The radio faded to static as the Ranger Wing followed the freeway into the wilderness. The furlings felt comforted to see trees below them again. Like returning back home from another world. The sun had set and they'd been following the freeway all day, the aircraft enabling them to travel faster than the cars below them, partly thanks to being able to travel in a straight line. Soon they'd need to find someplace to rest for the night, as navigation was getting more difficult.
"Aw man, now we're really gonna be bored," Dale sighed, moving the knobs around on it and trying to find a station.
"Are we close yet?" asked Abigail.
"What's the map say, Edgar?" Gadget asked.
"Uh, I guess we're in a place called um…Penn-sile-vania?"
"Oh, okay, we're getting pretty close now," Gadget said.
"We're right by the line according to this map."
"You do know there won't really be a line when you look down from the plane, right?" Dale asked.
"Aw stop it, Dale," Gadget said, "So we're right north of the border. Keep paying attention to the freeway, and if you find a good place to stop just say so."
Edgar sat on the other end of the plane from Abigail, the five of them scrunched together with Michelle in Abigail's lap and Zipper hanging onto the back of the seat.
"Man, I'm not getting any rock stations," Dale sighed.
"Well then maybe it's my turn," Gadget said with a grin.
"Aw come on…"
"You've had it all day long. I've been nice since I know Chip never lets you listen to your stations, but now it's my turn."
Gadget took one of the knobs, searching for a station, until stopping at one that was playing Paula Abdul's "Straight Up".
"Hm, this is catchy," Abigail said.
Dale turned to look over the edge of the plane, bored and not enjoying the music.
The speakers, however began to crackle. The engine then started to sputter.
"Huh? What's that?" Russell asked.
Gadget looked at the propellers. She shut the radio off.
"Hey, why'd you turn it off?" Abigail asked.
"Uhh…I don't suppose we ever explained how batteries work to you kids…" Gadget said nervously.
"You mean?" Dale looked to her with fear in his eyes.
"I mean fiddling around with that radio this whole time was probably a pretty bad idea, considering how much power it takes…"
"We're gonna crash!" Dale exclaimed.
The furlings gasped.
"Dale, stop scaring them! We're just gonna have to make an emergency landing. It should work with no problems."
"But every time you say those words…"
"What'd I just say?" Gadget asked irritably, steering the plane as it dipped toward the forest below, "I should have brought spare batteries. We'll be able to glide, for a little while, but…that won't last. Hold on tight everyone, this might be a rough landing."
Abigail wrapped her arms tightly around Michelle, "Don't worry Michelle, we're going to make it through this…"
The propellers finally stopped, and they were left gliding through the air, relying only on their momentum to stay airborne. The passengers held their breath as Gadget steered. There was nothing but thick forest beneath them.
In the distance, they noticed a large bird flying their way.
"Hey, maybe that bird'll help us out of this?" Dale suggested.
"Sounds like as good an idea as any," replied Gadget, as the plane steadily lost its altitude.
"Hey! Over here birdie!" Michelle called out, and the rest of them waved their arms and shouted.
The bird seemed to pay them no mind, at first. It simply flew forward, seeming to scour the landscape for something. However, once the plane came closer, its wide eye glared back at them. It seemed to only have one eye.
"I uh…don't know if this bird's friendly…" said Dale.
"Golly, I think it's an owl."
"Don't owls…eat mice?" Willy asked, alarmed.
"And hedgehogs, moles and chipmunks…" said Russell.
The owl let out a menacing squawk. The furlings realized this owl looked familiar.
"We've got to get out of here!" Abigail shouted.
The owl flew closer, and as Gadget tried to steer the rudder away it followed them. The owl flew up above the plane, making a grab at the furlings. They screamed. Zipper took to the air and into the owl's face, hoping to distract it, but the owl saw a more sizable meal inside the plane.
"Land the plane, Gadget!" Edgar yelled as the rest of them ducked the owl's claws.
The owl then brandished its talons and grabbed at the plane's wing, snapping it clean off, and the plane started to plummet. Soon, it hit the forest canopy. Stems and leaves brushed against the plane, and as it got lower, the branches became thicker. One of them tore through the other wing, taking it clean off. There was nowhere to go from there but down. They were jolted in their seats, the plane hitting branches and bark on its way. Abigail held on to Michelle, and Willy clung to Abigail's arm. She didn't know what hit her when she felt a sudden, stinging pain over her face. She saw nothing more but flashes of light for a few seconds, and then, blackness.
"Abigail! Can you hear me?"
Abigail had blacked out, but she slowly awoke to Willy shaking her gently, having pulled her from the wreckage of the Ranger Plane.
"Ugh…Willy? Where's…where's Michelle?"
"We need that um…that thingy that you put in her mouth so she can breathe," Willy said frantically, not knowing the right words.
