Chapter forty-seven: Scent Trails
"Yuck!" Chase groaned once more, spitting to get the taste out of his mouth. "How can someone eat that?!"
"Because people have different taste buds than dogs?" Snowflake responded.
"Woah, hey, go easy on the chocolate there little dude, you might not wanna find out what that'll do to you, man." Jake advised.
"Bluck! No problem there." Chase replied disgustedly.
"Hopefully the next scent will be better," Snowflake replied.
"Hopefully!" Chase agreed, then took off on the hunt again. Though his gait was hobbled slightly, he soon slowed to his very focused walk that still held a bit of oddness. But it was lost in the pleasure they took in his pinpoint hunting.
Where is it? Wheere.. is it?.. he thought as his nose kept searching. The others walked quietly behind him watching carefully.. but they weren't prepared for when he suddenly stopped and shouted.
"Liver sausage!" Then his wide upright stance turned into a slightly quicker tracking pace.
"In a bowl?" he soon added. Pausing from sniffing for a moment.
"Dude, you're good!" Jake marveled. "Aw..I knew we shouldn't have dished it out that way."
"No worries, Jake." Everest shrugged. "He's still gotta find it.. we hid this one really good. So it won't be easy."
A challenge huh? Chase thought.
"Oh it's on!" The German Shepherd said, jumping upright once more. Then building more of a momentum, he tracked with a bit more intensity and it gave him more confidence to speed up as he went. Till he was pretty much running down the path, and to a scratchy looking bush, which he dove right into with a bit of a tumble.
"Oh no, Chase is so excited to find the liver sausage he's turned into Marshall with a tumble!" Snowflake joked with a giggle.
"Um, Chase? Are you okay? You just jumped into that bush!" Snowflake asked. Turning to Everest, she thought of something.
"Kinda surprised you're not racing Chase to find the liver sausage," the husky commented.
"That's because I snacked on one while we were placing them for him to find." Everest chuckled, making the three of them laugh. But then they realized Chase still hadn't resurfaced.
"Chase?! Are you there? Are you hurt?!" Snowflake called out now, getting concerned.
Suddenly the German Shepherd popped up with the bowl of liver sausage in his mouth, keeping some leaves and twigs on his head and fur.
"I found it." He muffed through the plastic.
"Heads up, Everest!" He called, maneuvering the bowl forward to toss one of the liver links toward the husky, who caught it.
"Mm! Thanks!" Everest beamed. "But don't you want to eat them both?"
"Nah.. not that big of a liver fan." Chase answered after emerging from the bushes to set the bowl down. Then leaning down, he picked up the last liver link and ate it almost gracefully.
"Ready to keep going?" He asked.
"Yes, but ummmm.. you got sticks and leaves in your fur," Snowflake said with an embarrassed look.
"Nothing a good shake won't fix." The German Shepherd responded. And just as he said, a vigorous shake of his entire body displaced all of the debris.. other than one twig that slid under his collar.
"Ah!" Chase gasped, shaking his head, then lifting a paw up to scratch it away.
"What's wrong, Chase?" Snowflake asked going over to him.
"Just.. a twig.." Chase replied, trying to reach a specific spot on the back of his neck by his left shoulder.. "where I can't reach.."
"Hold on," Snowflake said before looking. Soon, she felt along his fur and found it.
"Found it. Hold still," the husky pup answered before slowly pulling the twig out.
"There.." Everest commentated, as Chase stood up in a hop to shake off the itchy sensation. "Better?"
"Much better!" Chase nodded.
"Thanks." He told Snowflake. "Hooph! Thank goodness.. 'Can't stand scratchy things!"
"Your welcome, Chase. Now back to the sniffing hunt!" Snowflake responded, before taking a playful stance.
Chase immediately turned to continue down the trail, while the others followed. And Jake picked up the bowl on his way by, so he could keep up with the pups.
After another decent amount of time, another sweet scent caught his nose and he laser focused again, indicated by a stiffening of his tracking prowl. And eventually coming upon a stump, he found the long brown bean that stuck straight up from a crack in the wood, with its sweet and seedy contents exposed to the cool evening air.
