Chapter forty-one: Mixed Emotions
"Ryder?!" Chester called into the silence. "Guys?"
They all began to disperse, though some focus drifted as Chester kept waywardly searching around.
"Ryyyyder!.. Ryde- oh," he trailed off, finally noticing that they were all sitting in plain sight this whole time, where the other pups had already been situated.
"Ryder? What are you doing?" Snowflake asked as she walked towards the boy.
"We were just sitting in here talking," the boy replied. "What's up?"
"Talking about what?.." Snowflake asked suspiciously.
"Ryder was just telling us about some of his new projects," Frank mentioned. "Including the snowmobiles."
"Oh yeah, those snowmobiles are great!" Brian beamed enthusiastically.
"And I'm almost done with the rest of them." Ryder said. "And now that I've got my star test driver back, I'll be able to make sure they're safe for you pups to drive anytime."
"Unless issues arise that need re-calibration." Billy supposed with a shrug. "Should be nothing your driver can't handle." Then sending a wink at someone among the group made the huskies especially curious.
"Ummm. 're-calaa.. What?" Brian asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Like screwing something in?" Snowflake guessed.
"Something like that." Ryder shrugged.
"Wait, test driver?.. Back?" Skyler wondered out loud. "Who would be your go-to driver that isn't right here?" Then suddenly she realized that a pair of brown eyes, with brown and gold fur to match, cocked over to her. And she slowly slid her gaze over to the pup right next to her, and the answer to her own question became clear instantly.
"Ohhhhh,.. concussion watch.. Got it.." the border collie became quite awkward and even embarrassed by the crick in her lip. "My bad.."
"Of course Ryder's test driver is Chase.. obviously," Melody added.
"How did you know that?!" Skyler gasped, shocked by her frank tone like it wasn't old news to her at all.
"Well, from Snowflake's letters and calls to us, Chase and Ryder are close. So it's no wonder Chase would be Ryder's pro test driver," Melody answered.
"Very astute." Rayla noted, genuinely impressed by this. "Looks like there's more brains in this outfit than I thought.. No disrespect, of course. Did you all catch on to this?"
"And, by the way, that's not the only reason why Chase is our best test driver." Rocky pointed out.
The four huskies looked at each other, before looking at Rayla.
"'Outfit?!'" they all exclaimed together.
"What are you talking about?.." Melody asked as if insulted
"We're huskies! Not a costume!" Ned said matter-of-factly.
"Where did that come from?!" Snowflake commented in a baffled tone.
"And yes, we all figured Ryder was talking about Chase!" Brian exclaimed. "Who else would it be?"
"I'm right here, you guys!" Chase sighed, tilting his head and shaking it, though his tone seemed less annoyed than it had been before.
"Can I ask what else clued you into that?" Frank asked, fishing for knowledge based on his growing curiosity.
"Well, given how Chase liked showing off his Ultimate Rescue vehicle, and him wanting to ride for weeks, I figured he was the expert!" Snowflake said with a knowing look.
"Plus he was bummed when Chess would take his ride or Rayla refusing. So something tells me he's the best of the group," Ned added.
"He seems like the type of pup to enjoy going for a ride. Safely!" Brian and Melody said together with a smile.
Though no one was watching, Chase still turned his head away to indulge himself the smile he wasn't willing to let everyone see, just knowing that they recognized one of his favorite jobs.
"Very good," Frank nodded. "Looks like you've got a little investigator in you too."
"And speaking of test driver.." Chase implied. "Ryder?.."
"Soon Chase." Ryder nodded. "I haven't made all the final adjustments yet."
"Are you just saying that because you don't think I'm ready yet?" Chase asked, a little deflated to hear this, and almost dreading to hear the answer.
"You could go down to look in the garage to find out." Ryder replied simply.
"Right, ok.." the pup decided, nodding slightly. "Nevermind.."
"Hey, while we're still talking about this.." Marshall finally spoke up. "Can I point out that he's probably the bravest of all of us and the most skilled driver on the PAW Patrol. I mean that's why he's the first one that comes to mind when we need a tricky assist on missions.. I mean,.. stopping the ferris wheel with his 4x4, rescuing the Whoosh out over the Bay,.. stuff like that?"
Chester's eyes lifted as his mouth opened, like he was gonna say something.. or perhaps to comment?
"True, now that you mention it," he finally decided, realizing the futility of any protest he may have to that.
