COUSINS
Chapter 12: Unpredictable Uproar
Penny was arrested the next morning.
It was 5:45 AM when the audacious Olive ran from her house to the police station, her heart pumping at expeditious speeds. Luckily, the bear arrived at the law enforcement headquarters as right as rain. She entered the building to be greeted by Lieutenant Booker, whom was rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Sir! Sir! I need to report a crime!" the bear blurted out, unable to control her rising voice. "Last night a friend of mine was attacked on the shore and severely burned. The animal who threw the ignited branch at him…" Her voice trailed off. Cupcake should have come; she knew the details.
The dog looked at Olive, his eyes narrow. "Hold up a sec!" he exclaimed, waving his hands in front of his face. "You speak too damn fast. You're saying that a friend of yours was critically burned last night and that you know who the persecutor is?"
Olive nodded, gasping for air.
"Well then," Booker mumbled. He clasped his hands. "It seems"—he paused, pulling his voice up to the appropriate volume—"I'm actually quite baffled. An incident like this has not occurred in Veltron since the murder of Rolf J.V., the military commander… and that was nearly six years ago." Shaking his head, the dog returned his gaze to Olive. "I hate it when this happens. Please lead me to your residence. Immediately."
Complying, Olive lead the lieutenant back to her house. Penny was not anywhere in sight and she didn't jump out of the bushes, which made it a safe trek to and from the police station. They entered the house at 6:00 AM.
Booker told Cupcake to escort the still-fainted Cheri and Dizzy to Punchy's house. The cat was an almost-expert on first-aid and medicine-related topics. He would be able to assist the animals. "I will stay here and contact Nookington's, the Able Sisters, the Post Office and the Museum," the police dog continued. "If at any time you encounter other citizens, please inform them of this outrageous problem. Thank you very much. The lives of the residents are one of the top five priorities."
As the sun continued to rise, Olive and Cupcake found Vesta watering a neighbour's flowers and explained the situation to her. The cousins were surprised to find Susanna Ester awake so early, but did not deny her the right to know about the crime that had been committed. Both were alarmed, especially Vesta. She began to complain about returning home early on in the night and regretted falling asleep on the grass. Her eyes were fixed to Dizzy's wounds.
"Yes? Good morning?" Punchy was confused to see animals on his doorstep. He scratched his forehead. He was still half-asleep. "Cupcake, could you tell me why you've woken me at such an ungodly hour? Unless you've got one hell of a good reason, I'll kill you. I swear."
Grinning an artificial toothy smile, Cupcake explained the situation to the cat, and entered his house. Exhausted from the amount of weight she had been carrying, Cupcake nearly dropped Cheri and Dizzy on the floor, stumbling multiple times. Punchy quickly helped her.
"The morning has been moving fast!" Cupcake cried. "It's not even 7:00 AM yet. And look, I'm already at one of my friend's houses." She turned to look at Punchy's questionable stare. "I am really sorry to bother you this early Punchy, but it was police orders to bring you here. If you cannot help then Cheri and Dizzy might die. There was—"
The cat put his hands in the air. "Whoa, whoa, what? What do you mean they could be dead?" He was astonished. "What happened? I have been friends with Dizzy for five years and suddenly the new girl runs into my house and drops him on the floor! Additionally, she's got her cousin in what looks like serious pain too. Well? What happened?"
"If you had given me the opportunity to complete my sentence, perhaps you wouldn't have freaked out the way you just did." Cupcake rolled her eyes. "Listen to me here. I said that it was police—Lieutenant Booker's—orders to bring them here. There was an accident last night that almost resulted in Dizzy's death, but it seems as though he's alive and okay. That's for now. You see, Booker told me that you attained some knowledge over the years... that's concerning first-aid and medicine. I beg you, with all my heart, to please save my cousin and our friend. It would be mortifying to watch them go without any care. Please!"
