Chapter Four
Inside the house numbered 101, there was an adolescent male pup wearing a red collar with a star tag. Seated at the bottom of the main staircase, he stared upwards with a look of disapproval on his face. At the top of the stairs sat a female pup of roughly the same age, her body poised to jump and eyes focused on the bannister. "Dolly! Why do you have to do this every day?" the male pup said to the female. Dolly responded by rolling her eyes, "Oh come on, Dylan. We both know it's what I do." Dolly then returned her line of sight to the bannister and, after a moment of concentration, leaped onto the wooden railing. Dolly rapidly slid down towards Dylan, happily shouting "BOW WOKKA WOW" as she descended. Just as she reached the bannister's end, she leaped off and gracefully landed in front of Dylan, whose disapproving look had not faded.
To the left of the staircase was the living room, which was still full of spotted puppies involved in various types of hijinks. Looking in from the entryway, Dylan and Dolly exchanged glances and smirked. "Trigger word?" Dolly said to Dylan. Dylan winked in agreement, and both teens shouted "DINNER!" One by one, each of the other puppies stopped what they were doing, their ears perking up and heads tilting to the side. "Dinner?" one of them said curiously, a reaction soon mimicked by the others. Soon, the entire room was producing a chorus of excitement, every pup enthusiastically shouting "DINNER!" as they rushed out of the living room and down the adjoining entry hall. As they passed Dylan and Dolly, they almost seemed to blend together into an amorphous, spotted blur racing through the brownstone.
Dylan and Dolly began following the younger dogs, but stopped upon hearing an electronic whirring from behind the front door. Turning their heads to investigate, they saw the door open slightly and the heads of Doug and Delilah stick through it, scanning the room as they were trying to sneak in. Upon seeing only the two pups, Delilah sighed with relief and, in a matter-of-face tone, said, "Oh, thank goodness it's only you two. We need your help." Dylan and Dolly looked at Delilah with curiosity and concern, with Dylan asking, "What's the matter, Mum?" Doug and Delilah briefly exchanged a glance, uneasy looks on their faces. Doug spoke up, "Well, you see…we shouldn't talk here. Meet us in the attic in five minutes."
Dylan and Dolly's confusion visibly increased, with Dolly asking, "Dad, why are you being so shady?" Doug and Delilah shook their heads, with Delilah responding, "We'll explain upstairs, just go eat with the pups and then come up to the attic when you're done." Dylan and Dolly tilted their heads, wearing expressions indicating they were far from convinced. However, the two younger pups nonetheless gave in to parental authority and headed to join their 97 brothers and sisters, shaking their heads slightly as they turned around.
When the two pups were safely out of earshot, Doug and Delilah finally opened the door fully and entered their home. Doug turned back and made a "come on" signal with his paw, "The coast is clear, follow us up the stairs." Doing their best to not cause any noise, Pongo and Perdita entered their house, following closely behind the other Dalmatian couple as they climbed up to the home's second level. As they did so, Pongo and Perdita couldn't but get a closer look at the gallery of family photos on the wall. If nothing else, the sheer number of pictures present was a sight to behold.
Down the hall, side-by-side at the head of a long dinner table, Dylan and Dolly were eating kibble from dog bowls, as were their many siblings. Looking up from their now-finished meal for a brief moment, both teenagers caught a glimpse of their parents leading two other Dalmatians up the stairs. Both adolescent pups tilted their heads in a curious fashion. Confident the pups were too distracted by dinner, Dolly whispered into her brother's ear, "So I'm guessing we got some visitors, but why keep them a secret?" Dylan shook his head before whispering back, "Not a clue, but is it just me, or do they look familiar somehow?" Dolly nodded slightly, "Yeah, kind of. Maybe they're relatives from out-of-town?" Shrugging his shoulders, Dylan responded, "One way to find out." Dylan stood up and headed for the stairs, followed closely by Dolly.
Walking down the second floor hallway of #101, Dylan and Dolly approached a wooden staircase that led into a small square opening in the ceiling. Doug's head peaked through the hole, "There you are! Get up here quick!" Dylan and Dolly proceeding up the stairs, both wearing looks of mild concern while doing so. Once the two pups had entered the attic, Doug quickly closed the wooden hatch leading back down to the second floor.
The attic had no lamps or bulbs, lit only by the sun peeking through the blinds. Though boxes and various forms of clutter littered the room, there was still a large enough space for the four dogs to gather comfortably in the room's center. Doug and Delilah were seated on the bare floor, while Dylan and Dolly took a seat opposite them. Dolly was the first to speak up, "Okay, spill. What's going on here?" Dylan also chimed in, "And who were those other two dogs?"
Doug and Delilah briefly exchanged a glance, and then turned towards their children with apprehensive looks. Doug spoke first, "Well honeys…you see…they're, uh…" Delilah then spoke up, "Maybe it'll be easier if we just show you." Delilah turned her head, reached down and pushed a flat object towards the two youngsters. Dylan and Dolly looked down and saw a picture of a happy-looking Dalmatian couple. Both tilted their heads in confusion, with Dolly remarking, "Great-great-great Grandma and Grandpa? I don't understand." Delilah took a deep breath, "Like I said, it'll be easier just to show you." Delilah turned her head and looked towards a nearby crate, "It's alright, you can come out now."
From behind the crate, two adult Dalmatians emerged, a male wearing a red collar and a female wearing a blue collar. As they approached, Dylan and Dolly's looks of puzzlement gave way to widened eyes and mouths gaping in shock. As the Dalmatian couple seated themselves beside the other four, Dylan and Dolly shook off their looks of dismay. Instead, the pups began rapidly looking back and forth between the new couple and the picture, struggling to reconcile the facts staring them right in the face. Stammering in disbelief, Dylan said, "But…but…they can't be…" Doug and Delilah nodded their heads uneasily, as did the other couple.
The new male spoke up, "My name's Pongo." His female companion then said, "And my name's Perdita." Pongo, his face showing a mix of confusion and excitement, added, "I don't know how this is possible but…you're our great-great-great-grandchildren."