Chapter 1: Storms, Introductions and "Haunted" Houses
"Woah, the wind has changed...! Cap'n! A storm is comin'!" exclaimed El Dorado's first mate, Philipo.
It was my sixth day on the sea on Captain El Dorado's ship en route to THE DOG Island to find a cure for my sick little sister Maria. Moments before, I had just received a Woof from Philipo for a job well done of swabbin' the deck, as pirates call it. And sure enough, a terrible storm did indeed come, but that shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. My hometown of Puroro's local doctor told my Mom that storms like the one I, as well as the entirety of El Dorado's crew, were experiencing, were not uncommon around THE DOG Island, that many ships have sunk just trying to get there. But that wasn't going to stop me, my sister was in desperate need of a cure, and it seemed it was all up to me to get it.
I looked out at the raging sea below, with a little blue bird we had rescued and brought on board hovering by my side. I could hear El Dorado himself mutter, "Arrr! We'll never make it to THE DOG Island in this storm! My ship won't hold!" Then he ran up to me and said, "Duke! I'm sorry I have to break my promise like this... I gotta cancel the trip to THE DOG Island."
"What?!" I exclaimed with dismay, before looking at the deck in sadness. "I'm awful sorry, Duke," said El Dorado, trying to comfort me, "I know you wanna get there as soon as ye can. But I gotta worry 'bout my crew. I promise you! I will get you to THE DOG Island! But not on this trip. We'll take ya there on the next trip!"
I looked up at him in anger. I didn't have time for a "next trip," my sister would likely be dead by the time that happened and, after losing my Dad (he actually went to THE DOG Island before me to find a cure for my sister and he never returned, for all anyone knew, he could've been killed), Mom would be practically heartbroken. The Captain left me no choice. "Fine," I barked at him in anger, "if you won't help me, I'll swim the rest of the way!"
As I was about to jump into the sea to prove I wasn't bluffing, El Dorado called after me, "Hey, hey! Stop! Someone! Stop Duke!" Too late. I jumped in before anyone had a chance to stop me. And I could hear the crew yell, "Dog overboard, dog overboard!" as I swam with all my might in the tossing waves. I didn't get far, though, before a large wave came and toppled me over, sending me into the depths, causing me to quickly pass out from shock.
I suddenly felt warm for some reason. I opened my eyes to see I was in a strange bed in a strange house with the warm sunshine on my black fur. I jumped a little as I saw the dog that seemed to own this house, a yellow Labrador Retriever with bells anchored by red ribbons on both of her ears, which I suppose made her look odd. That's probably the reason I jumped. "You're awake! Oh, thank goodness!" the stranger said with a sigh of relief.
"Where am I and who are you?" I asked. "You're on THE DOG Island!" said the stranger, then she introduced herself, answering both my questions, "My name is Amalia. And you are?" "I'm Duke." I replied.
"Did you swim all the way here through that storm?!" asked Amalia with surprise, "Then you're one lucky dog!" "What do you mean?" I asked her. "The sea bed in these parts has a lot of sharp rocks!" replied Amalia, "Sharper than the teeth of a shark, they are! If you happened to hit one of those rocks... Well, you wouldn't even be waking up right now!"
"Wow, that's...a scary thought." I said to myself. "You should thank that little Mr. Birdy too. Mr. Birdy told me that you fainted. You were lucky that Mr. Birdy came to tell me, you know." Amalia continued. Was that the bird's name? I looked out the window and, sure enough, the blue bird that was with me on the ship was flying around in circles outside for a little bit before he took off into the wild blue yonder. I turned my attention back to Amalia. "But tell me, what's so important that would make you try to reach this island in such a storm?" she asked. I explained my situation to her, that I had come to see the famous Dr. Potan as a chance to cure my sister. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed as I finished my explanation. "You've come all the way to see Dr. Potan? He has a clinic in the village square. You can get there by crossing the stream to the west of this house. He has a sign out in front so you can't miss it. I'll be there waiting for you OK?" So I followed her over to Dr. Potan's clinic.