"Vanilla.." Chase said aloud, lifting his gaze to them thoughtfully.
"Yes, man you're good!" Snowflake said impressed by Chase's skills.
"They don't call me the super sniffer for nothing!" Chase grinned, keeping his one paw poised on the edge of the stump, where he could hold himself up confidently.
"But that also means.." he paused awkwardly for.. "ah..ah..ah-CHOO!"
"Awh.." The German Shepherd sighed with a sniffle, looking off to his right. "Wildflowers.."
And sure enough when they peered over past him they saw, with help from Jake's flashlight, the small cluster of five wildflowers growing maybe three feet from them.
"A skill that's both helpful.. and annoying.." Chase sighed, rubbing his nose. And hoping he wouldn't make himself sneeze again, even though he could already feel a tickle coming on.
"Well, let's move away from the flowers and keep sniffing," Snowflake suggested.
"Great idea..ah..ah-choo!" Chase sneezed then turned and left the stump to forge onward.
"You know? For a tracking pup you sure do have a lot of allergies.." Everest mentioned as they kept going.
"I know.." Chase said, momentarily halting his tracking before continuing. "Weird right?" He added, before continuing again.
"Kind of.. I mean you'd think if you were born to be good at something.. you wouldn't have any issues doing it.. right?" Everest continued.
"Well..everyone's different, Everest." Jake reasoned lightly.
"Thank you, Jake, and he's right. Just because I'm another tracking pup on the PAW Patrol, doesn't mean I can spot every detail. I had to learn over time," Snowflake explained.
"Like the time I tried finding objects in the dark once, I mistook a potato for a slipper, a set of blocks for a small house, and a coat hanger for a ghost."
"Cool." Chase mentioned, slowing to a stop to look straight ahead of him when the meaning of what she said hit him. "Wait what?"
"What do you mean 'what'?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"Why were you looking for things in the dark?" The German Shepherd wondered, turning back toward them.
"For fun, it was a game with the grandkids," Snowflake told him.
"Oh.." Chase replied blankly.. then after a brief moment he returned to tracking.
"So Snowflake.." Everest spoke up softly, so not to distract Chase. "You.. do this a lot?"
"Do what a lot? Tracking in the dark or playing with the grandkids?" Snowflake retorted calmly.
"No.. do this a lot.." Everest re-emphasized, looking at Chase.
"Oh. No, this is the first time I've done this," Snowflake said. "Any luck Chase?"
"Not yet.." The police pup responded. "Haven't quite got the next.. wait.." just then an earthy-sweet woodsy scent whiffed his way on a small breeze and he knew rather quickly that it seemed out of place here..
"Hm.. seems awfully nutty.." he said finally, gazing back at them suspiciously having stopped where he was. "Come on!" Then hurrying after the scent the others did their best to keep up with him.
"Okay, relax. We're coming," Snowflake said, trying to keep up.
And as the scent grew stronger, with his stride lengthening slightly, he let out a howl and some flapping feathers scattered from the nearby trees and away.
Then he stopped and stared straight ahead.
"That's the bend leading to Big View.." The German Shepherd said aloud. Then taking a sniff and jogging ahead, as the others reached his former position, he pulled down a nearby rock where he could tell had been displaced. And was rewarded with..
"Almonds!"
Then he blew at them to clear away some of the rocky dust that had been displaced with it. And couldn't stop a sneeze from finishing this out, even though he'd tried to avoid it.
"Good job," Snowflake complimented.
"Thanks," Chase smiled. "But.. now what?"
"Ummmm. Walk on Big View?" Snowflake suggested.
"Ok.."
The group then walked on the trail, going around the bend in the path. Soon, they saw Adventure Bay below them.
"Oh wow. You can see everything in Adventure Bay!" Snowflake said, as she looked at the town below.
"It is a really great view." Everest agreed, coming around to sit by Snowflake, between her and Chase.
