Chapter 9
Bolt opened his eyes. He had arrived a minute later than Balto had.
Balto was busy sizing up his statue.
"A bit…less wolfish than I would like." He commented.
"What are you doing?" Bolt asked.
"I don't believe this looks anything like me. What do you think?"
Bolt frowned. "It looks exactly like you. A bit…smaller maybe."
"No. I just don't see me in that thing." Balto said.
"I know we're you'll see you. They've got your body stuffed with cotton down in Cleveland. Right now I think we should skip that and focus on catching the butcher."
Balto nodded.
"Of course, that brings forth some challenges. Mainly, this is a city. We can't search the whole thing."
"Yeah, but I know this city. I'll search every square inch of it. We'll find him."
Bolt nodded. "You've got to understand, this is 2009. Things are different from 1929. 100 years different."
"Oh, is that all?"
He padded into the street. "I don't see much different. Buildings look slightly modern but other than that…"
"CAR!!" Bolt shouted. He pushed Balto out of the way as a Mustang zoomed by.
"AHHH!!!" Balto screamed. "What the hell was that?"
"That was an automobile. An American muscle car to be exact."
"Literally?" Balto asked, wide eyed. "A muscle monster."
Bolt rolled his eyes. "If you say so."
He looked around. "Where are the others?"
"They should be here. There's Penny."
Penny appeared next to the statue.
Then Rhino a few minutes later. But no Mittens.
"I don't get it. How long do we have to wait?" Bolt said to himself.
Bolt started wandering.
"I'm gonna check the place out. She may have gotten here before us and wandered away."
"Be careful." Balto warned. "If he's here, he's dangerous."
Bolt padded into one of the alleys. He looked around. Nothing.
He navigated through the city. He kept to alleyways. If Mittens got frightened she would probably take to the alleys.
Back by the statue Balto waited for Bolt or Mittens. Knowing neither very well he could only wait.
Bolt saw something black dart by. "Mittens?" He called. No reply.
He ran forwards. "Mittens! It's Bolt! Stop!"
The creature did not stop. Suddenly it darted into another alley and disappeared.
Bolt frowned. "Mittens?"
Suddenly a paw went over his mouth. "Don't make a sound. Don't resist. I'll snap your neck like a slim jim."
The creature grabbed his collar and dragged him into an alley.
He threw Bolt into the wall. "So you're the hero dog huh? Saved his girl from some…fire?"
Bolt stared at his captor. He had black fur and looked rabid. He had one eye.
"How do you know…about that?"
"You're everywhere Bolty. News. Billboards. And let me tell you something. You're No. Freakin. Hero. You're crap that the media loves to feast on."
He grabbed Bolt's neck and came close to his face.
"And tomorrow they're gonna find you're head right in the middle of the street. How do you think they'll like that?"
Bolt suddenly kicked out, knocking the dog back. Then he let out a wolf howl.
He was pinned to the wall by the one-eyed dog. "What the hell was that for? You think you're a wolf or something?" He laughed.
"Who are you?" Bolt asked. The dog immediately put a paw over Bolt's mouth.
"I told you to shut up. I'm the butcher of freakin Nome!"
"Congratulations." Bolt said. The butcher hit him in the face.
"Now you can talk."
Bolt sighed. "Have you seen a…black and white cat? Scrawny? Brooklyn accent?"
The butcher laughed. "I took a cat a few hours ago. I think her name was…gloves or something."
Bolt nodded, smiling. "I thought so."
Suddenly something slammed into the butcher's side. He was thrown to the wall.
Balto smiled. "Well Butch. Never thought I'd meet you face to face."
"Hello half breed. No flowers?"
"Didn't know it was your funeral." Balto shot back.
The butcher got to his feet. "You took care of Seamus while I was gone?
"Yes. Unfortunately. Did you know him?"
The butcher nodded. "He was my brother."
"I'm sorry. I would be sympathetic if you weren't such a heartless monster."
The butcher sniggered. "What can I say? I have a passion for murder."
Bolt got to his feet. "Where's Mittens?"
"Mittens? That's an even dumber name than gloves."
Bolt snarled and approached the butcher.
"Adios."
Before either could react the butcher was on the run.
Bolt was quickly in the chase. He zigzagged through the alleys in pursuit of the butcher.
Bolt let out a growl of rage as he closed in.
The butcher crawled up some stairs. Bolt didn't follow.
The murderer smashed into the door. It buckled slightly. But it wouldn't break.
He snarled. He could see only one escape. He jumped from the staircase.
There was a snap as he hit the ground.
The butcher yelped in pain. Bolt calmly padded over.
The butcher had broken his leg. "Hello Bolt. Gonna kill me?"
"Depends whether you tell me the truth."
Bolt grabbed him by the neck and began dragging him away. Balto frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna find out where my friend is." Bolt snarled. "And if you have some problem with that, try and stop me."