It would appear that Dr. Potan was just finishing seeing another patient when Amalia and I walked in to meet him. He looked at Amalia before he said,"Oh, hello there Miss Amalia. Whatever can I do for you today?" He then realized that Amalia didn't come alone, and he looked at me questioningly before he asked Amalia, "And who is this fine young pup you have with you today?" "This is Duke." explained Amalia, "Duke desperately needs your help, doctor!" "I see..." said Dr. Potan, "and whatever might be the problem, hummm?" I told him everything, about my sister and the fact that he was this famous doctor who would know exactly how to cure her. When I finished, he said rather humbly, "Me, a famous doctor?! Please, I just love to help others!" Then he added, " I have, however, treated a similar sickness in the past. Although I doubt this is exactly the same. I fear this may be too much for me." "Doctor, please! Help Duke!" Amalia exclaimed with a tone that seemed to say "Come on, doctor, at least give it the old college try!" "Very well, I shall do what I can." Dr. Potan said at last, much to my relief that I didn't come here for nothing. "Oh, thank you, doctor!" I exclaimed with excitement. Amalia seemed excited as well. "Great! Isn't it, Duke?!" she asked.
Our excitement was short-lived, however, as Dr. Potan said, "I'm sorry, but to find a cure... I'll need to do some research to find out what kind of medicine to use. I'll need a few days."
Outside the clinic, Amalia and I walked with a hint of disappointment on our faces. Oh well, I figured, I probably shouldn't have expected Dr. Potan to be ready to leave immediately. "You'll be here for a while, right?" asked Amalia, "Then you'll need a place to stay." Her expression lit up suddenly. "I got an idea!" she said, "Noble has an empty house he isn't using. Let's go talk to him." So that was our new destination, a very fancy house with two wings to it.
We entered it and came face-to-face with a Yorkshire terrier wearing an aristocrat's hat, a monocle, and a necktie. He looked at me questioningly, before he said, "Amalia, who is this pup with you?" "Duke." Amalia replied, "Duke, this is Noble, the village Chairdog." "Oh, please, my position is of no importance." Noble said humbly, and I was starting to notice a theme here. "You are not from these parts are you, young one?" "No. He comes from Puroro Town." Amalia replied on my behalf. I gave her a quick look that said "I could've told him that myself, you know" before Noble said, "Oh! The big city! I thought I detected a fragile hint of masked elegance from you... Something absent from so many around here." I looked at him in confusion. "Oh, I'm sorry." said Noble, "I fear I have confused you! Please, ignore my big words. What brings you to our cozy island, then?" "He came here to ask for Dr. Potan's help to cure his sick sister." said Amalia.
Seriously? I don't need you to translate for me. I thought to myself.
"Of course, Dr. Potan." said Noble, "A fine doctor isn't he? I presume he agreed to help?" "He did, but... he needs a few days to get ready." said Amalia, finally saying something that's not personal to me, "And so Duke has to stay here for a while but... he doesn't have a place to stay. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have an empty house don't you, Noble? Would you lend it to Duke?"
"Hummmmmm. I could do that, I could do that." Noble muttered to himself. "But I should ask you something first..." he told us after a moment of thought. "What is it?" I asked. "Do you believe in ghosts?" Noble asked. "Ghosts?" I asked in return. It didn't take long for Noble to explain. "This empty house of mine, well... It just so happens to be the site of some rather strange occurrences. Dogs have heard voices from thin air or sounds of something moving in an empty room. Of course I don't believe any of it. But some dogs in the village think the place is haunted. Indeed, some even go so far as to suggest that my family is cursed. What nerve! I cannot afford to allow such rumors to carry on." He shook his head in disgust before continuing, "They could damage the good name of my family for generations to come! If you can find out the real reason for this haunting and solve the matter, then the house is yours for as long as you need it. The house I speak of is to the west of this house." "There's a mail box in front. You can't miss it." said Amalia, "I'll be there waiting for you OK?"