"Yeah, pretty cool, but.." Chase looked down and shuttered. "Yeesh! Too much drop for me. I'm staying back here." Then backing his way to nearly the wall.. he sat there carefully and also gazed out at the town, darkening with dusk.
Snowflake looked down too and her eyes widened.
"Yikes! What was I thinking?! We're up.. so high!" Snowflake exclaimed as she jumped before quickly backing away from the edge towards Chase. Once she got to him, she hugged the German Shepherd.
"Keep me safe.." Snowflake said softly, a look of apprehension in her eyes. Snowflake hated high places- especially if she could fall.
"Ummm, why me?" The German Shepherd asked lightly.
Ouch! He thought as she squeezed harder on a tender spot.
"Because you're the farthest from the edge!" Snowflake retorted as she kept hugging him.
"Well.. the rest of us can come back this far too." Chase replied, innocently pointing a paw towards Jake and Everest.
"You bet we can!" Everest called coming over to them with Jake.
"Yeah no worries dudes, we got you covered." Jake smiled, giving them a thumbs up.
"Covered in what?! I'm hugging my buddy, Chase out of fear while silently screaming in my head to NOT GO NEAR THE EDGE!" Snowflake said, shouting the last part as she tried to back up more. She didn't move since she was backed into a tree, but the husky still showed fear on her face.
"Well I'm not that scared.." Chase replied softly.
"I know, BUT I AM!" Snowflake screamed as she kept frantically backing away and hugging Chase harder.
"Ok ok, ouch! That hurts!" Chase yelped, trying to wriggle away from her.
"Woah hey easy there, Snowflake." Jake soothed, kneeling down to set a hand on her shoulder. "It's not so bad if you don't look down the cliff.. we see this all the time. Just keep your eyes on the pretty view out there and you won't have to worry about seeing the scary thing right below you."
"Plus.. if you stand back from the edge like you're doing.. you'll be just fine." Everest added.
"Exactly!" Chase added a bit quickly, even though he tried not to sound too rushed in saying so.
Snowflake eased her grip on Chase and let go before hugging Everest. She slowly took deep breaths as she focused on Adventure Bay.
"Okay.. Okay.. I'm sorry, Chase," Snowflake said, before looking at Chase. "Wait, you said it hurts? My hug hurt or something else?"
As soon as Snowflake had released him he shook as if it would loosen something for comfort then turned almost abruptly to reply, but stopped himself to think.
"-No.." he lied. "But you were squeezing me for dear life.. you have a strong grip,.. for a pup."
"Sorry," Snowflake apologized as she carefully hugged Everest.
"So, should we just watch the town or keep walking?" Snowflake asked curiously.
"We can move on, I guess.." Chase shrugged. "Especially if there's more smells to track, down there.." then as he easily overtook them, they walked along after him to continue on their path.
Then as he expected another earthy,.. almost nutty scent whiffed across his sniffer's field.
"Aha!" Chase announced, startling those among him in various ways. Then following it at a decent pace he seemed to find it rather quickly as the land dipped just beyond where the scent stopped.
"Hm.. it's around here somewhere.." Chase mused. Then lowering his nose, he sniffed at the small pile of rocks that lay delicately placed at the base of a tree. And since it was adjacent to a ravine that dropped away right next to him, he took care to stand at a pace's distance from the edge so it was safely to his right.
"Hang on.." he realized. "These rocks were stacked here on purpose.." stepping around so that he was over top of the rocks, which almost came up to his chest, he kept the drop behind him as he used the "heel" of his paws to roll the loosest rocks forward to expose the scent further.
"Smells like.. *sniff*sniff* Banana bread?" Chase realized stepping one paw back to get his shadow off the baked treat a little bit more.
"Yes, banana bread! Good job." Snowflake said, glad he found the next scent. "There's still more though."
"Shouldn't be too hard to find them the way you're going." Everest added.
"Lead the way." Snowflake said, jumping between the tree and the rocks, closer to where Chase stood.
Suddenly the edge of the ground under Chase's back paws cracked and he grabbed Snowflake hoping that it would stop him from slipping, but it only pulled her with him.
