And so the next afternoon, after a good lunch, our heroes meet at the frozen pond in the woods!
The next afternoon was a sunny afternoon, and Penelope met the Ant Hill Mob, Peter, Duke and even Angel next to the pond in the woods where the boys and dogs were hunting so that she could give Dum-Dum his ice skating lesson.
"Are you sure this isn't too much trouble for you, fellas?" Penelope asked the boys.
"Of course not, Penelope." Clyde replied. "You'll be a great ice skating teacher. Besides it's a nice day outside for it anyways."
"How true." Penelope nodded before handing Dum-Dum a pair of ice skates. "Okay Dum-Dum, put these on. I'll be ready with our lesson real soon, okay?"
"Duh, okay, Penelope." Dum-Dum smiled as he put his ice skates on.
"We'll be on the other side of the woods to continue our hunt, Penny." Peter held onto Penelope's hands. "You and Dum-Dum have a good lesson, and please be careful out here."
"I will Peter, babe. Don't y'all worry."
"Have a good time, Penelope." Peter gave Penelope a soft kiss on her cheek. "We'll see you in an hour."
"I'll see you and the Mob and the dogs, too." Penelope bent down to pet Angel. "And be sure to catch some birds during your trip, Angel."
"She caught some pheasants and geese this morning." Peter smiled as he gave Angel gentle scratches behind her ears and she licked his face. "Tomorrow we're gonna hunt ourselves some gamecock and quails. We planned on having Angel help with duck hunting but we worried the pond would be too cold for her."
"That makes sense. And she'll have a great weekend with little ole Dukey, won't she, boy." Penelope turned to Duke and pet him, too.
Duke howled joyfully in reply.
"Like we said, we'll see you two in an hour!" Clyde told Penelope and Dum-Dum as he, Peter, the dogs, and the rest of the Mob turned to leave.
"Bye, fellas!" Penelope waved goodbye. "Y'all be careful out here now!"
She then put on her ice skates.
"Now, Dum-Dum." Penelope grinned as she and Dum-Dum stepped onto the icy pond. "We may begin our lessons for today."
She noticed Dum-Dum was starting to slip, so she went behind and held onto him for a while and straightened his back.
"First things first now, Dum-Dum. Keep your back straight."
"Back straight?"
"Yes. Good posture helps you keep your little ole balance." Penelope answered. "Also, it helps to look straight ahead and not at your feet."
Dum-Dum kept his back straight and stuck out his chest, hoping to maintain a good balance.
"Now Dum-Dum, since your posture is much better, I'm going to let you go." Penelope told him. "If you keep your back straight and your chest out and keep looking forward just like you are right now, you won't slip."
As soon as Penelope let him go, she was ready to move on to the next step.
"Very good posture, Dum-Dum! And you're not even slipping!"
"You're right!" Dum-Dum was all smiles as he kept his eyes straight ahead. "I'm didn't fall!"
"Now for the next step." Said Penelope. "Glide forward slowly, and use one foot at a time when doing so."
Dum-Dum slowly brought his right foot forward and did the same thing with his left foot.
"That's it, Dum-Dum!" Penelope encouraged him. "Keep on going, sugar!"
"Duh hey! I can't believe I'm doing this!" He smiled as he kept moving. "But how do I stop?"
"Good question, Dum-Dum. Go slow and bend your knees slightly." Said Penelope as she came behind him.
"Uh-huh." Dum-Dum replied as he bent his knees slightly.
"Now move your toes inward so it looks like the letter 'V'." She added. "You'll feel yourself coming to a stop."
"The letter 'V', like in the alphabet?" He asked.
"That's right, darling!" Penelope smiled.
Dum-Dum did as he had been told, and the minute he moved his toes inward, he felt himself about to stop. He started slipping forward, but Penelope caught him just in time before he could fall and injure himself.
"This is only your first lesson, so don't be surprised if you don't actually stop the first time." Penelope patted his shoulder. "I'll help you learn how to fall properly so you don't injure your little ole self too badly. Let's work on some strokes."
"Duh, right, Penelope!" Dum-Dum grinned.