Punchy moved to the kitchen counter. He poured himself a cup of steaming tea. "Well, that's brought us to sort of a pickle. I'm practically speechless." The cat was at a loss for words and was unsure of what to say. "Um, the last time I attempted to save someone's life, it went poorly. It was very bad. I thought I took the animal's life as a result of my actions. They said I wasn't too blame, but... I'm afraid Cheri and Dizzy will pay the price." He let out an exaggerated yawn. "I'm not going to do it. You can persuade me, but I won't. I can't see another person die because of my method." He turned to face the wall and breathed heavily.
Cupcake closed her eyes. "So you would rather let one of your best friends die here in your living room?" She opened them and tears started forming. "You would let my cousin, who's like me younger sister, decease because you were too much of a coward? What kind of an animal allows himself to be beaten by his former mistakes? What kind of an animal are you?" She began gasping and exited his house. She screamed.
Alarmed by her unexpected departure, Punchy ran to the door and hollered, "No! Cupcake, come back, please! ...I didn't mean to." He hung his head miserably. Why didn't he just accept the task of trying to help the animals? He didn't know the story behind their wounds and yet he couldn't control his grip. After realizing he had left Cupcake heart-broken, he turned to see Cheri and Dizzy lying on the floor. It looked like they were merely sleeping. But were they?
"I suppose I'm going to try. She is right, after all. Why would I dwell on the past and the things I did wrong so long ago? ...And why would I let one of my friends die?" He prayed for courage and strength and walked over to a small red cabinet. He opened it and picked up a jar with a white "x" on it. The weight of the world was on his shoulders.
By 1:30 PM, the entire village had become aware of Penny's "attempt at murder". Old lay Cleo was shocked to her blood vessels, as she had put it, while the Able Sisters and Tom Nook could hardly believe that one of their best customers had gone and committed a terrible crime. Even Phyllis, the uncaring evening postal worker pitied the mouse while sighing sympathetically over Cheri and Dizzy. Most of the other animals were not interested in making conversation with Penny and avoided her house intentionally. The train station had been locked up for the first time in over three years to ensure Penny would not make a successful escape from the village. The same situation occurred at the Veltron dock, which angered Butch because he was ready to enjoy an afternoon at sea. He had to cancel his plans and closed the marina.
Cupcake snitched on Punchy for rejecting the orders to help Cheri and Dizzy. She made the situation seem overly dramatic and Lieutenant Booker and Officer Copper were escorted to his house. He was going to be arrested for resisting the law, but upon arrival, the three animals were shocked; Cheri and Dizzy were awake and resting on Punchy's couch. They were watching TV. The cat crawled over to the officers and Cupcake and apologized for his inconvenience. He explained that he had been unable to perform the method he had used years before, which was his excuse for originally not trying to help. With some new materials, however, he successfully saved Cheri and Dizzy, who were excited to see Cupcake. It was the most excited Cheri and Cupcake had been since graduation.
Every commercial establishment closed by 8:00 PM that evening. At 9:00 PM, a knock came on the cousins door. Olive answered it to find Copper there.
"Good evening, Olive. I know you have had a difficult day and Lieutenant Booker insisted that I protect your dwelling this fine evening. My presence will hopefully be useful to you and your cousins and incase anything funny transpires, it will be under my nose." Olive nodded at the police dog. She motioned for him to continue. "You need not worry about Dizzy. He has been taken to a medical clinic for inspection and the doctor says that he should be all right. Booker will be watching him after he returns, which should be shortly, I expect. And believe it or not, we have T-Bone patrolling a couple of the residents. He volunteered to do the time, evidently."
"Wasn't he... arrested, officer?" Olive questioned.
Copper smacked his forehead. "Yes, I sort of used that term in an inappropriate juncture. My apologies. What I meant to say was that he volunteered to devote his own time to shielding the residents of Veltron." He let out an awkward chuckle. "Anyway, please do not worry yourselves. You will be fine."
