Chapter forty-eight: R&R
Chase's paws finally hit the ground again outside the pet parlor, as the sun was finally gone from the sky and the stars were twinkling brightly. The lights in the shop were dimmed, but it looked like the sign was still lit.
"Hey look, we might be just in time." Chase gasped. "Katie may still be open to help us out."
Racing forward the doors took a moment to slide open and he almost fell forward as a result.
"Hello? Katie?" he called, peering around carefully.
Suddenly a tall shape rose up from behind the counter, bearing a white, ghostly shape, which almost morphed into something with wings.
"Hello?.. Chase? What's wrong- Aaaaahhhhh!" Snowflake asked before screaming, seeing the ghostly figure in front of them. She practically jumped into Chase as she hugged him out of fright.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! Please don't hurt us! If you're a ghost or an angel, tell us what you want! Have mercy! Be good to us!" Snowflake exclaimed, not knowing what the ghostly creature was, or what it would do. Then the figure struggled for a moment, before the white started to fall away.
"Oh,.. Hi Snowflake, Hi Chase." Katie greeted, after the cover came off into her hand.
"Katie?!" the two pups realized.
"What were you doing under there?" Chase asked blankly. "You scared the pup treats out of us!"
"Thank you, Chase!" Snowflake exclaimed, agreeing with him. "Though seriously, how and what were you doing under the cloth. I thought you were a ghost or an angel. You scared the chew toys out of us!"
"Oh, sorry. I was gonna try and give Cali a bath tonight, but she got away from me." The girl replied. "She must have bumped the lights when she knocked the laundry over, while I was grabbing her soap from below the counter."
"Oh. And you were a ghost since then? Wait, are you and Cali okay?" Snowflake wondered, as the lights flicked back on.
"We're fine." Katie replied with a chuckle. "So what can I do for you pups?"
"Oh, well speaking of baths.." Chase remembered, reaching a paw up to scratch at some of the dried dirt.
"Woah,.." the girl commented, coming closer to him.
"You pups are filthy.." she added, kneeling down to him for a better look. "What were you up to?"
"We were on a hike on Big View Trail with Jake and Everest. But the ground broke up under us and we slid down into a muddy puddle. A very goopy, muddy puddle. Bleck!" Snowflake explained, before giving a dissatisfied expression.
"Looks like it." Katie agreed. "Don't worry,.. I'll have some warm baths ready in a flash."
"Great! Thanks, Katie!" Chase beamed.
"Thank you Katie," Snowflake answered gratefully.
xxxx
The tub, piled with bubbles, radiated heat as well as overall appeal. And both pups anticipated their time to get in.
"Ok,.. the water's a little warmer than I planned.. Hope you pups don't mind it." Katie said, after testing the water with her own hand.
"Not at all," Snowflake answered, her tail wagging.
Chase hopped up to the tub and stuck a paw into the water.
"Mmm.. doesn't seem that hot," he said.
"Ok,.." Katie complied, picking up the German Shepherd from behind. "If you say so." Then putting him in the tub, the strong warmth of the water came up his body like an instant blanket. And the radiating pressure in his shoulder near instantly began to reduce, while bringing with it a sense of ease like a weighted blanket that had been wrapped around him.
"Ahhhh.." he breathed, as he was lowered in,.. and he rested his head sideways on his paws right away.
Katie just giggled, as she went to help Snowflake.
"I see you're relaxed, Chase. Funny, part of my original plan.. was walking along the beach," Snowflake commented before Katie picked her up and put her in a warm bath too.
"Oh.. Okay... Ahhhhh! That feels good," Snowflake said as she enjoyed the warm bath.
"Ok.. ready for the fun part?" Katie asked a moment later, while approaching the tub with a brush in hand.
"Nah nah, go do Snowflake." Chase replied, almost distantly. "I wanna enjoy this.. a second longer.."
"Huh?" Snowflake responded in confusion.
"But, I thought you liked getting attention?" the husky said as she tried to enjoy the warm water more.
"Yeah, yeah.. *yawn* in a minute.." Chase sighed, his eyes remaining closed and his posture not changing even a bit.
"Okay. Katie, you may brush me," the husky said.
"Sure thing." the girl decided, approaching the husky's tub.
"He sure does seem to be enjoying this.." she murmured to the pup. "It's like he's exhausted."
"Well we have been playing and exercising," Snowflake reasoned.
"Yeah, but he loves that kind of stuff.. And it doesn't usually wear him out like this.. What's going on?" Katie continued.
"I think his shoulder's hurt again. And he's been trying to go back to the Lookout to rest. I mean I give him points for hanging out with me, but I know he's hiding the fact that he's not really comfortable physically. And he still won't open up emotionally. I keep trying to get him to open up, but Everest wants me to leave him be. Why? Every time I do he wants to rest. You think I woke him up too early this morning?" Snowflake explained softly.