From there, Penelope taught Dum-Dum how to perform strokes, glides, turns and stops. The two of them had so much fun during their lesson, and Dum-Dum admired how patient Penelope was with him even when he was confused on a few parts. Penelope was happy to be spending one-on-one time with him, which she enjoyed with each member of the Ant Hill Mob as much as she loved all seven of them equally.
That Dum-Dum's getting really good at this skating business! Keep up the good work!
"I'm getting the hang of this, Penelope!" Dum-Dum was gliding and stroking across the ice successfully after several tries.
"You're looking good! Keep going!" Penelope skated beside him.
Suddenly, a noise in the woods caused Dum-Dum to slip and fall on his rear.
"Oh, I almost had it!" Dum-Dum frowned as he got up.
Penelope heard the noise, too, and she stopped to hear what it was.
"What was that noise, Penelope?" Dum-Dum wondered.
"I'm not sure, but we'll find out what it could be."
The noise came again, and it sounded like the possible scream of a wild animal in trouble.
"Shh. It's coming straight ahead and to the little ole right." Penelope observed as she took out orange coats for her and Dum-Dum to wear in order to avoid being accidentally shot by other hunters. "Let's go follow it, Dum-Dum."
"Duh, I'm with you, Penelope!" Said Dum-Dum as he and Penelope dashed off to find the location of the noise.
Together Penelope and Dum-Dum raced through the woods and hopped over the creeks, hoping they were not too late to rescue the animal in trouble. After stopping to catch their breaths, they heard the cries of the distressed animal and ran another mile ahead.
What do you know? It's a little baby fawn! And the poor little guy's been trapped!
They discovered that the cry was that of a fawn whose ankle was bound with a rope tied to a tree branch.
"Oh no, that poor baby deer…" Dum-Dum felt bad for the scared, trapped little fawn.
"I know…" Penelope couldn't imagine how anyone could be so ignorant as to trap an innocent baby animal. "Peter would never do such a thing to any baby animals or the females. Come on, Dum-Dum. We've got to set the poor little ole darling free."
"Right." Dum-Dum nodded.
The duo walked very slowly to the fawn so they wouldn't frighten it.
"Hello there, little one." She very softly spoke to the fawn as she slowly reached out a gentle hand to him. "It's okay now. We're not going to hurt little ole you. Can you trust us?"
The fawn sniffed Penelope's gloved hand and nuzzled it.
"Yes, that's it baby." Penelope gave a warm smile. "We're here to get you free."
She then looked through her winter coat pocket and pulled out a nail file. After that, she looked at Dum-Dum.
"Dum-Dum, do you see those little buds on the end of that twig over there?"
"I do." Dum-Dum found the twig with buds on the end. "Why?"
"Bring the buds over to the fawn to eat." She instructed him. "That'll give him something to eat and prevent him from getting scared while I set him free."
"Right." He nodded.
The fawn sniffed the buds on the twig Dum-Dum was holding and starting eating them away while Penelope used her nail file to cut the rope holding the his ankle. During the entire process, both Penelope and Dum-Dum murmured soothing words to comfort the fawn.
The nail file works every time! The little fawn is now free and safe!
After a few minutes, Penelope finally got the fawn free from his trap. Soon the fawn starting running around and jumping in delight!
"You're finally free, little one!" Penelope smiled as the fawn came running to her and started licking her face in gratitude.
"Duh, what about me? I'm the one that cheered you up with those buds."
The fawn ran to Dum-Dum and licked his face in gratitude for helping Penelope free him.
The two friends heard rustling coming from the woods. They turned their heads and discovered a doe about to approach the fawn. The doe was the fawn's mother, and it didn't take long for the fawn to run to his mother and the deer nuzzled each other.
"I take it that's his mama." Penelope watched with a warm heart with Dum-Dum as the fawn reunited with his mother.
The fawn and the doe looked at Penelope and Dum-Dum before they left.
"Farewell little sweetie!" Penelope waved goodbye to the deer. "You both be careful now!"
"Duh, let's go back to the pond and keep ice skating, Penelope!" Dum-Dum looked at Penelope.
