Chapter twenty-nine: Snow Tracks
Vehicle engines roared to a grumbling stop as the tires crunched the snow. Three sets of paws dashed the snow in their landing, as another ran to meet them.
"Good morning, pups!" Everest greeted. "Ready to go on that animal scavenger hunt, Snowflake? Heh heh, that's what I like to call safety-checking all the critters on the mountain."
"Yes. I'm ready!" Snowflake replied happily.
"Ok, while you pups do that, let's go hit the slopes!" Rubble said, turning his attention to Chester mid-sentence.
"See ya!" the two pups called, racing off again.
"Bye," Snowflake and Everest called back.
"Ok,.. Jake will be around if we need him,.." Everest began. "Otherwise we can get started. Come on!" Then leading the way, she turned off onto another trail that led away from the cabin. The markings of red flags along both sides of the path showed them the way to go.
"All the trails are marked with different colors.." Everest explained. "Currently, we only have four trails,.. But are planning on adding more.. We just haven't plotted them out yet.. We'll start with the hiking and snowshoeing trails first,.. then we'll check the surrounding areas around the ski slopes. Maybe we'll even get to go down them a time or two after."
"That sounds good. So we just check on the critters as we mark the trails?" Snowflake asked, trying to better understand their goal.
"More like tracking the animals to make sure they're not making their homes too close to the trails or slopes where they could be startled by the noisy skiers and cause accidents.. once.. We invited Ryder and the PAW Patrol up here for a Snow day,.. And it ended up going wrong in one of two ways.. But that's why we periodically track all the animals down, so we can make sure they don't wander into the path of danger.. for anyone, I mean."
"Okay. That makes sense. We can talk while we track," Snowflake suggested.
"Right.." lowering their noses to the ground they began to sniff along the marked path, waiting to see how long it would be before detecting a scent that didn't belong.
As Snowflake sniffed, she smelled nothing but dirt. After a minute though, she thought she smelled something.
"Uh, is it good or bad if I smell an animal?" the husky pup asked for clarification.
"Uhh, depends on how strong it is, why?" Everest replied, pausing from tracking to look her way.
"Do you smell that?" Snowflake replied as she kept walking forwards, following the scent.
Everest drew closer and as soon as her nose lowered she caught the scent immediately.
"Rabbit?" she said, looking up at her in slight confusion.
"Yes, it smells close!" Snowflake said as she kept sniffing and walking, this time with her head up.
"Then let's follow it and see where it leads." Everest decided and the two began tracking the scent further down the path a ways.
The two pups kept walking until Snowflake stopped.
"Everest, there!" Snowflake whispered, looking to the rabbit that was about a foot in front of them.
"Hey I know that bunny,.. It's Terry.. Hi Terry!" as soon as Everest called out to it the bunny turned their way and sniffled a clickety noise and came hopping over.
"Don't see you all the way over here.." The mountain pup said. "What are you doing here, little friend?" As if understanding her question, the little rabbit took off,.. pausing at the edge of the trees to look at them.
"You want us to follow you.." Everest realized,.. "Alright we're coming.."
"Wait, how do you know him?" Snowflake said in confusion. Nevertheless, she followed the bunny.
"Well since I do this often, I've gotten to know some of the wildlife around here,.. And even become friends with them." Everest explained, while they raced through the woods and leapt over anything that came their way.
"Okay. Wait, you said the snow day went wrong, then you said that's why you keep animals off the trails. What happened? Did a bear wander onto the slopes or something?" Snowflake responded, now realizing an odd connection with the disastrous snow day and animals.
"Not exactly.." Everest replied, beginning to lightly pant. "I mean, yes, that did happen, but not on this particular snow day. Chase wiped out when a little bunny wandered onto the snowboard slope.. He could've been seriously hurt!" Everest had to leap over a downed log covered in the snow and Snowflake dodged around it to resume running by her friend's side.
"Did Terry do that by accident or was it another bunny? How did Chase get hurt? Broken confidence? Embarrassed? He became a pupsicle or klondike bar?" Snowflake retorted as she kept running next to Everest.
"Mmmmm. Klondike bars. Creamy frozen vanilla bars on a stick! I couldn't have the chocolate kinds," the husky pup said, daydreaming about the delicious dessert.