"Devote? Patrolling? Shielding? Transpires?" Olive asked, her voice filled with perplexity. "Do you say anything original? It seems like you never use everyday, regular language. I've found talking to you to be quite a treat since we moved here. Not once have you said something as simple as, 'T-Bone is watching some of the town's residents' or, 'What I meant to say was that he volunteered to use his own time to protect Veltron's citizens'. It's always something exquisite. But I suppose that's why I like you, Officer Copper." She sighed. "But you don't need to speak like a perfectionist. It's like hearing a broken record in your sleep."
Copper laughed. He accepted her words as a graceful compliment and said, "Now then, I will patrol the grounds. It is likely that there will be no trouble since Penny's arrest was not a gruelling task. Afterwards, I hope you have a fine evening my lovely grey-furred friend."
"Patrol all you want!" Olive exclaimed. "But entrance is forbidden." She closed the door.
Cupcake was sitting in the living room chair. She crossed her arms. "...I don't feel comfortable with anybody in our house right now. Nor do I trust many of the animals in Veltron anymore. Vesta's a true friend, of course, but... Punchy didn't even want to revive you, Cheri. That's certainly not someone to turn to in dire situations, right?" She looked at her red cousin, who was finishing a word search from Animal Weekly on the kitchen table. "He's not loyal enough to bother with."
Putting the pencil down, Cheri looked up at Cupcake. "I know. How many times must you ramble on about it? I don't want to interact with Punchy anymore too. He's hard to deal with. Just because he failed at one point in his career doesn't mean anything. It wasn't an outlook on what the result was today. His empathy was lost. What I can't believe is that he neglected to help Dizzy, someone he's been friends with for five years. That's a long time. He didn't want to help him either, the stupid fool." She looked down at the word search again.
Gazing out the living room window, Cupcake added, "He'd let this village suffer if the window of opportunity came."
Olive returned to the kitchen. "We've got Officer Copper outside," she said as she tied an apron around her waist. "He will be watching over us. He says while the security is top-notch here, there have been some issues before. There's nothing to worry about and we can go about our nightly routine. Is anybody in the mood for some cherry pie? Vesta gave me the most amazing ingredients." Her cousins nodded in agreement.
The night proceeded peacefully.
The next morning, Cupcake woke up at 6:30, two hours before her typical schedule. The fragrance of pansies and tulips were travelling through the open kitchen window. A hint of fresh pond water was flowing in too. The sun was rising over the horizon and the birds were flocking to the trees and sand on the beach, all singing the morning chorus. It looked like it was going to be an undeniably beautiful day.
When Olive woke up at 7:30, she found Cupcake baking cookies and pies. Three plates of two bacon-and-egg toasted-bread sandwiches were resting on the table. The bear almost drooled when she saw the delicacies, and rushed over to her seat.
"You always make the best food!" Olive cried, taking a bite into her sandwich. She startled Cupcake, who was rolling dough.
"Good morning to you too, Olive. I see you've found breakfast!" Cupcake said. "The cherry pie was so delicious last night that I decided to go ahead and prepare the food this morning. After all, it's not something I do too frequently." She laughed. "Enjoy it."
Nodding with big eyes, Olive responded, "I will. Hm, I just remembered that Officer Copper is somewhere outside. You know, the only good thing about him is that he's strong emotionally and mentally. A very intelligent police dog. But he doesn't pose a physical threat, to be honest!" She laughed and Cupcake followed.
Immediately after the girls stopped laughing, a rock the size of Olive's sandwich flew through the kitchen window and sent glass in every direction. Cupcake screeched at the top of her lungs and Copper came towards the house within seconds.
From the next acre Penny was throwing many random objects. The moment Copper saw her, he charged without hesitance and began to chase the rodent. The mouse started to scream as she began running from him. At the same time Cheri walked into the kitchen still half-asleep. She saw glass everywhere and couldn't believe her eyes. Was Penny so enraged that she wasn't going to leave them alone? Would she eternally wreak havoc upon them? With her the innocent had become the guilty.