"Ok, we get, I'm good at what I do," Chase finally spoke aloud. "Now.. weren't we in here to ask something?"
"Asking what Ryder and the Prescotts were talking about.. ..which Ryder answered," Snowflake reminded him.
"No.. how long we were outside digging?" His gaze fell over members of the group. "Right?"
"Ummm. An hour?" Melody guessed. "Why?"
Chase stared at her with his mouth hanging open a little in pure confusion, shaking his head slightly from trying to understand where this answer came from; or why she was answering at all.
"Ugh! Am I the only one who remembers we were coming in to ask Ryder this question?" He groaned, and he'd held back the urge to facepaw himself at how ridiculous this response was.
"Ohhhhh.." the pups realized all at once.
"Right,.. that was why we were coming in here to find Ryder." Skyler smiled awkwardly. "Hehe, oops."
"Uuuummmm, what question?" Ned asked, before getting elbowed by Snowflake.
"Asking Ryder how long we've been digging. But I just guessed an hour!" Melody answered.
Chase's ears stiffened upright and eased backward, then he turned his gaze pointedly and quite expectantly at Chess and then at Rayla. Chester waved subtly to get his attention, and when he turned back to him, he motioned something that likely told him to calm down. Then he turned to calmly stroll over so he was between Ned and Melody. He gave them both a friendly smile, before dropping it and slapping the two of them behind the head.
"That's exactly the point!" He scolded the both of them. "We've been over this already! We came inside from digging our tunnels to ask Ryder how long we'd been digging the tunnels. Not making guesses, cause we don't know! THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF US COMING IN HERE, DON'T YOU GET IT!" And while his frustration seemed authentic it also sounded over-exaggerated and slightly comedic, which is why Chase had to try and hide a smile that almost became a chuckle.
"Ow!" Ned and Melody said after getting smacked.
"What was that for?" Ned asked in a confused, mad tone.
"It was just a guess to the question. Why are you acting like we accidently did something bad?" Melody asked in the same tone as her husky brother.
"Because you did!" Chester exclaimed wildly. "Do you guys have amnesia?! Because we were just talking about the fact that we didn't know how long we were out there, so we came in to ask Ryder how long to confirm or deny our earlier guesses. Ergo.. WHY ARE WE MAKING NEW GUESSES?"
"I was trying to be helpful.." Melody said, before giving a cheesy smile, one ear folding back.
"I didn't make any guesses!" Ned defended.
The crowd of pups stared at them with various levels of perplexity, some even appearing annoyed or frustrated by this odd innocence.
Melody then dropped the smile and folded ear before groaning.
"Uughh, alright! It was stupid to make a guess, but at least I was trying to give an answer! Would you rather I answer by saying something unrelated like cucumbers or oranges?"
"No!" The entire crowd replied.
Melody and Ned jumped back.
"What? What did I do?!" Melody exclaimed, clearly baffled by the group's reaction.
Chester stared a little longer, then decided to let it go with just a very big and shuddery groan.
"Nevermind!" He said, "the point is.. how long was it.. Ryder?"
"To be fair.. Melody might actually be right." Frank spoke up again.
"A little longer than an hour so she was pretty close," Ryder concurred. "We came in shortly after you guys got started and we've been here since then. I'd say about an hour and fifteen minutes give or take."
"Ok, so we have a bit more time to kill." Chester deadpanned. "Got it.. now what?"
"Back to the trenches?" Chase supposed.
"Thank you, Frank! I WAS right about something!" Melody beamed proudly, wagging her tail.
"Ugh.. I'm going back into the tunnels." Chase groaned, then slowly turning around in place, he took off out the door. He immediately leapt up and slid down into an access hole on his side, making it down and started crawling through the tunnels without missing a beat.
Melody gave a confused look at the group before she and Brian followed Chase outside and jumped into the snow tunnels.
Ned shrugged before following his husky siblings into the snowy pathways.
Snowflake turned to Rayla with a slightly concerned look.
"What's with Brownie's attitude?" She asked. "He's annoyed we forgot our question, but that seems like an odd reason to be mad."
"Well that's it right there." Rayla shrugged.
"He's annoyed we forgot our question and wasted time? But, we've constantly been getting distracted for weeks! How is this situation any different?" Snowflake pointed out.
"Chase is a very straight forward pup." Rayla pointed out. "He doesn't appreciate wasting time even if there's no reason not to.. That's just how he is. Very concise, very to the point. But he's also organized, driven and subject to routine. He values efficiency and anticipation.. He's just wired that way. So when he can't control that or at the very least maintain those things it does get to him easily."
