Chapter twenty-one: The Reveal
"Let's hope Chase is right," Snowflake whispered.
"Why? What would happen if he's wrong?" Skyler asked.
"Does he have to wear a ridiculous hat?" Tiny wondered.
"Dropped into cold water?" Kylie supposed.
"Or get a pie to the face?" Zuma wondered.
"Actually that wouldn't be so bad." Rubble hummed, licking his lips.
"Wait, the last box was behind Billy? Isn't that cheating?" Ned asked Chester.
"Why? The whole goal is for Chase to locate and identify the scent so he can make his guess on the board. It's gotta be a challenge, otherwise it's not fun."
"You got that right." Chase and Billy chuckled together as Billy rose to take the three boxes he'd grabbed back to the board.
As the group came over, they now noticed that each color shape had a number overtop of it. Then Billy would take the box with the corresponding number on it and placed it on his side of the board so Chase could still see the board and the numbers on it. Chase sat there to study the numbers while Billy went to retrieve the rest of the boxes and the pups could see the gears in his head turning.
"He's never been that focused in a long time." Chester commented quietly, almost to himself as they observed him.
"Well, if it's a challenge, he's going to take it seriously!" Snowflake responded. "And I just want him to be happy with the challenge."
"What? Awwww. No pie?" Melody whined a little.
"I don't think there is a consequence," Brian stated matter-of-factly.
Once Billy had matched all the numbers together and removed the cards from the board, he knelt down where he could reach all of them. And he looked at Chase, who met his gaze expectantly. He put a hand on the first box and started to lean it back towards him, but then dropped it back to keep the bottom of the box hidden.
"Billy!" Chase groaned. Billy started to lean it again, but snapped it back down again.
"Billy, come on! Am I right or not?" Chase cried, jumping down into a crouch before sitting up again.
"Do you have an answer or are you thinking of one?" Melody asked, curiously.
"I think he does, Billy is just teasing. So.. what's the answer Billy?" Brian replied.
Billy grinned and finally leaned the box onto its side so that it revealed the color dot stuck to the bottom. And the purple hue of the first box, matched with the dot it was set in front of. Chase crouched low once again, excitement showing by just his wagging tail alone; anticipating the next ones.
Billy set a hand on the next box and slowly leaned it back..
Yellow on yellow, pink on pink, each box he laid down for him matched up perfectly. And the more matches he saw the more excited he seemed to get. But by the sixth and final box,.. the reveal seemed slower than the rest. However his heart leaped and then sank when the color on the box was black but the dot on the board was orange.
"What?! Oh come, Billy, you know I got that one right!" Chase complained. "The boxes got switched!"
Billy shrugged lightly, with an odd smile.
"You've got to be kidding me.." Chase sighed.
"So he did cheat!" Ned exclaimed, shocked he was right about the man's actions.
"We don't know that. Let's see.." Snowflake told her brother as she waited in nervous anticipation.
Billy stared at him blankly, but Chase's eyes bore into him.
"Ah, I can't lie to you.." he said finally, then took the box into his hand and peeled back the black dot to reveal the orange one underneath.
"What?!" Chase gasped. "You pulled a black out! Uggghhh, I should have seen that coming!"
"You.. You TRICKED him?! Doesn't that still count as cheating?" Ned commented. The male husky then turned to his sister. "Did you know he was going to do that?"
"No. I didn't help set up the challenge!" Snowflake responded defensively.
"Not a trick, just a method to throw me off." Chase sighed dryly smiling over at Billy, who smirked happily. "It's a method used to train a K-9 not to be fooled by what they see but to trust their instincts while in the field."
"Oh. Okay," Ned responded.
"You're good!" Snowflake complimented.
"Who? Me or him?" Chase asked, a little confused.
"Why can't she mean both?" Chester wondered.
"I don't know." Chase shrugged.
"Ugh! She meant Billy, Chase!" Brian said before walking over to the German Shepard and knocking him on the head. "Billy! Billy! Billy! Are you sure you're getting better?"
"Ow! Hey, watch it!" Chase reacted, backing off from the pup's knocking.
"BRIAN! Knock it off! Chase is still healing and I'm sure Snowflake meant both of them. Now quit bothering him!" Ned snapped.
"Right.. I'm sorry Chase and Billy," Brian apologized to the two friends before going back to his siblings, and lying down quietly. He looked ashamed.
"It's not that I'm still healing, although I guess that's part of it.. I just wasn't sure who you've talking about because your statement wasn't very specific." Chase mentioned, obviously sending this response toward Snowflake.
"I understand. I meant you and Billy," Snowflake replied.
"Ok." Chase nodded.
"Well, I guess I still can't fool you for long." Billy sighed, smiling knowledgeably. "Great work."
"So what's next?" Chase asked the man.