"Oh yes!" She replied as she and her friend began to return to the pond.
"Oh no, absolutely not!" A familiar voice made them flinch. "You're going nowhere!"
Out from behind a tree came the Hooded Claw, who had on an orange cape in placement of his usual green one. The Bully Brothers, who also sported orange, emerged from another tree. Together, the three villains surrounded Penelope and Dum-Dum.
"The Hooded Claw!" Penelope cried.
"Right, Blondie!" The Hooded Claw laughed. "I see you and that pint-sized dope friend of yours saved another one of my bait animals! You and your soft heart."
"Wait, you trapped that innocent baby fawn!?" Penelope scowled. "You are a horrid wretch!"
"Flattery will get you…captured!" The Hooded Claw sneered.
"Duh, what'll we do now, Penelope?" Dum-Dum was scared.
"Our best bet, Dum-Dum, is to run!" Penelope took Dum-Dum's hand.
Just as the duo was about to leave, however, the Claw and the Bully Brothers ran in front of them. The Bully Brothers grabbed Penelope on each side and the Hooded Claw grabbed Dum-Dum by his coat and looked at him menacingly.
"Hey! Put me down!" Dum-Dum frowned. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Oh my plan is to get rid of you too!" The Hooded Claw smirked. "After all, you are one of Pitstop's pint-sized pest friends."
"No! Leave him alone, you fiend!" Penelope warned him as the Bully Brothers held her back and started tying her up.
"Sorry, Penelope, but no can do." He looked at Dum-Dum's scared eyes with a nefarious smile. "He'll make an excellent appetizer for a pack or two of wild, hungry coyotes in these woods!"
He then looked at the Bully Brothers.
"How much rope do you have left over?"
"Plenty, Claw." They replied in unison as they finished tying Penelope up.
"Good! Tie that miniature moron up, too!" The Claw instructed his henchmen as he handed Dum-Dum to them and grabbed Penelope. "We'll leave him out in the woods for to be eaten by some coyotes, or maybe even a bobcat or a bear. That's one less pint-sized pest to worry about!"
"Right, Claw."
"The Bully Brothers used their leftover ropes to bind Dum-Dum hand and foot and roughly placed him against a tree.
"That should teach you a lesson in foiling my plans!" The Hooded Claw bent down and looked at his captive with no remorse.
He put a hand to his ear as he heard yapping from somewhere in the woods.
"I hear some coyotes now, and they seem very hungry!" He gave an evil laugh as he turned to leave with Penelope, whose was being grabbed by the Bully Brothers.
"Dum-Dum!" She cried as she was being pulled away from her also tied-up friend.
"Penelope!"
"I'm so sorry…" She mumbled with guilt as she looked back at him before walking with her archenemies, tears streaming down her face.
Dum-Dum was also shedding tears. He felt helpless, afraid and ashamed of himself for being unable to save Penelope.
Oh no! That hooded fiend is crossing the line! While Dum-Dum sits helplessly in the woods to await some hungry coyotes, bobcats or bears, Penelope has been taken to an empty kitchen. Heaven only knows what awful fate is in store for her there!
The Hooded Claw had taken the still tied-up Penelope to an empty kitchen, where they were standing in front of a walk-in freezer door.
"You scoundrel!" Penelope frowned at her archenemy. "What's your plan for me in this here kitchen!?"
"I'll be happy to give you a riddle, Pitstop." He smirked. "What do you and all those delicious Christmas cakes, hams, turkeys, ice cream and eggnog have in common?"
"I don't know, Claw." She replied.
"Their home is in the freezer, Pitstop, and this freezer will be your very last home!" The Claw explained. "As soon as I finish talking you will be locked up in the freezer and I will decrease the temperature to a setting cold enough for you to freeze to death in about, let's say, a half hour. I know it sounds simple, but it's still very effective, and I'm a very busy, impatient villain, so I can't wait that long."
"You'll regret this, and what you did to Dum-Dum for that matter!" Penelope shot him a dirty look. "I won't let you get away with this!"