"I'm not sure,.." Katie thought quietly. "He's always been an early riser.. is he still like that?"
"Not really. Been sleeping a lot, but given his past stress and injuries, I don't blame him. Still, he's been sleeping more than usual," Snowflake said.
"Hmm,.. yeah, doesn't sound like him.." Katie agreed. "You might be right,.. something's going on with him."
"Have you talked to Ryder? Does anyone else know about this?" she asked after a moment's thought.
"Not yet. I haven't said anything about our bonding time. Ryder only came to help when Chase was 'drowning' in a pile of foam cubes," Snowflake responded.
"Ok well, don't try to micromanage him.." Katie advised. "He's smart enough to know it, if he doesn't already."
"Everest told me the same thing. Been trying to loosen up," Snowflake admitted. "It's not easy when your friend will take every moment he can to distract you."
"He's giving you a hard time, huh?" Katie ventured. "Well that's the professional in him."
"Tell me about it! Ugh! I just want him to have a fun time, but I'm afraid if I let my guard down too much, he'll run off and do his own thing. Believe me, my owner's grandkids were the same way when really little," Snowflake explained.
"If anything, he'd only try to escape when he feels pressured.." Katie went on. "Which is exactly how he must feel right now with everyone watching him like a hawk.. I mean, he's been like that before."
"Yeah. Been trying to avoid doing that," Snowflake agreed.
"Aren't we all." Katie sighed.
"So, what now?" Snowflake asked.
"Well.. we make tonight as fun as possible." Katie replied with a smile.
Snowflake smiled back.
"Ok, let's get you two cleaned up." The girl finally said with a bit more volume, then started to scrub the husky's muddy coat.
"Ahhhhh. Thank you," Snowflake said as Katie cleaned her.
"I bet Chase already agrees with you." Katie confirmed,.. looking over at him. And the only thing funnier than her true statement, was the soft snore that barely emanated from him.
"Awww. Chase is so relaxed he fell asleep," Snowflake cooed at the German Shepherd.
"Haha.. yup." Katie grinned, then returned to her scrubbing.
xxxx
Chase's softly even breaths stuttered slightly with the touch that suddenly came upon him. But after a moment of realization he calmed right down.
"Oh hey, perfect timing." Chase yawned, stretching out a bit, but jumping slightly at a certain length that wasn't his full reach.
Snowflake watched, as Katie scrubbed him. The husky was now laying on the floor, fully dried off.
"So Chase, have you enjoyed our bonding time so far?" Snowflake asked kindly.
"Auh,.. you mean we're not done yet?" Chase yawned softly, still indulging the gentle brushing motion.
"No. I told you I had the whole day planned. Remember?" Snowflake replied.
"Oh,.." the German Shepherd slightly nodded, holding his position which was partially draped over the edge of the tub.
"You know I meant what I said.." Katie reiterated. "And it is getting late."
"What do you mean, Katie?" Snowflake asked in confusion.
"Well, like I said, it's getting kind of dark out today.." the girl ventured, "..and I bet you still had stuff planned.. And since you're trying to spend as much time bonding with him as possible.. why not make the most of that by.. staying here?"
"Good point. So, what else can we do? Beside relaxing warm baths," Snowflake retorted.
"Well, as long as Ryder's ok with you guys staying.. anything." Katie shrugged.
"Okay. What do you think, Chase? We can stay here overnight," Snowflake said to her friend.
"Um.. sure.. wait what?" Chase wondered, suddenly feeling like he'd missed something.
"We're staying here for the rest of the day and night, isn't that great?" Snowflake repeated to him.
"What? Really?" Chase wondered, slightly confused.
Was this part of the plan? He thought a little unsurely.
"Yes. Katie suggested it. Not exactly part of my plan, but we can just go with the flow," Snowflake replied, before wagging her tail.
Is this the same pup? He wondered further. What happened to the kind of drill sergeant that got me out of bed early this morning?
"It's ok, Chase." Katie's voice put in. "I just thought that since you guys are running a little late getting home you could just hang out and stay here. I've got some sleeping bags and pup beds we can use.. and we can just take some time to wind down before we head to bed.. And you guys can head back to the Lookout tomorrow.. as long as Ryder's ok with that."
"Sounds good to me. I had a plan, but if relaxing here is our best option, then I'm all for it!" Snowflake agreed.
Chase gave her an odd look, but deep down he had to face it.
"Ok.. I guess we can just.. hang out here." Chase wavered.. and if it weren't for the fact that Katie and Snowflake were suddenly very distracted, he didn't take as much care with how unconvincing his tone sounded.
"Great! Then let's just give Ryder a call to check in and make sure it's ok." Katie suggested brightly.
"Okay. Hold on," Snowflake responded, before pressing her pup tag.
xxxx
Ryder's pup-pad rang and he set down the two food bowls he'd just brought in from outside.
