Chapter Five
After several minutes of staring and stammering, Dylan and Dolly were finally able to form coherent thoughts again. Dolly, ever the braver of the two, spoke up, "Okay, if you are our great-great-great Grandma and Grandpa, how the heck are you here now? And how can you still be so young?" Pongo and Perdita exchanged an uneasy glance. Perdita answered, "We haven't the faintest idea. We were at our farm in Devonshire, and the year was definitely 1961. We'd just put our puppies to bed and then went to sleep." Pongo nodded in agreement, "And when we woke up, we were in the park across the street…in the year 2020."
Dylan, showing off his intellectual side, "Well, I don't know the specifics, but somehow you've been transported across space and time…by 59 years to be exact." Dolly rolled her eyes, "Well, DUH! We can all count you know!" Dylan shook his head in annoyance, "I was just stating the facts, Dolly." Dylan then asked, "So, how did you two find this place?" Pongo replied, "We saw your sister, Dolly right? She was riding around on that wooden board contraption." Dolly chimed in, "You mean my skateboard?" Pongo nodded, "Right, skateboard. Anyway, you just seemed very familiar somehow, so we followed you home." Perdita spoke next, "Your parents found us outside, and it didn't take long to figure out the…connection between us."
Dylan nodded, rubbing his chin lightly. "Must've been a kind of unconscious family link, although Dolly isn't technically related to you." Pongo and Perdita tilted their heads in confusion. Perdita asked, "She isn't?" Doug and Delilah shrugged. Delilah replied, "Dylan is mine, and so are 7 of the rest," affectionately laying her paw on her son's shoulder. Doug continued, pulling Dolly into a tight hug, "And Dolly here is my oldest, followed by 8 brothers and sisters. The other 81 of our sweety-weeties are adopted." Pongo and Perdita nodded in understanding, reminded of their own experiences.
Dylan continued to rub his chin, more intensely than before, "Okay, so we've got a time travel situation, now what do we do?" The other five Dalmatians wore uneasy expressions, with Dolly inputting "Are we gonna keep this a secret? If so, how are we gonna do that?" Doug and Delilah shook their heads. Delilah spoke, "We should definitely keep this inside the family. We'd be circus freaks in no time." Doug nodded, "I don't think we should tell the younger puppies, they wouldn't understand." Dolly retorted, "I don't think we understand, but I see your point."
Dylan, still rubbing his chin, asked, "So what are we going to tell them? We can't keep Great-Great-Great Grandma and Grandpa up forever." Delilah thought for a moment and then replied, "We'll say that they're Aunt Perdita and Uncle Pongo, visiting from the countryside. They're young enough, hopefully they won't recognize them." Pongo and Perdita chuckled lightly, amused by the concept of having alter egos. Pongo shook off the laugh and spoke up, "As cute as all of this is, shouldn't we also be trying to find a way back to our own time?" Dylan finally stopped rubbing his chin and held up his paw, "Okay, we need to be scientific about this. I'll go get Dawkins," and then he headed back down the ladder.
On top of a shelf, a small wooden box overlooked a wall covered by chew toys, hanging blankets and various other odds and ends. The box was covered with short blue curtains, with a small gap between them to let in air. Behind the curtains laid a small living space, the wall adorned with a dinosaur poster and the floor littered with books, tools and various electronics. In the center of this room was a small Dalmatian puppy, wearing a tag shaped like a molecule and spots on his head that resembled a constellation. He was currently tinkering with a small device, switching out worn-out components for new, shiny ones.
He spoke as he grabbed one part, "Okay, one last piece and my latest invention will be complete." As he was about to position the part into place, Dylan's voice ringed from outside the curtains, "DAWKINS!" Dawkins jumped in surprise, the component flying out of his hand and bouncing out of sight. Dylan poked his head through the curtains, "Dawkins, there you are! We need you in the attic, CHOP CHOP!" Dawkins recovered his composure and rolled his eyes at Dylan's demanding tone, "Dylan, I may be your sidekick, but I'm not at your beck-and-call." Dylan waved his paw at Dawkins, "No time for pleasantries, Dawkins, we've got a potential scientific breakthrough sitting up in the attic."
Dawkins tilted his head slightly, "Don't tell me you think you've found aliens again?" Dylan frowned in annoyance, "This is nothing like that! We need your brainpower with this, the data we can collect could change the world!" Dawkins's facial expression turned to one of curiosity, "Well then, if that's the case, come on Princess." Dawkins turned and grabbed a small blue doll, with curly hair and a single large eye, with his mouth. Dylan nodded in approval before turning round and heading out of the room, followed closely by Dawkins.