"Well I've got some other ideas in mind," Billy mentioned. "Wanna keep going?"
"You bet!" Chase replied, bounding off to follow his lead.
XXXX
The pups all ate their breakfast as they remembered their previous day.
"Too bad Billy had to leave," Melody said, slightly sad.
"Yeah, well he's got things to do too, he's a very busy man." Chester commented, while eating. "He'll be around though. He wouldn't miss therapy sessions with Chase for the world!"
"What did you guys think of Billy, anyway?" Rayla asked.
"And don't lie just to spare my feelings.." Chase replied. "I hate that." This last statement, however, was mostly to himself and he half hoped they wouldn't hear.
"Well, Ned and I have met Billy and we like him. He's definitely got a bond with you, but is also considerate of others," Snowflake responded.
"That's Billy for you." Chase shrugged.
"He's clever, patient, and kind," Melody replied.
"He's also is a bit stubborn, but in a good way. Billy seems to be open minded too," Brian added.
"Uhh..stubborn?" Chase echoed, mostly out of curiosity.
"Sounds about right." Chester confirmed with a nod.
"Why?" Chase wondered, looking over at him.
"Have you met Billy?" Chester reasoned. "Wait, what am I saying? You're both stubborn. Of course you wouldn't see it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chase wondered indignantly, and Chester just shrugged and continued eating.
"Speaking of spending time with Billy, it got me thinking of when I spent time with you pups. I want to apologize. I liked spending time with all of you, but I might have pushed my own mindset of how I wanted to do the activities, rather than living in the moment. So, if any of you want to do bonding moments a second time, I understand. Some of you, I feel like I owe," Snowflake stated thoughtfully, looking at Rubble and Rocky as she said the last part.
"Why us?" The two indicated pups wondered.
"Well, I forced Rubble to play ghosts, but didn't really ask what he wanted to do. As for Rocky, we may have enjoyed the nature walk, but getting lost wasn't part of the plan!" Snowflake explained.
"Oh yeah.. That.." Chase groaned dryly, his gaze wandering away sheepishly.
"Don't worry, Chase; we got it resolved. However, I still want to give Rocky and Rubble a fair chance," Snowflake reassured him.
She then went over to Chase and pet him on the head.
"So what do you pups think?" She asked hopefully.
"Sure." Rocky shrugged.
"Sounds good to me." Rubble agreed.
"Good. And my second bonding isn't just for you two, but all the pups I've bonded with. Unless everyone else is good with the activities I picked the first time," Snowflake replied before looking at the rest of the PAW Patrol.
"Pup Pals included," the husky added.
"Um, what are we doing again?" Tiny asked, obviously confused.
"I was offering Rocky, Rubble and the rest of you pups a chance to hang out with me for fun. But I did hang out with the PAW Patrol before," Snowflake clarified.
"With those words, you'd think she were a famous celebrity," Tiny joked, glancing among his friends briefly. "No offense of course."
"Um,.. I can't.. Think of anything.. but.. thanks anyway." Skyler mentioned, several among the group nodding.
"We'll just keep ourselves busy while you guys have all the fun." Chester decided.
"Thank you. Besides, I wanted to include the rest of you, since it's only fair. And I'm not a celebrity. Anyways, second bonding PAW Patrol?" Snowflake replied.
"What? You're not going to include us?" Melody exclaimed in a shocked tone.
"I hang out with all of you back at home," Snowflake replied.
"Yeah, but this is where you are most of the time. So why not have fun here too?" Brian suggested.
"Good point," Snowflake said thoughtfully.
"Besides, we can hang out with the others while you have fun!" Ned commented.
"Thanks," Snowflake said before turning back to the PAW Patrol. "Besides Rocky and Rubble of course."
"So, when are you running off to do this 'hang out time'." Chester asked.
"I was thinking now, or whenever it's possible," Snowflake answered calmly.
"Well lunch isn't for a few hours.." Rubble thought.. "But.." he glanced over at the gray mixed breed who smiled after a moment of thought.
"I got an idea of what we can do.." Rocky said, his tail beginning to wag with anticipation. "Something we both will like."
"Which is?" Snowflake asked, not sure what Rocky had in mind.
XXXX
Rocky shoved a box over to her out onto the snow, and he was rather amazed he was able to get it there.
"Phew! Ok, now this is where the fun can begin," he said, finally making his way around to box toward her and opening it to pull some things out.
As Snowflake watched she noticed something odd about the "decorations" he was pulling out.
"Ummm. Colored bottles? Balls? Snowman made of balls? Is this a special box of bottles and balls, or are we going to try and play fetch while drinking water at the same time?" Snowflake asked, as she saw the different decorations Rocky was pulling out of the box.