"Haha! Very funny,.." Everest chuckled,.. "But I'm afraid it wasn't so funny for Chase,.. He knocked his shoulder loose.. I'm surprised he didn't hit his head or anything.."
They both took a small leap that turned into a slide down an incline and they were able to land it running to continue following the bunny.
"But,.. other than being a little bummed he couldn't play anymore, he was just fine.." Everest added. "In fact, he ended up saving ALL of us later on, when an avalanche buried us on the mountain while we were snowboarding."
Snowflake gave Everest a bewildered look.
"And you didn't mark avalanche paths?! You just snowboard down the mountain with the PAW Patrol? What the heck?! Are you some kind of adrenaline pup?! Just go have fun wherever even if there's a chance of danger?" Snowflake exclaimed, shocked by the events Everest explained.
"Actually we didn't know there would be one.. Usually we're good about surveying the area before we open the slopes to be sure it is safe,.. But sometimes its hard to know just how deep the snow is,.. Or if it will become an avalanche.. There's no path-marking that would tell us that.. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.. That's all,.. luckily Chase was just able enough to somehow drag himself down the mountain to help us."
Snowflake's eyes grew in shock.
"He saved you with an injured shoulder? How? He must have been in pain, the poor pup!" Snowflake retorted, sincerely.
"Yeah,.. No one else believed it either.. In fact.. after he rescued us.. He practically turned into Marshall for a moment checking our temperatures and covering us with blankets, before finally coming to rest with us.. Then we drank warm milk and cocoa and talked the rest of the evening,.. They even stayed overnight so we could all rest and avoid catching a cold.. And Chase was evaluated the next day when he was told to rest for a few more days,.. Just a minor sprain.. He recovered quickly.. And ended up making an amazing save on his first day back on duty. Talk about a tough hero."
"Yeah. I'm glad he took responsibility when the others needed it. I agree, he's tough. In more ways than one... that's also the problem," Snowflake said before looking down and her ears folding back a little.
"What do you mean? I thought being tough was a good thing?" The mountain pup wondered, glancing at her quizzically for a brief moment.
"It is, but not when you're so tough you choose to hide your feelings from your friends. Especially if he's feeling bad about something but won't admit it. We're trying to help him by getting him to confess his hurt feelings, but he's so stubborn it's like ringing the doorbell but nobody answers the door. Even if you bang on the door with a sledgehammer!" Snowflake explained softly.
"What are you talking about? He seemed fine to me.." Everest wondered. "I mean, other than being.. a little off, but that could just be because he was tired,.. I mean he did have a long, crazy day on our camping trip."
"I mean something seems to be bothering him. Not just being tired. Do you know about what happened to him? The stuff Cordan did to him? Ned and I were told by the pups last night. It might be why he's so quiet and distant," Snowflake told her.
"Yes,.. I did hear about it,.." Everest sighed, stopping for a moment as her gaze lowered. "And I somehow managed to see part of what it did to him.. But honestly I think Rex did more damage to him than Mrs. CorDan's cruelty could ever do."
"You mean from the fight? I mean yeah a fight is bad, but what could Rex do that made Chase feel worse?" Snowflake said in confusion.
"Well, with what Rex did, he definitely left his mark,.. But what he said?.. I can't even imagine,.." Everest shuddered, then the bunny came up and nuzzled her leg. "Ok, ok, little friend, we're coming."
"Right. Let's keep following the bunny," Snowflake replied, thinking about what Rex could have done to Chase.
They kept running and soon they came to a very small clearing. Suddenly Terry approached a hole and dove into it, poking his head out moments later.
"Well, looks like he still lives where I thought he did.." Everest remarked. "A safe distance from harm. We can head back to the path now.. come on."
"Sounds good," Snowflake replied, then they took off from the clearing back the way they came.
xxxx
"So what do you plan on doing about the situation back at the Lookout?" Everest wondered, as they continued sniffing along the marked path.
"I'm going to make a plan for how I can cheer up Chase. Maybe softening his mood will help him express more of his troubles," Snowflake replied as she too sniffed the path.
"Well I hope you figure out how to do it.. he can be hard to read sometimes.." Everest sighed. "Sometimes it's hard to see past the walls he puts up.. must take a lot to get him to let them down on stuff like this.."