Once I arrived at the house that had the very noticeable red mail box in front of it, Amalia and I headed inside. It didn't take long before Amalia looked at me with a look of worry and fear. "Ah... OK, Duke..." she said nervously, "It's not that I think there's a ghost in here or anything, but... I've just remembered something that...I really need to do, OK?" Then she left the house in quite a hurry; and I found myself learning a strange new smell that was coming from the fireplace. I dug at it to inspect it, which seemed to cause a strange creature to come out of hiding. This creature that I speak of looked as if a silhouette of a windup toy had a face, arms, and legs and could move on its own. It was the strangest thing that I've ever seen. He walked past me before I let out a bark to get his attention. He was startled by the sudden noise, and turned around, but instead of acknowledging my presence he walked the other way. I let out another bark, but I still got nothing out of him, he turned around and walked the way he originally did. I barked for the third time and that seemed to irritate him, but this time, he seemed to notice me, so I barked a couple more times to assure him that I was the one who was making that noise. He let out a squeaking noise that sounded like a mouse in surprise.
We stared at each other for an awkward moment, before the creature finally broke the silence with "Hey!" "Who or what are you?" I asked him. "Don't tell me...You can see me?" the creature spoke, ignoring my question. "Apparently so!" I said. "What?! You can?! You really can see me?!" asked the creature. "I just said that, and who are you?" I said with a hint of irritation in my voice. "Me? I'm Petasi!" said the creature. "What's yours?" "I'm Duke." I told him. "Duke, huh. You're one of those Sniff Masters I heard about, right?" Petasi asked. "A what now? No?" I said in confusion. "You're not...? That's weird. Well, ya just sniffed out a hidin' Anc. That's not a trick any old dog can pull off. Why are you looking at me like that? Don't ya know Ancs?" Petasi asked. I didn't respond. "Oh, how can ya not know about Ancs...?!" Petasi said. "I don't, what are they?" I asked. "Oh boy... This is a sad day, a sad day indeed." Petasi lamented before he explained, "Listen up then, sniffly. Ghosts are just made up, there's no such thing, OK? But we Ancs have been around for as long as you'd care to remember. At least as long as you dogs have been around, OK?! It's just that you dogs have forgotten about us. Dogs don't accept our existence any more." I stared at him in confusion, this was a lot of information to take in. "A little too complex for you, maybe. OK, just remember this: Ghosts and Ancs are two totally different things. Why are ya here, anyway?" I explained my situation for possibly the third time today. "Are you serious?" Petasi asked when I was finished, "You're really going through some tough times. OK then! I'll help you out! Don't worry, we'll be fine." "Awesome! Thanks!" I exclaimed. "So, what next?" asked Petasi, "How about telling Noble about what ya found out? Ya have to tell him right? Tell him you solved his haunted house problem." "Yes, let's go!" I said.
I went back to Noble's house to tell him my discoveries. "You have solved the problem?...I don't believe in ghosts of course, but it wasn't a ghost was it?" "Nope." I said, much to his excitement. "Of course it wasn't! I knew it! I knew it! Now the Princess can visit us safely." "What's this about a Princess?" I asked. "Oh, never mind." Noble replied. "Anyway, you may use the house, as I promised. And you can use the furniture there too."
"I still can't get over the fact that he thought I was a ghost!" said Petasi, "This is just crazy! Hey, Duke. Let's get outta here." Once I left Noble's house, though, it seemed Petasi still had something to say. "I've just remembered somethin' I need to do. Help me find a bare patch of ground around here, will ya? Well... It's gotta be a pretty big open area. I remember the center of the village had a place like that."
So at the center of the village, Petasi stopped walking with me and said, "Wait a sec." before going over the center of the little grass patch as I looked at him in curiosity. What was Petasi going to do here, I wondered. "OK! Here looks good! So don't just stand there, lend me a hand, will ya?" I didn't question him and went to where he was. When I did, I noticed he was standing next to a green sprout. "This'll become an Anc Tree." he explained, "It's very rare! Brought it all the way from Anc Land myself. I was asked to plant it in this world. By the Queen herself. Luckily I remembered." He laughed, and I helped plant the sprout into the ground by digging a hole for it and burying it in the soil. "Anyway," he continued, "that should do it! Oh yeah, I can see it growing already! I guess it will be a sprout for a while, though! My queen told me this tree's no ordinary one. Each time someone says 'Thank you' to its owner...it takes that appreciation and uses it as energy to grow! And when this guy grows tall I can go back to the Land of Ancs!
"OK, my work here is done. How about we go check on Potan to see if he is ready yet? If he is slacking off, we should give him a little shove." I agreed, it was time to check on the doctor's progress.