"Hey Snowflake.. How's it going?" The boy greeted. "You don't need another rescue do you?"
"No. Chase and I got muddy, so we went to Katie's place for baths. But, it's getting dark outside, and Katie was wondering if we could stay with her overnight?" Snowflake explained.
"Hm.. like a sleepover?" Ryder wondered curiously. "What does Chase think about it?"
"He's fine with the idea," Snowflake said.
"Really?" Ryder replied, his eyebrows raising slightly.
"Yes. He's pretty chill right now," Snowflake replied calmly, before looking towards Chase, who let his gaze wander a bit to make himself look busy.
"Well, ok, if you guys wanna stay there, that's fine with me." Ryder decided, then added softly. "Have fun! But see if you guys can get Chase to sleep at a decent time too.. He's been really inclined to stay up lately.. as you may know."
"Thank you, Ryder. We'll see you soon," Snowflake responded.
"Tomorrow morning or so, I guess." Ryder confirmed.
"Yes," Snowflake affirmed, then they hung up together.
"So?" Katie asked, coming back over from briefly wandering away. "What do you say?"
"We can stay, Katie." Snowflake answered.
"Great! So what do you wanna do before we head to bed?" The girl smiled.
"Uh oh,.. Ah.. Ah-coo!" Chase sneezed, as Cali wandered up and across his path. "*sniffle* Kitties.."
"Oops.. Sorry, Chase.." Katie apologized. "I'll put her in the other room for now.." Then picking up the kitty, she left for a moment to tuck inside a nearby room and shutting the door behind the cat.
"I'll let her out when we go to bed.." She added as she came back over to the pups. "She'll go right to her bed in the back."
"Alright. So now what do we do?" Snowflake wondered.
"Well I haven't had a chance to clean up the store after closing today.." Katie mentioned. "Wanna help?"
"You bet, let's go." Chase answered right away. Then followed the girl toward the supply room.
"Well, someone's excited to clean," Snowflake said, as she too followed the girl.
"The pups come help me clean up all the time." Katie remarked, as she grabbed some sponges off one of the shelves at her level. "When they aren't doing their own cleaning at the Lookout."
"We'd come help you even after cleaning the Lookout, Katie." Chase replied. "But Ryder usually has us go play instead. But usually we choose to do the cleaning ourselves."
"Thanks Chase.." Katie smiled, continuing to collect some other items in a couple buckets. "You're all such good pups.. but I can handle it most days.. there's just some times when it's nice to have a little help."
"Your welcome, Katie. Friends working hard makes the work go faster," Snowflake commented.
xxxx
Katie was wiping down some counters while Snowflake was scrubbing the tiled floors around the tubs, when she looked up to see her. And then she found Chase working carefully at cleaning the glass of and around the front doors. The blonde girl smiled warmly before quietly returning to her work.
What are they trying to do here? Chase wondered softly. Is this some weird distraction they're using to catch me off guard?
But then he realized.. oh.. wait.. I chose this..
Still though.. he thought, it isn't the worst activity in the world.
Eyeing the glass, he paid as close attention to the barely visible smudges and took care in buffing them out. Even trying to reach as far up as he could, but he could only stretch so much before tension became pain.
Snowflake focused on cleaning the tile floor, scrubbing fiercely to make sure she cleaned well.
'Is he injured again?! He isn't stretching to his full amount.' She thought. 'Every time I try to get him to open up about why his shoulder hurts or why he's upset, Chase keeps changing the subject. I know he doesn't want to talk, but he can't hold it in forever,'
Then another thought occurred to her.
'Is that why he wanted to go back to the Lookout? To avoid our bonding time? I know he must be tired, but he's been an early pup before. Heck he wouldn't even drive when I offered! It's not like my vehicle operates like a submarine. Simple buttons and practice.'
Snowflake focused back on the tile, scrubbing and paying attention to where she cleaned.
'I want Chase to open up, but this pup has the emotions of a steel door. I speak up, knock, bang, and kick but he won't open the door to his heart. I know people say to lighten up, but that just makes him more likely to avoid talking! I just hope I'm not messing up.'
The husky kept cleaning, and pushed the thoughts away as she kept mapping out where she needed to clean.
Hey, we're back! Fresh off the editing table and ready for eyes to read! As for the end of this story I do believe we are finally getting very close to the end! Though as far as posting this story we are no joke.. THIRTEEN CHAPTERS AHEAD!
Meaning there are thirteen chapters of content you guys have not seen! And our main goal was to stay AT LEAST ten chapters ahead so we could always have chapters we could post at will.. Without falling behind on the writing.
We currently have a bet between the two of us on how many chapters we'll end at. Hey, any guesses as to how many chapters we'll end at?! We'd LOVE to know! And with that.. until next time! Thx!