Chapter 8

The day stayed sunny and bright as Phineas and Ferb wandered the park. Ferb couldn't help but enjoy himself by casually greeting the surprised passersby.

"No fetch, huh?" Phineas pushed as they crossed the green field. "What about squirrel chasing?"

"I would prefer not," Ferb answered. But then he looked all up and down the surrounding trees. "Though if one crosses my path I might just have to jump on it. It might be constructive to know why there's so much hype about chasing squirrels."

The grassy park was bustling with summer activities. Some kids were flying kites in the distance, and people were snacking on hot dogs and soft pretzels from the stands surrounding. On a shallow hill near the tree's edge they spotted a group of young men playing a game of frisbee.

One of them caught a glimpse of the pair observing, and waved at them calling, "Hey man, sweet dog!"

Phineas nudged Ferb with his foot. Ferb mumbled in return, "No, Phineas. Frisbee counts as fetch."

"Maybe he can do us a favor," the man commented, seemingly having not heard their conversation as he approached them.

He pointed over to the border of the park. "We lost our frisbee over the fence, so we're having to use this one."

The faded and beaten-down disk in his hand was not in the best shape. He smiled at Ferb. "But I bet your dog could find our other one easy."

"Ferb likes being helpful," Phineas recalled. "Whadda ya say, Ferb?"

"I don't know," Ferb answered. "I don't really want to touch a frisbee with my mouth."

The frisbee player elbowed his friend who was standing next to him. "Check it out! That dog can talk."

"Well it's a new frisbee, right?" Phineas clarified without notice to their reactions. "It's not dirty."

"Yeah," the player answered. "It's a lot better than this ratty old thing."

"Alright," Ferb grudgingly agreed, leaving the group and heading his way over to the trees. The fence wrapped around the base of the tree line for a few hundred feet before turning and cutting further into the forest.

The trees above him made it slightly hard for Ferb to see the sky as he trudged along the bottom of the fence. Dirt was clumped up at the base of the metal wiring where it met the earth.

After walking for about two or three minutes, Ferb noticed that he could see the backyards and sides of a few houses on the other side of the barrier. He guessed that this was the end of the park, and he had entered into the start of a residential area.

Then he spotted a colorful circular object lodged under a fallen branch on the other side of the fence. Those players must have a very practiced arm to land it this far, Ferb thought.

Hopping up onto a fallen stump, Ferb prepared to make the leap over the fence. He crouched and aimed, before launching with his back feet towards the metal wiring. Though he did not clear it entirely, his front paws went over it and his back paws caught on the spaces between the wires, supporting him as he clung there on the top of the fence.

Managing to get one foot over the side, Ferb teetered dangerously as he attempted to maintain his balance. Eventually his center of gravity went too far over, and he came crashing down into the dirt and leaves on the residential side of the fence.

Standing up from his stumble, Ferb immediately noticed that he felt strangely lightweight and naked. Then he realized with a panicked jump that he no longer felt his translator resting safely on his neck.

Looking frantically back and forth, Ferb searched all around him. His eyes stopped fixedly on the grey metal device, settled in a pile of upturned earth. Then Ferb realized that he was staring at it lying on the other side, through the fence.

All thought of his previous job vanished from him; he had to get that translator back. Glancing upwards to the fence's top, Ferb imagined that it had fallen off of his head as he had scrambled over.

"Phineas!" Ferb barked as loud as he could, with the hopes that his brother might hear him. "Phineas? Phineas!"

Placing his paws between the holes in the fence, Ferb attempted to raise himself up the wall. But when he had made it halfway, his strength gave up and he was forced to release his grip.

With no stump fallen conveniently on this side of the fence, Ferb couldn't bring himself to make it any further than a foot from the top.

"Phineas, can you hear me?" Ferb called out into the forest after he had dropped back down. Though it came out as a series of barks, Ferb tried to holler nonetheless.

A light came on in the living room of one of the nearby houses. Ferb turned around and thought he saw a movement through a glass door.

"Hello?" he yelled. "I need some help!"

The shuffling sounds from the house only stayed indoors.

He thought about running along the length of the fence and searching for either a break in the chain links or some way to get someone's attention. But, Ferb regrettably decided that he couldn't leave his translator unattended in the grass, lest it get stolen or smashed or lost if he returned.

So Ferb thought that he could perhaps dig a space below the fence large enough that he could reach his paw through and grab the device. He hated the thought of having to dig a hole like he was burying a bone, but it was his best option at the moment.

Taking some clumps in his claws, Ferb began to sift through the soil, moving it away as he kept checking to see if it was large enough.

After a while of digging, Ferb had made a decent amount of headway as he leaned down to check the hole's size. Then he heard a crackle of leaves and branches from the forest behind him.

Ferb spun around to check the source. Coming out of the almost-shadowed underbrush, were two uniformed men. One of them reached out a finger and crouched low, pointing to Ferb. Ferb thought he heard the man whisper to the other, "There."

Ferb froze, and could think of nothing but opening his mouth to say, "Please, I need your help. I need that device that is on the other side of the fence."

"He's definitely our barker," one of the two commented as they both proceeded their way forward. It was then that Ferb noticed some of the equipment the men were carrying.

"Wh-what are you going to do?" Ferb asked hesitantly as he lowered his head and backed away from them.

"No tags," one said. "And his fur is ungroomed. Must be a stray."

"No!" Ferb argued as he threw his nose with exaggeration towards the fence. "I just need my translator, it's right over there!"

The men edged forward and drew their leashed stick and muzzle at the ready. Ferb found himself cornered into the side of the fence.

"It's all just a misunderstanding. Grab my translator and I'll explain the whole thing to you!"

"I can see what she meant by, 'There's a dog barking outside'," the uniformed man mentioned. "This one's a talker."

"It's right there! Lying in the grass ten feet from you!" Ferb squirmed as the leashed stick was placed around his neck. "Just turn around! Phineas! Phine-!"

His barks were muffled when the blue fabric of a muzzle was wrapped around his nose. Ferb still tried to argue through the silencer as he attempted to resist backing into the dark enclosure of the cage behind him.

"He's been in there a while," Phineas made known with a growing concern.

"We didn't think we had thrown it in too far," a player commented, also trying to peer into the shadowed trees.

"You... you guys can go back to your game," Phineas told him as he started to move forward. "I'm going to go look for him."

"Yeah, I guess we can always get a new frisbee," he replied sadly. "I'm sorry, man."

"I'm sure he's okay..." Phineas quietly told himself as he reached the trees' edge. He hollered, "Ferb?"

Phineas listened for any return from the dark trees, but the forest air stayed silent with no barks or running of feet through leaves.

"Ferb!" Phineas yelled again, looking all along the length of the fence as he walked alongside it, and peering over the other side. But Phineas saw no sign of his brother.

"FERB! Where are you?"