"Which is why I'm going to do things he likes. That way he'll slowly warm up while we do the activities. Like warming hot chocolate as you sit down watching a Christmas movie. Soon the chocolate warms up, and you enjoy the flavor. Yes, you might need to rewarm it, but so what?" Snowflake answered.
"And yes, Chase is the chocolate," Snowflake added.
"Wait.. so you're just.. loosening him up? For what?" The mountain husky of the two asked.
"'Loosen him up' so he will be more comfortable telling me what he's hiding in those walls of his," Snowflake said.
"Well.. I hope you're able to get through to him.. so he doesn't go completely off the rails again." Everest decided to say.
"Agreed," Snowflake replied.
The two strode down the path in silence for some time before they caught a whiff of a strong pungent smell they could both recognize.
"Ugh! Oh no! Not another skunk!" Everest repulsed, wrinkling her nose, hoping it would help, and then covered it with her paw.
"Are you KIDDING ME?! We have to deal with that awful smell AGAIN?! We almost got sprayed at camp, and now we get the stink when we didn't even upset the creature?! Why is nature trying to make us smell bad?! Why is nature trying to turn us into Rocky?! A tomato bath is worse than an actual bath!" Snowflake exclaimed, not at all amused by the strong smell.
"Well,.. maybe it's just passing through and we won't need to encounter it." Everest hoped, shuddering to think about being wrong.
Suddenly a chatter sounded from a nearby log, and looking toward it.. Everest dared herself to approach with extreme caution; Snowflake closely glued to her side. The two had barely begun to peer over the log when something shot up and the pups both jerked back with a surprised yelp. The striped figure chattered a friendly greeting and sat there smiling,.. at least that's how it appeared to them.
Snowflake looked at the skunk with a friendly caution.
"Hi…" she said nervously.
The skunk squeaked and held out a paw. Everest and Snowflake flinched at this, but then one of them began to notice something..
"Hold on?.. I think I've met this skunk before." Everest realized, leaving Snowflake to draw closer to the skunk.
"Really? Be careful," Snowflake retorted apprehensively.
The skunk came around the log to meet her and it gave her a peaceful look.
"Yes, I do know you!" Everest realized. "You're the skunk that sprayed me when we were looking for bay berries for Jake."
Snowflake gave a shocked and scared look upon hearing this.
"You got sprayed before?! Sheeeeeesh. But at least you know the skunk," Snowflake said, recoiling a bit.
"Yeah.." the mountain husky sighed. "And I think we have a problem.."
Snowflake peered over at her, then just beyond her at the hole off their right a little; sitting at about a yard or more from where Everest and the skunk stood.
"Oh. A den. Wait, why is that a problem?" Snowflake wondered.
"Because the skunk's made his home too close to the trail.." Everest explained. "Anybody who comes along his path might disturb him and he could end up spraying them.. Or worse."
"Good point," the husky pup noted.
"Hmmm. Should we find a new home or burrow?" Snowflake suggested.
"I think that's what we're gonna have to do.." Everest answered, almost reluctantly.
"Okay. But where?" Snowflake questioned as she looked around.
"Well, what I usually do is use my grapple cable to measure the distance from the old home,.. to find the new home.." Everest replied. "That way, since my grapple is really long, I can find my little animal friends a safe new home for them; far away from the paths where hikers and snowshoers might disturb them. And so they don't cause accidental accidents.."
"Sounds like a plan," Snowflake commented.
"Come on, little friend,.." the mountain husky in teal said, "Let's find you a safe new home."
The skunk watched Everest approach the den, squeaked then followed.
"Arf! Grapple!" As soon as she barked the command the cannon retracted, then shot it into the ground next to the den. "Once we make sure it's secure.. we can start heading straight that way to find a better spot for Skunky to make his new home." And she nodded her head straight forward to the right a little. Coming over to the grapple, she tested the claw that had dug its way into the ground. And when it moved a little she stamped it deeper into the dirt before turning back to her two companions.
"That should do it, now let's go find Skunky a new place to live!" Everest announced. "Follow me, little guy!"
Then howling off, the three began to trudge through the woods once again, finding their way carefully.
Wah-hoo! One more post after this and then back to writing so we can stay ahead..
Mind you, we have still been writing new chapters for this story while we've been posting them.. but it's been much slower than it has been usually.. also other things have taken priority for different reasons.
Either way, thx for hanging in there with us! And I'll see you again tomorrow! Thx!