"Woah!" they cried, as they squelched in the mud below.
"Woah,..no!" Jake cried, as he and Everest rushed to the edge to look down.
"Are you two ok?" he asked, after a moment's pause, shining his light down into the ravine. And all he could see were two smudged shapes that turned into pups.
"Ugh.. of course that would happen." Chase sighed dryly, disgusted by his soggy brown coat.
"Ugh! Seriously?! I feel like a chocolate covered pup!" Snowflake said.
"At least you're not hurt." Everest reasoned humorously.
Ugh, speak for yourself! Chase groaned internally.
"Yes, we aren't hurt. Too bad Rocky isn't here; he'd love getting muddy!" Snowflake replied.
"Um.. have you met Rocky?" Chase wondered unsurely.
"Yes, I have, and I think he'd enjoy this." Snowflake replied.
"Rocky hates getting dirty as much as he hates getting wet." Chase reasoned. "Especially since he knows getting dirty means he'll have to take a bath."
"Unless he runs away." Snowflake sang enthusiastically.
Oh. He realized to himself.
"Here's a rope." Jake called, tossing the end of a line at them, which he had pulled from his backpack.
"Arf! Grapple!" Everest commanded, then shot it down to them as well.
"There, now we can pull you both up together." The mountain pup added.
Then Chase met glances with Snowflake and they both took a rope.
Jake and Everest heaved at the ropes and pulled till the two pups came up over the edge and away from the drop.
"Wooph! That's better." Chase sighed thankfully, shaking himself off even though it didn't fully clean him.
Snowflake shook too, though like Chase, it didn't fully clean her either.
"Hey, at least we're muddy buddies." She commented, smiling.
"Woah, you're not kidding!" Jake commented wildly. "Looks like you guys need a bath."
"It's ok, we can find the rest of the hidden scents while we finish our walk.. then we'll head to Katie's for a bath." Chase replied.
"Sounds good, except we'd have to go on foot, we don't really wanna get my vehicle all muddy." Snowflake said.
"Well, that's ok," Jake spoke up again. "We got some old blankets or towels you could use to keep the mud off it, as long as you bring 'em back I guess."
"Thanks, that's a good idea." Snowflake responded.
"Then let's hustle!" Chase decided, leading the way eagerly once again,.. off on a hunt to find the rest of the smelly treasures laid out for him.
xxxx
A couple blue and green towels were then laid inside Snowflake's vehicle.
"There, how's that?" Jake asked, admiring his work.
"Looks good. And as long as Chase has one to hold onto, we should be fine," Snowflake answered.
"It's ok, we're gonna go get clean anyway.. Maybe we'll have time to clean the parasail up too." Chase replied.
"If there's time. Thank you, Jake and Everest," Snowflake said as she turned to their two friends.
"Sure thing, guys." Everest smiled. "Have fun with the rest of your day!"
"Take a good bath." Jake added.
"Oh we will." Chase assured them, while strapping into the harness.
Snowflake was about to say something, then looked at Jake in confusion.
"Ummm. What else would we do? Get more muddy? And thank you," Snowflake said, trying to be polite.
"Well, I just mean make sure you get extra clean.. This mud out here is pretty goopy.. 'Gotta get a serious wash after splashing in puddles around here." Jake specified.
Snowflake's eyes widened upon hearing the word 'goopy'.
"Goopy?! Ewwww! But yeah, you're right. Still, thank you. We'll be on our way now," Snowflake said before she started her vehicle and drove off.
Never fear! We are here! And with a new chapter to boot!
Man, I sound like Loopy Chase..*thinks to self*
Realization* oh wait..
Nevermind. ;D Anyway.. Here's the next chapter that'll hopefully keep you entertained till the next one! And can't wait to hear your thoughts.
Also for those of you who may not know, a pretty nasty comment was left in the review section and I apologize if it disturbs you! I am just as appalled by this incredibly disrespectful message and I will try to remove it if I can.
On a more positive note.. We hope you enjoyed, and we'll see you next time! Thx!