"Actually you will let me get away with this. Guess what I have?" The Claw held Penelope's nail file that she used to set the fawn in the woods free earlier.
"My nail file!" Penelope gasped. "Give that back right now, Claw!"
"And let you escape? I don't think so." He said as he shoved Penelope into the freezer. "Farewell forever, Pitstop! I hope you enjoy your chilling finish!"
The Claw gave a full-out, triumphant evil laugh as he slammed the freezer door, locked it, and decreased the temperature.
Things are looking really bad! Will Penelope turn into a human icicle? And what of that Dum-Dum? Will he become coyote, bobcat or bear chow?
Meanwhile, back at the woods, poor Dum-Dum sat against the tree, all tied up and shivering with both cold and fear.
"Hello!" He called out. "Is anyone out here? Help!"
Unfortunately, there was nobody in the woods to hear his calls, but he was not going to give up.
"Help! Help!" He screamed out.
All of a sudden, Dum-Dum heard the sound of howling from another part of the woods.
Uh oh! Sounds like a coyote or a wolf howling!
"Oh no! Here come the coyotes!" Dum-Dum gulped as he heard the howling, followed by rapid footsteps in the snow.
From the sound of those footsteps, the coyote appears to be coming closer!
"Help! Help!" Dum-Dum yelled once more.
He shut his eyes as the footsteps were getting closer and closer. Suddenly, there was a new sound that entered his ears. A sound that was like that of a dog barking.
Wait a minute, that's not a coyote or a wolf.
Dum-Dum opened his eyes and discovered that the footsteps and the howling were coming from Duke, who licked Dum-Dum's face.
"Oh, Duke it's you!" Dum-Dum giggled as Duke kept licking his face before howling again.
It's Duke! He must've caught Dum-Dum's scent!
"Duke, what is it old chap?" Peter called out as he, Angel and the rest of the Mob followed the howls. "Find anything?"
Peter pointed his hunting rifle out, but at once discovered Dum-Dum tied up by the tree.
"Dum-Dum!?" He gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Shouldn't you and Penelope be out practicing your ice skating?" Clyde asked him.
"Duh, we were, but then we heard a baby deer trapped in the woods, then after we uh, freed him, the Hooded Claw came, tied me up here, and took Penelope away." Dum-Dum explained.
"Do you know where the Hooded Claw took Penelope?" Zippy asked him with concern.
"Duh, I don't." Dum-Dum shook his head as Duke and Angel used their teeth to untie the ropes binding him.
The dogs successfully got Dum-Dum free.
That's one saved, but now the men and dogs need to find Penelope and save her, too!
"Are you alright, Dum-Dum?" Pockets questioned Dum-Dum.
"Duh yeah, I'm alright?" Dum-Dum nodded as he dusted himself off and accepted a blanket Pockets gave him.
"Penelope probably is not alright, and we've gotta find her." Clyde told everyone else. "But where could she be?"
"I know what to do, fellows." Peter took out one of Penelope's fashion scarves and brought it to Duke's nose. "Duke will sniff Penelope's trail and we'll be able to find her location."
Duke took a few sniffs of the scarf, then started sniffing the ground and around the woods. He suddenly howled, indicating that he picked up the trail.
"Quick you guys!" Clyde demanded. "Follow that Beagle!"
"Right, Clyde!" The boys nodded before taking off to follow Duke on Penelope's trail.
Hurry boys! Hurry! The temperature of the freezer is getting colder! And Penelope's getting a cold herself!
As Penelope shivered in the freezer, she let out a sneeze and then a cough from a sore throat, which was the sign that she was catching a head cold from the temperature.
If Penelope stays in that freezer much longer, Penelope will end up catching something worse than a cold! I do hope Duke leads our heroes to the right location!
Duke continued to track down Penelope and led his master, Angel and the Ant Hill Mob halfway on the trail. Suddenly, a new scent made Duke stop and growl.
"What's the matter, Duke?" Zippy wondered. "What's going on?"
The heroes saw that Duke spotted the Bully Brothers.
"Oh look! It's the Bully Brothers!" Softy sobbed.
"I see them!" Peter glared as he ran toward them. "I'm going to give those fiends a piece of my mind!"
