving Garfield a powerful kick in the rear.
"YAAAAAAHH!" screamed Garfield, flying out from the hole. The skinny Russian Blue squeezed through the hole easily.
It was indeed a dog that had spoken, a somewhat large dog with brownish red fur, tipped black on her muzzle and the tips of her ears, and with a fluffy, lighter colored tail. She cocked her head inquisitively. "Okay… I was told I was going to meet one dog. One. Dog. And yet I meet one dog and two cats?"
Odie blushed. "Well, my friend Garfield insisted on coming with me. And Schwartzkoff just lives here."
The dog shrugged. "Whatever." She offered her paw to Odie. "My name's Winnie. I guess we'll be traveling off to the far reaches of the Alps together, huh? What fun."
"The Alps?" cried Schwartzkoff. "Wow, that DOES sound like fun! And the enemy would never find me there!"
Winnie stared at Schwartzkoff. "You're crazy," she scoffed. Looking at Garfield, she added, "So are you. I can't understand why two cats would want to go to some freezing mountain range on the other side of the world to rescue some puppies. To be honest with you, the only reason I'M going is because I have too strong of a conscience. I'd much rather just…" She stretched her paws out and yawned contentedly. "…stay at home… sleep… maybe eat some table scraps my masters give me…"
"Wow, a dog after my own heart," marveled Garfield. He blinked. "I cannot believe I just said that."
"I'm probably too old for this, anyway," sighed Winnie. Garfield noticed that her muzzle had hints of silver fur against the black. Other than that, though, Winnie didn't particularly look very old… but then again, Garfield did not show his age like one would expect, either.
"Hey, dog, I bet I'm older than you, and I'm going. For a slice of the glory," said Garfield, grinning egotistically.
Winnie also grinned, but maliciously. "Oh really? How old are you?"
"Don't you think that's a bit of a personal question?" asked Garfield.
"Come on, I asked you a question," said Winnie. "How old are you?"
Garfield pouted, realizing that Winnie wasn't going to give up until he told her. "Fine. Twenty-six."
Winnie barked out in laughter. "Wow, you really are older than me!" she cried.
"Obviously," snapped Garfield. "How long do dogs live, anyway? Twelve?"
To his surprised, Winnie nodded. "Big dogs usually only live to about twelve. At least, that's what I've heard. I don't quite believe it, though. I'm rather large, eleven years old, and I still feel like I've got a few more years left in me." She smiled open-mouthed and Garfield, in shock, noticed that she had a black tongue.
"Hey, you're part chow, aren't you?" cried Odie.
Winnie nodded. "Yep. I'm proud of my chow chow heritage. It means I'm a good watchdog and that I don't like kids. And also, I like to chow…"
"I saw that one coming," muttered Garfield and Schwartzkoff simultaneously.
"Anyway. Enough chattering," snapped Winnie suddenly. "Let's get this over with. We've got some puppies to rescue." She pulled out a sheet of paper and looked at it. "It instructs that we are to board a certain airplane flight that will go to Europe, and we'll get further instructions there." She looked at her three companions. "Well, let's do it!"
"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this," mumbled Garfield. "Something's going to happen that'll make me regret this for the rest of my life… although luckily that probably won't be too much longer."
"Ahh, cheer up Gramps!" cried Schwartzkoff cheerfully. "We're going on a vacation! Although I don't have my passport…"
(AN: In case you're wondering, Winnie is based off of my dog. Actually, she IS my dog. Schwartzkoff, however, sprang up from my head all by himself. See you at chapter three!)