Episode 19: Pups Save A Hoedown! Moo-ve On Out To The Rescue!

October 27th, 2029

Another festive day in Adventure Bay. Today was when they had scheduled their Annual Autumn Western Town Hoedown. Ryder was playing on his harmonica, dressed up like a cowboy, while the mayor was performing with her washtub bass. Ben, Alex, and the pups were also outfitted in Wild West era clothes. Thank god it wasn't a summer day, or else Ben would cook! As it stood, though, things were going perfectly fine. The PAW Patrol had helped Mayor Goodway with setting up the barrels and hay bales, courtesy of Farmer Yumi.

"Yee-haw! I'm a square dancing cow pup!" Marshall crowed as he leapt from his front paws to his back paws before waddling around.

"Nice moves, Marshall!" Skye complimented. Ben had to agree. Marshall usually was kinda clumsy (though that wasn't a bad thing- it added to his charisma and charm). When it came to busting a move and dancing, however, the pup was pretty good on his feet!

Ben was also impressed by Mayor Goodway's musical talents with the gutbucket. She was making music rather easily on that makeshift instrument! "You play a mean washtub bass, Mayor Goodway." Ryder chuckled.

"Kind of you to say so, Ryder." Mayor Goodway replied with a smile, before pausing her playing. "I must say, I think this year's Adventure Bay Annual Autumn Western Town Hoedown is going to be the best ever!" The mayor then exclaimed.

"Yeah, check out my square dance super spin. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Marshall earnestly said, standing up and balancing on his tail before spinning himself around like a Beyblade. The spotted pup twirled around like crazy, causing Rubble to run out of the way and for Skye to backflip into a barrel of corn with Chickaletta. Marshall ended up spinning into the barrels and being pinned under a hay bale. The crash managed to send Skye and Chickaletta spinning in their own wooden barrels, swirling around until they collided with each other.

Thankfully, neither the chicken or the cockapoo seemed injured, just a little dizzy and dazed. "That was a super spin, all right! Are you okay, Chickaletta?" Skye asked. The chicken looked at the corn surrounding her and began to peck at it, making Skye giggle in amusement.

"Sorry, I guess that move needs a little bit more work…" Marshall apologized.

Ben walked over to Farmer Yumi, who was having some non-alcoholic apple cider that she had supplied the group with. "Hey Farmer Yumi. Are you enjoying the hoedown?" Ben inquired.

Farmer Yumi tilted her hat a little and grinned. "Absolutely! This is the most fun I've had since the fall festival! Thanks for helping with the hay bales and corn. Farmer Al said he wanted to see me today, and I suggested that we meet up here at the hoedown!" Yumi answered.

Ben laughed softly. "Are you going to finally pop the question to him?" Ben teased.

Yumi and Al had been dating for years- that was no secret to the town of Adventure Bay. Yumi smirked as she brought out a small box… perfect size for a ring. Ben's eyes widened. "You are… you really are! Farmer Yumi, that's great! I'd be happy to aid you with setting up the wedding, and I'm sure that Ryder and the pups would be thrilled to lend some help too. Katie could be a flower girl…" Ben started to say.

He was interrupted, however, by a mooing noise. Turning back to the source of the commotion, he witnessed the barrel rolling race between Chase and Rocky get interrupted by a cow crossing the finish line. "And the winner is… a cow?" Mayor Goodway asked in confusion.

"That's one of Farmer Al's bovines!" Farmer Yumi exclaimed.

Ryder then got a call from Farmer Al. "Hello. Ryder here." The spiky haired teen greeted.

"Hello, Ryder? It's Al from Moo Juice Dairy Farm. I need help! It's an emergency!" Farmer Al worriedly said.

"Howdy, Al. Did you happen to lose a cow?" Ryder asked calmly.

"Not just a cow. I lost a whole herd of them! My very best milk cows escaped from their train car. Hey, how did you know?" Al replied, then got curious as to how Ryder was already aware of his conundrum.

"One just ran through our hoedown, Farmer Al." Ryder replied.

"I got to get those cows back on the train before it leaves without us. Can the PAW Patrol help?" The mustached farmer pleaded.

"Of course we can! No job is too big, no pup is too small! And no cow moo-ves too fast." Ryder chuckled before hanging up the call.

Ben waved goodbye to Farmer Yumi. "You all stay here and have some fun. The PAW Patrol is needed! Fear not, however. We have everything under control!" Ben announced to the hoedown attendants, before hopping on his motorcycle. The eighteen year old whistled for Alex to come over. The wolf cub sprinted up to Ben's motorcycle and hopped in the basket, spitting out a cob of corn he had in his mouth.

As Ben and Alex drove back to the lookout, Ryder radioed all of the members in Adventure Bay. "PAW Patrol, to the Lookout!" Ryder declared. To the surprise of Ben and Alex, Marshall was actually first! He had beat them to the lookout! Granted, it was a short distance from City Hall, and Ben had driven slowly to make sure he wouldn't bump into any cars or cows.

"See? I'm not the last one this time!" Marshall squealed in delight, happy to be first for once. Then the other pups came in and accidentally bonked Marshall out. "Okay… now I'm last…" Marshall said, a little disappointed, tail tucked between his legs in sadness.

Ben smiled as he thought of a way to cheer Marshall up. "Nope, you're not last this time, Marshall. Me and Alex haven't gotten in the elevator yet." Ben reminded the dalmatian as he and Alex stepped into the elevator. Everyone else laughed at that as the lift started ascending to the control room, stopping at the halfway point to dress the pups in their PAW Patrol gear before resuming its trip to the top of the Lookout.