"What!?" Clyde's eyes widened. "Peter, no!"
"You're gonna get us into trouble!" Yak-Yak chuckled.
Peter ignored the Ant Hill Mob's warnings as he and the dogs caught up to the Bully Brothers. Before long, he used the back of his rifle to knock the twin crooks down and he roughly grabbed them both by the collars of their coats.
"Alright, you crooks! Where is Penelope!?" Peter shouted with an awful glare. "Answer me, NOW!"
"We can't tell you that." The Bully Brothers frowned at him. "That's against our jobs as evil henchmen."
"You WILL tell me where your boss has taken Penelope!" Peter threatened the Bully Brothers, pointing his rifle at them. "Unless you want your lungs to be filled with lead, or your faces ripped off by the dogs!"
Duke and Angel snarled at the Bully Brothers and lunged at them, knocking them to the snowy ground. As Peter aimed his rifle at the Bullies, the normally affectionate dogs continued snarling and growling viciously, their teeth and the whites in their eyes showing, and the fur on the back of their necks standing up.
"Okay, okay." The Bullies gulped. "HC took Penelope to the kitchen at the local banquet hall in town."
"I know where that place is. But what are his intentions!? What is he going to do to her!?" Peter demanded.
"We're the Claw's henchmen. We can't tell you or he'll fire us." The Bully Brothers trembled.
"You ARE going to tell me!" Peter hissed at the Bullies, his finger about to pull the trigger on the rifle and the dogs snarling and ready to maul them.
All seven of the Ant Hill Mob, even Clyde, were stunned to see Peter so angry when he confronted the Bully Brothers. His bravery and the way he threatened them sent chills down their spines.
"Okay…we…we'll talk." The Bullies were trembling in fear. "He locked he…her in the f…f…freezer. The freezer will do…do…her in after a h…h…half hour."
"What?" Peter's eyes widened in concern, as did the Ant Hill Mob's.
The dogs snapped at the frightened Bullies and knocked them to the ground again.
"We'd better leave, or he might actually shoot us." The first Bully Brother said.
"That, or those mutts might attack us." The second Bully Brothers agreed before they both ran off.
"Thank you pups, you've done your part." Peter scratched both dogs behind their ears. "But it's up to me and me only to find Penelope to rescue her."
"Peter, are you sure you don't need help?" Clyde was concerned about him.
"I'll be okay, but if I don't take action right away Penelope won't be." Peter insisted. "It's a serious matter of life and death."
"Then go, Peter." Clyde understood, as did the rest of the Mob. "We'll meet up with you soon."
"Thank you, boys." Peter thanked the Mob before he set off to the banquet hall.
I really hope Peter reaches our gal in time. That head cold could turn into severe hypothermia anytime!
Back in the freezer, Penelope kept shivering rapidly. She let out another sneeze and cough, and she felt a stinging sensation in her ears, nose and cheeks, which were turning waxy as a result of frostbite. She desperately banged on the freezer door with her feet, hoping and praying that someone would reach the freezer and rescue her.
"Hey-elp!" She screamed as loud as possible. "Hey-elp! Please Hey-elp!
Fortunately, Peter made it inside the banquet hall, looking for the kitchen. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him, calling Penelope's name. The minute he reached the kitchen, he heard banging on the door and muffled yells coming from behind it.
He was about to take two steps to the door when suddenly, a chef with a French accent stopped him.
"What is the meaning of this, trespasser!?"
"Please sir, I'm not trespassing." Peter tried to reason with the chef. "There's an innocent young woman trapped in the freezer at a really cold temperature. She won't survive much longer in there!"
Upon hearing this, the chef checked the freezer door, only to find that it was locked.
"It's locked up tight." The chef looked with worry.
"Don't you have a key to get in?" Peter grew tense.
The chef went to another part of the kitchen, where he saw a set of keys hanging from a hook on the wall.
"I'll take it from here." Peter gratefully but quickly took the keys. "I'm in love with this woman and I can't imagine life without her."
Hurry, Peter! Hurry!