"No, silly!" Rocky giggled, leaning out of the box to look at her. "We're gonna use them to decorate the trees out here. I call it Upcycling. It's when you take something old and make it new by turning it into something different. Something useful in a different way. These bottles would make great ornaments! If we found some lights to wire them with, they would look even more amazing!"
"That sounds like a good idea. What other decorations do you have?" Snowflake replied before looking into the box. "Wait, won't we need Marshall's ladder to reach the higher branches?"
"Well eventually, but good thing I know how to operate it," the mixed breed supposed with a shrug. "The pups and I made these earlier this year, and I have yet to use them. So excited to see how they look."
"Do some of the bottles have holes in them for lights, or no? What about the snowman?" Snowflake asked.
"Other than in the top like they're supposed to?.. No.." Rocky replied flatly.
"Which reminds me,.." Ryder mentioned, coming out with a box of his own in full snow gear. "I finally got this finished for you.."
"Ooo, what is it Ryder?" The Recycling pup reeled, immediately coming over and eagerly awaiting the reveal.
"That string of lights you wanted to repurpose?.." the boy implied. "I was able to use old bottle caps to rig the lights into, so that when we twist the lids on the bottles.."
"It'll light up the bottles like giant light bulbs!" Rocky gasped. "Thanks Ryder! This'll be awesome!"
"I knew you'd like it," the boy laughed. "I'll work on getting the bottles set while you pups start on some other decorating."
"Oh, good idea, Ryder," the gray pup figured. "Come on, Snowflake! Don't lose it, reuse it!" Then bounding off, the PAW Patrol leader set to work.
Snowflake gathered bottles and set them in the snow, letting Ryder and Rocky work on putting the lights inside. Snowflake also helped to untangle the wired lights then string or hold the bottles, so they wouldn't fall over.
"Let's put up these old bicycle chains." Rocky suggested. "Marshall didn't end up using all of them. So we can string them along the lower branches, so the lights can go a little higher."
"As long as the bicycle chains don't fall and hurt us. Ow," Snowflake emphasized, as she carefully grabbed the chains with her left paw.
"Don't worry, as long as we don't play under the tree we'll be fine. Not that you'd want to. Yeesh." The mixed breed shuddered at the thought of the prickly nettles in the evergreen tree's branches contacting his coat.
"Yeah, no thanks!" Snowflake agreed as she too shuddered at the thought.
"All right, Rocky, I think it's ready." Ryder said finally, after securing the last bottle in place.
"Oh boy!" The pup exclaimed. "Can we get Marshall's truck to put them up now?"
"Sure." Ryder smiled, chuckling at the pup's enthusiasm.
"Yes!" Rocky cheered, racing off to grab the vehicle.
XXXX
"Ok so,.. they're busy.." Chester observed, peering out the window at the two pups and Ryder working in the yard. "What now?"
"We could go sledding." Skyler suggested. "Goodness knows there's plenty of snow out there."
"Good idea! Wait- didn't we sled at Jake's Mountain though?" Ned replied before tilting his head to the side.
"Yes.. but we could go again somewhere else." Marshall reasoned. "We sometimes make our own hills in the yard and sled down them."
"That sounds fun!" Melody replied happily.
"What?! Come on! We can do better than that!" Tiny interjected. "What else is there that's fun that we all like doing?"
Silence descended on them again.
"Ummm. Watching Christmas movies?" Melody suggested.
"Ice skating?" Brian commented.
"Cuddling to stay warm?" Ned responded.
"Ooo ice skating?! Count me in!" Skyler gushed excitedly.
"Is the ice even thick enough for that yet?" CiCi wondered dubiously.
"I don't know, but we could find out.." the border collie mentioned. "Right Roc- oh right no Rocky,.. Right, Marshall? Wait, why would I ask you? You're a fire pup. Right, Rubble?"
"Skyler! Manners!" Rayla hissed, nudging her friend.
"What? He would be able to know wouldn't he?" Skyler reasoned.
"We'd all have a way to find out.." Rayla reasoned more firmly. "Not just Rubble.."
"Well I just meant he could drill a hole so we can measure it.." the border collie clarified, and Rayla just sighed.
"Either way,.." she ventured once again, glancing around the group. "I think we should try something else.. Something new and different.. Something like.." she peered out the window at Ryder, Rocky and Snowflake when a thought came to mind.
Hi-lo! This challenge reveal was so much fun to write! How Chase was so determined he was right and Billy toying with him till he revealed that he was indeed correct was so funny! XD
Someday I would like to play a game like this with my dogs when I have the honor and privilege to own one for myself. Obviously, it would look alot different than it does here,.. but hopefully it'll be just as fun! So excited! But until then I'll just look back on this scene and keep hoping and praying for that someday to come. Still then, enjoy! And we'll see you next time! Thx!