"PAW Patrol, ready for action, Ryder, sir!" Chase announced.

"Thanks for coming so quick, everyone. Farmer Al's five cows escaped from their train car and they're stampeding all over Adventure Bay!" Ryder revealed.

"That's awful!" Marshall yelped.

"That's not good at all! Those cows could hurt someone, or get themselves hurt!" Rubble added.

"Skye, I'll need you to spot the cows from the air to make sure we round them all up. Chase, I'll need you and your megaphone to help herd them back to the train. The rest of you may as well go and enjoy the hoedown. If a cow shows up at the hoedown, though, make sure to contact me or Ben." Ryder instructed.

"Let's take to the skies!" Skye yipped before doing a backflip.

"Chase is on the case!" The German shepherd cried out.

"I'm raring to go!" Ben shouted out.

"All right! PAW Patrol is on a roll!" Ryder exclaimed as he went down the fire pole to the garage. Ben followed suit while the pups took the slide to their pupmobiles. Mounting his motorcycle, the eighteen year old revved up the engine and tore out of the garage and onto the road after Ryder. Chase drove alongside Ryder in his police cruiser while Ben followed a short distance behind Skye. The two groups split up to cover more ground.

Within less than ten minutes of separating into groups, Ryder reported back on the comms that he and Chase had already gotten one cow into the train secure. "That fast?! How?!" Ben gasped.

"Edweena didn't wander too far from the train station. Plus, Chase is really good at herding! He's practiced ever since he was a pup. Didn't you know?" Ryder replied.

"How would he know? He barely spent any time with me!" Chase laughed. The tone of voice that Chase used to say that was really jarring for Ben, though. Was that bitterness and resentment in Chase's voice? Why was that there…? Ben hadn't spent too much time with Chase one on one after the other pups had started to join… was that it? Or was there something more?

"Ryder, two cows are in the middle of Hill Street, causing all sorts of traffic problems!" Skye cut in, bringing Ben out of his thoughts.

"On it!" Ryder replied. Skye and Ben continued to canvas the streets in the search for the other cows.

"Skye, do you have any idea what's up with Chase? He kinda sounded upset with me when he made that remark." Ben asked, switching to the communication channel for Skye, Ryder, and Ben only.

Skye shrugged (or did the best attempt at a shrug that she could, being a quadrupedal dog). "I dunno. Could be any number of things." Skye answered, sounding a little puzzled herself.

The cockapoo and her human companion drove by the beach when Ben saw one of the cows. "Bovine spotted!" Ben relayed to Skye.

To their horror, they saw the cow get in a boat that was at shore. Skye quickly called Ryder to inform him of the situation while Ben dialed up Zuma. "Zuma, we need your help! There's a cow on a boat on the bay." Ben informed the chocolate Labrador.

"A cow on a boat on the bay!? Dude, no way!" Zuma exclaimed.

"Yes way, dude! We need you to come on out here and save the day!" Ben responded.

"You got it dude! I'm ready to dive in! Just no more whyming." Zuma giggled.

He was currently playing horseshoes with Rubble as Alex was watching them. Quickly, he let go of the horseshoe and it dropped to the ground. "What about our game?!" Rubble cried out.

"There's a cow on a boat on the bay! Alex can take over for me until I get back!" Zuma called back as he got in his hovercraft and drove off.

Alex's tail started to wag. "I've never played horseshoes before! This is gonna be fun! But uh… how do I play?" The wolf cub asked. Rubble sighed in response. He couldn't wait for the square dancing to start…

Ben and Zuma watched as Zuma rode out into the ocean before bringing the cow on the boat back. The human began to ride behind Zuma's hovercraft to help herd the cows into a single file line. Chase and Ryder soon joined up with them as they drove the cows straight through the town square, in the middle of the square dancing competition. The looks on everyone's faces were so amusing! "Wow! A genuine Wild West cattle drive and square dancing? This is the best hoedown ever, Mayor Goodway!" Rubble exclaimed.

Mayor Goodway blushed and lifted her hat off to Rubble. "Aw, shucks! Mighty kind of ya to say, little partner." Mayor Goodway chuckled.

The group delivered the cows to Farmer Al just in time before the train started to leave. "One… two… three… four… five… all of them are here! How can I ever thank you and the PAW Patrol?" Farmer Al asked.

"It was fun, a real cowboy adventure. If you ever need us, just "yee-haw" for help." Ryder chuckled before Al got on the train.

As they left to go to the hoedown, they ran into Farmer Yumi. "Aw… did Al leave already?" Farmer Yumi sighed.

Ben patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Yumi. You'll get a chance to pop the question another day. I know you will. Let's go and enjoy the hoedown!" Ben told her. She smiled as she and Ben walked back to the hoedown.

While they danced, Ben gave Chase several pup treats. "That was some amazing herding you did there, Chase. You're a super duper really good pup today." Ben complimented. Chase's eyes lit up as he was showered with the delicious food and the appreciative words.

"Really? Thanks Ben!" The German Shepherd barked ecstatically.

Ben arched an eyebrow. Was Chase's tail wagging faster than it did when Ryder gave him a compliment…? That was something worth keeping in mind. He'd have to get to the bottom of… well, he didn't know exactly what was going on between him and Chase. All he knew was that he had to figure out what was going on… before it came back to bite him, and cause problems for the team when they couldn't afford to be distracted.