"Oh! Uh, here…" Abigail reached into her pocket, becoming aware of cuts and bruises on her body as she did. She gave the inhaler to Willy, who ran over to Gadget as she cradled Michelle, the little badger gasping for air desperately.
"Is Abigail okay?" Gadget asked as she took the inhaler from Willy.
"Yeah, I think."
"Okay Michelle, you need to force all the air out of your lungs, and then breath in deep when I put this in your mouth and press it, okay?"
Michelle nodded, and Gadget pressed the canister as she breathed in. Taking a deep breath caused her to cough, however.
"One more time Michelle, and try not to cough, I know it's hard."
Russell curled up when the owl was attacking them, and now Edgar was prying the little ball of his body open.
"Come on Russell, we're alright now."
"Y-you sure?" Russell hesitantly uncurled his body and peeked around.
"I don't think the owl knows where we landed."
Dale sat near Gadget, wrapping a bandage around his arm from the small first aid kit they kept in the glove compartment. Michelle finally was able to breathe properly, though she continued to pant to catch her breath.
"Is everyone okay?" Abigail asked, holding her head.
"We are," said Edgar, undoing his seatbelt and climbing down from the wreckage, followed by Russell.
Willy came back to Abigail's side, and helped her up.
"You got hit in the head on the way down," said Willy.
"Oh…" she put her hand to her right eyebrow and winced. There was a cut just above it, and she could see blood on her hand when she brought it back down.
"Michelle and I got scraped up too but you took the worst of it." he explained, draping her arm over his shoulder.
"I-I'm okay, how's Michelle?"
"The inhaler worked," said Gadget, while Zipper bandaged Michelle's forearm, "It's good to have a friend who's a nurse."
"The question now is…where are we?" Edgar asked.
"I don't hear the road anywhere," said Dale, looking around.
Gadget gazed over at the wrecked Ranger Plane sadly, "Golly, my greatest invention yet, and it's ruined…"
"We've lost just about everything now," Dale said, looking down.
Zipper made a sad sound and wiped his eyes.
"Maybe not all is lost," said Edgar, "We've built a flying machine out of forest materials before…"
"Huh, that's true," said Gadget, looking up at the trees as she brainstormed, "We should set up camp. We'll come up with something in the morning."
Dale gave a fearful expression, "Out here? In the forest? A-at night? With owls and stuff lurking around?"
"Didn't you and Chip used to live in the woods?" Gadget asked.
"Yeah but we lived in a tree, where it was safe. Most of the time."
"Don't worry, we know all about living in the forest," said Edgar, "We'll just need shelter."
"Yeah, now it's time for us to show you guys a thing or two," Russell said with a grin.
"Okay, so some shelter," Gadget said, looking around.
They searched the area for a bit, before Edgar made the discovery of a hollow in the roots beneath a tree. It seemed uninhabited, so they could make use of its cave-like structure to protect them from predators.
Willy helped Abigail crawl through the hole and sit down inside with the others. She really wasn't having trouble walking, but the way Willy was doting on her she didn't want to refuse him. She smiled at him as he sat her down.
"Guess first we start a fire then?" Edgar asked.
"I don't have a match," said Gadget.
"Cornelius taught us how to do it using sticks," said Russell.
"Oh good. Well then go gather firewood," Gadget said, coming over to sit by Abigail, followed closely by Michelle, "You got pretty banged up, I better bandage you."
"Thanks Gadget," she said, as the others scattered to look for firewood. Gadget wrapped a bandage around Abigail's head like a bandanna.
As soon as enough sticks and twigs were gathered, Russell set to work stringing a stick into a bow, taking this bow and looping its tight string around a long pointed stick to use as a spindle.
"Okay, got anything sharp?"
"I have a pocketknife I made," said Gadget.
"That'll work," Russell said as Gadget handed him the knife and he made carved notch in another stick.
He used a wider and thicker piece of wood, putting it atop the spindle to hold it steady with one hand as he moved his bow back in forth with his other. This caused the stick to spin against a notch he'd carved into a tree branch and filled with dried leaves he picked off the ground. This would produce enough embers to get the fire started. It was a tiring process, and he had to keep it up if he was going to have any success. The sun was going down when finally a little wisp of smoke began to rise up from the sticks, and soon enough they had a small fire going. The smoke filtered through the entrances in the roots. They had to be careful not to let the fire spread though.
"So how are we gonna get to the farm now?" Michelle asked, warming her hands by the fire and sitting between Abigail and Gadget.
"What you guys said earlier got me thinking," Gadget began, "I'm sure there's some way to get the plane going again, without the use of electricity that is. We could rebuild the wings with leaves like the Flapper Wingamathing."
"It'll be hard without the plans though," said Edgar, "The humans took those…"
That hadn't escaped Gadget's notice, but the reminder that those plans were now in human hands worried her more.
"I could probably figure it out on my own, with a little help from you guys of course," she said, "We've got to get to the farm as soon as possible. Hopefully sometime tomorrow."