"Which is kinda code for you kinda just have to accept it for what it is.." Chester shrugged. "A pet peeve."
Suddenly Melody and Ned's head popped out of the snow tunnels.
"A pet peeve? Being a pet angers Chase?" Melody asked.
"Driven? How he's wired? Chase's is part robot?" Ned added, confused.
Suddenly, Brian's head popped up.
"So he doesn't like getting distracted. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's nice to have fun moments away from whatever you're busy with!" Brian stated.
"Are you kidding me?!" Tiny groaned. "Do you guys not understand any expressions?"
"Or at least know how to recognize them?" CiCi murmured to herself without trying to seem rude.
"No.. he's not a robot.. He's just born like a soldier.." Rayla clarified, shaking her head downwards as her gaze dropped to her left. "..Thrives on routine and driven to succeed. He likes to be in control.. Keeps things running smooth.. Picks up on every detail he can, to make sure no one misses a beat.. He's efficient. No nonsense. That kind of thing."
"We know," Melody and Ned said simultaneously, smiling.
"We understand what you pups meant," Melody replied.
"We just like to joke around. Mess with your heads," Ned explained before he and his husky sister giggled. The two then dropped down into the tunnels and kept walking around.
Tiny's eyes narrowed dryly then his head cocked toward Rayla, who just rolled her eyes reluctantly then hopped in after them followed by the rest of them.
"So what exactly are we doing down here again?" Chester asked. "Pretty sure he came down here to be alone.."
"Why? You and Chase are going to be with the Presscots for two days starting tomorrow! Why not have fun while you're here?" Snowflake suggested.
"What are you talking about?" Chester replied, taken aback in confusion. "Chase is only gonna be gone for a day. Overnight and most of tomorrow.. Not two days. Though he'd probably be ok with that, not gonna lie."
"Oh, okay. Nevermind," Snowflake responded after the correction.
xxxx
Chase was smoothing the side of the tunnel he was just continuing, and taking great care to make sure it was as smoothly compacted as he could make it for a solid flat surface; even if it was just a wall. He heard their crunching behind him and slowly eased back to peer down the tunnel at them as they crawled after him.
"So what's the plan here, chief?" Chester pointed out, when crawling up closer to his brother. "Not exactly much more room in this yard for us to go here."
"I don't know,.." Chase shrugged, seeming a bit lost. "Maybe somewhere else where the snow is deep enough."
"And light enough.. Safety first you know." Chester clarified.
"Who do you think you're talking to, Chess." Chase shot back bluntly, his expression dulling to match his tone.
"I'm saying it for all of us.." the big shepherd brother clarified further. "Especially after that near-burial situation in the mountains."
"I wouldn't have wanted to get buried in the snow any more than you would have, believe it or not." He added a moment later.
"So where do we dig?" Snowflake asked from behind.
"I don't know that's what we gotta find out." Marshall mentioned. "Rocky?"
"Ruff, x-ray!" Rocky's mighty vision flashed over and he peered around to see what he could see.
"Chase! Another one of the tunnels almost intersects right where you are.." the mixed breed gasped. "If you dig forward a little bit.. You'll finish an intersection linking the first tunnels with the new tunnels!"
Chase looked at the end of the tunnel where he'd been slowly digging and thought for a moment. And it must have been pretty deep thought because those that could see his face were able to pick up on the withdrawn look in his eyes. When he looked up again his trademark determination returned and he dug forward with a strength they hadn't seen from him in a while and eventually he pushed forward and disappeared. Poking his head back through, he widened the hole he'd just made with the older tunnel and carefully sculpted the walls to be as smooth as everything else. Starting with one side, then working down to the floor and continuing to the other side; likely to end with the top side.
The huskies kept following the pups as Chase led the way.
"So are we just making a new tunnel or what?" Brian asked Rocky.
"More like connecting new tunnels to old ones," the mixed reed replied. "Those tunnels are the ones we did earlier while Chase and Chess were joyriding on the snowmobiles."
"Oh, okay!" Brian replied as he connected the map of tunnels in his head.
Heyo! So.. that thing we did to try and catch up?.. Didn't work out like we wanted it to.. Some unexpected things came about to hinder our progress and we didn't get as caught up as we'd like to be. Sooo here's a new chapter and we're gonna take another two weeks to try and make up for it. Enjoy this new addition until next time! Thx!