Peter successfully unlocked the freezer door and opened the door. He gasped in shock when he saw Penelope shivering on the floor, coughing, sneezing and scared.
"Penelope!"
"Peter?" Penelope looked up and saw her concerned boyfriend.
"Hang on Penelope. I've got you." Peter reassured her as he scooped her into his arms and carried her out the freezer door.
Oh thank goodness! Our gal is once again safe!
Peter got Penelope out of the kitchen and into an empty hallway, where he carefully untied her. The chef came to them and wrapped a heavy, warm blanket around Penelope. He looked at Penelope's ears, nose and cheeks and grew really concerned when he saw the first signs of frostbite on them
"I'll get her some hot tea to drink." The chef turned to make some tea.
"Thank you." Peter nodded, then turned his attention to Penelope.
Penelope was so cold, scared, in pain from her frostbite, unwell from her head cold and stressed that she broke down and started sobbing into Peter's chest.
"It's okay, Penelope." Peter whispered soothingly. "You're safe now, babe. Shh, I'm here."
The Ant Hill Mob came into the hallway and froze in their tracks when they saw Peter holding Penelope as she cried.
"What's the matter, Penelope?" Clyde went up to them, the rest of the Mob following him.
"Why are you crying?" Dum-Dum hugged her.
Penelope looked at the Mob the moment they went to her. They gasped when they saw the frostbite on her face and when they saw her sneeze and cough.
"Oh no, Penelope!" Softy bawled.
"It looks like she has frostbite, and a bad cold for that matter." Clyde was mad at what the Hooded Claw had done to her.
The chef came back with a mug of hot tea and handed it to Penelope.
"Be very careful now, dear."
"Thank you." Penelope graciously took the hot tea.
"Please take a few sips of that Penelope." Peter said as he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. "It'll rewarm you."
"Okay…" She sniffed from her cold and her crying.
Pockets took out another warm blanket from his suit pocket and wrapped it around Penelope.
"From the looks of it, we're gonna need more than two blankets." Clyde told Pockets. "You got any more?"
"Sure do." Pockets took out two more blankets and draped them around Penelope.
As she sipped her tea, Peter kept his arms around her lovingly and protectively, anything to ease the shivering. She looked at Dum-Dum and was relieved that he was unharmed, but she could only muster a small smile because of the stress, pain and illness she had. She flinched as Clyde took a look at her ears, nose and cheeks.
"We've gotta take Penelope straight to the doctor to do something about that frostbite before things get worse." He told everyone.
"I know." Peter looked at Penelope and held her as her shivering started to cease from the warmth of the environment she was now in, her tea and Peter's embrace. "We'll take her to the local Urgent Care Center in town. It's only three minutes away from this banquet hall and even though she's showing the simple signs of a cold, I am worried she may get worse because of the freezer temperature and how the Hooded Claw decreased it."
"The sooner we get going the better!" Clyde barked. "Come on!"
"Right, Clyde!" The rest of the Mob replied before setting foot out the banquet hall.
Peter removed his winter hat used for hunting and placed it on Penelope's head to protect her frostbitten ears.
"Just hang in there, Penelope." He murmured as he helped Penelope on her feet and led her outside.
"Blast!" The Hooded Claw scowled when he saw the heroes heading into Chuggaboom to take Penelope to the Urgent Care Center. "Bully Brothers, tell me what happened!"
"It wasn't our fault, boss." The first Bully Brother tried to explain. "It was Peter Perfect! He had a gun and two vicious dogs."
"He threatened to shoot us and have the dogs bite us if we didn't tell him where Penelope was." The second Bully Brother added on.
"You fools!" The Claw yelled at them. "There's two of you and only one of that Perfect Parasite! Next time man up and show him who's boss!"
"Right, Claw." The Bully Brothers cowered.
"Now drop and give me three hundred!" The Hooded Claw demanded.
"One, two ,three four…" The Bullies mumbled as they got down to do some push-ups as punishment for giving in to Peter.
"I can't hear you!" The Hooded Claw hissed.
"Five, six, seven eight, nine, ten…" The Bully Brothers broke down sobbing.