"Oh, what the hell?" Cheri asked rhetorically. "Did Penny do this? Who does she think she is? I don't understand this! After she leaves one of the stupidest parties I've ever attended—which means that Mathilda and Susanna thought she was 'worthy'—she becomes the village's leading maniac! She cannot control herself anymore and it's because she's pissed that she'll be in debt forever! Now she's a wolf-hungry villain on the loose. Would you call this normal behaviour? Animals should not be releasing their anger like this! Penny is an idiotic and stupid animal who needs to perish from the world!" Cheri stomped on the carpet.
Olive shook her head, almost in tears. "I despise that mouse. If anything is going to happen to her—something will—I hope it's demanding and painful and full of hell." She wiped her nose on her sleeve. "We've been sitting here. Complaining. That's all we've been doing. As we do nothing, many residents are getting hurt because of this mouse's temper. This is where it is going to stop! Come on, we need to do something."
Shaking, Cupcake nodded. "Penny is in a lot of trouble." The bear laughed ruefully. "Too bad and so sad."
At around 12:30 PM on June 6, after countless residents were attacked by Penny, she was finally cornered by Lieutenant Booker, Officer Copper, T-Bone, Vesta, and Olive in a heavily-wooded section close to her house. She was arrested and taken to the law enforcement station immediately. Many of the other animals including Mathilda, Susanna Ester and Static were on-looking and watching as the situation was beginning to unfold.
"Never in my entire career has an animal committed such a... despicable crime! For what reason would a large portion of the village have to chase after the persecutor?" Copper was speaking to Penny, but rose the volume of his voice for the townspeople to hear. "If anything is for certain, your life in Veltron has come to its end, yes, my dear." Both Booker and Copper entered the police station and informed Mayor Tortimer by telegram that Penny had been caught after already being arrested. Locals were prohibited entrance until Penny's sentence was inveterate.
Cheri, Olive, Cupcake, Dizzy, T-Bone, and Vesta stood in front of the police station; they eyed the structure and did not speak to each other. It wasn't until 4:00 PM that Booker exited the building. He waved his arms and began to explain what precautions would be taken.
"It has been many, many years since the town of Veltron has had to sentence an animal for committing felony. I know it's probably the one day of all your lives were the words "crime", "felony" and "punishment" have popped up the most. I do not blame you for having to hear these words, though. It was out of your reach. Pain has been caused throughout the thirty acres, and this kind of mischief will result in the following: on June 11 at the Wishing Well, Penny is going to be—and I mean this—executed altogether."
There was a gasp. A loud gasp.
"You plan on executing that mouse?" Cleo could be heard screaming from behind a few trees. "It's not like she murdered this animal-infested village! You can't execute her for spitting on a few rocks! Be reasonable, now! What about exiling her? Wouldn't that be a bit more levelheaded? Honestly!" The horse was unimpressed.
Dizzy supported the execution. The elephant constantly repeated "it's a good idea" to the village. Everybody knew why he was intent on going through with the execution and Cleo did not question him. It was almost as though he wanted to turn the bullet around and shoot it back at Penny, who had tried to take his life, but failed. Olive and Vesta had mixed feelings on the sentence and Cupcake was leaning towards supporting the execution; Penny could have gravely injured her that morning when she threw the rock through their kitchen window. Others debated about the sentence and whether it was appropriate or ridiculous.
Mathilda felt as though Penny's execution was a good idea; Susanna promptly agreed with her best friend. Static was unsure of himself.
"Must you be so cruel?" the Able Sisters cried. "This is nonsense on a new high! Please be more considerate!"
But there was no turning back. The officers and mayor had made their decision and Penny was going to be executed in five days. Some animals continued to protest the execution, but most were pleased and returned home. Eventually, Tom Nook was called to help remove the animals from the area and return them home. Others began asking what the future of Veltron would be like if minor felonies resulted in death. Nobody answered the questions and left them to remain sliding on the air.
Penny's fate had been determined.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: That's right, the drama continues to build up! Who knows if Penny really will lose her head. Influence may bring about a different path the mouse has to take. For now, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and more is soon to come!