Chapter 14: Looking For Answers

"Nothing so far, Bluey," Muffin called out as she looked through the Little Red Riding Hood book.

"Mother of… It's okay, we'll keep looking." Bluey sighed as she took the books off of her little shelf. The girls looked through every fairytale book they had, and so far found nothing.

"Well, shoot," Bluey whispered under her breath.

"Ya know, I have a strange feeling that the thing uncle Bandit's talking about isn't actually a fairytale," Socks said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"But it has to be!" Bingo said, "I just know it! We just have to look harder!"

"L-Look for what, girls…?"

The girls' heads turned to look at the person who popped his head in the door.

"Oh, hi, uncle Stripe…" Bluey said, her voice sounding dry, "W-We're just looking for… a book that I've lost a long time ago…"

Stripe just look at the floor. He knew that Bluey was upset, only because of what he did to Socks earlier that day.

Are you that fucking stupid, Stripe?! What the hell were you even thinking?! Bandit's voice yelled in the back of Stripe's mind.

I-I don't know, okay?! It just sort of happened! Stripe's own voice said, sounding heartbroken, I-I just wanted to show Muffin-

DO YOU HAVE NO COMMON SENSE, STRIPE?! Bandit roared as he grabbed Stripe's shoulders tightly and started shaking him, YOU ARE THE REASON WHY YOUR HOUSE HAS BURNED DOWN, NOT TO MENTION, NEARLY ALMOST KILLING YOUR WIFE AND KIDS!!!

Stripe felt a pang of guilt in his soul when his brother mentioned the near deaths of his family.

I-It was an accident, Bandit! P-Please let go of me, you're starting to hurt me! Stripe pleated, trying to fight off Bandit's tight grip.

Bandit, let him go! Pleated Chilli.

Let go of my husband, you mad man! Trixie yelled as she tugged Stripe's body towards her direction.

You want me to let go of him? Fine. I'll let go of him… Bandit said with a dry and menacing voice. Instead of softening his grip, he only gripped Stripe's shoulders even tighter. Bandit then used all his strength and pushed his own brother towards the outdoor stairs.

Stripe yelled out in pain as he landed his back on the wooden stairs.

Fuck! He cried, trying to stand up in the process.

Was that necessary, Bandit!? Chilli yelled, shoving her face in Bandit's.

He did this to himself, Chilli! Bandit argued back, his nose touching his wife's.

That doesn't give you the right to injure him like that! He's been through enough already! Trixie exclaimed as she shoved Chilli away from Bandit's face and marched towards him. Stripe couldn't believe what was happening. His own brother- the only person to ever stick by his side- had now turned his back on him and blamed him for nearly killing his own family. His ears were filled with the sound of arguing coming from behind him. Stripe crawled up the stairs and his back ached as he made his way towards the door. He became more angry as fake scenarios popped in his head. If I hadn't shown off trying to juggle those burning sticks, then our house wouldn't have been destroyed! What if my family was killed in that fire? What if one of my kids got killed? This would all be my fault, and it still is!

THIS IS ALL MY FAULT! Stripe's anger lashed out like a wild animal and he kicked the door out of rage. Bandit, Chilli and Trixie cease their argument and turn to look at the raging purple Heeler.

Socks! Someone called out from the other side of the door. Stripe's heart sank, he knew who those voices belonged to and wasted no time barging in through the front door. When he entered, his eyes were fixated on the Heeler girls who were kneeled down on the wooden floor, staring directly at Stripe. They were surrounding a tiny purple Heeler, who had looked like she was out cold.

Oh, god, Socks! Stripe called out as he ran towards his fallen daughter. He knelt down on the floor and scooped Socks into his arms, he then murmured under his shaky breath, I'm sorry…

"Uncle Stripe? A-Are you okay…?"

"Huh?! Y-Yeah Bluey, I'm fine… I just… ah…" Stripe cleared his throat as he shook his head, trying to snap out of his thoughts, "Never mind. Y-You girls keep doing what you're doing. I'll be, uh… out here…" Stripe backed out of Bluey and Bingo's bedroom with a sigh. The Heeler girls just sat there, wondering why Stripe was acting depressed.

"Muffin, Socks, w-what's wrong with your dad…?" Bluey asked, putting a book on the floor as she looked back at her cousins.

"I know what's wrong, but I don't want to talk about it…" Socks said softly, not making any eye contact with Bluey, she just stared at the book. Bluey didn't even try to force an answer out of Socks. She knew what had happened earlier, though she didn't know what even made Stripe do that in the first place. Maybe the argument between Bandit and Stripe got out of hand, and what exactly was the argument about?

"Ah… I don't think this voice of good is in these fairytale books. I think we should sleep it off for the night…" Bluey suggested as she rubbed her eyes.

"I agree," Bingo said, "I say that we either ask our parents to take us to the library tomorrow, or we ask them what this voice of good really is!"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Bingo." Bluey said, "They'll snitch us for eavesdropping on them, so I think that we should keep it a secret. But asking them if we could go to the library could be a good idea, we just won't tell them the truth!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Muffin exclaimed as she jumped off the floor with excitement.

"But… what about what aunt Chilli said about… what was it…?" Socks said as she tried to think back at her aunt's words, "Oh! The truth will set you free, or something?" Those words echoed in Bluey's mind like a ringing bell. She had forgotten what her mother had said about how the truth was always the way to go. Nevertheless, she didn't want to get into any trouble.

"I-I know…" Was all that Bluey said as she stood up from the place where she sat and headed over to her bed.

Muffin- who was still holding some fairytale books- slid into her sleeping bag, still looking through some pages. Bingo hopped onto her bed and wrapped herself up in her soft blanket, looking as if she was in a soft cocoon. Socks on the other hand, still sat on the floor, looking through all the books she had right beside her.

"Are you not coming to bed, Socks?" Bingo asked as she felt the sudden absence of her young cousin hopping onto her bed.

"Nah, I still have to figure out what this voice of good could possibly be," Socks said, still keeping her eye on the book.

"Okay, just come to bed whenever you need to, my bed will always be open." Bingo replied as she snuzzled herself up in her warm, blanket-like cocoon. Socks kept looking through every page possible, trying to find some sort of logical answer to this so-called fairytale. The irritation in her brain became stronger with each word she read. she let out a quiet whimper as she rubbed her throbbing forehead gently.